ILEX Manga title wins Harvey Award

UK publisher Ilex’s bestselling The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga has been announced as the winner of the 2010 Harvey Award for ‘Best American Edition of Foreign Material’, and was also recently shortlisted for the prestigious Eisner Award.

Written by Helen McCarthy, the book is the first authorised English language biography on Japan’s most celebrated artist of the 21st century and I think it will interest followers of this blog. I also worked with Helen on Manga Max magazine a few years back.

Osamu Tezuka has often been called the Walt Disney of Japan, but he was far more than that. Tezuka was Disney, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Tim Burton and Carl Sagan, all rolled into one incredibly prolific package, and he changed the face of Japanese culture forever.

This book reveals what makes him one of the key figures of 20th century pop culture. Packed with stunning images, many never before seen outside Japan, it pays tribute to the work of an artist, writer, animator, doctor, entrepreneur and traveller whose insatiably curious mind created two companies, dozens of animated films and series, and over 150,000 pages of comic art in one astonishingly creative lifetime.  

ILEX call The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga "an amazing adventure for the manga and anime neophyte, an essential reference for the confirmed fans, and a visual treat for anyone who loves art".


• The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga is on sale from amazon.co.uk

London Book Fair lines up comics events

The London Book Fair has almost finalised its list of comics events for this year's three day event at Earl's Court in April, with a line up of guests that so far includes Paul Gravett, Helen McCarthy, Emma Hayley, Ian Rankin and Cory Doctorow.

Some 23,000 industry professionals attend this trade event, providing publishers with the largest gathering of international literary agents, publishers and publishing suppliers under one roof in the UK for three days.

By registering for the event in advance (before Monday 19th April 2010) you can get a discount on the onsite entrance fee, paying just £25 for entrance over the full three days of the fair.

The Fair is taking a keener interest in comics and graphics this year, offering a dedicated "Comics Pavillion" which includes Diamond Comics and Highland Books as exhibitors, and a number of seminars that should certainly interest comics publishers and creators. There will also be opportunities to watch celebrated illustrators creating new work live in the ‘studio’, but we don't have details on just who will be involved in that just yet.

A full list of all events and seminars can be found here on the LBF web site, but here are the events we think might particularly interest downthetubes readers...

• Cross-Media Horizons: Graphic Novels & Video Games

19 April 11:30-12:30

Multiplatform releases are increasingly becoming the new frontier in the world of publishing. This seminar explores the particularly fruitful marriage between the graphic novel and the videogame in this field, whether through the publication of graphic novels based in blockbuster videogames, or videogame adaption of well-known graphic novels. Successful examples of this new business model can be found in the conversion of the Marvel superhero universe or the Asterix saga to the electronic platform

• Getting Graphic Novels and Manga to the Reader

20 April 2010 10:00-11:00
Chaired by Helen McCarthy

This seminar will focus on how showcase and display Comics, Manga & Graphic Novels in bookshops and libraries. We will count on the presence of different booksellers and librarians that will share his experience and will tell the audience their secrets and experiences: from the different categories and genres to the creation of innovative activities involving reluctant readers.

• New Opportunities: Graphic Novels and Digital

20 April 2010 14:30-15:30

Speakers
Mr Cory Doctorow, Author, Activist, Journalist and Blogger
Mr Paul Gravett, Director, COMICA Festival
Mr Ian Rankin, Author

After a record-busting year in 2008, the Graphic Novel & Manga markets appear to be living a second Golden Age. Join the discussion led by pioneer editor Emma Hayley on the future of one of the most vibrant and innovative sectors of the publishing industry. With the debut of the iPad in March (in the US, anyway), this event is sure to command a lot of attention.

• Graphic Novel Industry Unveiled

20 Apr 2010 16:00-17:00

Speakers
Ms Sophie Castille, Foreign Rights Director, Mediatoon
Ms Emma Hayley, Director, SelfMadeHero / Metro Media
Mr Marco Lupoi, Licensing Director, Panini Publishing Division

The Graphic Novel and Manga universes have been invaluable cornerstones of popular culture in the 20th century in many countries across the globe. The panel, formed by leading industry experts, will introduce France, Italy and Spain as clear examples of how this wing of the publishing industry has created for itself a high added-value cross-generational market in Europe. Join the seminar to learn more about the origins, present landscape and future potential of this recession-proof international industry.

• For more information on the Fair visit: www.londonbookfair.co.uk

Tube Surfing: One Man Lord of the Rings, Manga Cross Stitch and Space Hoppers!

• Heading to Edinburgh's Fringe later this summer? Perhaps to catch up with Kev Sutherland and the Falsetto Sock Company, who are sure to be there? Then you might also be interested in a new show from Canadian actor Charles Ross, who first made an impact on the Edinburgh Fringe when his debut show, One Man Star Wars Trilogy, which was a surprise sell-out hit of the 2006 event. He's back this year with his equally hilarious follow-up One Man Lord Of The Rings in which he recreates the enchanting world of Middle-Earth, armed with nothing more than a pair of elbow pads and his outrageous imagination, at the E4 Udderbelly, E4 Udderbelly's Pasture, from 6-16th August 2009. More info: www.onemanlotr.com (Photo: Lisa Hebden)

• With the nominations collected, the ballets are about to open for the 2008 Eagle Awards, the comics industry's longest-running awards. Co-founded in 1976 by Mike Conroy, editor of Comics International and author of new Ilex Press release War Comics: A Graphic History (see news story), the awards offer UK comics fans a unique opportunity to nominate their own choices and vote for their pick of bunch in each category. The award categories cover comics and creators, as well as comics-related titles. Vote for nominees in the Eagles Awards here

• Via numerous upset comic creators, worrying news appeared in The Sun reporting that one-time 2000AD artist Ron Smith, 80, was in court over alledged child abuse. We can now report that at 3.00pm today the jury unanimously found him not guilty. Guildford Crown Court confirmed the details

• To quote blogger Giles Poitras, "Oh god it was only a matter of time. And who else but the wonderful Helen McCarthy could do a book called Manga Cross-Stitch." Who else indeed! Helen McCarthy, author of ILEX's 500 Essential Anime Movies and many titles on Japanese manga and anime, is the UK's leading expert in this area, and now she has turned her hand to teaching how to incorporate the skills of needlecraft with this popular Japanese graphic art form. Manga Cross-Stitch, available from ILEX, will be out soon, but in the meantime the Japan Foundation is presenting a lecture and workshop held by Helen McCarthy, on Wednesday 1 July, in London. Places are limited so get your tickets quick, as there will a chance to stitch your own manga design on the day.

• (via Bear Alley): A number of British creators have made the shortlist for the British Fantasy Awards 2009, amongst them Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean (best novel (and best non-fiction for his blog) and best artist respectively) and numerous others in the Best Comic/Graphic Novel section.

• This sounds fun: CBBC has commissioned a new science series, Space Hoppers, an interplanetary adventure series featuring Professor Brian Cox. Using animation and CGI and experiments, the series investigate what one might need to go on vacation in outer space and the extreme environments in the Solar System. Set to launch in 2010, which happens also to be the BBC's Year of Science, the seven episode series is produced in conjunction with BBC Science's series Seven Wonders Of The Solar System, also hosted by Cox.

• The British Cartoon Archive, based at the University of Kent's Templeman Library, recentlylaunched a new website and is now featuring a gallery of old Andy Capp cartoons by Reg Smythe.

• Tim Pilcher, author of Erotic Comics: A Graphic History, has been talking to Salacious Scribbles about the relationships between erotica, porn and the comics genre; how Volume 2 was stopped by Australian customs; and a whole lot more with Louise Bak, poet and radio show co-host, for men's magazine Toro. In Tim's own words: "Good erotic comics have to abide by the same basic rules that any comic book genre has to. That is, good story pacing, believable/ empathetic characters, an involving storyline and quality design and page layout." Erotic Comics is a guide though the talent and artwork of this much maligned art form. Read the interview here