VOICES FROM ON HIGH #4: YOUNG LOVE
Written by Paul Benjamin & Steven and Megumi Cummings

When love is young and new, every moment is a discovery. Every day brings new opportunities to get to know each other. This is true whether you’re talking about two people coming together or thousands of people discovering a new manga.

Valentine’s Day is smack dab in the middle of February and it just so happens to be the month during which PANTHEON HIGH hit the stands.

Having our first manga released was a big moment for me, Steven and Megumi. For me (Paul) it started with a launch party at my local comics shop, Austin Books & Comics. The fabulous people at Austin Books hosted a Saturday night shindig complete with mythology themed foods such as Nectar of the Gods (a keg of Shiner Bock) for the over 21 crowd plus Anubis’ Cherry Strudel, Loki’s Mischief Brownies and Ambrosia Nectar of the Gods Cupcakes baked at home by my lovely wife, Lisa. Austin Books really did a fabulous job hosting the event. They even brought a plate full of golden apples. If you’ve read the book you know what a pivotal role they play in volume 1.

The party was a great success, selling out of all 50 copies of PANTHEON HIGH in the store plus a couple of books I grabbed out of my car at the end of the night. It was truly wonderful to meet people who had heard about the book and come out to buy a copy. I love talking to people and finding out what other manga they like so I can add them to my reading list.



We followed up the Austin Books party with a trip out to Manhattan for the New York Comics Convention! The Tokyopop booth looked great, with all their manga featured around the borders and their very own bookstore right there on the show floor.

The theme of young love continued beyond that first meeting of PANTHEON HIGH and the public to a wonderful weekend hanging out with the Tokyopop staff and the other Tokyopop creators. We got to chill with many a Tokyopop creator including Becky Cloonan (EAST COAST RISING), Eric Wight (MY DEAD GIRLFRIEND), Svetlana Chmakova (DRAMACON), Rivkah (STEADY BEAT), Federica Manfredi (KAT & MOUSE), T Campbell and Amy Mebberson (DIVALICIOUS!).

Eric Wight’s MY DEAD GIRLFRIEND got an especially big push at NYCC. If you haven’t read the book, I strongly recommend it. It’s a fun story with tons of personality. Though MY DEAD GIRLFRIEND shares the “high school with a twist” genre with PANTHEON HIGH, it’s very different story all about the horrors of high school. MY DEAD GIRLFRIEND’s lead character Finny is a boy at a high school that is literally hell. It’s a school full of monsters from werewolves to vampires to Frankenstein bullies. Even Finny’s family is a freaky bunch of ghosts. MY DEAD GIRLFRIEND volume one is a hilarious and sometimes touching tale of a teenage boy’s first love. And in Finny’s spooky world, dying is just the beginning of a beautiful romance. One lucky fan even walked away from the show with Tokyopop’s grand prize for the weekend: a full-sized coffin filled literally to the brim with a library-full of Tokyopop manga! Try explaining that new coffin in your room to your mom.

I got to talk to fans at the convention’s STATE OF THE INDUSTRY manga panel and then later in the weekend Steven, Megumi and I talked to fans at the booth about how to make manga. That class quickly turned into one on one discussions with future manga writers and artists as well as fans who had already found the book. It was great talking with people about PANTHEON HIGH and all their favorite characters from mythology.

As a final note, I should mention that even though Steven and I talk every day, he and I haven’t seen each other in 3 years and this was my first time to meet Megumi in person. They’re as much fun in person as they are on the phone and email. In fact, our editor, Paul Morrissey had never even met Steven and Megumi in the year and a half we’ve been working on the book. Paul has been a wonderful editor and has made our time with Tokyopop a fabulous experience. Needless to say, the four of us spent a lot of time together and had a great time hanging out until 2 AM one night talking about ideas for PANTHEON HIGH volume 3. February was a fabulous month all about new relationships and the love of manga that brings us all together.

: :


30 August 2010
MangaLife: On Culture
Share

25 August 2010
Words of Truth and Wisdom: I Put A Spell On You
Share

11 August 2010
Words of Truth and Wisdom: Filters
Share

6 August 2010
Maybe You're Not Using It Right :On Japanese Load Words
Share



home | reviews | news | features | about us | advertise | privacy policy | contact us
All materials © Manga Life, 2005 - Site designed and hosted by Silver Bullet Hosting