Del Rey Manga Newsletter

DEL REY MANGA NEWSLETTER – NOVEMBER 2008

Thanksgiving is on its way, and with it comes not the warm anticipation of family togetherness and the sincere feeling of deep gratitude for all one's blessings, but a sense of mounting panic: What in the world will I cook for my guests?

Some people turn to Rachael Ray and Martha Stewart for guidance in these sticky situations. We here at Del Rey turn to our resident expert on cookery and hospitality: Kitchen Princess's very own Najika!

Najika is the heroine of one of our favorite manga series, Kitchen Princess, and her magical talent for cooking (and the recipes in the back of every volume), have saved us from abject failure and acute social embarrassment at many a pot-luck supper and dinner party.

Bring a smile to the faces of your friends and family this holiday: Bake up a batch of Najika's magically delicious Pumpkin Shortbread. Read on for the recipe—and for fresh-from-the-oven news from Del Rey Manga.

NEW LICENSES!

We announced some great new titles at New York Anime Festival this year. Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth and our panel. For everyone else, here's the lowdown:

(Click to enlarge)	Moyasimon You love the anime—and the super-cute vinyl toys it spawned like so many madly multiplying Smorkin' Labbits. Now fall in love with the manga—the wildly eccentric comedy about a biologist with the weird power to see microbes. Since this is a manga, of course, the microbes turn out to be SO CUTE! Look for it in Fall 2009.
(Click to enlarge)	Amefurashi: The Rain Goddess Atsushi Suzumi created Venus vs. Virus and Haridama: Magic Cram School—two series that showed off this manga-ka's seriously cool character designs and sweet storytelling. Here's Suzumi's latest series: a magical confection about a temperamental, but adorable, young rain goddess!
(Click to enlarge)	Maid War Chronicle Maid War Chronicle, like Shelby Foote’s Civil War or The Iliad before it, is the deeply serious, hard-hitting, and gritty tale of a war that changed the world. When a rival kingdom threatens their prince, his adorable—and but also totally fearsome!—maids ride to rescue…and save the kingdom in an epic battle full of awesome maid-sponsored violence. Okay, serious and gritty, no—but super-cute and adorably violent—yes! Look for it in May 2009.

NEW RELEASE SPOTLIGHT

Gankutsuou—IN STORES NOW!

Have you ever thought to yourself that The Count of Monte Cristo would be so much better if it were set a few thousand years in the future—and on the moon? Well, throw away those Cliff’s Notes: Anime maestro Mahiro Maeda has literally rewritten the book on this classic tale of revenge. This manga is a stunning re-telling of Maeda’s groundbreaking anime—with artwork from the master himself.

“An entrancing retelling of the sci-fi epic anime.”—ActiveAnime.com.

Papillon—IN STORES NOW!

Maybe you’ve already read Peach Girl—and know very well Miwa Ueda’s talent for sweet shojo romances that are as delectably addictive as a box of vanilla truffles. Or maybe you’re about to discover her for the first time, with her new series, Papillon—about a girl who undergoes the ultimate makeover. Either way, you’re in for a major treat.

"A great new series for the Gossip Girl audience or anyone wanting exciting soapy shojo."--Comics Worth Reading

Yokaiden—IN STORES NOW!

You may have seen this image before—it’s the Simpsons, manga-fied!—because it was a major Internet sensation as soon as it was unleashed. This image was created by Nina Matsumoto—a major new talent who has more than just a knack of creating iconic images. As she proves in her webcomic Saturnalia and new book, Yokaiden, she’s an amazing storyteller as well. She’s created an astonishing world of demons, ghosts, and ghouls—and a memorable new hero, the plucky and adorable Hamachi.

We sat down with Nina for a chat about Yokaiden:

What has it been like developing Saturnalia, your webcomic, for the past 5 years?

Looking back on it, I spent an insane amount of time on that project. I mostly worked on it during my high school years -- much homework and sleep went neglected. I wasn't the most skilled artist, so each page took several hours. Sometimes I'd work on it at school in the library during my free block. I was happy with my results, however, despite its many flaws; being able to tell a story I had written through my own artwork was fun and the imperfections didn't bother me. People liked it, and I was satisfied with that. It was excellent drawing and writing practice, and it was extremely important as my development as a comic artist. Working on Saturnalia taught me a lot about comicking and what I'm capable of. It taught me my strengths and weaknesses -- something I had to think a lot about before creating Yokaiden.

Read the rest of Nina's Q&A here.

NEW IN THE WORLD OF DEL REY MANGA!

Please join us in welcoming the newest member of the Del Rey Manga team: David Yoo, who comes to us from Houghton Mifflin’s publicity department and is our new Editorial Assistant. David not only wowed us with his professional accomplishments—he won us over with his passion for manga. Welcome, David!

GET SCHOOLED BY DALLAS MIDDAUGH

By joining Team Del Rey Manga, David gets the chance to learn the business from the master, Del Rey Manga Associate Publisher Dallas Middaugh. But now there's a chance for others to share his wisdom as well. For the Spring 2009 term, Dallas will be teaching the Publishing the Graphic Novel course at Publishing the Graphic Novel course at New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. The 2-session intensive course starts in March, so sharpen your pencils. (And don't bother bringing an apple for the teacher. Dallas is immune to such bribery. Trust us.)

BOOKS EQUAL GIFTS!

Of course, Thanksgiving isn't just about cooking and eating. It's also the kick off to the holiday shopping season. Del Rey Manga and the rest of Random House wants to remind you that often the best gift is a good book. So as you make your lists of gifts you want to give and gifts you want to receive, head on over to www.booksequalgifts.com for gift suggestions, help finding a local bookseller, and other kinds of fun--including a chance to win a FREE bestseller!

And, as a special treat for our loyal Del Rey Manga readership, we're offering something extra. We're going to give autographed copies of our recent book In Odd We Trust (signed by both Dean Koontz and Queenie Chan!) to ten fans who put up a Books=Gifts banner on their blogs, websites, social network, etc.. Here's what to do:

Grab a Books=Gifts banner from our site here.
Put it on your site, blog, etc. and set it to link to www.delreymanga.com, www.booksequalgifts.com, or your favorite bookseller.
Send an email to delreymanga@randomhouse.com with BOOKS_GIFTS in the subject line including the URL where you've placed the banner and your full name and address in the body of the e-mail.

Ten (10) winners will be selected at random to receive autographed copies of In Odd We Trust. (Personal information will be used for no other purpose than this contest.) Entries must be received by Decmber 9, 2008.

KATHERINE KELLER'S CBLDF CHALLENGE

While we're on the subject of generousity and holiday giving...

As you may know the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (or CBLDF) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of First Amendment rights for members of the comics community. Among its recently announced works is its participation as a special consultant to the defense of Christopher Handley, a 38-year-old Iowa manga collector who faces up to 20 years in prision for possession of manga that the government claims to be obscene. Of his collection of more than 1,200 volumes of manga seized by the government, Handley is being prosecuted for images that occur in just a handful of volumes. No photographic content is at issue in Handley's case. (More information on this case, and the CBLDF's involvement is available here.)

To show her support of the CBLDF, Katherine Keller, Editrix-in-Chief of the Sequential Tart webzine, has issued a challenge: if by December 31, 2008 she receives 40 emails showing CBLDF donations of at least $25, she'll donate $1000 to the fund. If she receives 80, she'll dontate $2000.

If you're planning to donate to the fund, please consider making your donation go farther by taking Ms. Keller up on this challenge. Details on her challenge, and how to send her your proof of donation are here.

Paplllon CONTEST WINNERS

Here they are: the gorgeous, glamorous, and utterly enviable winners of our Papillon contest. These lucky glamour girls and guys will get a free copy of Papillon, volume 1.

But, remember, winners, you’re trendsetters and influencers now: Be sure to e-mail us and let us know what you think about the book!

Jason Budden (Hudson, FL)
Sharon Berger (Albuquerque, NM)
Samantha Schechter (Toms River, NJ)
Jeff Engelman (Munson, PA)
Christy Hawkes (Tremonton, UT)
Amber Yearout (Mesquite, TX)
Maria Gapedo (Fullerton, CA)
Su Mon Han (Buena Park, CA)
Amy Chan (Bolingbrook, IL)
Joan Otto (York, PA)

Kitchen Princess PUMPKIN SHORTBREAD

And, as promised, Najika’s recipe for pumpkin shortbread:

Make a circular sheet about 7 inches in diameter

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup flour
2/3 cup frozen pumpkin

Instructions:

Place the frozen pumpkin into a microwaveable bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and heat in the microwave for about three minutes.
Peel the green part of the pumpkin using a knife. Smash the orange part.
Let butter sit until it is room temperature. Place butter in bowl and add the flour and sugar to it. Stir with a rubber spatula.
Add the smashed pumpkin from step 2 into the bowl and stir well. Mix it into a ball and refrigerate for about an hour.
Spread some flour on a board and place the dough on top. Use a rolling pin to make it less than centimeter thick.
Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Experiment with cute shapes like stars and hearts. Have fun with it!
Place the shapes on a cookie sheet and bake in an oven set at 350 F for about 20 minutes.

Tip: You can poke holes in the dough using a fork and bake it as you would in step 7 to get a whole sheet of shortbread.

Find this recipe—and a heaping helping of honey-sweet romance and delish drama—in Kitchen Princess volume 8. Volume 8 also comes up with bonus stickers, but this special treat is limited to the first edition! So hurry up and get yours—they’re disappearing faster than a plateful of piping-hot pumpkin shortbread.

Tricia Narwani
delreymanga@randomhouse.com

IN STORES IN AUGUST

	FAUST 1 by Faust Editors A stunning new collection of fiction inspired by the fantastic world of manga featuring artwork by the best in the business. Includes works by CLAMP, Takeshi Obata, Ueda Hajime, NISIOISIN, Yun Kouga, take, Kouhei Kadono and many others!
	HELL GIRL 3 by Miyuki Eto Some people will do anything for revenge—the girl whose best friend is scheming to steal her boyfriend, fpr instance, or the innocent student trapped by her unsavory employer in a haunted house. But they had better think twice before invoking the help of Hell Girl. Because revenge may be sweet, but it isn't free!
	KITCHEN PRINCESS 7 Manga by Natsumi Ando. Story by Miyuki Kobayashi It's hate at first sight when a new student arrives at Seika Academy, destined to take Najika's place as spokesperson for the cooking school.
	MAMOTTE! LOLLIPOP 7 by Michiyo Kikuya Zero's not just the boy of Nina's dreams—he's also her hero. This super-cute wizard once made a promise to protect Nina from danger. But when a mysterious group of magicians steals Zero's magic, it's Nina's turn to get tough!
	MUSHISHI 5 by Yuki Urushibara Imagine being blind, but that nebulous creatures called mushi allow you to see farther and better than any human, even into another person's future. Ginko, whose lifelong task is to understand the many kinds of mushi, encounters such a woman and becomes entangled in the shocking future she sees for him.
	PRINCESS RESURRECTION by Yasunori Mitsunaga The vampires and the werewolves are clashing in a terrible feud. The ghosts are whispering of betrayal. And giant insects are planning to make a meal of Hime and her friends. All that can only mean one thing! It's finally time for Blood Warrior Hiro to become Princess Hime's hero!

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