Kossori's Newsfile #6

Welcome to Kossori's Newsfile. What follows is my (slightly unbiased) view of the current goings-ons in the world of comics.

Two of the most interesting developments in recent months has been Crossgen's announcement of their Compendia line and Marvel's success with their Mangaverse off-week event. Both of these concepts, originating in Eastern comics, have breathed new possibilities into the American market.

The Compendia line of books will be the same format that's been used in Japan for years- a big book of comics. Think "wholesale comics".

Marvel's Mangaverse takes the established Marvel Universe and shows an alternate anime version of it. Think "Japanese Ultimates". The off-week event was so successful, Marvel has planned an on-going series, spinning out of the original mini.

Now, let's take a closer look at them...

"CrossGeneration Comics was founded around a very simple idea: to make comics relevant again to a mainstream audience. Part of that mission involves telling stories that map to mainstream genres - science fiction, fantasy, mystery, etc. - basically, anything but superheroes. At CrossGen, we've built a line of comics that reflect precisely the kind of popular entertainment that people read, see, and enjoy every day all over the world.

"But building a line of comics that maps to mainstream tastes is only part of our mission. The other part involves putting those comics in a package that makes sense to a mainstream audience. People buy books, so we're serializing our stories in book form. People expect value for their dollar, so we put together a package that can be sold at a very competitive price. Combine the excitement of reading a monthly comic series with the quality and readability of a trade paperback collection - that's FORGE and EDGE."

FORGE #1 (on sale April 10) will include Crux #1-#3, Meridian #15, Negation Prequel, Sojourn Prequel and #1, and The Path preview art.

EDGE #1 (on sale April 24) will include The First #8-#10, Mystic #15 and #16, Ruse #1, Scion #15, and Sigil #15

According to Crossgen, the Compendia books will only feature already published material so those who collect only one or two series won't have to pick them up just to get an exclusive story.

The two monthly books will run about $9.95 for 200-plus pages of color comic stories.

This is probably the best thing to happen since the Marvel Essentials.

Marvel picked up the idea of doing off-week events (mini-series or themed specials that fill up the extra week in larger months) from DC. But unlike DC, Marvel has managed to make something productive come out of it. Yes, I did say "Marvel" and "productive" in the same sentence.

The Marvel Mangaverse was a highly anticipated event, both by eager fans and opposed traditionalists. The number of people who detested the idea of anime/manga comics from Marvel was balanced by those who clamored for it.

Marvel had tried before, with Manga Spider-Man and Manga X-men, a couple of obscure series from the late nineties that you probably could find- if you look hard enough. They weren't too well received and neither lasted for very long.