Darren Shan Manga Adaptation
There's currently a manga adaptation of the Darren Shan Series in Japan and will now be translated into english :D I loved the books and I love manga, so it should be a great combination.
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Oh, you guys are gonna SO like this one!!! As many of you probably already know, there is a manga adaptation of The Saga of Darren Shan in Japan. They started publishing the story last year, and are currently up to Book 10. The manga has been a huge hit in Japan. The artist, Takahiro Arai, is a young guy, and this is his first major project. I helped choose him from a shortlist of very talented, and some very experienced, manga artists. Although the work of everyone on the shortlist was of a very high standard, Takahiro's gift for storytelling stood out -- all the artists did page roughs for the first few chapters of Cirque Du Freak, but although there were all working from the same material, his version moved much more fluidly and excitingly than any of the others. There was a vitality to his work which appealed greatly to me, and even though it was in Japanese, I could follow the work with ease. The publishers had final say on the choice of artist, but I was absolutely delighted when they opted for Takahiro. I've been following his adaptation of the series ever since, and I've been blown away by it. While remaining faithful to the books for the most part, he brings his own vision to the series and makes it something original and fresh at the same time. This doesn't feel like a needless re-telling of the story, but a vivid re-imagining of it. His skills have developed over the course of the series, and as cool as the early graphic novels are, the later entries are even better!! My only regret since the series started has been that I was unable to read the text, since it was all in Japanese. I could follow the story, but I almost never had an idea of what characters were saying in any individual panel. But that's all about to change, because ...
*big drum roll*
... the manga has been bought for translation into English and publication in the U.S.A.!!!! HURRAH!!!!!!
I am SO psyched about this!! I've always been a big comics fan, so I'm delighted that my work is going to appear in that format. But what's even better is that, having seen most of the series already in its Japanese form, I KNOW it's going to be brilliant!!! A writer can never control an adaptation of his work, so if you sell the rights of your books to a comic or film company, there's always a period of uncertainty where you can't help but wonder, "Is it going to suck?!?" In this instance, I've no need to be nervous. The manga is a triumph, and I have total confidence that it will have as big an impact on you guys as it has had on me and hundreds of thousands of Japanese fans.
http://www.darrenshan.com/monthly/index.html
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Yen Press, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, today announced that it will publish the first official English-language manga adaptations of the New York Times bestselling young adult series Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan. Jointly acquired from the Christopher Little Agency (UK) and Japanese publisher Shogakukan, the new editions will be adapted into English from the original versions created by Darren Shan and Takahiro Arai which have already sold over 7 million copies in the Japanese manga and prose forms. Brought to life in black and white illustrations, the compelling saga of a young boy's journey into a dark world of vampires will be available at major bookstores and comic book retailers at $10.99 and is rated T (Teen).
Publication of the first three Cirque du Freak manga volumes will be coordinated around the release of the Cirque du Freak movie in 2009 by Universal Pictures. Directed by Paul Weitz, the film will star John C. Reilly, Salma Hayek, Willem Dafoe, and Ken Watanabe. Subsequent manga volumes will release every three months.
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=17533
