July
24 Total Immersion

Friday morning found us at the TokyoPop booth, talking to some of the creators the company has brought in from across the Pacific for Comic-Con. Monkey Punch (pictured), a manga creator for decades who has attended every Comic-Con, says the first big push for manga came in 1980, when he was among 20 manga creators who came to the show, including Osama Tezuka, creator of “Astro Boy” and the most influential creator in Japanese comics history. Monkey Punch, whose work includes “Lupin III,” says he remembers that as the introduction of manga to American audiences. “It took 20 years to get this popular,” he says. One reason it may have taken that long is that American readers had to overcome their common perception of comics as entertainment for small children. In Japan, where manga fills the cultural spot held by movies in America, the material is aimed at teens and young adults. He says today’s American youths are discovering manga through anime and finding a lot of material that’s very fresh to them. American culture has had a strong influence on the creator, who admires Mort Drucker’s “Mad” magazine movie parodies and lots of Hollywood pics from James Bond and “Dirty Harry” to “Lord of the Rings” and, of course, “Spider-Man.”

Santa Inoue is a new generation of manga-ka. The creator of “Tokyo Tribes,” realistic stories of youth life in Tokyo coming in September from TokyoPop, says he wanted to give Japanese youth culture the kind of worldwide exposure that American youth culture gets in Hollywood films such as “American Pie.” “In the USA, people don’t know what happens in Tokyo,” he says. “So I want to explain what is happening, this is how they are living.” Inoue says he sees American and Japanese cultures as merging and after decades of American influence on Japan, it’s starting to go back the other way. The manga reading experience is very cinematic and that’s part of its appeal to American audiences. “Manga is not only manga. Sometimes it feels (when you read it) like you’re watching a movie.” Inoue says he has a plan with animation company Madhouse and MTV Films to develop Tokyo Tribes into an animated feature. Inoue says he’s been inspired by hiphop culture and films such as “Boyz N the Hood” and “Goodfellas.” He also was inspired by the business model created by George Lucas for “Star Wars,” and retains merchandising rights to his stories. His mixing of hiphop and Japanese culture has led Inoue to open a shop in Tokyo selling T-shirts and merchandise. In the end, though, he retains his lifelong love of manga and the creative freedom making movies on paper offers. “It’s my dream from childhood,” he says “When I was a little boy, I only wanted to be a manga creator. Japan is a manga country. Manga is deeply embedded in the Japanese culture. When the kids (in the U.S.) want to be like Michael Jordan, I want to be (Osama) Tezuka.”

And it’s not just Japan. Artists from Korea, where comics are called manwha, also were at the con. Among them were Sang-Sun Park, artist of “Les Bijoux,” and You Hyun, creator of “Fairies’ Landing,” both from TokyoPop. Both new to the U.S. market – Park has just received her first fan letter from the U.S., but hasn’t had it translated yet – their material is fantasy-based romance and rooted in various ways to Korean myths and legends. Park says creating manwha has been a lifelong passion for her. “I think I received the gift to draw manwha from the gods when I was young,” she said through a translator. “If I don’t draw, I feel like I’ll burn to death!” She says she loves fantasy and sci-fi films, especially medieval European tales. Hyun says she thinks manwha is a new experience for American readers and that some material that’s popular in Korea is not in the U.S. and Europe and vice versa. That latter case is turning out to apply to “Fairies’ Landing.” Unlike the Japanese market, the audience for comics in Korea is mostly younger children and not so much the older readership found in Japan.


From Asia to New York, Bags and Boards ended up bumping around a bunch of panels trying to get at least a taste of a lot of different events. At a Marvel panel, editor in chief Joe Quesada previewed the Ultimate line, including the “Ultimate Elektra” drawn by Salvador Larroca. Brian Michael Bendis says the upcoming storylines in “Ultimate Spider-Man” will feature Carnage, Wolverine, Doctor Strange and Hobgoblin. Warren Ellis’ work on the line got a strong response. Quesada says his upcoming “Ultimate Nightmare” miniseries is the first part of a trilogy and praised Ellis’ work on “Ultimate Fantastic Four.” “Warren Ellis is now showing Mark (Millar) and Brian (Bendis) how to write,” he says. The Spider-Man line of books will continue with a creepy storyline in “Spectacular Spider-Man” and a story in “Amazing Spider-Man” that is sure to be controversial as it features a woman who looks a lot like Gwen Stacy.

Sci Fi Channel was plugging the upcoming “Battlestar Galactica” series, with creator Ron Moore, exec producer David Eick and cast members James Callis, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park and Aaron Douglas on hand. A preview of the series, which starts in January, featured Richard Hatch, who starred in the original 1978 series and tried for years to get a continuation series off the ground. Eick says “Blade Runner” was one of the big genre inspiriations for the series, right down to the casting of Edward James Olmos for the role of Adama.

The new Hall H, which seats 6,700, was filled to near capacity for Warner Bros.’ presentation on “Batman Begins” and “Constantine.” “Batman Begins” screenwriter David Goyer and star Cillian Murphy were on hand to answer questions from a crowd that really wants a good Batman movie but still feels burned by the last few films in the franchise. Fans asked Goyer – whose comicbook credentials have been established both in his work for DC Comics and work on the “Blade” movies -- point blank about whether the studio was letting them make Batman as good as it should be. “It’s a totally fair question,” Goyer says. “That’s why we’re here.” He says the studio has been very supportive and hands off, letting him and director Christopher Nolan make the film they want to make. “They backed Chris on every decision,” he says. The film borrows a lot of elements from the comics, Goyer says, including stuff from Frank Miller’s “Batman: Year One,” Denny O’Neil’s 1970s stories, and Jeph Loeb’s work on more recent comics such as “The Long Halloween.” This film will have no overt connection to the previous Batman films, Goyer says, and if it’s successful they will be able to go forward and do new versions of characters such as The Joker or Two-Face.

While there was no footage shown for “Batman Begins,” Warners did have an 18 minute montage of scenes from “Constantine.” Fans who were skeptical about the changes made to the comicbook – the original character was a blond Englishman based in London and the movie has Keanu Reeves playing an American in L.A. – were enthusiastic after seeing the clips. Reeves made his first Comic-Con appearance to answer questions, along with helmer Francis Lawrence, thesp Djimon Hounsou and DC/Vertigo exec editor Karen Berger. Reeves got most of the attention and said he and Lawrence worked hard to find the heart of the character, which is true to the comicbook version even if the surface details differ.

Another big crowd turned out for another Warner Bros. panel, this one focusing on the animated series based on DC Comics titles. WB Animation’s Sam Register led a quick-paced run through the “Teen Titans,” “Justice League Unlimited” and “The Batman.” Cast members and producers talked about each show, from voice actors Tara Strong and Greg Cipes talking about finding their characters’ voices to “Hellboy” star and Slade voice actor Ron Perlman saying he himself can’t wait for details on a “Hellboy” sequel. “I found out about ‘Hellboy 2’ by buying Variety,” he says, joking with the audience that he would just blab the details of the film to everyone if they did tell him anything. “Titans’” third and fourth seasons will feature more comics-inspired stories, including the return of Slade, a Cyborg arc, the conclusion to “The Judas Contract” storyline, a Brother Blood story and will get into Raven’s relationship with her father, Trigon. Theme song group Puffy Ami Yumi, who starred in a musicvideo version of the catchy song played at the panel, will be getting their own show, Register says. The reinvented “Justice League Unlimited” will feature dozens of characters from DC Comics, including Green Arrow, Hawk & Dove, Zatanna, Red Tornado, Supergirl, Captain Atom, Black Canary, the Green Lantern Corps and Captain Marvel. There also will be more scripts from comics vets, including J.M. DeMatteis, Darwyn Cooke, Ron Zimmerman, Warren Ellis and Gail Simone, who wrote a double-date episode featuring Huntress, The Question, Green Arrow and Black Canary.

Fans also got their first look at the new animated series “The Batman” with the screening of a full episode featuring Man-Bat. The ep went over well with the crowd, offering an edgier look than the graceful 1990s version while retaining the high quality of animation, voice work and writing. Music for the show is by U2’s The Edge, who spoke enthusiastically about the project in a brief video clip shown before the episode.

We didn’t make the Eisner Awards – as parties from Sci Fi, WB and DC Comics took up a lot of the evening. Look for the winners in the next update.