Sunday, April 29, 2007

Vertical's Fall Release COVERS

Smaller versions of these made the rounds already, but I wanted highlight again Chip Kidd's amazing cover designs for Vertical, featuring their manga releases in the second half of 2007. It must be extremely exciting for Mr. Kidd to be able to play around with Takemiya and Tezuka's stunning panels and lines in sourcing his designs.

FIrst up, another series from To Terra creator and Shojo SF master, Keiko Takemiya:

Andromeda Stories Volume 1 : 9/11/07


Andromeda Stories Volume 2 : 12/11/07

Next up, the striking covers for Apollo's Song & MW, along with links to more info on each title via Tezuka Osamu World (and Japanese preview page).


Apollo's Song : 6/19/07


MW : 10/16/07

It's a great year for English fans of CLASSICS like these! Again, a major high five to Vertical for treating these books RIGHT!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

MW looks fantastic!

Anonymous said...

oh lordy, what a beautiful post

Ryan said...

bryan: I know! it's the one i'm most interested in, personally.

hellen: Thanks dude-- I love the chip kidd Tezuka ones, and the original covers are super psychadelic :)))

-ryan

Rumika said...

Thanks for the previews and cover comparisons. I'm really pumped for Apollo's Song next month. I'm probably going to pick up MW as well, but I haven't really been able to dig up a plot summary for it. Would you be able to fill me in?

Unknown said...

rumika: there's a link just under the cover in the post, which gives probably about as good a summary as you're going to find for now.

Ryan said...

James: Thanks for mentioning the link to the summary on the Tezuka page.

Rumika: Thanks for the comments :) I can't wait to read both of the Tezuka books... The preview of Apollo's Song I read from Vertical made it sound really juicy and emotional. The MW summary according to Tezuka world says:

"This is a picaresque (villain) Manga, revealing the pathology of contemporary society through a devil-like man who embodies every evil of today's world.
A diligent and efficient bank employee, Yuuki Michio has another side: that of a brutal kidnapper who commits crimes one after the other. Yuuki visits Father Garai at church; repenting for his sins each time he commits a crime.
The two had witnessed a terrible event on Okinomabune Island in the neighboring of Okinawa Island 15 years ago. During the incident, all the island residents are killed by a poisonous gas (called "MW," a secret chemical weapon), which leaks from the storage area of foreign military forces on the island. Yuuki also goes mad under the affect of the gas.
While taking revenge on criminals who cover up the event, Yuuki finally locates the whereabouts of MW. Knowing that he has little time left, as his brain and heart are increasingly affected by MW, he plans to release MW all over the world when he dies, to bring the whole human race to extinction."
-http://en.tezuka.co.jp/manga/sakuhin/m093/m093_01.html

CAN YOU SAY 'AWESOME'..??

Anonymous said...

You know what would be cool?
could you scanlate punctures by Shintaro Kago? I read it once when I was ten years old and have yet to find it again.

Ryan said...

anonymous:
thanks for the comment. Actually, we wouldn't scanlate anything that's being officially published in English, and especially not something that's been available in English from Viz for about 10 years, via their Secret Comics Japan collection which a friend of ours edited.

You can get a copy pretty cheap on amazon, here: http://tinyurl.com/yt3hgq

That book also includes strips by Furuya from his Palepoli series-- definitely a must-have for indie manga fans :)
thanks,
-Ryan!