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For a few months - since Katuscon in February - Studio
Ironcat has hinted of things to come, but has held back until times
were right. At Otakon, Steve Bennett (left) and Kat Hofer of the Virginia-based
manga company were ready to talk about Ironcat's plans for the future. |
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For adults, there's an Ogenki Clinic graphic novel on the way, along
with a fetish series from Sendo Knife (Bennett said people should watch
out for the Nazi themes which may offend some). For everyone else, there's
Pont Ponk from Haruko Tachiri, the comedic story of a 300-pound bunny which
has delighted Japanese readers. "The series was so popular in Jaoan that
when it got out that it was going to be in English, people called us and
said `Please reprint it in Japanese,'" said Bennett. So Pont Ponk will
be in a dual-language edition from Ironcat, with English in one section
and Japanese in another. |
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Two of Ironcat's most popular monthly titles, Vampire Miuy and Futaba-Kun
Change, also are scheduled for the graphic novel reprint treatment, with
others to follow. Which ones? Bennett encouages fans to let the company
know my reaching them by mail or by the Studio
Ironcat web site. Bennett also let it be known that Ironcat is interested
in moving beyond manga reprints and wants to create an original series
of American comics - which may not be manga styled. |
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What about all of the criticism about the appearance of the artwork
in Ironcat's titles? Bennett admitted that the criticism was warranted,
that much of the art was not properly reproduced. "We were first-time beginners,"
said Bennett in explaining the reproduction mistakes. He admitted he didn't
know about moire problems in reproducing art until he started working on
Ironcat's print titles. The company promises better art in the future,
beginning with the graphic novels. "They look a lot better than they did,"
Hofer added. |
