 These are
the manga men of Viz Communications, the people who are in charge of most
of the California company's imported and printed art. From left to right
they're Bill Flanagan, editor of Animerica Extra; Jason Thompson, editor
of the Dragon Ball and Silent Moebius titles; and Carl Horn, editor of
Pulp and Neon Genesis Evangelion. They got together on Sunday to talk about
their titles and their plans for the future. |
 Flanagan said
that the Animerica Extra title has settled into a pattern that will remain
quite distinct from the predecessor title, Manga Vizion. The previous version
was a mishmash of manga, but Animerica Extra is focused on relationship
stories, he said. What about more Katsura titles? Viz hasn't been able
to secure them, he said. As for a current Katsura title, Video Girl Ai,
Flanagan had an interesting story. There were more nude females in the
original, but Japanese parents complained and some of the nudity was masked
with underpants that got into the version that was published by Viz. |
 The "censorship"
question also comes up in the Dragon Ball series published by Viz, where
complaints led to changes, which caused more complaints that led to more
changes. Thompson said there's some bathroom humor in the original Dragon
Ball manga, and Viz left that in the first issues published in the U.S.
However, North American parents complained, and the raunchy stuff was taken
out. Then, fans complained about the removal, and Viz decided to publish
the "uncensored" version they've advertised. |
 Pulp has turned
in an adult direction in recent months, and it's gotten placed in the "adult"
areas of some stores. Horn understands that move, but he adds that "They
aren't porno comics - they have an identity problem." Pulp is gradually
increasing in popularity and sales as people discover its intense stories,
Horn said. On another one of the titles that Horn handles; the Neon Genesis
Evangelion series will go on hiatus in April, but it will resume in July
with double-size issues. |
