Manga Conquers the Cartoon Art Museum Manga Conquers America: The Whole StoryA Presentation by Jason Thompson
A Talk with the Author of
Manga: The Complete Guideand WIRED Magazine's "How Manga Conquered America"
Thursday, December 6, 2007
7:00pm to 9:00pm
At the Cartoon Art Museum
www.cartoonart.org7:00 PM: Presentation by Jason Thompson
8:15 PM: Book signing
Both Events Free and Open to the Public
For some people, the manga boom in American bookstores may seem like it came out of nowhere—but actually, manga has been in the U.S. long enough for the first generation of fans to be grandparents. In the November 2007 issue of WIRED magazine, manga critic Jason Thompson took us back to 1963, when Astro Boy first appeared on U.S. television, and 1987, when the first manga made it to U.S. comic stores, to 2002, when the boom really took off. But did you know about the very first manga-influenced comics in America were published all the way back in the 1970s? Do you know the tragic tale of
Raijin Comics, America's first attempt at a weekly manga magazine? Or the unsung dreamers who produced the first translated manga? And you haven't lived until you've experienced the Sailor Moon-meets-hip-hop stylings of
MixxZine!
The Cartoon Art Museum proudly presents an evening with Jason Thompson, manga editor and author. In October, Del Rey released Thompson's
Manga: The Complete Guide, an encyclopedia of 1200+ Japanese comics available in English, most of them reviewed by Thompson himself. Thompson will present an all-new, illustrated presentation on the history of manga in America, with material never before seen in English, followed by a Q&A about the manga market in America, how manga is licensed and edited, and his own experiences in the industry. Thompson will be signing
Manga: The Complete Guide. Other
Manga: The Complete Guide contributors will also be present. Whether you're a manga newbie or a diehard fujoshi or otaku, it'll be a manga-studded evening which will expand your mind like you've been punched by Kenshiro from
Fist of the North Star!About Jason ThompsonJason Thompson has over ten years' experience as a manga editor, producing the English editions of titles such as
The Drifting Classroom, Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dragon Ball Z, Hana-Kimi, One Piece, Shaman King, YuYu Hakusho and
Uzumaki. As the first editor of VIZ Media's SHONEN JUMP magazine, he helped launch Japan's #1 bestselling manga magazine in America. His writings on manga appear regularly in
Otaku USA magazine, and have also appeared in
The Comics Journal, PULP and
Animerica. His webcomic
The Stiff is available at
www.girlamatic.com.