{"id":5362,"date":"2010-03-09T03:19:17","date_gmt":"2010-03-09T08:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/comics212.net\/?p=5362"},"modified":"2010-03-09T12:41:52","modified_gmt":"2010-03-09T17:41:52","slug":"matt-thorn-to-edit-curate-new-manga-line-for-fantagraphics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/comics212.net\/?p=5362","title":{"rendered":"Matt Thorn To Edit, Curate, New Manga Line for Fantagraphics"},"content":{"rendered":"

All of the most carefully embargoed secrets can be lain to waste by one unexpected early listing on Amazon.com, and that’s exactly what happened today. Early this afternoon Fantagraphics quickly announced that they would be publishing a new line of manga in partnership with Shogakukan, edited and curated by Matt Thorn and debuting with an anthology of work by acclaimed mangaka Moto Hagio. Thorn is well-known and respected for his long history of academic and popular writing on manga and anime, and particularly shoujo and queer material.<\/p>\n

Reportedly four years in the making, the line is currently very vaguely defined as simply “a manga line” (no brand either), but the early titles and Thorn’s involvement with Fantagraphics seems to hint at a primarily shoujo-oriented line comprised of mature and sophisticated works, or at least early and groundbreaking ones. The four year date also hints that the development of this line began even before the release of Fantagraphics’ The Comics Journal #269 <\/em>in 2007, the special shoujo issue which featured a short story by and interview with Hagio.\u00a0Edit: I got the date wrong, TCJ #269 shipped in July 2005<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

When Dirk Deppey broke the news at Journalista this afternoon<\/a>, the confirmation drew immediate, elated results<\/a> across the blogosphere… and this was before there was even an official press release. Even editor Matt Thorn seems to have found out about it<\/a> from the online kerfuffle. But now that the cat is out of the bag, here are all the details I’ve been able to round up.<\/p>\n

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Cover to A Drunken Dream, by Moto Hagio. Fantagraphics Edition, September 2010.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to the Press Release from Fantagraphics, the line will officially launch in September 2010 with Moto Hagio’s A Drunken Dream<\/em>, a best-of collection featuring a number of short stories from across Hagio’s career. Fantagraphics also announced that Hagio would be a Guest of Honor at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con (coming in late July), so it seems likely that the book will actually debut there along with her appearance (though this is entirely supposition on my part). Over at his blog, Matt Thorn filled in a little more information about the line-up of the short stories in A Drunken Dream<\/em>:<\/p>\n