Part of manga's appeal, Mr. Griepp suggested, can also be attributed to the country's acceptance of Japanese pop culture in anime, video games and films. He said that manga sales were $50 million to $60 million in 2002, and climbed to $90 million to $110 million in 2003. This year showed "strong double-digit growth," he added.
The American pioneers of manga publishing are Viz and Tokyopop, but the boom in sales has attracted a new wave of publishers, including Del Rey, Hyperion Books for Children and Penguin Group USA.
In the comics business Dark Horse already publishes manga, and DC Comics has just entered the field. "There's going to be something like 1,000 trade paperback volumes being released this year," Mr. Griepp said.
Penguin Group USA formed a three-year partnership with the Los Angeles-based Digital Manga and plans to publish 8 to 10 titles in the spring. Doug Whiteman, the president of Penguin Young Readers Group, said that deciding to publish manga was easy. "We publishers are always looking for ways to grow," he said. "When we find something that strikes a chord with a very broad section of today's children, we feel compelled to take our publishing in that direction." Mr. Whiteman said that manga titles aimed at girls would make up 75 percent of the initial titles.
Girl Power Fuels Manga Boom in U.S.[nytimes.com]
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