Chat live with Eisner Award-winner Nina Matsumoto on Tuesday, November 24 at 3 PM EST!
Nina first made a splash into the manga scene with a single image she called “Simpsonzu”—an illustration of the entire Simpsons cast, drawn in a manga style. The image caught the attention and imagination of the comics blogosphere—as well as the attention of Bongo Comics. Impressed with Nina’s work, they offered her a position as a penciler for comic book series such as The Simpsons and Futurama.
Del Rey Manga associate publisher Dallas Middaugh also noticed Nina's work and got in touch with her. When she pitched the idea for an original English-language manga about the world of yokai--Japanese spirits--he fell in love with it, and Yokaiden: Volume 1 debuted in Fall 2008 to critical acclaim. It was named in a number of "Best of 2008" lists in the manga and graphic novel communities. Anime News Network named it World Manga of the Month in December 2008, saying, "with a bold sense of line, striking visual designs and clearly defined layouts, this is one made-in-America project that avoids the self-consciousness of 'trying to look like manga' and lets the artist's style speak for itself." And now Yokaiden: Volume 2 will be available in stores next week!
Nina's hard work and her unique, manga-inspired style were recognized at Comic-Con International at San Diego in July 2009, when she won an Eisner Award for best short story for her contribution to The Simpsons' Treehouse of Terror #14, "Murder He Wrote." The story, created along with Ian Boothby and Andrew Pepoy, was a Simpsons parody inspired by the popular thriller manga, Death Note.
Watch Nina's acceptance speech:
In addition to her work on Bongo Comics series and Yokaiden, Nina is the artist of a new manga prequel based on The Last Airbender movie, to be published by Del Rey Manga in 2010.
This is one chat you don't want to miss!
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