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Yen Plus and YA Novel Adaptations

I should point out, that not all of their titles are YA. In fact, one of your "Victorian era Britain" titles is NOT YA. Gail Carriger's Blameless (or are they onto Heartless? I know Blameless is coming out in volume form pretty soon) is adult fiction.

Also, if you look at their lists of what they publish, the OEL works are the 2nd shortest list (the shortest is the Manhua). When I got my complimentary subscription from joining their mailing list, half of their monthly offerings were traditional manga, and half were of non-Japanese origin, which I think is a perfectly fine balance.

Finally, the novel-to-graphic novel market is big right now. It's bringing fans of the novels into the graphic novel arena, and bringing fans of manga into the novels. It's a win-win situation, and I can't wait for Way of Shadows to come out, because I'm a huge Brent Weeks fan.

I didn't like them at all until Soulless because the quality has just been crap to me, but Soulless surprised me; I love it.

I don't mind at all they're doing novel adaptions. It's a huge industry in Japan (seriously, look at how many manga/anime are based off books), and I'm not sure of the actual price of adaptions, but they are possibly saving some money with "in house" properties which already have dedicated fan bases. If the books sell, chances are the people who like the books might pick up the comic and vise versa. It's promotion for either the book or the manga, and I'm hoping this is a major success for them because the adaptions can only get better from here on out.

I'm not a fan of the YA selections really, but I was so looking forward to the Clockwork Prince/infernal devices series. Then I saw the artwork and I cringed... a lot. Unfortunately, unlike with Soulless, the art is just too... UGH for me to invest in buying the book, even if I'm a fan of the book series. Infernal Devices is supernatural Victorian steam punk, with pretty boys and the like. If they had a great artist, the comic would have appealed to a huge steampunk niche, but the art was subpart generic manga. Soulless I think has to thank REM for the comic's success. I had read the book years ago when I worked the bookstore and didn't find it that great, but the art on the comic sold the series for me. If Yen Press can find more REMs, I'll happily support these comics.

I guess I really want to see it do well because I, being an illustrator/comic artist, hope for a job with them in the future. I like that REM is a North American artist, versus the Korean ones they usually hire, and that gives me hope for my career's future, even if I never ever bother to send in my portfolio to them. Plus Soulless was for an older, FEMALE audience, written and illustrated by women, so I'm all for supporting ANY comic like that, be it manga or American.

My only complaint with what they do however is they cram way too much into a single volume. One book that was over 150 pages should not equal one graphic novel. The pacing is screwed up, and a lot is left over. Soulless' comic feels a bit rushed because of it, and leaves out a lot of little scenes from the books that contribute towards character development. In comparison with manga adaptions of light novels which they seem to be emulating, one light novel volume which is usually 150 pages (I'm using The Earl and Fairy and Good Witch of the West as examples since I've read both the books and the manga that are adapted from them) typically produces two volumes of manga. It's something I think Yen Press should learn from. It leaves volumes ending on cliff hangers more, and it'd get rid of the horrible rushed feeling I get with their comic adaptions.