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Dark Horse Founder, Eisner Award Judge Interviewed
posted on by Egan Loo
The ICv2 retail trade website interviews Mike Richardson, the founder of the American comic publisher Dark Horse, on his company's impact on the American comic book industry. The second of the interview's three parts discusses the companies' history with manga in general and shōjo manga in particular. Richardson highlights the company's two-decade-long approach to manga licensing, with its emphasis on developing relationships with prestigious creators such as Katsuhiro Ōtomo, Masamune Shirow, Yasuhiro Nightow, Kazuo Koike, and most recently, CLAMP. Richardson notes that his company was one of the publishers that pursued the license to Natsuki Takaya's Fruits Basket manga; the Japanese publisher Hakusensha ultimately licensed the manga to Tokyopop.
Separately, the Blookslut website interviews Robin Brenner, a librarian and recent Eisner Award judge who published a book called Understanding Manga and Anime last June. She discusses the unique aspects of manga that are inherent to its Japanese target audience. She also discusses the issues that librarians and others face when trying to introduce manga, particularly with the differing cultural mores on violence, sexism, and other issues.
