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Publishers, Creators, Writers React to Apple iPad

The About.com website's Manga section posted the reactions of several publishers and comic creators to the unveiling of Apple's iPad portable media device. Gonzalo Ferreyra (Viz Media Vice President, Sales & Marketing), Michelle Mauk (Digital Manga Publishing Graphics and Marketing Manager), and Marco Pavia (Tokyopop Associate Publisher) were enthusiastic about the prospects for comics on the device's 9.7-inch color display. Ferreyra noted that Viz has to address global licensing issues due to its relationship to Japanese licensors. Mauk pointed out that DMP already released manga and novels in eReader format, on the Amazon Kindle e-book reader, and on the Apple iPhone. Yaoi Press Publisher Yamila Abraham expressed more caution due to the rejection of "Zesty, our tamest graphic novel, without citing a reason," by Apple's iTunes Store.

Comic creator Maximo Lorenzo (OHKO: One Hit Knock-Out, Bombos vs. Everything) urges the adoption of the anthology magazine format and multimedia extras in iPad comics. (iPad does not support Adobe Flash technology for multimedia, but it does support the emerging HTML5 standard that enables content comparable to Flash.) Other comic and industry figures weigh in on the iPad's user experience and market.