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Kodansha Comics to Publish Ghost in the Shell Comic Anthology, Guide Book

Kodansha Comics announced at the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle on Sunday that it will publish a Ghost in the Shell anthology comic book and a Ghost in the Shell guide book.

The comic anthology, titled Ghost in the Shell: Global Neural Network, will be an "international collaboration between Shirow Masamune and Western comics creators." The anthology will include full color-stories featuring Ghost in the Shell characters as drawn by Western creators. Ben Applegate, Associate Director of Publishing Services for Penguin, compared the anthology to Kodansha Comics' Attack on Titan Anthology, where Western comic artists drew their takes on a Japanese-created universe. Applegate noted that Shirow supervised the stories himself. The hardbook anthology is slated for spring 2018.

The guide book, titled Ghost in the Shell README: 1995-2017, will be a guide to the adaptations of the Ghost in the Shell manga, from Mamoru Oshii's 1995 film, to the Hollywood live-action adaptation opening on March 31. Applegate stated that the book will have "a ton of full-color art, interviews, stories from behind the scenes, from all of these brilliant anime adaptations." The book is slated for release in September.

Kodansha Comics' is also collaborating with film poster company Mondo to produce a poster for Ghost in the Shell. Becky Cloonan will draw the poster, and it will be available on March 14 as part of a screening of the film at the Long Center of the Performing Arts in Austin. The poster will also be available on Mondo's website.

Kodansha Comics released deluxe editions of Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 1.5, and Ghost in the Shell 2 manga on February 21. The new release marks the first time that an English release of the series features right-to-left reading format, uncut with the original Japanese sound effects.

Source: Bleeding Cool (link 2) (Bill Watters)