Abrams ComicArts is launching a new imprint, Kana, that will include both manga and manga-inspired French graphic novels, Publishers Weekly reports. Plans call for between 40 and 60 releases per year, and the list will focus on properties for adults, eschewing the teen-friendly shonen and shoujo titles that are the backbone of the market at the moment. The Kana titles will be high quality paperbacks printed on good paper with the first signature in color, and the imprint will include both classic and contemporary titles as well as art books by manga creators. “Kana will tap into the older market, as millennial readers, and Gen Z, will continue to age up and will want to find titles to fit their growing tastes,” Abrams Vice President and Publisher Adolphe Lachat, who will helm the new division, told PW.
The publisher announced six upcoming titles, three manga and three French: Leviathan, a three-volume sci-fi tale by Shiro Kuroi; Manhole, a three-volume horror/murder mystery by Tetsuya Tsutsui; Eden of Witches, an ongoing series fantasy series by Yumeji; Scars, by Brandon Arias; Silence, a shonen-style action series by Yoann Vorniere; and Space Punch, by ZD, an action series about two brothers, one strait-laced, one a slacker, whose lives are changed by magical artifacts. The three Japanese titles were published in French by the Paris-based independent manga publisher Ki-oon.
Abrams is owned by the Belgian firm Média-Participations. Abrams ComicArts recently became a separate division (see “Abrams ComicArts to Go from Imprint to Division”).
Source: ICv2
