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WoW Insider interviews WoW manga series editor Troy Lewter
One of the most suprising successes of a franchise which includes the Trading Card Game, figures, books and even Mountain Dew is actually the World of Warcraft manga published by TOKYOPOP. Given that the game has actually been shaped by the characters and lore introduced in the manga (and vice versa), I decided it was high time we sat down with series editor Troy Lewter and writer Dan Jolley. We're posting Troy's interview today while the interview with Dan Jolley (who has penned the upcoming Thassarian-centric Warcraft: Death Knight manga) will follow tomorrow.WoW Insider: So Troy, how did you get involved with the Warcraft line of manga? Troy Lewter: My Editor-in-Chief at the time asked me if I would be interested in co-editing the anthology. He actually gave me a choice between Warcraft and StarCraft; I choose Warcraft because I was a big fan of fantasy-type sword and sorcery stories. At the time I knew little about the property, other than millions of people played it (and that South Park made a very funny episode about it). Due to structural changes within the company, by June '08 I suddenly found myself the sole editor for not just the anthologies, but all the Warcraft manga. It's been a huge undertaking, but the greater the challenge, the greater the glory, right? *Wipes away salty tears*
Breakfast Topic: The next Warcraft comic book hero
So I posted a couple days ago about the new Death Knight manga starring the Human Death Knight Thassarian, and it sparked some interesting conversation in the comments. Namely, people started talking about the type of hero they'd like to see in the Warcraft comics. Some complained that the Horde wasn't getting enough representation, some wanted specific races to get the spotlight. I thought it was at least fun to think about, so I thought I'd ask the question straight up: Who would you like to see get front billing in a Warcraft comic storyline or graphic novel?
Death Knight Manga to be released December 2009
Via Blizzplanet, we have news of yet another Warcraft graphic novel coming to us from Tokyopop in December 2009. This time, the story will focus on Thassarian, a Human Death Knight NPC in World of Warcraft. If you've played a Death Knight or an Alliance character in Northrend, chances are you know of Thassarian. He first shows up in game as a thrall of the Lich King, but even as he assists in the slaughter of the Scarlet Crusade, he shows a noble spirit that even the Lich King's control can't completely suppress.
Read Warcraft: Legends for free until March 17th
March 17th marks the release of Volume 3 of the Warcraft: Legends manga series, and Tokyopop is offering a pretty slick deal to build some hype around it. As of March 6th, Tokyopop has started putting the entire series thus far online to read for free, one chapter per day This will last through the 17th when the last chapter of Volume 2 is posted. They will not be putting new chapters up on the weekend, so despite the fact that we were a bit slow to notice this campaign of theirs (sorry!), you haven't missed anything yet. The first chapter is still the only chapter currently available, and another will be going up sometime tomorrow.If you're not familiar with this series, Warcraft: Legends is a series that brings multiple stories from many different authors and artists. It's not one solid story arc like The Sunwell Trilogy (for example), but a number of different stories about the denizens of Azeroth. Each chapter in a volume is a different story, though some of the stories span multiple volumes. Some of them are epic tales that tie into the more famous Azerothian figures (Lich King/Scourge, Richard Knaak's characters), and some of them are just about random Azerothian adventurers getting their adventurin' on. If you don't like one of the stories, odds are that you'll like one of the others.
[UPDATED] Tokyopop Warcraft Manga out today
Not to be confused with the World of Warcraft comics from DC Comics and Wildstorm Studios, Warcraft: Legends from Tokyopop hits the stands today. The four part graphic novel series is a compilation of stories featuring the talents of Richard Knaak and Jae Hwan-Kim -- the creative team behind the Sunwell Trilogy manga -- as well as other tales from Mike Wellman, Dan Jolley, Carlos Olivares, Troy Lewter, and Brian Yang. [UPDATE: Although Tokyopop's site says that the item is available now, clicking on the 'Buy Now' option leads to an Amazon page that says the title will be released on August 12.]Each graphic novel will contain several stories told in parts across different volumes. Knaak and Kim bring an interesting twist to the saga of Trag Highmountain, a character introduced in Warcraft: Shadows of Ice, who returns as an Undead. Other tales include How to Win Friends and Influence People, about an odd Gnome engineer named Lazlo Grindwidget; and An Honest Trade, about Nori Blackfinger, a master weaponsmith who might have sold his wares to the wrong sort. A preview of the comic can be viewed at Tokyopop's site.
WoW Insider at the Comic-Con WoW panel
Blizzard, as well as reps from companies that make Blizzard products (TokyoPop, Upper Deck, Wildstorm) were on hand at Comic-Con in San Diego today to talk about their plans for the rest of the year. Comics, books, sculptures, miniatures, and the trading card game were all discussed and WoW Insider was there to bring you back this report.Wildstorm Comics, makers of the WoW comicsWildstorm kicked off the session by polling the audience on who would like to see a comic title that focus solely on Horde, then solely on Alliance and then pitting the two against each other. As you can imagine, the audience was very happy to hear this. No details were given, but clearly something along these lines is already in the works.
Rumor: Castlevania manga preview reveals existence of Wii game
The Previews magazine product description (as presented on retail website BadgerComics.com) for a new manga based on Castlevania: Curse of Darkness includes a list of the manga's selling points, including planned promotions by Konami and publisher Tokyopop. According to the list, the manga will be: "Cross-promoted with the 2008 video game releases, which include games for the Nintendo Wii and DS (Fall 2008)." The text reads differently in the preview image (seen above), with specific platform references excised. However, it does still read "2008 video game releases."Unless someone at Previews just made a huge typo, not only is there a Wii Castlevania game (as has been rumored many times), but it's coming out this year, along with Order of Ecclesia on the DS. Is it wrong that we kind of hope they're talking about Rondo of Blood on the Virtual Console instead of another 3D game? An original 2D console Castlevania is far too much to expect. We're actually kind of excited about the Curse of Darkness manga on its own merits! Too much Castlevania for our poor hearts to take![Via Wiiz]
Warcraft novel author Richard A. Knaak will be at Blizzcon
Blizzplanet got word from Richard A. Knaak himself that he's going to be at Blizzcon next weekend. Knaak, you may know, is the author of the War of the Ancients series of Warcraft books, as well as the author of other Sci Fi and Fantasy books, including a few books set in the Diablo universe.He'll be hanging at the Tokyopop and Pocket Star books booth showing off their Warcraft Manga book, the Sunwell Trilogy, as well as promoting the upcoming release of the reprint compliation of the WotA trilogy. Knaak's blog also says he's going to be at Comicon this week, if you're in San Diego for that one, and has another interesting little tidbit: apparently the first book of the Sunwell Trilogy has been picked up as an SAT study book. So you can read about Warcraft and study for the SAT at the same time.Anyway, no word on whether Knaak will be actually signing or not, but he seems like a nice enough guy, and will probably be happy to discuss any of the ins and outs of Warcraft lore with you. And if you are going to Blizzcon, don't forget-- we'll be happy to discuss them with you too!Thanks, Chadwick!
Warcraft comic book free to read online
The Warcraft universe is constantly expanding. Trading card games, sound tracks and board games abound. It seems we can't get enough of Azeroth online or off. Blizzard has tried to meet this growing demand is by creating a series of fiction novels and comic books. One of those endeavors is a Korean manga title, Dragon Hunt, the first novel in the Sunwell Trilogy that was published last year.Now, our friends over at the WoW Europe official site have made Dragon Hunt available to read online for free! Every week they are putting up a new chapter. So far there are three chapters to read and I already can't get enough. Head on over, check it out and tell us what you think.
