Official Press Release

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Viz Communications, Inc. today

announced the cancellation of PULP: The Manga Magazine. Following an

announcement in the magazine's latest issue (May, Vol. 6, No. 5) that said

the final edition would be the August issue (Vol. 6, No. 8), which hits

stands in July, Viz provided further details regarding the cancellation and

what readers can expect.

Despite critical acclaim (PULP's Uzumaki is nominated for an Eisner this

year for "Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material"), Viz confirmed that the

cancellation is a result of low sales and it is no longer fiscally viable to

continue the publication of the magazine. PULP was the first

English-language magazine to run the kind of manga that make comics a mass

medium for ordinary adults in Japan, from dynamic action narratives to

avant-garde ventures, when it debuted in December 1997. With innovative

editorial features; film, book and music reviews; and columns on Japanese

culture, PULP offered readers a Japanese comics contrast to both the

superhero genre that typifies American comics and the stereotypical

"anime-esque" manga often offered to U.S. readers, by introducing

sophisticated manga series such as Bakune Young, Banana Fish, Dance Till

Tomorrow, Even A Monkey Can Draw Manga, Junko Mizuno's Cinderalla, Short

Cuts and Uzumaki, all which currently run in the monthly magazine.

Even with the magazine's cancellation, Viz will continue to publish each

serialized series in alternate formats. Bakune Young, Junko Mizuno's

Cinderalla and Uzumaki will conclude in the remaining issues of the

magazine, as well as continue in graphic novel format, while Banana Fish

will move to PULP's sister magazine, Animerica EXTRA. The remaining serials

will be published in straight-to-graphic-novel format, with Dance Till

Tomorrow concluding in Volume 6 and 7 of the graphic novel edition of the

series, Short Cuts debuting in graphic novel format in June (to be followed

by a second and final volume), Junko Mizuno's Cinderalla debuting in a full

color single-issue in July and the first Even A Monkey Can Draw Manga

release by the end of the year. In addition, Viz will continue its

commitment to putting out the best in sophisticated manga by releasing new

PULP-type manga in graphic novel format, including titles like No. 5 and

Phoenix: A Tale of the Future.

To round out its remaining issues, PULP editors have planned special

features for its fans. The June issue (Vol. 6, No. 6) will include an

excerpt from Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix: A Tale of the Future, which the author

composed over a span of decades and considered to be his "life's work"; the

July issue (Vol. 6, No. 7), a previously unseen, original story from the

July graphic novel release of Junko Mizuno's Cinderalla; and the final

August issue (Vol. 6, No. 8), a special entitled "Manga Hell" that profiles

and features excerpts from the worst, weirdest, most outrageous manga that

no one would ever dare translate, let alone publish!

Upon the completion of the magazine's final issue, subscriptions will

automatically be transferred to Animerica EXTRA, a monthly manga anthology

featuring shôjo (girls' comics) titles, for the remainder of the paid PULP

subscription. However, should PULP subscribers not wish to have their

subscription transferred, they can call 1-800-394-3042 weekdays between the

hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. PST to receive credit for the balance of their

subscription. Credit can be issued for the Viz Shop-By-Mail store or as a

complete refund for the balance of the subscription.