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.