Report from Leipzig Manga-Comic-Con 2018

Some weeks ago, I visited one of Germany's biggest comics event, Leipzig Manga-Comic-Con, which has since a couple of years ago been a part of the huuuge Leipzig Book Fair in the middle/end of March. The German manga scene has grown steadily for the past two decades and dominates the comics part of the fair. Here's my report from the event and as always I include some cool artists I met there and tips for you who might think of going there to sell your own comics and art!

This is the map for the enormous Leipziger Messe. 

The comics and manga part was in one of the five halls. The rest is the book fair...!

Inbetween the halls was a glass hallway which was so big I bet you could fit a commercial airline in there, or two. This was where a lot of the food courts where and naturally the cosplayers too because of the sunlight, good for photos!

Here's a part of the MCC hall. So many people!

Now I want to show you the German manga publishers. Lets start with the three biggest: Carlsen Manga, Egmont Manga and Tokyopop. 

These three manga publishers is behind the majority of the manga that is published in Germany. All of them also have their own German manga artists, whom are seen as an asset to their publishers as they have their own big fanbases and the publishers own the International rights and can sell licenses for their mangas. This was clearly show as both Egmont Manga showed of Niloo's debut manga Mein erste Mal and Tokyopop showed off Anna Backhausen and Sophie Shönhammer's manga Sternen sammler. 

Two publishers with roots in other countries that has established themselves on the German manga market: Panini Comics from Italy and Kazé Manga from France. 

Both of these only publish imported Japanese manga and don't publish German artists, yet. Panini Comics also publishes other comics besides manga.

Among the newer publishers are Pyramond, focusing on Non-Japanese manga and comics by Non-Japanese artists but with a Japanese aesthetical inspiration, and it is going very well! Another proof that that the German manga market have matured enough so that the prejudice about who can and can not make manga is irrelevant.

Pyramond is also my publisher of my mangas Sword Princess Amaltea and Mjau!.  

Altraverse is a new publisher with the former Tokyopop chief editor Joachim Kaps at the wheel, focusing on importing Japanese manga. 

There are also several smaller publishers, mostly aimed at self-publishing or certain themes (a lot of BL at some of them). Here's some:

Delfinium Prints, publisher of David Füleki's seinen mangas.

Schwarzer Turm, selling mostly German made comics, not just manga.

Several manga and comic artists had their own booths at the fair, so let me introduce you to some of them:

Désirée Kunstmann and Nana Yaa, two amazing manga artists mostly self-publishing but also published with publishers. Désirée at Delfinium Prints and Nana at Tokyopop. Nana is also part of the American Tokyopop initiative "International Women of Manga" that I'm also a part of.

CKJohnson and Sabrina Ehnert, two super talented illustrators. Sabrina's  children's book Friedwalds grose Reise was of course in my bag on the way home. Signed. 

The twins Gin Zarbo and Ban Zarbo, super cool and skilled manga artists and also part of Tokyopop's "International Women of Manga" with Nana and I.

German-Japanese Mikiko Ponczeck, now living in London (I met her at last years London Comic Con too). She makes a living drawing manga full time, partly thanks to her webcomics on Tapas. 

One part of the fair is called MCC Kreativ, and this is their Artist Alley. A bit cheaper than a booth.

One of the super cool artists I met in the MCC Kreativ is PearsFears, who also make webcomics. Mostly BL, which is super popular in Germany, so she was not alone. 

In the middle of the comics and manga part of Leipzig MCC, this stage was the drinking spot for everyone thirsty for the news withing the German manga scene. Publishers had booked time slots on stage and presented their newest books.

My publisher Christian Allmann presenting the upcoming titles at Pyramond, among others my own kitten manga Mjau!.

Going back to Germany is for me like meeting relatives that lives far away. This is my second big event in the country since DoKomi in 2015 and I have made so many friends online since then that I was elated to meet in person. Some of them have become really close friends like Marika Herzog, whom joined me for the Italian event FumettoPolis last year.

Marika (cosplaying from YOI) and I. 

Some artists I have mostly admired on a distance, like Reyhan Yildirim, one of my "artist-crushes". This time I was brave enough to talk to her and got one of her mangas signed. Yaaay!!

To be able to meet all these amazing and kind artists that I have followed for so many years, and to hang out with them in the evenings too, it was a dream come true! ❤

Last but not least, this event was the pre-release of Sword Princess Amaltea vol. 1 in Germany, and thus marks another step in my career. I signed so many books (thank you everyone for buying it!!) and feel so honored to be part of this flourishing and high-quality manga scene.

My manga in German!!!! <3 Thank you @pyramond !!! <3 #mangaka #germanmanga #mangabook #mangaart #mangaartist #published #swordprincessamaltea #princess #genderflipped #matriachy #girlpower #womencan

Ett inlägg delat av Natalia Batista, mangaka (@nataliasmanga) 16 Mar 2018 kl. 8:49 PDT

Besides the snow storms covering the city in an almost Arctic aura, this trip was a well needed boost for me as a Swedish manga artist and fan. In Sweden, last year was the first year since the end of the 90'ies where no Japanese manga was published in Sweden. No publishers dare to put in the effort anymore. I could write a whole blog entry about it, but in short; the editors at the big comic publishers in Sweden are either not interested or not knowledged enough to do the job. Plus the kids here are too good at reading English (and the American manga distributors reach us well). So for me, seeing how the German publishers put money and time into manga, and get rewarded likewise, makes me both happy and envious. They prove that manga was not just a fad. Maybe this is where the Swedish manga publishers would have been if they wouldn't have given up that easily.

Oh, well.

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Last but not least, here's my tips for you who want to go sell at Leipzig MCC (based on my experiences of the fair):

• Cash Is King in Germany, so bring lots of change, in Euro of course. Most people seem to want to pay in cash, but the most common alternative seem to be PayPal so make sure you have that too.
• Book the tables waaaay in advance. The MCC Kreative seemed to have some issues with tables going fast or something, which was partly why so many artists had their own booths.
• Book hotels and traveling tickets early too. I went by train, which was not as awefull as some seem to think. Took 10 hours from Sweden but I only payed 200 euro for the tickets (both ways included).
• Fanart was apparently an issue, I heard, they discuss how much should be allowed. Check the rules before you apply, if you are a fanartist.
• Manga, webstyles and fiction or funny cartoons seemed to be the dominating part of the artists selling, so that might be something to keep in mind.

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✱ Thank you so much for reading! ✱

I'm dooooone!! (almost)

Yesterday, I finished inking the 161th page, which is the last one in book 1 of Sword Princess Amaltea. Yaaay for me!!
Now I just have to text and screentone like hell to meet the deadline, but as things are going according to keikaku (=plan), I know I will make it!

Here's a sneak peek from the book. And no, I won't tell you what's going to happend, haha. You'll all have to wait till September when the Swedish book is out.

Oh, right, there's some big news aswell!
Sword Princess Amaltea will be published in the Italian online manga magazine Doreaetos Manga!
I'm looking forward to hearing from Italian artists and readers about what they think of the manga~

Right now, I'm mentally preparing for the trip to Japan next week, to participate in the drawing tournament Robopic, courtesy of Baron Yoshimoto.
I have also, as I mentioned in my last entry, tried to get some meetings with manga editors while I'm there, and so far I have not only one but two meetings  booked! This is so exciting!!

To finish this energetic blog entry off, let's show the latest issue of Banzai, that just arrived from Portugal!

It's so fun to read your own manga in another language! My kittens from Mjau! is really learning that language so fast~ *proud mother*

Thank you for reading, and hope you get an awesome weekend!
The weather is way too nice to sit inside, so I will catch some sun and beach before returning to work again. See ya'!

Teaching, PRAO and a new project

Long time no see!
Sorry for the one month silence here... Well, life have been busy and I wanted to get rid off some stuff on my table. Here's a report on what I've been up to!

Two weeks ago, I was teaching at Serieskolan in Malmö for the first year students, about how to build a story.
It was very fitting, since I just recently finished John Truby's The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller, a very good book on how to tell a story with natural and organic storytelling. I read it because since I started sending in my mangas to the Japanese manga magazine Ribbon, I have wanted to evolve my storytelling (since that was one of the main problems my stories had).

So my week with the students at Serieskolan was aslo a perfect chance for me to repeat the ideas of Mr. Truby in my own mind, and see them in use.
We also talked about visual storytelling; how to construct a picture and how the reader reacts to a picture or sequence of pictures. I recommend Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics to get knowledge on visual storytelling and comic perception.

The week after, I had a PRAO (an intern) here at my studio at home. She was nice, working hard on her own project and practicing drawing wolves. Rawr!


And now, I have started working on a new project. Like before, this will be a Ribbon manga entry, but also a short story in Nosebleed Studio's next anthology!
I don't want to spoil too much, but as Ribbon editors have suggested I do something more Swedish this time, and because Nosebleed Studio's next anthology will be a Swedish-themed, this story will play out in the Swedish countryside during the shojo-manga-esque traditional Midsummer Eve. Flower crowns, nice dresses and the romantic feeling in the air will be perfect for a Ribbon manga entry, don't you think?

Here's some quick sketches I did of the main character, Julia. Oh, and her childhood friend Dennis as well.

I've just finished the layout sketches and will probably start drawing any day soon. I look forward to it!!

A Sword Princess Tale, my longer project, is also developing nicely. I have a Swedish and a Danish comic publisher on the line and they are both interested in publishing it next year. Because I don't want to get too hasty, I won't reveal  names before contracts are written, but it is surely looking good right now!
Some things should not be rushed.

Oh, and now some shameless advertisement!

Nosebleed Studio is having a December Sale on our webshop!  
Our anthologies Seaside Stories and 5 Years Jubilee Anthology are both 10% off, and also the Deluxe Set is on sale!
Here's a perfect chance for you to get an awesome and uique X-mas present for someone, save some money and also help us fund our future projects!
Please, check it out!

~*~*~*~ Happy Holiday Everyone! ~*~*~*~

New York Comic Con Report!

Wow, long time no see! A month since I last wrote here, and that's because I've been quite busy... With everything else than making comics, sadly. Still enjoyable stuff though, so here's a HUGE report!

In September I was teaching comics art and visual storytelling at Malmö University again, thanks to Gunnar Krantz - my ex-teacher from Malmö Serieskola (Comic Art School). It was fun and this time I had the chance to go through more than the basics, which was nice.
The course was Serieteckning och visuellt berättande if you are interested in taking it. It's in Swedish but there's also an English one every Spring called Comics, International Perspectives.

Ok, now over to what I've done in October!

Guess where I have been off to?

Me and my boyfriend Emil went to the US of A! More precisely New York City, for their yearly New York Comic Con! It's the second biggest comic convention in the US, the San Diego Comic Con being the biggest.

Why New York? Because I have wanted to see these. You don't find this in Sweden, and the Big Apple is such an interesting and energetic city. It's not really an American city as much as it is an International city, especially Manhattan (where we hanged out most of the time).

 

The food. Oh, the food.

These huge pancakes (pobably more than 20 cm in diameter each) was our breakfast. Twice, and then we realized it would actually kill our stomachs...

Thursday was the "Professionals and VIP's only" day! So after standing in this line for one hour we finally eneter the huge convention center.

Huge. ((This word pretty much describes most things we experienced in the US))

Powaaaah!!

Back to the future!

  All the big videogame and comic companies was there. Big booths, a lot of "booth babes" (both female and male ones) and cool sculputers, life size models, figurines in glass cabinets... So much to see!!

These historical originals was displayed for the charity auction, check out the starting bid!

Also, there was a lot of shops and smaller companies and studio's there, selling all from nerdy T-shirst and self-published comics to steampunk stuff and small production toys.

Yes, a steampunk keyboard...!

 Lego also had a booth, with awesome models like these of Gandalf and Bildo. They're smart, they know their audience is not only young kinds but old kids as well!

We had to check out the Artist Alley, which was in it's own big hall. So many fantastic artists! Most into the American comics style, but also some into manga and more European styles. Mike Mignola had a table, which just shows the level of artists there. Some where more green though, and the diversity was appealing. So inspiring!

I usually don't buy prints, but since some of the artists was so freaking amasing, I just had to. I think we spent more than 100 dollar on prints alone!

I also took the chance to talk to editors at Yen Press (yes, I know, I'm a workaholic!) and their great and insightful feedback made me change a lot of my agendas and plans. They where harsh and honest, which I love!! Hopefully a collaboration in the future, a great contact!

The next day, we went for a walk in Central Park. Here's the statue of the sled dog Balto, who aslo got his own animated movie, remember? 

Even the squirrels were huge! And cute~

 We stopped by the Natural History Museum and checked out the space exhibition and the dinosaur skelettons!

HUGE!

 

Saturday, and back at Comic Con. If we ever though it was packed on Thursday, this was HELL. So much people it took us 3 times longer to get anywhere. 

A lot of awesome cosplayers and people dressed up for the costume contest.

So... much... people...

The Artist Alley, a little more packed, huh?

The Javits Center (where Comic Con was held) from the outside. Um... huge?

 On Sunday we had the chance to check out Midtown and Downtown, and especially the shops we had maked on the map before the trip. Among them was Forbidden Planet on Broadway and Midtown Comics at Times Square. Both have a lot of comics and figurines and made me even more poor...
We also went to Chinatown, Financial district and walked along the High Line, a former train bridge that was turned into a floating park along the West side of Midtown. 
We walked a lot... I meassured on the map, and we went like 60 km all 6 days! O_O

Monday was return day, but we still had the chance to go on a visit to Parsons New School of Design thanks to my friend Dinah (the same Dinah that helped me back when I got my contract on Ein Lied für Elise with TOKYOPOP back in 2010). It was interesting to go there, see the school and participate in a lesson.

Wow, a trip I will remember and that mattered a lot to me. Tired and dirty we returned home to Sweden.
Feels like this trip was like a piece of the puzzle of my life, put in the right spot and made things a little clearer. 

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Now some tips for you who think of going to NYCC any time in the future:

1. Book a hotel on Manhattan, as close to NYCC as possible. The island is HUGE and walking in the city makes your feet hurt... Bring good shoes as well!
2. Make sure you have the ESTA (a traveling visa you have to apply for at least 3 days before your trip). The Americans are super duper careful, scanning every inch. And don't lock your bag, they have to be able to check it if they want to.
3. If you are a librarian, artist, game developer, publisher or any other professional, apply for the NYCC Professional Pass at least 2 months before the trip. It's so much cheaper, plus you get entrance to the Show room at Thursday, which is the only day you actually can breathe in there.
4. Do a lot of planning before the trip! Check the Internet for shops and restaurants and attractions you wanna go see. Print out maps, mark the shops and restaurants and always have the addresses written down. Did I mention that the city is HUGE? People are helpful though, so as long as you have a map and an address you'll manage.