“IN MAPS & LEGENDS” a Zuda.com Finalist!

So it’s been a little while now since we stopped updating here at Deutsche Mangaka, but we haven’t been sitting still!

I (Niki/Elae) have been busy working on breaking into the comics scene myself. And now, I’m one giant step closer! But I need your help.

Read the monthly Zuda competition that DC Comics runs? It’s a webcomic competition, with 10 finalists each month, and the people who visit the site vote for which comic will take 1st place and get an ongoing contract from DC.

A few months ago I teamed up with writer Michael Jasper and we put together an entry… last week we found out we were chosen to take part in this month’s competition! :D

If you want to help out, just do the following:
(If you’re confused by the instructions, I put a how-to graphic on my site )

1. Register on ZudaComics.com
2. Verify the account via your email.
3. Sign into ZudaComics.com and select “IN MAPS & LEGENDS”
4. Read the comic! :)
5. To the right of the comic, please press the VOTE button, rate the comic five stars and ‘add as favorite.’ The vote is by far the most important of these three things. (You can also add a nice comment if you want~)
6. Have your friends do the same before the end of November.

And that’s it! I can’t say thank you enough if you choose to help us out.

Even if you don’t vote for us, be sure to check out the contest. Zuda puts up some really interesting stories each month, and it’s a great chance to see what’s popular with readers and why. And spread the word!

Vote! Tokyopop RSOM8

Time for some very unabashed pimping!

I’m a finalist in Tokyopop USA’s Rising Stars of Manga 8! There are 21 finalists, only 8 genre winners, and 1 People’s Choice winner!
Voting went up last night, and you can take part by voting here! Voting will be open March 7 – 14.
There’s no need to register; all you need is an email address.

My entry is Crabapple Crush, a 16 page romance/drama.
Please vote if you like it!

– Niki (“Elae”, main blog writer here at Deutsche Mangaka)

Daisuki and Carlsen Manga newsletters

The new issue of Daisuki is out, and in it you can find an interesting  report about Julia Briemle, one of 16 students at Hamburg’s Animation School on her way to becoming a professional comic artist. If you always wondered how a comic page is made, what skills you should pick up in school, how to apply and what a comic student’s everyday life is like, pick up a copy!

Carlsen’s free Manga Preview magazine is definitely worth picking up, this issue contains an exclusive short manga by Olga Rogalski (Triple Witching Hour, Strike Back).

There’s also a lot of opportunities to meet the Carlsen and Chibi mangaka:

Tina Lindhorst (Drachenschnee) will be at Manga-Mania in Berlin’s shopping center “Das Schloss” on August 4th.
Nam and Tram Nguyen (Delilah’s Mystery) will be signing in the Schlapp bookstore in Aschaffenburg on August 11. The “Manga-Event” starts at 12pm, offers much more than just the signing, and entrance is free!
Stella Brander (Idol) is going to be at some of the Mayersche bookstores in Nordrhein-Westfalen. On Friday, August 17, she will be signing from 4 to 9pm in Cologne’s Mayersche, on Saturday, August 18, it’s Bochum’s Mayersche from 1 to 5pm, and on Saturday, August 25, you can meet Stella in Dortmund’s Mayersche from 1 to 5pm.
Martina Peters (K-A-E, E-motional), Olga Rogalski (Strike Back, Triple Witching Hour) and Christian Pick (Kensei) will be signing freshly printed Chibis in Cologen’s Mayersche bookstore from 2 to 4pm.

BL Update

US Publisher YaoiPress mentioned in a recent blog post that there had been plans for a licensed-from-Germany work to be released stateside this November, but that the publishers fell through, and any releases will have to be delayed.

Meanwhile, German BL publisher The Wild Side is looking into branching out and becoming a general publisher, with an emphasis on more mature subjects. They’re currently welcoming new submissions.

The Wild Side has decided to do some branching out. Aside from Yaoi and Shounen Ai we also want to publish mangas with other adult oriented themes like Shounen, Horror, Thriller, Action and so on. The stories should be mature and well thought out, sex is optional.

EMA & Butter & Cream – Events

EMA – Meet Your Mangaka!

10/07/2006 ~11:30am
Signing with Alexandra Völker (Cat Walk)
Buchhandlung Matthias
Bäckerstraße 56
31785 Hameln

10/14 and 10/15 /2006
Honored Guests at J-Con, with a signing
Alexandra Völker (Cat Walk) and Gina Wetzel (Orcus Star)
Stadthalle Merzig
An der Stadthalle
66663 Merzig

10/21/2006 12pm
Signing with Alexandra Völker (Cat Walk)
Buchhandlung Niehörster
Brackeler Hellweg 130a
44309 Dortmund

10/27/2006 3pm
Signing with Sascha Schätzchen (Without Identity)
Buchhandlung Grauert GmbH
Konrad-Adenauer-Platz 14
40210 Düsseldorf

—

Butter and Cream – publisher of Fahr Sindram’s Losing Neverland (shota-esque BL)

On October 13th and 14th, there will be signing sessions by Fahr Sindram at Neo Tokyo Berlin (Schönhauser Allee 188). Fahr will be signing con books, posters, and autograph cards.
10/13/2006 – 12-7pm
10/14/2006 – 12-4pm

Matching this event, Gan-Shin (publisher of J-rock CDs in Germany) is hosting a Losing Neverland (Lolita) Cosplay Contest. To take part, you have to cosplay either influenced by LN, or depicts one of the characters. The contest starts on Saturday at 2pm. The judges will be Fahr Sindram and Werner Kolbeck.

Prizes:
First Place: A CD from Gan-Shin and a LN-Packet (signed manga, poster and autograph card)
Second and Third Places: A CD from Gan-Shin and an autograph card

On October 29th, 2006 (12-3pm), Fahr Sindram is having a signing on the Sammlerboerse NRW – UNNA.

Fireangels submission update

Fireangels Verlag has decided to slim down the number of anthologies they’ll be putting out… Anyone who was interested in submitting should glance at these new deadlines & guidelines.
Rather than do themed anthologies, future volumes from Fireangels will be seperated by whether they’re BL or yuri. There hasn’t been enough interest in non-yaoi/yuri works for Fireangels to set a deadline for an anthology that wouldn’t be either of the two.
Current plans are for Lime Law to be released three times a year (the below “yaoi III” will be volume two, and “yaoi IV” will be volume three, etc). Yaoi 18+ (Lemon Law) will be released twice a year, and the yuri anthology (Lily) will be the same, if they get enough submissions.

Links will take you to bilingual guidelines posted on the Fireangels Verlag’s livejournal.

* December, 15st, 2006 YAOI III – “Man” meets Man, SciFi, Surreal/Supernatural
* short manga and stories (can be illustrated), BL

* February, 1st, 2007 Yaoi 18+
* short manga and (can be illustrated) stories, Yaoi

* May, 1st, 2007 YAOI IV – Fairy-Tales, Fantasy
* short manga and stories (can be illustrated), BL

* July, 1st, 2007 YURI III – Fairy-Tales, Fantasy, SciFi, Surreal/Supernatural, Other
* short manga and stories (can be illustrated), Yuri

Schwarzer Turm – Paper Theatre v1 – 4/4

Paper Theatre is a quarterly anthology published by Schwarzer Turm. All of the works contained within it are original German stories. These previews are taken from a pdf available for download on Schwarzer Turm’s homepage.

Related
Story & Art by Melanie Foehles

Related
Life could be so easy for Chill – until she falls in love for the first time… with her best friend’s boyfriend! Torn between loyalty and heartache, Chill makes her decision. Which? That you will learn in “Paper Theatre” 1!  From Melanie Foehles / Little Minx.

—

How could this happen?

I never would have believed it could happen.  Everything was so easy, so uncomplicated…
But now…?

It hurts so much.

*Badum*
*Shake*
*Badum*

Magic Cap

“Magic Cap” is about a small boy, Zimt (Cinammon), who gets gets a cap with magic powers from a mysterious fairy.  But his new power taints his character, and drives a wedge between him and his friends. OMG! What will he do?  From the Royal Walchs.

—

*Blah blah blah*
*chatter*
*Blub*

Hey, you asshole!
You told me I was allowed to eat your sandwich!
Don’t fight!

Hm?

Myam~ <3

Lilium Candidium
by Elyon Sommer

Lilium Candidum
A young man has trouble… real trouble. He’s been dragging himself through life for weeks, taking no pleasure from it.  When he meets this young, hip girl, he seems to bloom.  But the looks can be deceiving…  from Elyon Sommer / Hyade

—

It’s November…
The month of the dead.
The fits of depression are especially strong.

On days like this…
I don’t want to wake up in the first place…

Schwarzer Turm – Paper Theatre v1 – 3/4

Paper Theatre is a quarterly anthology published by Schwarzer Turm. All of the works contained within it are original German stories. These previews are taken from a pdf available for download on Schwarzer Turm’s homepage.

Ultima Ratio
He looks stunning and all girls fawn at his feet, but he has eyes only for himself. To preserve his beauty from the workings of time, the young Narcissus takes a desperate step… From Caroline Sander / Shu.

Ultima Ratio
From Caroline Sander

—

My first great love… then… now… and for all time…

…that’s me!

Stupid Story
Anna Hollmann

Stupid Story
As a new student at school, Yanik wants to start over completely so he won’t be labeled an outsider anymore – unfortunately, his efforts are in vain. On top of everything else, he meets the school heart-throb, Alan… and his life turns into a catastrophe! From Anna Hollmann / Cross.

—

My first day at this school.
This time I’ll do everything right!
For the first time, I will behave differently, and then I’ll probably make lots of friends…
…finally!

…never an outsider again…

Hasenherz [a saying that basically means “coward”, but literally means hare heart]

Hasenherz
A moving love drama about a pair of bunnies, told without words by artist Judith Lamberger / Jixelqueen! Heart-wrenching!

Schwarzer Turm – Paper Theatre 1 – 2/4

Paper Theatre is a quarterly anthology published by Schwarzer Turm.  All of the works contained within it are original German stories. These previews are taken from a pdf available for download on Schwarzer Turm’s homepage.

One Eighty

One Eighty
Lars has admired his classmate Andrew for a long time.  They get to know each other better on a class trip to the alps. As if Lars’ shyness weren’t enough of a problem already, the pushy Kathy stands between the two boys… From Simone Xie / Luriel_X.

—

I’ve always liked class trips.
You can get to know your fellow students better…

And the atmosphere is generally much more easy-going than in school.
Andrew, it’s your turn!
Okay!

*whistle*

And I already know who I want to get to know better!

Let’s go!

Bratbaer Alexander (…frybear)
“That stupid Bratbaer… I have to roll my eyes whenever I see that guy.  I stare at a wall so I don’t have to look at him…
I H-A-T-E him.”
From Kageko.

Bratbaer Alexander

—

Hmm…

What’s keeping him?
*Blah*

*blahblahblah*

Hii?

One Day

One Day
Rena’s world is shattered one day when her boyfriend breaks up with her. A rescue from her misery is closer than she thinks… From Natalie Wormsbecher / Menolly. [author of Summer Rain, from Tokyopop.de]

—

One day, Leon broke up with me.

What?
But why?!

…
Too short…
?!

I’m too short?!
Bullshit!
I’m taller than most girls here!

Man!
Shut up!
That’s not what I mean!
Then what -do- you mean?!

Nina Werner signing

From CarlsenComics:

Nina Werner (author of Jibun-Jishin) signing
October 14 in Offenbach

Nina Werner will be giving autographs on 10/14/2006, between 2 and 3pm. The session will take place in the bookstore Gondrom, Waldstraße 1-3 in 63065 Offenbach!