Manga giant Kodansha partners with upstart new company AMP to develop comic/manga/anime juggernauts
The leaders in two segments of worldwide comic publishing are teaming up.
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The manga giant Kodansha has entered into a partnership with a new US-based comics publisher called AMP Comics in a plan to develop a cross-platform, international hit - and to do it as a comic strip, a manga, and an anime. No, not one of those. All of those.
Who is AMP Comics? It's a new comic publisher launched this year by former staff of two other comic publishers, Scout Comcis and Red 5. AMP Comics shouldn't be confused with the comics imprint AMP Kids, the publisher of popular comics such as Big Nate and Phoebe and Her Unicorn - and a subsidiary of publishing giant Andrews McMeel..
Kodansha and AMP are taking on this project as part of the annual Script2Comic Contest, a competition run by Motor Content which invites comics writers, screenwriters, and authors to submit works to be chosen by a panel of judges to win one of four prizes that gets your work turned into comics and published.
"This partnership embodies our enduring commitment to discovering new talents in the world of manga and graphic novels," says Kodansha's director of the rights media businss division Yohei Takami. "We believe that this contest offers a unique platform for storytellers to bring their visions to life and potentially reach a global audience. As a leading publisher in Japan, we are excited to see the innovative and inspiring works that will emerge from this collaboration and look forward to bringing the winning entries to readers around the world."
This year's Script2Comic Contest grand prize winner will be made into a comic by Kodansha and published by AMP Comics in the US. Further to that, the resulting comic will be actively developed by Kodansha as either a TV anime or a film anime. Third, Kodansha may, if it chooses, adapt the comic into a manga for publication in Japan and its other territories. The ownership rights situation and pay the winning creators would receive have not been disclosed.
The 2024 Script2Comic contest is accepting submissions now through June 30, 2024 at www.script2comic.com.
[Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified one of the companies involved in this story. We apologise for the error.]Want to know what's coming up next in pop culture? Check out our guides to upcoming movies, upcoming TV shows, upcoming comics, and upcoming comic conventions. If you're looking for specific franchises or genres, we have all the upcoming MCU, upcoming Star Wars, upcoming Star Trek, and upcoming DC movies & TV for you. If you're a fan of superheroes and not specific to just Marvel or DC, we have overall guides to all the upcoming superhero movies and upcoming superhero TV shows (and new seasons) as well.
