And as Asumi looks up to the skies to see the stars, her latest volume will go on sale at America’s largest collection of comic all-stars, San Diego Comic-Con.  This week Vertical will return to Southern California with a full compliment of manga titles. Their event will reach its climax Friday night as two Vertical titles—Nobuaki Tadano’s 7 Billion Needles and Osamu Tezuka’s Ayako—join the comic industry’s brightest at this year’s Eisner Awards.

So if you happen to make the trek, come experience the best in Japanese comics, and stick around to do some star-watching of your own.

San Diego Comic-Con International
San Diego Convention Center
Booth E8
111 West Harbor Dr.
San Diego Ca 92121
Thursday July 21 through Sunday July 24

The party’s going down on Sunday at 3:00pm to 4:00pm in the Kennesaw panel room. Come on down prepared with questions, or just prepared to shoot the breeze.

Anime Weekend Atlanta
September 19, 2010; 3:00 – 4:00pm — Kennesaw Room
Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, Georgia.
2 Galleria Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30339

Saturday and Sunday, Vertical staff will be at the San Francisco Concourse to close their 2009 convention season at the Alternative Press Expo, the West Coast’s premier small-press and independent comic convention. Tezuka titles will take center stage at their booth (#106), with new releases of Black Jack and hard-to-find Buddha hardcovers available for purchase.

On the East Coast, Vertical’s VP and Editorial Director Ioannis Mentzas will host a Tezuka lecture at Books Kinokuniya NYC.  While the Tezuka Day in New York celebration will primarily focus on Tezuka’s animated works as fans count down to the Astro Boy launch, Mr. Mentzas will use his time to discuss the many manga created by the man known universally as the Godfather of Japanese comics.

Alternative Press Expo (A.P.E.)
October 17 & 18, 2009 (Saturday and Sunday), 11:00am-6:00pm
Location: The Concourse, 620 7th Street, San Francisco, California

Tezuka Day in New York
October 18, 2009 (Sunday), 1:00pm-2:00pm
Location: Books Kinokuniya New York, 1073 Avenue of the Americas, Manhattan, NY

Friday afternoon, our staff wowed an audience of fans and press by announcing our Summer 2010 catalog. As expected next summer will see a diverse range of books covering everything from crafts to historical literature to non-fiction, but this year to please our anime and manga reading supporters we unleashed our long-awaited manga expansion to rave reviews. Revealing four new manga properties, we not only were able to fulfill a promise to our readers to get titles that are of the level of quality you have come to expect from Vertical, but we also acquired titles we expect to be instant hits with readers once they hit stores next summer.

Over the last few years Twin Spica and Chi’s Sweet Home have become household names in Japan, beloved by fans of all ages. Nobuaki Tadano’s Needle is a modern-day homage to the Golden Age of sci-fi, bound to thrill old-school and new age science-fiction fanatics. Felipe Smith’s Peepo Choo might be the manga version of Vertical—innovative, sexy, and shocking. In the new year and beyond, these titles will help carry the flag of Vertical manga alongside Tezuka and Takemiya as we continue to make comic and manga readers stand up and take notice of the great works we have to offer.

The rest of the weekend was spent meeting and greeting our readers on the sales floor and in the many panels that took place in the Javits Center. Three days was not enough time to catch up with every one of you, but it was a pleasure speaking with everyone who passed by Booth 101.

On behalf of the Vertical crew, in New York and Tokyo, we all want to say thank you for your continued support and we hope to see you all again at the next NYAF.

We all had a great time at the show and were thrilled to talk with our beloved reviewers and fans alike. We know it’s been a rough winter for many and we appreciate everyone coming out and showing us so much love! We can’t wait to see you all again, and hope everyone had a great Con.