Vertical's first manga publication, the 8-volume hardcover collection of Osamu Tezuka's Buddha (see 'Tezuka's Buddha Out in October'), was an ambitious beginning for this new publisher of contemporary Japanese fiction.  The outcome was a reverential, yet modern, presentation of some of the best of Tezuka's work in a beautifully designed package. We talked to Vertical marketing director Micah Burch at the recently completed BEA trade show in Chicago (see 'Graphic Novels Take Another Step Up at BEA') about Vertical's approach to manga.

Can you tell us a little about Vertical's manga strategy?

I want to just briefly discuss our strategy as it relates to the regular books, because that's relevant.  We do only translated Japanese fiction, and we feel that the classics in the regular fiction genre have been well done before by the Kodanshas of the world, so in terms of regular prose, we're doing pop, contemporary, cool titles.

With regard to manga, it's just the opposite.  The Tokyopops of the world are doing all the pop, cool, cheap manga, but the classics have been ignored.  So that's our strategy.  We feel that Buddha is the best manga ever, so that was our place to start, but our strategy is to, without becoming a specialist in manga (because that's not our thing), to continue to find the classics that have been overlooked. 

Are you planning additional manga publications [after Buddha] at some point then?

At some point yes--nothing concrete that we can report at the moment.  But I think the mix will remain largely the same, probably not more than one or two manga titles per season -- quality rather than quantity. 

Do you expect to have anything before the end of the year?

Not before the end of 2004, but in early 2005, look for some new manga from Vertical.