In the closest thing to printing money that we’ve heard about this year, Yen Press has the rights to graphic novels based on Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series, according to Entertainment Weekly. Art will be by Korean artist Young Kim, with Meyer “deeply immersed in the project, reviewing every panel,” according to the report.
This weekend’s issue of Entertainment Weekly will include finished illustrations of Edward, Bella, and Jacob.
This is the kind of deal that could be a transformational event for Yen, which has already been getting some titles in the top ten of late (see “Top 25 Manga Properties”). Like the first time the fledgling Fox network got NFL rights, Yen’s other properties will enjoy something of a halo effect from a property with the strength of Twilight (and it certainly wouldn’t hurt sales of Yen Plus if it included Twilight stories).
The impact of Twilight on the teen girl book buying audience has been cited as one reason for the decline in manga sales in the
