Tokyopop has announced the winners of its fourth annual Rising Stars of Manga competition and simultaneously announced the late 2005 debut of a new graphic novel series, Dark Moon Diary, by Michael Vega, who participated in earlier Rising Stars contests.  Dark Moon Diary is the fifth graphic novel series featuring creators discovered by Tokyopop during its contests.

The winner of the grand prize in this year's contest is Andy Helms, a 25-year-old graphic designer from Alexandria Virginia.  He will receive $2,500 in cash, a trophy and the opportunity to pitch his full-length manga series to Tokyopop's editors.  College student Dave Iseri took the second place award of $1,500, while the 24-year-old Amy Kim Ganter, an illustrator from Brooklyn New York took the $1,000 third place prize.