VIZ Media announced two horror titles at NYCC 2022 as well as a horrifying new marketing concept as well: The Ito-Verse.

VIZ has licensed Junji Ito’s Soichi: Junji Ito Story Collection, which is a bit different from Ito’s other work in that it’s a josei manga that mixes humor with the horror. The title character is a schemer whose plans usually backfire hilariously; he often has a mouthful of nails to combat an iron deficiency. Soichi was prominent in the Junji Ito Collection anime, which premiered in 2018. 

Ito is one of the best-selling manga creators (see “Top Manga Franchises – Spring 2022”), with a backlist of one-shots that includes Uzumaki, Gyo, and The Liminal Zone, as well as Black Paradox, which drops on October 25.During the show VIZ debuted an “Ito-Verse” trailer on Twitter, giving viewers a quick look at Ito’s other works.

VIZ's other announcement was a deluxe edition of Cat-Eyed Boy, by Kazuo Umezz.The two-volume series was nominated for an Eisner Award after VIZ first published it in 2008 (see “Four Series Added to VIZ Launches”). The original edition was in paperback and is out of print; the new hardcover edition will launch in summer 2023.

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