In addition to the comic art calendars featuring work by U.S. based artists (see 'Tide-Mark's Comic Art Calendars'), Tide-Mark has two other offerings that should be of major interest to pop culture retailers. The Masamune Shirow 2003 Calendar features art by the creator of Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed. Shirow is one of Japan's top contemporary manga creators. Dark Horse, which publishes Shirow's work in the U.S., is planning to release Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface this year (see 'Ghost in the Shell: Man-Machine Interface'), which should spur renewed interest in Shirow's challenging, but accessible (and sexy) science fiction epics. Mamoru Oshii's anime version of Ghost in the Shell has been a huge seller for Manga Entertainment, and an animated version of Ghost in the Shell 2 is scheduled for 2003.
The Shirow 2003 Calendar features a bevy of beautiful and sexy female characters from Shirow's manga. Shirow's combination of a cutting edge graphic style and stunning subjects has made his calendars among the most popular in Japan and abroad, where he is known by both manga and anime fans. Shirow calendars have consistently topped the sales of the calendars imported from Japan by Diamond. Now that the 2003 Shirow Calendar is available in a low-cost domestic edition, it should take its place as one of the best-selling manga/anime calendars.
Dragons
The Catalonian artist Ciruelo Cabral is not nearly as well known here in the U.S. as Shirow, in spite of the fact that several books of Cabral's often spectacular fantasy illustrations have been published in Europe (and have actually received some distribution in the States). Dragons are a perennial favorite of fantasy lovers, and Cabral has a definite way with these ferocious imaginary beasts. In the wake of the immense success of the Harry Potter and LOTR films, demand for fantasy items should increase, and there will undoubtedly be a rash of new TV series, movies, and even comics attempting to exploit the public's newfound interest in all things fantastic. But artists like Cabral, who have been specializing in creating fantasy art for years, can produce the real goods. Discerning customers will prefer items by artists like Cabral, who are able to impose a distinct personality on fantasy art, to the mass quantities of generic fantasy work that the success of LOTR and Harry Potter will no doubt stimulate.