Seven Seas Entertainment has announced that it will expand its publishing line in 2006 with the addition of full color collections of three popular webcomics, Chugworth Academy, Earthsong, and Inverloch.  Seven Seas, which started out as a publisher of OEL (Original English Language) manga, recently announced the acquisition of a license for the popular series of Japanese manga and novels, Boogiepop (see 'Seven Seas Licenses Japanese Titles').

Seven Seas president Jason DeAngelis chose this trio of webcomics in part because they are manga-influenced and plans to publish them in full color as they appear on the Web.  The webcomics also have built-in fan bases -- Chugworth Academy has an estimated audience of more than 100,000 readers, Inverloch is rated as the #1 webcomic on Topwebcomics.com and #1 on Onlinecomics.net, and Earthsong is rated the #1 webcomic on Buzzcomics.net.  Fred Gallagher's Megatokyo, currently the most popular OEL manga title, began as webcomic, which indicates that Seven Seas new acquisitions may have real potential.