Press Release from Ankama and Tokyopop
Roubaix, France/Hamburg, Germany – 4th June 2010 – Ankama, the videogames/animation/comics powerhouse, and Manga publisher Tokyopop are pleased to announce their cooperation for the launch of the Wakfu and DOFUS publications in Germany!
Having recently announced the broadcasting of Wakfu the animated Series on German TV channel RTL II, Ankama is now proud to announce that the Wakfu comics and DOFUS manga will soon be published in Germany by the renowned publisher Tokyopop GmbH. Around 20 titles will be published, offering Ankama fans and comic/manga aficionados in Germany the possibility to discover new aspects of the Ankama universe.
Wakfu is based on a transmedia concept that includes a TV series, online games, a trading card game, comics, artbooks, and the Xbox Live Arcade game ‘Islands of Wakfu’. The 1st season of the TV series (26 episodes) will be broadcast this fall on RTL II. The German version of the free browser game Wakfu: The Guardians will also launch at the same time.
Wakfu Heroes: The Black Crow, the first Wakfu comic due to be published in German, will be released this fall (colored, hardcover, 88 pages, 13.95 EUR). The Black Crow is a character that appears in the 3rd episode of the Wakfu TV-series and spreads fear among the merchants in the fields of Kelba… In the first volume of Wakfu Heroes, the reader will discover how the Black Crow’s past influenced his behavior in the TV series. The script was written by Tot, one of the three founders of Ankama and the Artistic Director, as well as by Jean-David Morvan who has, among others, contributed to Sillage (Delcourt), HK (Glénat), 5 volumes of the Spirou series (Dupuis), and also worked for Marvel.
The first Wakfu TV series artbook (colored, softcover, 128 pages, 13.95 EUR) is a behind the scenes experience of the TV-series production with its collection of sketches, anecdotes and scripts. It is also due to be published by Tokyopop Germany this fall.
In the Chronicles of Wakfu: Balgereien (colored, hardcover, 100 pages, 13.95 EUR), the reader follows the story of a kama coin that passes from hand to hand, and ends up in the possession of Ruel, one of the heroes of the Wakfu TV series. Six different artists tell us the stories and adventures this coin has been through before being picked up by Ruel in the TV series. This comic was selected for the youth prize at the Angoulême comic festival this year.
For further info about the TV-series: http://serie.wakfu.com/en [1]
About ANKAMA Group
Founded by Anthony Roux, Camille Chafer and Emmanuel Darras in Roubaix in 2001, ANKAMA is an independent group which produces digital creations and employs over 400 people. The international success of the group’s MMORPG DOFUS, with more than 30 million players, enabled ANKAMA to branch out into several related industries: online games, publishing, animations, web design, press, mobile phone services, video games for next gen’ consoles. ANKAMA is also developing Wakfu, a transmedia project composed of animated cartoon, video game, card game and comic book. For more information, visit our official website: www.ankama‐group.com
About Tokyopop
TOKYOPOP Germany is a subsidiary of the Japanese firm TOKYOPOP K.K. It was founded in April 2004 and focuses on the publishing of comics and manga in Germany. The publisher is currently experiencing the fastest growth on the German market and expands its catalogue with licenses from Asia, Europe and America. Tokyopop also develops its own manga. Among the most famous brands of the catalogue: Death Note, Bleach, Shinshi Doumei Cross, Grimms Manga and Gothic Sports. For further information please visit: www.tokyopop.de [2].
Links:
[1] http://serie.wakfu.com/en
[2] http://www.tokyopop.de