files/pictures/picture-35.jpgTOKYOPOP and game producer Blizzard Ent. announced the release of WARCRAFT: SHADOWS OF ICE, the second volume of the successful manga series, based on Blizzard's popular WARCRAFT game universe. WARCRAFT: DRAGON HUNT, the first volume of the trilogy, has gone back to print four times in less than one year. The manga is written by NEW YORK TIMES best-selling fantasy author Richard Knaak — who has also written four WARCRAFT text novels — and is illustrated by Jae-Hwan Kim, artist of TOKYOPOP's KING OF HELL series.
Set in the rich universe of Blizzard's massively multiplayer online role playing game WORLD OF WARCRAFT, WARCRAFT: THE SUNWELL TRILOGY is a fresh take on the events depicted in Blizzard's realtime strategy game WARCRAFT III, using original characters and storylines. The three manga volumes follow the adventures of Kalec, a blue dragon who has taken human form to escape the forces that seek to destroy his race, and Anveena, a maiden with secrets of her own. What starts as a fight for survival turns into a quest to save the entire High Elven kingdom from the forces of the Undead Scourge.
"In order to uphold the high quality standards that Blizzard has established with its WARCRAFT games, we brought together a gifted and accomplished international creative team for THE SUNWELL TRILOGY," said TOKYOPOP series editor Rob Tokar. "Richard Knaak's writing has always impressed us, and his magic-and-intrigue-filled stories for this trilogy have blown us away. Likewise, the work Jae-Hwan Kim, one of the most talented manga artists in Korea, has done on these books is truly stunning. We think fans of these individual artists — as well as manga fans and followers of Blizzard's WARCRAFT series — will be amazed by the products of this epic collaboration."
The WARCRAFT game series has won industry acclaim and has shattered sales records worldwide with more than 19 million copies sold.
WARCRAFT: SHADOWS OF ICE will be available in the manga section of bookstores and gaming stores everywhere in March 2006.
TOKYOPOP is a leading youth-oriented entertainment brand and an innovator of manga creation. From the introduction of the first-ever extensive manga publishing program in North America, to the development of its manga-originated intellectual properties into film, television and digital entertainment, TOKYOPOP has changed the way teens experience pop culture. The company's global reach has expanded to Europe and Asia, with recent offices opening in the UK and Germany and upcoming partnerships in Australia and China, in addition to its original Los Angeles and Tokyo operations. For more information, visit
www.TOKYOPOP.com .
Blizzard Ent. Inc. (
www.blizzard.com ), a studio of Vivendi Universal Games, is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software. Blizzard's track record includes nine #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company's free Internet gaming series, Battle.net, is the largest in the world, with millions of active users.
