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MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT AND DEL REY MANGA ANNOUNCE CREATIVE TEAM FOR NEW WOLVERINE MANGA

NEW YORK, NY – April 19, 2008 – Marvel Entertainment and Del Rey Manga, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, announced today the creative team for a manga based on the popular X-Men character, Wolverine. The series will be written by Antony Johnston, author of the Alex Rider graphic novels Stormbreaker and Point Blanc. The manga will be illustrated by Wilson Tortosa, artist of Tomb Raider and Battle of the Planets.

The manga chronicles the history of Wolverine, a mutant best known for his adamantium claws. Logan, a rebellious teen training in a remote school in the Canadian wilderness, has no memory of his life prior to being found in the forest near the school. But that forgotten life is about to come after him with a vengeance in this shônen thriller. (Shônen manga is aimed at boys through their teens and focuses on action.)

The Del Rey Manga and Marvel collaboration was first announced at the New York Anime Festival 2007.  The collaboration includes two manga series: one based on Wolverine and another based on the X-Men team. Done in a shôjo (girl’s manga) style, the X-Men manga will be illustrated by Indonesian artist Anzu (The Reformed) and written by the husband and wife team of Raina Telgemeier (The Baby-Sitters Club graphic novels) and Dave Roman (Agnes Quill).

Both the Wolverine and the X-Men manga titles will be created with the cooperation and consultation of Marvel editors, and are scheduled to debut in Spring 2009.

Dallas Middaugh, associate publisher of Del Rey Manga, says, “We couldn’t have picked a better team for this project. Antony has completely reimagined Wolverine, and has given him a gripping new back story. Wilson’s art is dynamic and very much in the style of shonen manga. This is going to be a great book!”

The X-Men made their comics debut in The X-Men #1 in 1963 and have since become a mainstream pop culture phenomenon with the development of an animated television series, several video games and a blockbuster live-action film trilogy.

 “We are very excited to see our partners at Del Rey help expand the incredibly deep mythos of Wolverine—and the X-Men—via manga,” says Ruwan Jayatilleke, Vice President of Development of Marvel Entertainment, Inc. “Comic book and manga fans will be very happy with the new stories that are being forged by all of these dynamic creators.“

Manga, the Japanese term for comics, is a Japanese cultural phenomenon that accounts for nearly half of all the books and magazines sold in Japan. Read by men and women of all ages, manga covers a wide variety of themes including adventure, romance, fantasy, and more. Manga has experienced incredible growth in the US and Canadian graphic novel market in the past few years. According to industry source ICv2 manga sales reached between $170 million and $200 million in 2006.

About the Creators

Antony Johnston is the author of thirteen graphic novels and is well known for his adaptations of the bestselling Alex Rider novels. He is writing two ongoing serials, the sci-fi epic Wasteland and children’s fantasy Texas Strangers. Johnston also contributed to Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened, published by Villard Books.

Wilson Tortosa is the artist of several comic book series, including Jade, Banzai Girl, Battle of the Planets and Tomb Raider. He lives in the Philippines.

Raina Telgemeier is best known for her work as the writer and illustrator of The Babysitter’s Club graphic novels. She received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts and has been nominated for numerous awards, including the Eisner, Ignatz, Cybil, and Web Cartoonists’ Choice awards.

Dave Roman currently works for Nickelodeon Magazine as an associate editor. The co-creator of the Harvey Award-nominated series Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden and the Ignatz award-winning Teen Boat, he also pens his own webcomic, Astronaut Elementary. He is also the creator of the comic Agnes Quill.

Anzu, a manga artist based in Indonesia, will make her US manga art debut in April 2008 with the first volume of The Reformed, written by Chris Hart. She has contributed to Hart’s bestselling How to Draw Manga series.

About Del Rey Manga

Del Rey Books (http://www.delreybooks.com) was founded in 1977 as an imprint of Ballantine Books, a division of the Random House Publishing Group, under the guidance of the renowned Judy-Lynn del Rey and her husband, Lester del Rey. Del Rey publishes the best of modern fantasy, science fiction, and alternate history. Ballantine Books is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, which is a publishing group of Random House, Inc, the U.S. publishing company of Random House, the trade book publishing division of Bertelsmann AG, one of the world’s leading international media companies. In 2004 it expanded by launching Del Rey Manga (www.delreymanga.com), which has grown to be a major force in the U.S. graphic-novel field. Bestselling titles include Tsubasa, Negima, xxxHolic, and The Wallflower.

About Marvel Entertainment, Inc.

With a library of over 5,000 high-profile characters built over more than sixty years of comic book publishing, Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies.  Marvel utilizes its character franchises in licensing, entertainment (via Marvel Studios), publishing (via Marvel Comics) and toys, with emphasis on feature films, home DVD, consumer products, video games, action figures and role-playing toys, television and promotions.  Marvel’s strategy is to leverage its franchises in a growing array of opportunities around the world.  For more information visit www.marvel.com.

X-Men, Wolverine: TM & © 2008 Marvel Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.