It’s the time of year when publishers start making plans about which creators will appear at the summer conventions and manga publishers are no different. Two months after releasing the first two volumes of Hiro Mashima’s popular manga series Fairy Tail, Del Rey Manga and its Japanese publishing partner, Kodansha, will bring Mashima to the San Diego Comic-con International in July
Mashima will have a signing and a panel during the San Diego Comi-con. “He’s excited to come,” said Del Rey Manga associate publisher Dallas Middaugh. “He’s excited to meet his American fans. We put in the request six to eight months ago,” said Middaugh, who explained that in order to consider making a overseas appearance, most Japanese manga-ka (who generally keep a demanding and rigorous working schedule) require as much advance notice as possible.
Del Rey Manga released Fairy Tail, Mashima’s slap-stick comedy manga about a group of incorrigible, rag-tag wizards, in March. Did the invitation to Mashima seem premature? What if the series didn’t sell? “It probably would have been—if we thought about it,” Middaugh told PWCW. “But we were so sure that [Fairy Tail] was going to work, that it never occurred to us that it wouldn’t.”
Del Rey had high expectations for Fairy Tail and has worked hard to promote the new series. Del Rey offered fans preview pages through the Del Rey Manga website and produced an animated trailer for the series in addition to designing corrutated display dumps for the major book retailers. The house event released volumes one and two simultaneously, to give readers a chance to get deeply into the story quickly. According to Middaugh, this was Del Rey’s biggest launch since the debut of Ken Akamatsu’s Negim, series, four years ago.
But as Middaugh notes, “This is not the market of two years ago” emphasizing that it’s now a very competitive market full of new manga series. Middaugh said that means, “put the best stuff out there, and put a lot of support behind it.” The strategy paid off. Middaugh said sales of the first two volumes of Fairy Tail have exceeded their expectations.
In Japan, Kodansha also has high expectations for Mashima, a master of over-the-top action and dry humor. He is also working on a weekly series, a monthly series and serving as a judge for Shonen Rival, Kodansha’s new monthly magazine aimed at younger shonen readers. “Mashima is the shining star for Kodansha,” Middaugh said. “Fairy Tail is one of Kodansha’s biggest manga. It tops the charts (in Japan) every time a new volume comes out.”
