Publishers | Marvel and Penguin Random House have announced an expansion to their current partnership — Penguin Random House will take over Marvel’s distribution into bookstores starting next April. Currently Penguin Random House distributes Marvel’s comics into direct market comic shops, which they’ve been doing since March of last year.
The agreement covers “Marvel’s newly published and backlist collected editions and graphic novels to bookstores and major retailers across the Book Market.” Marvel currently uses Hachette Book Group for its book channel distribution.
Manga | Hakusensha’s Young Animal editing department and Kouji Mori have announced plans to continue the manga Berserk after the death of Kentarou Miura last May. In a statement on the Hakusensha website, they said they planned to finish the current arc that was running in Young Animal magazine, with plans to follow it with a new arc. Mori and Miura were close friends, and in his statement Mori said Miura had revealed the whole story of Berserk to him.
“I will only write the episodes that Miura talked to me about,” Mori said. “I will not flesh it out. I will not write episodes that I don’t remember clearly. I will only write the lines and stories that Miura described to me. Of course, it will not be perfect. Still, I think I can almost tell the story that Miura wanted to tell.”
Berserk is published in the United States by Dark Horse Comics, who already announced plans to release Miura’s final volume later this year.
Passings | At The Comics Journal, John Kelly has collected remembrances of Justin Green, the underground cartoonist who created Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary. Green passed away from colon cancer on April 23.
Profiles | Idaho newspaper The Community Advocate profiles local cartoonist Mat Heagerty ahead of the July release of his upcoming graphic novel, Lumberjackula.
Commentary | For Book Riot, Aurora Lydia Dominguez writes about “why diverse female superheroes are so impactful.”
Conventions | Cartoon Crossroads Columbus has announced another round of special guests for their October show, including Keith Knight, Maia Kobabe, Trina Robbins and more.