Cartoonist Dan Hipp announced this morning that the third volume of his Tokyopop series Gyakushu! is among those titles to be released initially online as part of the publisher’s restructuring.
On Friday, Steady Beat creator Rivkah revealed that nearly all of Tokyopop’s non-licensed books — the bulk of its OEL line — will go directly to the web. However, RE:Play creator Christy Lijewski since has said that the third volume of her series still will be released in print as planned.
Tokyopop hasn’t made an announcement about the online move.
The second volume of Hipp’s bloody revenge tale was released in February. Hipp, who’s probably best known for his work on The Amazing Joy Buzzards, is about half-finished with the third volume of Gyakushu!
He writes on his blog:
No, it’s not a good thing, but not really worth crying over. There have been some other things going on with the book, so it’s very possible that we’ll see it at some point, in a better format. Save your tears, I have no use for them (unless you had none, in which case, you are heartless, sir/madam!).
My heart goes out to all the other creators affected by the changes at Tokyopop. I’m still grateful for the opportunities I’ve had and the connections I’ve made through this book (which isn’t over anyway, so seriously, stop crying!). I’ve been to the other side of the world because of this book, and seen it printed in Italian and Russian (so far). The Thief is not dead.
Update: Brigid Alverson has word that the sixth volume of Shutterbox is still heading for print, while the fate of Psy-Comm is unclear. Heidi MacDonald, meanwhile, reports the third volume of My Cat Loki didn’t make the cut.
