The Second Coming of Realbuzz

By David Rasmussen
28th Apr 07

After years and years of putting out the same Harvest Moon (more or less) with only so many changes here or there (with it’s own chain of hits and misses) it looks like the new age of Harvest Moon (without the PS2 & GameCube to support them anymore… though, technically, the PS2 is still breathing on life support and hasn’t kicked yet) will have to completely change the rulebook and reinvent the series from the ground up, though this new breath of life will come not from the next generation of consoles (What? No Harvest Moon Wii yet?!?) but from the two powerful portables out now. This May Harvest Moon is revamped as it rolls out it’s 1st PSP version, as well as the coming 2nd iteration for the Nintendo DS, with past throwback Rune Factory : A Fantasy Harvest Moon for the Nintendo DS (still in the works as we speak) and future shock Innocent Life : A Futuristic Harvest Moon (what we’re taking our first look at right now).

Innocent Life breaks the mold of the franchise (of which I am certain will also be the case with Rune Factory), as the series’ has undergone an almost Darwinian mid-life crisis, deciding to “evolve” rather than perish off the face of the Earth. And by evolve I mean to completely reinvent itself. Gone is the villages of the games of the past (if you’ve played the games you know them all by heart), and gone is the conventions of the past. Sure, it does look (from the visuals) that the game was originally a traditional Harvest Moon game that they slapped futuristic paint on, but it is still a change of pace as you leave the old and enter a brand new realm of possibilities in the future… and you end up losing something as well.

Innocent Life, the first original release for the handhelds (second of which will be Rune Factory), came out one year ago as of April 27th, 2006 (from the information I gleaned from Wikipedia… hmm… am I listed on Wikipedia yet? Let’s see… uh… never mind, sorry.
Set on the island of Heartflame in the future, you find yourself come into a world which seems to live the I, Robot lifestyle (only without any appearances by Will Smith, mind you). In this world it seems advanced robots and computers have taken over the work of the people of Heartflame island, making their lives easier. However this tranquil state will soon come to an end (doesn’t it always) when the island is threatened by an ancient curse, of which only you (one of these robots created to look and act like a human being) can… yeah, yeah, I know, suddenly you see a possible connection.

True, with this talk of an “Ancient Curse” it could be construed that the storyline of Innocent Life is the logical followthrough of your adventures in past pretense set Rune Factory. Of course it would have probably helped if Rune Factory came out at the same time as Innocent Life, but I guess we can only speculate the connection between the past set DS version and the future set PSP. One thing I am sure of, however, is that the two are NOT going to be compatible. Somehow I don’t think Nintendo and Sony are in enough of a good mood to join forces on a game like this, that I don’t think the PSP/Nintendo DS are even remotely compatible. So nuff said about that.

Since most of the human (I take it all) have become to lazy to do their own jobs it looks like you’ll have to do all the dirty work to save the island, which includes exploring a volcano and ancient ruins, all in an attempt to unlock the entrance to a place called “The Ancient Lands” (buried deep beneath the island). By either walking, biking, or the use of an ATV you’ll explore all over, looking for answers to the curse (which starts with your understanding of the curse itself before you go on the quest to find it’s “cure”) before time runs out. That is all new, yes, but it does seem to smack of the immediate-ness of the failed first PS2 version of Harvest Moon (Save the Homeland), in more ways than one as you’ll soon see. Also Wikipedia (from where I got part of my information) and Natsume’s official site seems to disagree about the exact plot of the game. Wikipedia says you’re here to save the island from futuristic “autofarming”, while Natsume is all about the “Ancient Curse”… whatever that is. They may be on in the same, but who knows.

On the plus side the game features a brand spankin’ new art style that steps away from it’s traditional roots of the franchise, as well as making you a robot (when all past versions made you human).
This is good as well as bad as I am about to go into with you.
Good because it means a change of the game franchise into new terrain.
Bad because it means the most likely removal of courtship, dating and marriage from the game. These things were also missing in Save the Homeland, by the way, and that game sucked something fierce.

Three things promised from the game, however, is this. (And yes, this was from Natsume’s site)
- Grow crops and raise animals in a futuristic world (duh).
- Unlock the secrets of the ancient curse as you interact with the villagers (really).
- Explore the island by walking or ATV (or bike as mentioned in the Wikipedia article on the game), which just so happens to be just one of the high tech tools you’ll use in this game.

Other than that there isn’t much on the game at this time.
If we’re lucky maybe Playstation Magazine will have a demo disk of the game in their next volume, otherwise we’re going to have to just wait the few weeks until the game comes out before we find out more about the upcoming new Harvest Moon. Stay tuned.

The Second Coming of Realbuzz
Well if you’ve been worried for the past several weeks that, after missing a few release dates and seemingly falling off the planet, Realbuzz was on the ropes so soon before even getting it’s full out first wave launch out of the spacedock then don‘t be. Realbuzz is checking in alive and well with a new publisher and fresh life back in it’s warpdrive manifolds.

So prepare to be REINTRODUCED to the company as we take the second First Look at the coming of the first faith based friendly manga company for a new millennium. This is your second First Look at the titles of Realbuzz Studios, and the circumstances of it’s new lease on manga-life later this year. (Thanks to Carrie Wagner over at Thomas Nelson for contacting me and sending me their official press release).

After abit of wondering and speculation about what the fate of Realbuzz could be, they find themselves a new publisher (Thomas Nelson Incorporated) and sign a multi-year manga deal with them, making Thomas Nelson the market leader of faith-based manga content. Actually, come to think of it, that is not as hard a feat as you may think (being the leader in faith-based manga) since they are, at present, the only serious publisher of faith-based manga out there right now. Sure, there are a few small groups like that one out of Hong Kong who has that title King of Kings (about sisters who talk about the most biblical things in the middle of the slums, angry crabs who pinch until limbs are removed, and then there‘s Anti-Christ), but there is no serious large scale publisher to speak of.

Oh, and also let’s not forget the fact that there hasn’t been a successful release from any of these smaller companies either if King of Kings is any indication (with it coming in at a very bad 2 out of 5 because it was poorly written, emphasized it‘s biblical content in a rather shove it down your throat straight forward yet way too Saturday morning cinema serialized interpretation way), while sacrificing logical storytelling, character development and overall unity of writing to artwork to plotting/character development.
That is something I have high hopes Realbuzz will avoid, one of several pitfalls but let’s not focus on possible ills, let’s focus on the hope that is presently at hand here with it’s second coming.

First off you should know that this new breath of contract bringing Realbuzz back into the “game” also has a specific “quirk” which may mean a long “relationship” with the company to come. You see, part of the contract heralding the second coming of Realbuzz is it’s minimum release clause with Thomas Nelson. This signifies that, regardless of how many years this multi-year contract covers, Realbuzz must deliver a minimum release of 26 manga titles during the term of the as yet specified multi-deal contract. This might be good, except I do have a wee bit of a legal wrangling over the term “titles”. Now are we actually speaking series titles (Serenity, Goofyfoot Gurl, Hits & Misses and 23 more titles), or volumes per title (Of which 18 of the minimum 26 would be published just from these first and second wave titles)?
Sure, sure, that may seem like nitpicking, but it is the difference between a minimum line-up worthy of going against the likes of Antarctic, Seven Seas or TOKYOPOP and a line-up more suited for a smaller company. It’s all in the wording, people, it’s all in the wording.

As for what you’ll be seeing coming out this year? Well there is good news, and there is bad news.
Good news? If you were looking forward to the coming of either Serenity or Goofyfoot Gurl then you are in luck, both titles will be making their premiere (or re-premiere in Serenity’s case) in 2007.
Bad news? If you were looking forward to the coming of either Hits & Misses or the Serenity spin-off Life! Camera! Action!… well… then you will have to wait for 2008, and one of them has lost their own title in order to become a back filler for a different title. Read on, it will all become clear immediately.

First, a little background.
Realbuzz is not a new flash in the pan company just out this year, they have a little bit of history. In 2005 Realbuzz Studios was born, Realbuzz (based out of Los Angeles, CA) has been acclaimed as being an “innovative media content company”, both developing and creating original stories, art and media under the guidance of co-founders Buzz Dixon and Marlon Schulman. Created to provide a Christian/Inspirational manga franchise, it started with it’s landmark launch title Serenity, their first (and thus best selling to date) teen series which quickly became a break-out hit in it’s target demographics.
Now don’t wrack thy thoughts too hard trying to remember when you first heard about Serenity and it’s success, because sadly Barbour (Serenity’s original publisher) did not really go (pardon my language) “balls to the wall” on getting the word out, because while the title was a hit with it’s target audience for the rest of us it flew under our radars back in 2005. In fact, two years later, Serenity is no doubt still a relative unknown read that we missed out the first time on, which is kind of odd considering how the series sold. You see, the original release outsold two thirds of the titles on the mainstream manga and graphic novel best seller list during it‘s release months, which again makes it hard to believe since it did as well as it did and yet somehow it still managed to be a relative unknown to a lot of us reviewers and readers.
It also didn’t help Realbuzz much that it’s start in 2007 (when I first talked up this company) was troubled with a change of PR companies, as well as delays of it’s second generation of titles (Hits & Misses, Goofyfoot Gurl and Life! Camera! Action!)

Thomas Nelson (publishing Realbuzz through the Westbow Press label -- briefly, Westbow Press’ mantra is in believing in the power of story, vowing to deliver entertaining, culturally-relevant stories told from the Christian worldview. Presently one of the world‘s largest publishers.) hopefully will change all this and attack this title’s launch with a fresh vibrant light that will really get it’s buzz on. And, as if like a promise of the potential that Thomas Nelson can deliver to Realbuzz’ line-up, they’re promising not only to simultaneously relaunch the groundbreaking original Serenity in August of this year (which should actually probably be called Serenity Remastered since they’ve added fresh new material to the original), they promise a fresh batch of four new Serenity volumes in 2008... Which counts towards the demise of Serenity Presents : Life! Camera! Action!, because when the second wave of Serenity hits in 2008 (Volumes 7 to 10), it’ll be teamed up with the formerly stand alone spin-off title L!C!A! for the run. (Not that that is a bad thing or anything, but hopefully this doesn’t mean any loss of content from L!C!A!)

So far I’ve given you abit of talk about a series we are only just now going to get our first taste of (I’ll speak of that at the end), but what more proof of this title’s potential worth (prior to it’s first full reviews which may or may come shortly) do you need?! How about a bit of word on it from he who is one with the MARVEL way that didn’t approve that whole dang MARVEL slash Guiding Light fiasco (as far as I know). Mr. Stan (“The Man”) Lee.

(Serenity is) “a clean, inspiring teen-aged Christian comic done in a hip, contemporary way,”
Stan “The Man” Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man, X-Men, The Hulk, Fantastic Four, amongst the many-many-many things he’s done.

Young Adult author Melody Carlson, while on this point, praises Serenity’s “action-filled art” and “realistic text” for creating “a fast-paced read.”
Really? Action? I’m going to refresh your memory on Serenity’s volumes shortly… but still… action? Really? Uh… oh-kay. I’m just nitpicking (I know what Carlson means, I’m just nitpicking).
Anyway have you forgotten my first look at Serenity? No problem. Let’s flash back abit and relive the look back at the first six titles of the series from sometime back (before it’s new life with Thomas Nelson).

Serenity Volume 1 : Bad Girl in Town
Meet Serenity, a lonely teen from a broken family (somehow it just had to be a “broken” family) who just wants to be accepted--but who tends to lash out at others with anger and obnoxious sarcasm (ya‘ kinda get that way when your “lonely“ and from a “broken“ family I suppose, that and it totally opens the door for the crux of the plot as you‘re about to find out). Hence, you know, the whole “Bad Girl” motif.

Anyway Serenity has just checked in into her new school, and (surprise surprise) the school’s local Christian prayer group has decided to adopt Serenity as a "project", “pet project” maybe, showing her friendship and love (but to a point as you‘ll soon see), however almost immediately these “well meaning” people will find their latest “pet project” to be a challenge since she is abit on the hard shell jaded side of existence (but then this wouldn‘t be a “pet project“ if she was easy to change).

Serenity Volume 2 : Stepping Out
The lonely teen with the blue hair (That’d be Serenity… huh? Is she STILL lonely? And what’s with the blue hair?!?) is slowly warming up to the Christian kids who've made her their "project" (faster, girl, faster, they won‘t bite you… unless you‘re a lesbian then run away). . .but when Serenity wrecks Kimberly's car and refuses to take responsibility, the prayer club decides some "tough love" is in order.

Tough love? Wow… they’re being really kind to her aren’t they after that display of Grand Theft Auto : Serenity. That and it seems Serenity possibly considers Kimberly her romantic rival, which kinda casts abit of doubt as to whether or not the wrecking of Kimberly’s car was… well… accidental. Anyway can Serenity understand that their actions are really for her own good, even if they’re seemingly siding on the side of the person she sees as some sort of romantic rival (we hope so).

Serenity Volume 3 : Basket Case
The prayer club's pet project (Sit, Serenity! Roll over! Play martyr!) is at her irresponsible best (or worst after that incident with the car), belittling a health class assignment that makes teens care for chicken eggs 24/7 to simulate the work a baby requires… what? Chicken eggs?! Hah! In Hawaii we have our health classes take care of more substantial things as babies! Sacks of flour! Far larger than a chicken egg and more around the weight of an actual baby! Take that Mainland USA Health Classes!! (If poi wasn’t so darned scarce and expensive we’d have them raise poi babies!)

What was I… oh, right, Serenity. Anyway chicken eggs (and the best recipe for omelet post grading) pales in comparison to the situation she’s suddenly thrust into when an overwhelming responsibility falls into Serenity's lap! So, when the chips are down who can she turn to for help… certainly not the members of her own prayer club who she's made fun of (since they do seem to have a wee bit of a problem with that whole turn the cheek mentality)… how about God? Oh… wait… too busy (and she still has her whole problems with her own faith thing to muddle through). Well… she‘s screwed… or is she?

Serenity Volume 4 : Rave -n- Rant
Serenity begins to share her soul with her prayer club friends (and it only took, what, FOUR volumes to get her on the team?!?)-and is angered to find that, while they say they love Serenity, they don't always like her… come on, that’s like every other social gathering you’ll ever go into. Sure they’re Christian Prayer Club members, but they’re also human, give them a break if certain members (I‘m guessing Kimberly being one of them) isn‘t entirely enchanted with you (after what you did) Serenity! Go figure.

The teen with the blue hair (always with the blue hair) and attitude decides she has to take her frustrations out somewhere, or to someone, and thus decides to takes her frustrations to God… yeah, you think about that one for a minute… anyway God promptly sends condolenscenes and locks the gates of Heaven, and no amount of her yelling “I can see the blinding white light and I know you’re home!!“ will get anyone to open up the gates… (“he” is kinda busy right now, girl, leave a message with Saint Peter and he’ll get back to you… after world peace is realized).
One thing which makes me abit curious about this particular volume is the “promise” of “a surprise ending” which is supposed to “make Serenity think there may be more to prayer than she realizes“.

Be afraid, oh readers, be very afraid.
The moment a title promises a “surprise ending” you have to wonder what the heck is going to happen that might be considered a “surprise ending”. The title has gone so far up until now weaving a quite believable premise (from what I know to date) that, well, if the story suddenly takes a “Touched By An Angel” slash “Highway to Heaven” slant at the end of this volume it will be as if the title suddenly threw away all it’s cred up until now to give you a “happy ending” that really shouldn’t have been.

But I digress, we still (to this date) really don’t know what happens so we can’t praise or condemn it until we know… and knowledge is still power, so until we know then we’ll see what happens.
The title promises that “Serenity explores some of life's deepest issues in a lighthearted, appealing way.” sounds good and all… just don’t suck the atmosphere out of the title with un unbelievable ending please.

Serenity Volume 5 : Snow Biz
There’s no business like snow business, unless you’re presently suffering from the adverse affects of cold weather that is raging across the United States back during Valentine‘s Day, or had your house damaged recently from that freak hailstorm or some other adverse weather condition is plaguing you now, then you’re sick of the snow (or whatever is ailing you now).
Well, if you are not yet sick of the white stuff that falls from the sky (and sometimes from mountains in events called “avalanches”) then you’re ready for Serenity Volume 5.

Serenity sees a Prayer Club ski trip as another opportunity to drive a wedge between Derek and Kimberly (still?) Yeah, I don’t think she’s going to get much luck in that dept though since, while “hot-dogging” on the slopes, Serenity pulls an Arnold Schwarzenegger and takes a major tumble, breaking her leg and seriously bruising her ego (I don‘t think Schwarzenegger was roughed up so badly when he took his tumble though). Anyway now that Serenity is down and out who's going to care for her wounds-both physical and spiritual? Guess that is going to set the stage for her not stalking Kevin/Kimberly anymore. Yah!

Serenity Volume 6 : You Shall Love
Well whattya know? The power of the writers won’t heal Serenity between volumes!
Serenity is still down and out after her misadventure last volume injures her leg (setting it into a cast), which is not a good thing because the power has just gone out and Serenity is bored out of her mind… you’d be too if you were disabled by a fall, there was no power and -- well -- you’re one of the living.

Sadly this final volume is the most concerning of the six that we will be reviewing in the near future, as it seems to be mostly a gimmick to get Serenity to pick up the bible she was issued by her prayer club member pals at the start of the series, where she suddenly is prompted to manga-ize the bible’s major events for you to see… sad, but true, the end of Serenity’s first run had to be a gimmicky bible issue. Maybe.

Pray for her bible study pals though, because before too long Serenity is stalking them with spiritual questions as it looks like Serenity may finally be ready to totally be one with her friends and join the gang fully for the first time in the series. Guess that makes sense since we‘re opening up a brand new chapter in her life in 2008 with four more volumes of Serenity, tied in with Serenity spin-off Life! Camera! Action! (which takes the cast and let‘s them have at it making their own movies as part of an independent film project… just remember, gang, when Mel Gibson shows up wanting to direct one of your movies? Run. Run away and don’t look back.)

From Serenity we go to the other title, passing the Princess Nine-esque style softball drama, and the spin-off to Serenity (Life! Camera! Action!) (which we already talked about) we come Thomas Nelson’s second first gen launch of Realbuzz’s second life goes from the troubles of a girl looking to find acceptance and her place in the world, to a girl of the oceans of the world (Goofyfoot Gurl).

Praised by Manga Punk as “insanely unique” (which is abit odd to me since Realbuzz yanks it’s first volume prior to launch from what I saw of it… so where did Manga Punk get it’s review copy…), Goofyfoot Gurl hit the waves in September of this year, with the simultaneous publications of the first four volumes of the series… however I don’t have any information on it. Guess we can wait for the first look at the series coming… maybe in a few weeks?

Now you don’t need to hear a dissertation about the marvels on the manga style, because if I wanted you to read that I’ll reprint my Appeal of Manga article I did once. Sufficient to say it’s not the appeal of manga we’re weighting here, it’s the appeal of faith based Christian friendly manga that puts us to the test. After titles like the overplayed and overwrought King of Kings it becomes a weighty situation to consider Realbuzz without reflecting back on past attempts at a manga style faith based company, and noting the past failures that’s come before.

However with Realbuzz I sense a more receptive open armed embrace from us, instead of the cold shoulder we’ve given to other titles. Unlike past titles, which seemed to rely on extremes to carry their titles forward, Realbuzz seems more grounded in a well balanced formula of well written plot, finely balanced storytelling, good artwork, lovable characters and (hopefully) an open-mindedness that will be the hallmarks of a company that can deliver faith based manga and yet find a wider appeal that makes it something for everyone to read.

Do I have any fears about Realbuzz? Well… yes and no.
Yes, I actually do have some fears about Realbuzz but it’s not about the writing, or the artwork, or even the fact that this should be solidly written (I have hopes for those, not fears). My fear, also, does not come from a lack of dedication or effort (which I also have hopes for). I have high hopes that the company will deliver on their promises, and from what I’ve seen (what little I’ve seen) they seem already set towards delivering on that promise, that is not something I am concerned about. The title itself should be a solid read, now I just hope to review it and prove myself right on it once it earns it’s first 4 or 5 out of 5 in the near future.

It’s the idea of the series taking on a “Christian Worldview” that kinda freaks me a little. Just a little. Sure, this shouldn’t be a problem since the target audience is young girls and, well, that (in my opinion) means abit of restraint on their part. They won’t “overplay” their hand, and they’ll balance out their “Christian Worldview” with abit of -- restraint. Hmm… is that important now? No. Why? Because it’s waaaaaayyyy to early to even worry about that, sorta like attempting to worry about who’ll be running for President in 2008 when we are a ton of months away from 2008. In other words by the end of this year I am hoping I’m going to write my end of the year article about Realbuzz and entitle it “How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Serenity”. Check for it at the end of the year. Promise.

With a new homebase for Realbuzz to start publishing comes a new group for PR and promotion to match the new publisher. To answer the call to duty, Good News Holdings out of Sherman Oaks, CA is taking on the task of working with both Thomas Nelson and Realbuzz Studios to cross-promote both first gen launches Serenity and Goofyfoot Gurl across multiple platforms. Really?

“This is an important moment in the faith-based teen space. We see this as a wonderful opportunity to coordinate the strength of Thomas Nelson and Realbuzz into creating popular manga entertainment that is both emotionally satisfying and spiritually uplifting and that translates into the mobile and internet worlds.” (Thom Black, co-founder of Good News Holdings).

Uhm… as much as I’d like to be THAT hyped? I’ve seen way too many throwaway money making tie-ins that disgraced it’s source material to be so easily swayed by comforting words. Mind you it’s not like I’m losing my resolve here or anything, I really do want to see multiple platform across the board promotion for both Serenity and Goofyfoot Gurl (and hopefully the eventual launch of Hits & Misses and whatever comes next for the company), but (that being said) I don’t want to see poorly conceived, poorly developed, poorly put together throwaway slash instantly forgettable product (bleep) that makes me resent the title more than appreciate it. Please, think hard before you just start shooting out product line left and right. Give me product that I will appreciate, not resent.

A Serenity Ameri-Anime series? Yeah. I could go with that (just reference though my recent Gold Digger OAV Volume 2 review before leaping in blindly on an Ameri-Anime of Serenity).

A Serenity slash Goofyfoot Gurl video game (PSP please so I can review it)? Yes. Please make me forget somebody thought The Bible Game was an appropriate game release. Please. And yes, I did talk about The Bible Game once, and while I could go on for a full article about making the perfect The Bible Game I won’t go into it here. For the record, if we’re talking games I think Serenity would make a perfect sim/RPG while Goofyfoot Gurl would be an ideal sim/platformer.

Heard of the Audio Drama? You find that a lot in Japan but not so much here… try that. That might be nice.

There are a ton of ways this could go, just remember to think it out before you release and I’m sure Christmas 2007 will yield some quite interesting considerations for the new fan of these series when you put your minds to it.

And now, because I know you’ve been waiting for it, the official guide to the re-launch of Realbuzz.

August 2007 : The Second Coming Begins
August 6th, 2007 Featuring Serenity.
Save your money, folks, it’s a SIX VOLUME LAUNCH in ONE WEEK so you‘ll need it when it launches in the last month of summer! Now, not to be overtly critical or anything but shouldn’t Serenity be done with a week by week spread of the title, keeping you coming back for more week after week for a magical six week release? This might be a good thing to avoid reader burnout from so much so fast, but I’m not calling the shots here. That’s just my opinion of what would be best for launch. Anyway I think it‘s a good idea.)

Serenity 1-6
Available August 7, 2007
WestBow Press
96 Pages, 5 1/2 x 8, Juvenile Fiction / Comics & Graphic Novels / General
1. Bad Girl in Town, ISBN 978-1-59554-383-7
2. Stepping Out, ISBN 978-1-59554-384-4
3. Basket Case, ISBN 978-1-59554-385-1
4. Rave-n-Rant, ISBN 978-1-59554-386-8
5. Snow Biz, ISBN 978-1-59554-387-5
6. You Shall Love, ISBN 978-1-59554-388-2

(See above for your first look at these titles)

September 2007 : Surf’s Up!
September 11th, 2007 Featuring Goofyfoot Gurl

Again? Not to be overtly critical and all, but we have… what… five weeks of nothing between Serenity and Goofyfoot Gurl. If this isn’t a good enough reason to ration out the title, keeping people focused on the franchise until Goofyfoot Gurl makes it’s premiere, I don’t know what is. It just seems to me that it might not be such a hot idea to have so many weeks blank and empty when you could just as well space out Serenity and fill the long wait with something to keep you reading while you wait for the next volume.
Oh, well, again save your money for this one because they’re asking… are you kidding?

Goofyfoot Gurl 1-4
Available September 11, 2007
WestBow Press
Trade Paper, $10.99
96 Pages, 5 x 7, Juvenile Fiction / Comics & Graphic Novels / General
1. Let There Be Lighten Up!, ISBN 978-1-59554-389-9
2. When Dolphins Fly, ISBN 978-1-59554-390-5
3. Come and Play!, ISBN 978-1-59554-391-2
4. Out of the Soup, ISBN 978-1-59554-392-9

That can’t be the right price, is it? Now I may not know much people over at Realbuzz, but attempt to sell a 96 pager for $11 (approximately double what TOKYOPOP is selling them for at $5-$6 a pop from their affordable line of Mangas and AmeriMangas) and you might as well hold your wrist up and make a slashing motion across it. Not recommended, people, don’t (bleep) yourselves in the marketplace by pricing yourselves right out of competition!

That we come to the end. And our final thoughts. I’ll keep it short.

Realbuzz? Right now I only have one complaint with you, and that is attempting to sell 96 page mangas for the unruly price of $11 is nuts! What with TOKYOPOP delivering the same page count in their line at the very very affordable cost of $5 to $6 a pop you’ll quickly find that no matter how inspirational or praised your titles are, you will be cut off at the knees if you fail to factor in competition and TOKYOPOP’s power to deliver fast read tightly packed manga for a price even I can get behind and approve of.
Eight words! DO-NOT-PRICE-YOURSELF-OUT-OF-THE-GAME!

At least (AT LEAST) please consider a lower price! $7 for instance, worst case scenario $8 or $9 and that‘s just pushing your luck there. What? It’s $11 for full color manga? Color is a gimmick, don’t overprice yourself just for a color-manga gimmick. Stick it affordable, and rely on your solid writing, artwork, storytelling and characters to sell your book for you. No 96 page mangas for $11!! No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Dark Horse did it with their Harlequin Ginger Blossoms line and I didn’t approve of it then, won’t go for it now. Did I say no? I mean no. DON’T-DO-IT!
Otherwise nuff said… now in your future I see… your first preview or reviews of Serenity and Goofyfoot Gurl. How so? Here’s what I know as we go to press with this…

-- David Rasmussen 28th Apr 07