Tina Anderson has word from Viz that their short-lived venture into original comics has been put on hold. Be sure to check out her post for all the known details at this point and some insight on the matter.
First announced in the summer of 2008, Viz held portfolio reviews at San Diego Comic Con as part of their search for new original content, stating that “primary focus for the overall Viz original-comics plan is long-form fictional escapades.”. You can read a short interview on the project at ICv2.
Tina also learned that one of the lead staff piloting the program, Marc Weidenbaum, has left Viz. While this may or may not be a solid contributing factor, there are hopes to revive the Original Content line in 2010.
I think its a shame that this idea has stopped before it even really began. I know a lot of creators who were eager to try working with the manga-giant and the idea of more user-created content in their Shoujo Beat magazine alone sounded fun.
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I know from dealing with the submissions side of things, that I never got the impression they were looking for 'original ideas' from me — but they did want to see what creators like me were capable of, in terms of pitch and presentation. I suspected that it was more a talent search over actual IP searching.
I hope they get it back on by 2010.
[…] Tina Anderson, who was planning on submitting a comic for Viz’s original comics line, learns that it has been put on hold and also that Marc Weidebaum, who spearheaded the line in addition to being top editor for Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat, is no longer with the company. (Via Kuriousity.) […]
If you have to do it, you might as well do it right
[…] Viz’s original pitch project was back in February when news circulated that Viz Media was putting their original submission project on hold. It previously had a short run when Viz held portfolio reviews at SDCC 2008 and more recently when […]