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Posts Tagged Jen Lee Quick

Sparkler Monthly Launches With New Chapters of Off*Beat, and Multiple Series’ Debuts

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Back in February I posted an interview with comic creator, Jen Lee Quick – best known for her series, Off*Beat – as part of the launch of Chromatic Press. Yesterday the new publisher launched issue number one of their digital multimedia magazine, Sparkler Monthly.

Issue #001
Issue #000 (Preview)

This first issue – which is free for everyone to read – includes the long-awaited new chapter of Off*Beat (yay!), and the first chapter of Christy Lijewski’s new comic series, Dire Hearts. It also has the newest chapter of their prose story, Tokyo Demons, (which I’ve written about previously) and premieres another prose story, Gauntlet, and a new audio drama, Awake.

As a disclaimer, I am currently working with Chromatic Press and got to help do some work on their Sparkler series. I was completely smitten with the goal of the publisher, and the staff and creators who made it up, so I was quick to offer what help I could at the beginning. I’m thrilled to be a part of it. I hope readers and listeners enjoy all the content already available and stick around as a subscriber for all the continuing goodies.

Information about submitting work for consideration to the magazine can be read on their website, along with subscription information.

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Categories: News
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Christy Lijewski, Chromatic Press, Digital, Global Manga, Jen Lee Quick, Magazine, Sparkler Monthly, Tokyo Demons

Back in Off*Beat Business: An Interview With Jen Lee Quick

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, February 5, 2013

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Back in January I was able to share the news that Jen Lee Quick’s Off*beat series would be going back to print, and with the long-awaited third volume finally being released after some long legal struggles. Today I’m pleased to say that not only do we now have more details about these upcoming books but also an interview with the creator herself!

Jen Lee Quick, comic artist and creator off Off*beat, and the staff of the newly announced, Chromatic Press – the publishing company behind the series’ new editions – were kind enough to organize an interview for me so I could ask some questions about the past, present and future of one of my favourite graphic novel series.

You can read the full interview after the cut, as well as see a bonus Off*beat image by Jen drawn just for this interview!

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Categories: Interviews, News
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Chromatic Press, Global Manga, Jen Lee Quick, Off Beat, Tokyopop

Jen Lee Quick Confirms Reprints of Off*Beat, Upcoming Release of Vol.03

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

2 Comments »

Fans of the comic creator Jen Lee Quick got a pleasant surprise yesterday afternoon! After years of trying to regain the rights to her original series, off*beat, from Tokyopop, she’s now confirmed that another company will be doing reprints of the first two volumes and eventually publishing the never-before-published volume three.

“So this month I will be working on new covers for books 1+2 of Off*beat. They will be reprinted with my new publishing company and match the layout, logo ect of the eventual book 3.”

Jen is also looking to add some bonus content for the reprints and is seeking her readers’ input on what they’d like to see. You can share your comments over on her tumblr post or Deviantart account. Because some loose legal threads are still being tied up, the name of the publisher can’t be shared at this time but I can assure you that news of who it is will be coming soon (sorry readers, it’s a secret for now!).

As someone who really enjoyed the first two volumes of off*beat, this news is exciting enough in itself, but also has the added bonus of showing that at least one creator has been able to regain the rights to their series after Tokyopop‘s publishing shutdown in 2011. With the company’s recent revamp and subsequent ‘relaunch’, I wonder if we’ll see more creators announcing publication plans of their own for their previously Tokyopopped books. Yes, that was intentionally made into a verb.

Other creators whose works remain in Tokyopop lingo include Becky Cloonan, whose series East Coast Rising was cancelled after only one book. Tokyopop is still offering print editions of the book via RightStuf. Though sadly there are still no plans (that we know of) for volume two to see the light of day, Becky Cloonan has posted some pages from it on her website. Christy Lijewski, creator of the three volume series Re:Play, has also expressed her difficulties in trying to get the rights to her books back and recently polled her readers on their interest in Tokyopop’s plans to re-release the books digitally.

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Categories: News
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Global Manga, Jen Lee Quick, Off Beat, offbeat, Tokyopop

Fans Try To Revive Off*Beat

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, January 10, 2009

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After posting about CLAMP_Now’s Appreciation Fanbook, I came across a little fan-run project with the hope of getting 100 letters sent to Tokyopop in order to convince them to publish volume three of the likely-permentantly-postponded OEL manga, Off*Beat by Jen Lee Quick.

While they don’t have much now, I still think it’s a nice fan-effort to let Tokyopop know there’s lots of interest for the third and final volume. Plus, taking a more effort-requiring tactic over the usual online petitions is a nice touch. I really loved the charming mystery story Jen Lee wove, so anything that could cause Tokyopop to reconsider it’s ‘indefinate hiatus’ is worth me noting :)

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Categories: Misc
Tags: Global Manga, Jen Lee Quick, Off Beat, offbeat

A Farewell and Reflection of 2008

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, December 31, 2008

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With only a day until 2008 is officially behind us, it’s no wonder people are taking the time to look back at the year with reflection. It’s been an incrediable journey for me and my website this year and even more so for the manga industry and its loyal fans. I couldn’t help but sit down and write some of my thoughts of the year. Truely they only scratch the surface of a long but satisfying year and I hope that others have reason to remember the year as fondly as I have :)

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Categories: Editorials, Misc
Tags: CLAMP, Jen Lee Quick, Off Beat

Editorial: Global Manga

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, June 11, 2008

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I’ve sat back and watched conversation after conversation over global manga; should it be called manga? Is it all garbage? A lot of these same statements and arguments have resurfaced in full-force recently due to the Tokyopop fiasco. Well I finally sat down to write down my views, and for what it’s worth, I’m sharing them with you. It’s long and feels like it turned into a bit of rant so apologies in advance (?). I welcome relevant, mature comments so feel free to share your thoughts at the end!

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Categories: Editorials
Tags: Jen Lee Quick, Off Beat, offbeat

Review: Off*Beat (Vol. 01)

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, May 19, 2008

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Author/Artist: Jen Lee Quick
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: September 2005

Synopsis: “Meet 15-year-old Tory Blake, a self-proclaimed genius who is somewhat antisocial and more than a bit cynical about the world Life is just tedious for Tory… until the day an attractive but secretive boy his own age moves in across the street. Tory becomes obsessed by his mysterious new neighbour and begins documenting his every move. But this pursuits of friendship – and possibly more – leads Tory to the one thing he wasn’t expecting to discover.”

Off*Beat isn’t so much a mystery in its own right as it is the story of a boy looking for one. Tory Blake is the story’s lead. He’s an intellectual, anti-social teenager who doesn’t give the world a whole lot of credit, plus it seems to bore the heck out of him. One day a boy named Colin moves in across the street in the dead of night and suddenly Tory’s found a target for his obsessive-compulsive nature.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Jen Lee Quick, Off Beat, offbeat, Tokyopop