Category Archives: Graphic Novel: Tonoharu

Tonoharu/Kameoka Diaries November 2012 Update

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Man, I haven’t written a new blog entry in forever. Here’s a little update about what’s been going on in the six weeks since my last update.

Tonoharu Update
For anyone keeping track: there are now less than 80 new copies of Tonoharu: Part One left in the world (to the best of my knowledge). On Halloween I shipped 69 copies to the distributor. That leaves me personally with FIVE signed copies left. Once those are gone, that’s it; no more copies left.

I plan to reprint, but I haven’t really even started the ball rolling on that, and probably won’t get around to it for a while yet. The new printing probably won’t come out the second half of 2013 or so. So I’ll just say it one more time: if you want a copy of Tonoharu: Part One (especially a signed copy) get it now!

Buy a signed copy of Tonoharu: Part One–only 5 left!
Buy Tonoharu: Part One from Amazon.com via 3rd party seller 

Kameoka Diaries Update
Here’s a bit of cool news I’ve been meaning to announce: the iBooks version of all my digital comics (Kameoka Diaries 1 & 2, and Young Men of a Certain Mind) are now available for sale for around $1 in 18 new countries:

New Zealand, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Brazil, El Salvador, Panama, Chile, Guatemala, Paraguay, Colombia, Honduras, Peru, Costa Rica, Mexico and Venezuela.

It’d take me waaay too long to make direct links for all those different iBookstores, but if you search for “Lars Martinson” that should lead you to them, I would think.

Or if you’re from a country where the iBook version isn’t available (or you don’t have an iOS device), both volumes of the Kameoka Diaries digital comics are available as DRM-free PDFs anywhere worldwide for as little as $1 each:
Kameoka Diaries DRM-free PDFs

Speaking of the Kameoka Diaries, I’ve been meaning to upload another installment to the internet; hopefully I’ll be able to get to that within a couple weeks or so, cough…

“Tonoharu: Part One”—SOLD OUT! (Almost–see details below)

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Just got some cool news from my distributor: they’ve ran out of the second printing of Tonoharu: Part One!

I intend to reprint, but I’ll have to do a lot of prep work for it, so it’ll be months before a new printing comes out. I don’t expect to have it out until sometime in 2013…

So if you want Tonoharu: Part One for the upcoming holiday season, get it now while you still can!

WHERE TO BUY TONOHARU: PART ONE:

Direct From Me:
My distributor is out of copies, but I personally still have a couple dozen pristine copies left & available for sale. Not only that, but they’re from the first printing! AND a limited number of them (about 10) are signed! (I’ll update this entry if the signed copies run out.) I’m in Japan so I can’t sign more until I visit home next summer, so if you want a signed copy (or a copy at all, for that matter) order now!
Link to My Store>>>


From Amazon.com
As I write this blog entry, Amazon says they still have 2 copies. I don’t know if those are the very last two, or if they’ll be getting one last shipment or what, but either way, they’re scrapping the bottom of the barrel. There’s also some really, really cheap new/used copies being sold through third party sellers on Amazon. I imagine they’ll go up in price once the book is listed as out-of-print, so get ’em now while they’re cheap!
Link to Tonoharu: Part One on Amazon.com>>>


From your favorite local bookseller
If they have a copy, grab it, because it’ll be a while before they get any more!

******

That’s it for now! My sincere thanks to everyone who supported me and picked up the book, making two sold-out printings possible! Here’s hoping printing #3 does okay too!

Oh, and there’s still a TON of copies of Tonoharu: Part Two left, so… pick that up too, won’t you? Ha ha…
(^^;)

Tonoharu en Espanol–Now on Sale!

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Cover of Spanish edition of Tonoharu

This month the Spanish version of Tonoharu made its debut. It should be available right now in Spain’s finer comic book stores.

The book collects Tonoharu: Part One and Two into a single volume, much like the French version that came out last year. It’s the perfect gift for the Spanish-speaking, Japan-loving comics fan in your life. More details (in Spanish, of course) can be found at the publisher’s website:
http://www.sinsentido.es/noticias/editorial/132/

Fellow cartoonist Abby Denson was kind enough to snap a picture of the book out in the wild (look in the upper left-hand corner) when she was in Spain promoting her own book:
pic.twitter.com/fS9SL9NG

An editor at Sins Entido recently told me they’ll be sending me my copies of it, so I’ll let you know once I’ve had a chance to look at the real thing! Also, I’m not sure if/when it’ll make it to other Spanish-speaking countries outside of Spain; if I hear anything I’ll let you know!

“Tonoharu” dans un Livre Français de l’Architecture

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The publisher of the French edition of Tonoharu, Le Lezard Noir, has put out a book entitled Mangapolis about the way Japanese architecture is portrayed in manga.

The book has a section about how non-Japanese comics portray Japan, and Tonoharu is among them, getting a two page spread. I also wrote a couple of paragraphs about Japanese architecture. Hopefully my uninformed opinions sound better translated into French than they do in the original English!


Sorry for the crappy photo…

Elsewhere in the book is a never-before published panel from Tonoharu: Part Three! O.M.G., right guys?!?!?!

So if you can read French and are interested in Japanese comics/architecture (and really, who doesn’t fit those two criteria) then check it out!

There’s also a gallery show coinciding with the launch of the book, running through June 16th 2012 at Maison de l’Architecture de Poitou-Charentes (thank god for cut and paste) in Poitiers, France. That includes some enlarged Tonoharu artwork:

So if you live in a Poiters area, do check it out. Details here.

“Tonoharu: Part Three” Progress Report #2

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Progress Bar Key
Script/Story: The Story/Script for the comic
Artwork: The Drawing, Inking, and Computer Work for the comic
Final Edits/Incidentals: Post-Production Edits, Designing the Cover, Preparing for Press, etc.

(More information about Tonoharu can be found here.)

****

I’ve just finished the artwork for page 39 out of a (projected) 117, which means the the artwork for Tonoharu: Part Three is now officially, exactly, ONE-THIRD COMPLETE! Hooray!

I won’t even make a wild guess about when Tonoharu: Part Three will be finished and available for purchase. I’ve missed so many self-imposed deadlines that it’s hard to say, especially now that I have a full time job again. In any event, it’ll still be a while yet, so don’t hold your breath!

One (small) piece of good news for those who are waiting for Tonoharu: Part Three: my job affords me a very generous 20 days of paid vacation. So far, after being on the job for almost seven months, I’ve used one of them. My plan is to take a whole month off this summer, and visit the US. Other than seeing old friends and family and such, I hope to devote most of that time to working on Tonoharu: Part Three. At best I might be able to finish ten extra pages or so, so I don’t mean to imply that a month of dedicated work will bring the book to the cusp of completion or anything, but hey, every little bit counts!

Oh, one more thing, in regards to The Kameoka Diaries, my new series of webcomics. You might be wondering if that’s slowing Tonoharu progress down even further. The honest answer is yeah, probably a bit. But actually, not too much. I tend to work on The Kameoka Diaries in places that I couldn’t work on Tonoharu anyway (cafes, bus stops, etc). Plus, I think it’s good for me to have something else to work on, to let off steam. If I never did any KD comics, I might have another 1-3 pages of Tonoharu done, but that’s about it.

Well, I’ll put up another progress report when the artwork for Tonoharu: Part Three is halfway done; probably show a couple of panels from the book then too. If you want more tedious, frequent updates, I tweet whenever I finish a page, so follow me on Twitter if you want. Peace!

Tonoharu: Official Selection at Angoulême Comics Festival!

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Cool news! The French version of Tonoharu has been chosen as an official selection for the Angoulême International Comics Festival, Europe’s largest comics festival!

Tonoharu is one of 58 books chosen as an official selection. As I understand it, a few thousand books were eligible, so it’s a pretty big deal and a real honor.

This puts Tonoharu in the running for some of the most prestigious awards in comics. (And no, “prestigious comics award” is not an oxymoron.) Looking over my competition (which includes comics greats like Dan Clowes, Jim Woodring, Craig Thompson, and Joe Sacco, just to name a few) I think its fair to say I don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell at the top prize, or even the Angoulême International Comics Festival Essentials prize, which is awarded to five books. But I might have a shot at the best newcomer award or something.

Awards will be announced at the festival in late-January. I’ll keep you posted!

My sincere thanks to my French publisher Le Lezard Noir, (in particular Stéphane Duval and Anne Cavarroc) for producing such a beautiful edition of my book!

Angoulême International Comics Festival Official Selection List (in French)

Tonoharu: Official Selection at Angoulême Comics Festival!

Cool news! The French version of Tonoharu has been chosen as an official selection for the Angoulême International Comics Festival, Europe’s largest comics festival!

Tonoharu is one of 58 books chosen as an official selection. As I understand it, a few thousand books were eligible, so it’s a pretty big deal and a real honor.

This puts Tonoharu in the running for some of the most prestigious prizes in comics. (And no, “prestigious comics award” is not an oxymoron!) Looking over my competition (which includes comics greats like Dan Clowes, Jim Woodring, Craig Thompson, and Joe Sacco, just to name a few) I think its fair to say I don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell at the top prize, or even the Angoulême International Comics Festival Essentials prize, which are awarded to five books. But I might have a shot at the best newcomer award or something.

Awards will be announced at the festival in late-January. I’ll keep you posted!

My sincere thanks to all the people at Le Lezard Noir, (in particular and translator ) for producing such a beautiful edition of my book!

Angoulême International Comics Festival Official Selection List (in French)