Today we have our 2008 New York Comic Con’s Tokyopop Coverage. I missed most of the panel, but thankfully one of my Backup forum community members who came to the event shared notes with me. Fans could grab from the Tokyopop booth a Starcraft and Warcraft promo poster. I heard it was made in a timeframe of two weeks by artist Saejin Oh from UDON Entertainment.

That is a beautiful poster featuring a Zerg Hydra versus a Protoss Zealot on the bottom, and a Paladin versus an Orc Warrior. Many thanks to Stacey for scanning her poster for Blizzplanet.

Tokyopop and Blizzard Entertainment recently announced a Three-Year Publishing Deal to release twenty-two manga adventures set in the richly detailed Warcraft and StarCraft® universes. By August 2008 two anthology titles will be available at bookstores: Starcraft: Frontline and Warcraft Legends.

Starcraft: Frontline
Richard A. Knaak writes one of the stories in the Starcraft: Frontline anthology manga under the title: Thundergod. It will feature the Terran Thor - a massive robotic unit featured in the upcoming Starcraft 2 RTS game developed by Blizzard Entertainment.

StarCraft: Ghost Academy
Starcraft: Ghost Academy by Keith R.A. DeCandido is an ongoing manga series featuring November Anabelle Terra (better known as Nova), the lethal Ghost agent from the postponed Starcraft: Ghost FPS Console game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. Keith R.A. DeCandido is well known for his Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Dragon Precinct - an acclaimed high fantasy police procedural; among other pocket books. Keith wrote Starcraft Ghost: Nova for Pocket Books on 2006 as a prequel to the Console game. Now he continues his great work polishing the character, this time on a Tokyopop Manga. Keith mentioned at New York Comic Con, during the Warcraft and Starcraft Panel, that a Starcraft 2 character would make an appearance in Starcraft Ghost: Academy. The Manga is set in the timeframe Nova was at the Ghost Program Academy prior to her first mission. You will explore her interaction with other cadets and Ghost trainees pitting Nova into some interesting privacy situations. An artist for Starcraft Ghost: Academy will be announced soon by Tokyopop. The first volume’s release date is scheduled by Summer 2009.

Warcraft: Dragons of Outland
Richard A. Knaak and Jae-Hwan Kim team up once more to bring us a new manga titled Warcraft: Dragons of Outland. It continues the saga of characters from Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy manga. In this sequel, Jorad Mace and Tyrygosa reach Outland and find the Netherdragons at the Celestial Ridge in Netherstorm. This story sets the backstory for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King as hinted by Knaak during our video interview at 2007 Istrocon in Slovakia. This manga is scheduled for release on Fall 2009.