PR: WEBCOMIC FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY CELEBRATES TEN YEARS ON THE WEB

Originally Posted on 06/02/2011 by Jeff Harris

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 1, 2011 (Fullerton, CA) - The fourteenth issue of the webcomic "Flying Glory and the Hounds of Glory," located at http://www.flying-glory.com, will celebrate the ten year anniversary of the storyline in an expanded 36-page issue. The story, entitled "Reverberations," will show readers more of the past of Flying Glory as well as provide glimpses into what lies ahead. A mini-comic prequel Issue 0, entitled "Generational Glory," launched at the start of the year in anticipation of this major event and shows the cast during the summer right before the series opens.

"Flying Glory and the Hounds of Glory" is a webcomic featuring the adventures of super powered teen Debra Clay, known as Flying Glory, and her backing band the Hounds of Glory. The webcomic launched in the summer of 2001 with a four page short, soon followed by a 29-page first issue. Artwork is drawn by Kevin Paul Shaw Broden, who co-writes the adventures with Shannon Muir, she also pens the poetic lyrics sung by the band. Currently, each issue is twenty-four pages in length and generally posted as one page weekly in black and white, though the original few issues were later reposted in color. As of June 2011, the website features roughly 350 comic story pages. In addition, "Flying Glory and the Hounds of Glory" appeared in print for the first time this year as part of a charity cookbook by TGT Media entitled "Webcomics: What's Cooking?" that raises funds to feed the hungry.

"What originally drew us into doing this webcomic was the idea of superhero as celebrity, and I think we are still true to that," webcomic co-writer and lyric writer Muir says. "Teens look at those who are successful and want to emulate them. Our main heroine, Debra Clay, has now spent a lot of time trying to learn from her grandmother Elsie Carmichael Stokes, the previous Flying Glory. Like many teens, it gets easy to be impatient, and to think you know it all. Sometimes that comes with consequences, and you realize the value of experience. She's also needed to struggle with finding her identity as a growing woman, independent of the powers, which only brings added depth to the adventure. There's also a wealth of stories to be told about the Hounds of Glory, most of who were Debra's friends before the whole superpower factor came into play, and how she relates to them when they have struggles."

Flying Glory came out of Broden's love for the "Golden Age" of comic book mystery men of the 1930's and 1940's. "I developed an idea of such a heroine and wrote a script for the book based on her adventures." He was surprised by how many people liked the story, including professionals in the comic book industry. There were also positive responses from publishers, but nothing ever came from that. So Broden and Muir developed a second comic book series about the heroine's granddaughter taking up the mantel and the mask.

For artist and co-writer Kevin Paul Shaw Broden, "Flying Glory and the Hounds of Glory" has been a magnificent way to express his creativity while continuing to pursue his career. Broden began his professional career as an art assistant for Brian Murray, where he worked on early issues of "Supreme" for Image Comics. Before that, he storyboarded the video for BiGod20's "One," as well as videos for John Wesley Harding and Kristin Hersch as part of the Summer Arts program in Humboldt, California. More recently, he's been contracted to do illustrations for commercials and television series pitches, and his work is featured in Muir's two textbooks on the animation business - "Gardner's Guide to Writing and Producing Animation" and "Gardner's Guide to Pitching and Selling Animation". He also has a successful New Pulp online serial, "Revenge of the Masked Ghost" (http://revengeofthemaskedghost.blogspot.com/). Broden and Muir also have shared writing credits on several episodes of the Japanese animated series "Midnight Horror School."

In addition to her work with Broden and the previously mentioned textbooks, Muir's worked in production on several animated television series for such major studios as Sony, Nickelodeon, and SD Entertainment. Muir also recently began self-publishing fiction work such as her recent release "Touch the Stars" currently available on Amazon and through Lulu.com.

Issue 14, "Reverberations," is scheduled to begin on June 26, 2011.

MEDIA CONTACT E-MAIL: kevinpsb@sbcglobal.net
FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY Copyright 1997-2011 Kevin Paul Shaw Broden and Shannon Muir. All rights reserved.

PR: VIZ MEDIA OFFERS LIBRARIANS FREE HEROES OF MANGA LIBRARY KITS

Originally Posted on 06/02/2011 by Jeff Harris

San Francisco, CA, June 2, 2011 - VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, gives librarians across the country a useful new tool to promote reading, literacy and love of manga (graphic novels). The company has made available Heroes of Manga Library Kits, full of items to entice patrons to explore the exciting world of Japanese pop culture and comics.

Manga is one of the most requested categories in libraries today. The Heroes of Manga Library Kit features some of VIZ Media's most popular properties, such as NARUTO, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, NURA: RISE OF THE YOKAI CLAN and POKEMON, designed for a range of readers from All Ages to Young Adult. Each library kit contains 50 book covers, 300 bookmarks, 50 buttons, 5 assorted VIZ Media bags, and a full-color poster featuring NARUTO, and is available for FREE to library professionals. For more information, or to receive a kit, please submit information here before June 8, 2011. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

"VIZ Media celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year and throughout our history, we have made it our mission to help fans of all ages foster a love of reading through manga," says Candice Uyloan, Director of Marketing. "Our latest campaign provides librarians with a free Heroes of MangaLibrary Kit that contains a variety of fun premiums that highlight some of our most popular properties. Our first efforts to promote the kits resulted in such an enthusiastic response that we have decided to extend the program and increase the number of kits produced. We invite librarians to send in for their free kit today and use the goodies exclusively created for them to inspire their patrons to explore the exciting world of comics from Japan!"

VIZ Media manga titles are regularly recognized by leading library associations for their imaginative stories and high quality. The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) recently recognized several notable VIZ Media manga titles recommended for those ages 12-18, meet the criteria of both good quality literature and appealing reading for teen readers. For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the U.S. leader in selecting books, videos, and audio books for teens.

For more information on VIZ Media manga titles, please visit www.viz.com/manga.