The Quarto Group Partners with Saturday AM On a New and Inclusive Wave of Manga Books
The Quarto Group is partnering with digital Manga and comic brand Saturday AM for a robust publishing program featuring manga-inspired comics featuring greater diversity and inclusion (i.e., diverse Manga), to be published under its art and design imprint Rockport Publishers. Showcasing creators from across the globe–from Senegal to New Zealand –who center more BIPOC and LGBTQ+ characters in their work, this new style of Manga elevates voices who rarely appear in traditional manga narratives.
Saturday AM launched the independent black-owned manga movement in the U.S. in 2013 and is the most successful flagship brand for MyFutprint Entertainment, LLC. Saturday AM is an online manga anthology magazine that focuses on diversity and representation, producing over 150 issues to date of serialized digital content monthly with dedicated fans from over 60 countries. The Saturday AM brand has appeared on collectible toys, sticker apps, and a mobile videogame. With a solid social media presence, including dozens of exclusive artists, influencers in their own right, Saturday AM generates roughly 17M impressions per month.
Author and founder of MyFutprint Entertainment, LLC Frederick L. Jones is pleased to take this next step with Saturday AM and The Quarto Group. “As an African-American, it’s been a dream of mine that the art form that I’ve loved since the ’80s offer more ethnic and cultural diversity both on the page and behind the scenes. It’s been rather humbling just how many young talented fans have embraced our brand and our popular series like CLOCK STRIKER, shonen’s 1st black female lead character. Partnering with a company like The Quarto Group finally allows us to bring these creator-owned original manga stories to stores worldwide.”
“We are thrilled to be adding the Saturday AM brand to our Quarto list,” says Senior Vice President and Group Publishing Director of Rockport Publishers Winnie Danenbarger. “Manga is a powerful art form that has influenced the globe in animation, artistic influences, and even culture. The graphic novels created by Saturday AM speak to a contemporary and diverse audience and wholly aligns with Quarto’s mission of inspiring and embracing global artists.” Adds Danenbarger: “Manga is now becoming an international language, and the globalization of it will only continue to expand in the future as an infinitely adaptable art form around the world. We’re excited to be at the forefront of this new, creative and inclusive wave of Manga.”
Quarto launches the line by publishing 10 titles in 2022 from 7 series and an additional 10 to 12 titles per year in 2023 and 2024. The first three serialized Saturday AM titles—APPLE BLACK, HAMMER, and SAIGAMI —are scheduled to publish June 7, 2022, along with Saturday AM Presents How to Draw Diverse Manga, the first HOW TO book with an inclusive take on the popular artform. In July, the line continues with one of the first ALL AFRICAN manga series, OBLIVION ROUGE, with others to follow. Most of Saturday AM’s serialized titles will be shonen Manga (action-adventure, ages 12+) with exclusive new art and story. They will exist in a multi-verse where all the stories connect for an epic storytelling experience. And deepening the experience for both new and existing readers, Saturday AM manga titles will also offer innovative never-before-seen “post-credit” content exclusively debuting within these printed books.
THE SATURDAY AM LINE of NEW GRAPHIC NOVELS WILL OFFICIALLY BEGIN IN JUNE 2022 with new versions of APPLE BLACK and SAIGAMI as well as new HAMMER volumes and continues new releases monthly from the QUARTO GROUP and their imprint Rockport Publishers.
ABOUT QUARTO
The Quarto Group is the leading global publisher of illustrated books. Quarto encompasses a diverse portfolio of imprints and businesses that are expert in developing long-lasting content across specific niches of interest for adults, children and the whole family. Quarto sells its products globally in over 50 countries and 40 languages and employs c.330 people in the US and the UK. The group was founded in London in 1976. It is domiciled in the US and listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: QRT). For more information, visit quarto.com or follow us on Twitter at @TheQuartoGroup.
ABOUT SATURDAY AM and MYFUTPRINT ENTERTAINMENT, LLC
Saturday AM is a unique digital comics brand featuring an ever-growing catalog of popular, exclusive, and diverse manga-inspired webcomics by independent creators from around the world. Among the three dozen visionary artists on the Saturday AM team are Nigerian Youtuber and popular creator @WhytManga (APPLE BLACK), USA TODAY, and ONI PRESS professional artist @JeyOdin (HAMMER), and Hungarian illustrator @saigaimiproject (SAIGAMI). To learn more about Saturday AM, visit www.saturday-am.com, or find them on Instagram (@saturday_am), YouTube (youtube.com/user/MyFutprint), and Twitter (@saturday_am). You can access their Manga via their mobile app at app.saturday-am.com.
2 Responses
I am excited to see the heights Saturday AM climbs to. May God continue to bless all of your endeavors.
This was very informative thank you love your works and I intend to reach manga height myself after seeing your works