OSAMU TEZUKA, GODFATHER OF MANGA: His status has become legendary with acclaim for Buddha and Ode to Kirihito, his work has become a hallmark with demand for quickly-paced narratives laid out in manga art of unparallelled sophistication and quality.

FINALLY PUBLISHED IN AMERICA: Twin Knight the sequel to the hit Princess Knight has never been translated into English before. For the first time ever American Tezuka fans can experience this rare girls comic from manga legend Osamu Tezuka.

THE FATHER OF MANGA DOES SHOJO: The American manga market is dominated by shojo manga (manga for teenage girls), and Twin Knight is one of the first shojo manga ever published. To this day it is considered one of the most influential comics of all time—influencing such international hits as Sailor Moon and CLAMP’s Cardcaptor Sakura.

PERFECT FOR YOUNGER READERS: With a dashing and precocious young heroine at the center of the story fighting evil-doers and ghouls to win the hearts of her people and keep her claim to the throne. The Disney-esque themes should be of interest for the younger initiates to Tezuka’s classic work.

Osamu Tezuka was born on November 3, 1928, in Osaka. Having developed an intense understanding of the preciousness of life from his wartime experience, Osamu Tezuka aimed to become a physician and later earned his degree, but ultimately chose the profession he loved best: manga artist and animated film writer.

Tezuka’s work changed the concept of the Japanese cartoon, transforming it into an art form and incorporating a variety of new styles in creating the “story cartoon.” Osamu Tezuka lived out his entire life tirelessly pursuing his efforts, producing more than 150,000 pages of graphic storytelling before his death in 1989.

Author Residence: Deceased

Author Hometown: Osaka, Japan

Marketing: Print and online advertising planned in major comics and pop culture outlets, such as The Comics Journal, GiantRobot, Popjneo, and Comics Buyers Guide.

Princess Knight, the property that launched this series, was an Eisner Award Nominee as well as a YALSA and Cybils YA Fiction Award nominee. The property also won the 2012 About.com Manga Award for manga for Children.

Vertical is in talks with the Right Stuf for bundle packages where DVD sales of Princess Knight would be bundled with the Princess Knight and Twin Knight manga.

Posters to be distributed at San Diego ComicCon. Twin Knight figures sold at ComicCon by Organic and their Tezuka Moderno Lab toy line.

Publicity: The Princess Knight animated series will be re-released in English for the first time since 1970 in the Summer 2013 by The Right Stuf International on DVD and BluRay.

The animated series will also stream online for free on Viki.com.

Author Website: tezukaosamu.net/en/

“Beneath the adventurous, fast-paced, often comical façade, Tezuka adds more than a few heavy-duty layers: gender politics, equality and equity, class issues, questions of identity, definitions of morality, and more. Tezuka pushes one button after another…just to see what might happen. The result is a delightful, thoughtful challenge - visually, intellectually…and even spiritually.” - The Smithsonian Institute’s Book Dragon