Dramacon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dramacon | |||
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 Cover of Dramacon vol. 1 (2005 ). Art by Svetlana Chmakova. |
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| Genre | Romantic comedy | ||
| Author | Svetlana Chmakova | ||
| Illustrator | Svetlana Chmakova | ||
| Publisher |    Tokyopop |
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| Original run | 2005 – 2007 | ||
| Volumes | 3 | ||
Dramacon is an original English-language manga written and illustrated by Svetlana Chmakova. It was published in three volumes by Tokyopop from October 11, 2005 to December 11, 2007.
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[edit] Plot
Dramacon focuses on Christie Leroux, a fledgling teenage writer who is debuting her manga with her artist boyfriend, Derek Hollman, at her first anime convention. Christie endures Derek ignoring her along with the culture shock of men in schoolgirl uniforms. During the three-day convention, Christie meets Lida Zeff, famous manga artist and writer, who gives her advice on improving her manga, and Matt Green, a mysterious sun-glass wearing cosplayer, whom she develops feelings for. Matt always wears sunglasses to conceal the fact that his eye is missing. Derek witnesses Matt and Christie kissing, and confronts her while drunk. During the argument, he attacks and attempts to rape her; however, she escapes to Matt's room, which leads Derek and Matt to fight. Christie spends her last day with Matt, his sister, and a friend of theirs. They have to wait another whole year before they see each other again since Christie is still in high school and lives on the east coast while Matt lives on the west coast and attends college.
A year later, Christie returns to the convention with Bethany, a new artist. Christie discovers that Matt now has a girlfriend named Emily. While Christie deals with her feelings for Matt, Bethany faces off with a disgruntled manga purist and is offered a job at Mangapop. Lida Zeff helps the two girls with advice for Bethany about living in a manga publishing world. Emily pulls off Matt's sunglasses in public and when Christie runs after him, Matt tells her to "piss off". The next day, Christie runs away from him when he tries to apologize, and refuses his kiss. They part without a good-bye. Bethany and Christie leave the convention with a promise to cosplay the next year and to continue to work hard on their manga.
At the next convention, Christie meets up with Matt, but her friends follow her, and she constantly argues with Matt. She runs into Derek, which brings back the memories of him attacking her, but sees that he now has a pregnant fiancée. Matt and Christie try to control their tempers, Matt in particularly trying to hold his biting retorts, and they seem to have made up, even with Emily still around and finding ways to break into their dates as a form of payback for last year. Meanwhile, Bethany refuses to cosplay after learning that her mother is coming to the convention. She argues with her mother about her career choice; after her mom is in a car accident, Beth leaves the convention to be by her side in the hospital and they reconcile. Bethany has her blessing to pursue a job with Mangapop. Christie and company all leave the convention considerably happier than last year.
[edit] Development
The intial concept of Dramacon was about "a girl who meets a cosplayer, and there would be all kinds of obstacles and drama that they'd have to overcome."[1] Svetlana Chmakova attended anime conventions regularly and came up with the concept of the series when she encountered the same cosplayer at the same convention for two years. She stated:
We didn't date or anything, we never even spoke. He doesn't even know who I am or anything, but the way writers' minds work, you just latch onto something like that and you build upon it. I thought, "What if this was a manga? And what if there was a manga character (who's not me)?" And that's how it happened.[1]
Chmakova wrote the first volume as "a piece of fluff" and "just wanted to have fun with it."[1] She left the ending of the first volume open since she was unsure if other volumes would be published. While writing the series, she tried to make the story as realistic as possible. Chmakova also liked the idea of Dramacon being an anime, but did not think that it was likely to happen.[1] Although Chmakova is currently working on her other series, Nightschool, she hopes to continue Dramacon afterwards, commenting that "there is definitely a lot of story left to tell for the Dramacon characters."[2]
[edit] Release
Written and illustrated by Svetlana Chmakova, Dramacon is published by Tokyopop in three volumes from October 11, 2005 to December 11, 2007.[3] Tokyopop later re-released in the series in one volume, Dramacon Ultimate Edition (ISBN 978-1-4278-1340-4), on October 7, 2008.[3] Madman Entertainment distributes the series in New Zealand and Australia.[4] Dramacon is also licensed in France by Albin Michel,[5] in Germany by Tokyopop Germany,[6] in Portugal by Edições Asa,[7] in Hungary by Mangattack,[8] and in Japan by Soft Bank Creative.[9]
[edit] Volume list
| No. | North American release date | North American ISBN | |
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| 01 | October 11, 2005[3] | ISBN 978-1-59816-129-8 | |
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| 02 | October 10, 2006[3] | ISBN 978-1-59816-130-4 | |
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| 03 | December 11, 2007[3] | ISBN 978-1-59816-131-1 | |
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[edit] Reception
Dramacon tied with Fred Gallagher's Megatokyo for the Best Continuing OEL Manga.[10] Dramacon was nominated for a 2006 Harvey Award,[11] and a 2007 Will Eisner Award,[12] but did not win either. It was also on the 2005 Publishers Weekly list of best comics.[13] The American Library Association put Dramacon on the list of 2007 Great Graphic Novels for Teens.[14]
Mike Toole of Anime Jump stated: "It's a comic that's sly and indulgent to anime fans, but still accessible, attractive, and wickedly funny."[15] Popculture Shock's Erin Finnegan commented that the second Dramacon volume "is a compelling read, but at times it comes off more like an internet forum discussion than an actual volume of manga."[16]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Debi Aoki. "Svetlana Chmakova Interview - Interview with the Manga Artist of Dramacon and Nightschool". About.com. http://manga.about.com/od/mangaartistswriters/a/SChmakova_3.htm. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
- ^ Svetlana Chmakova. "Faq". Svetlana Chmakova. http://www.svetlania.com/faq.shtml. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
- ^ a b c d e "Manga+Comics: Book Catalog". Tokyopop. http://www.tokyopop.com/manga/book_catalog/browse?alphabet=D&hide_adult=Y&p=9. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
- ^ "Dramacon (Manga)". Madman Entertainment. http://www.madman.com.au/actions/periodicals.do?periodicalId=123&method=home. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
- ^ "Dramanga - Tome 1". Albin Michel. http://www.albin-michel.fr/fiche.php?EAN=9782226177605. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
- ^ "Bücher: Manga: Dramacon [Books: Manga: Dramacon]" (in German). Tokyopop Germany. http://www.tokyopop.de/buecher/manga/dramacon/index.php. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
- ^ "Edições Asa" (in Portuguese). Edições Asa. http://www.asa.pt/produtos/produto.php?id_produto=9789892302034. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
- ^ "Mangattack" (in Hungarian). Mangattack. http://www.mangattack.hu/index.php?action=kiadvanyok&cimid=7. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
- ^ "ドラマコン (1) [Dramacon (1)]" (in Japanese). Soft Bank Creative. http://www.sbcr.jp/books/products/detail.asp?sku=4797354324. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
- ^ Debi Aoki. "2007 Best Continuing Manga - Top 10 Current Manga Series of 2007". About.com. http://manga.about.com/od/recommendedreading/tp/2007BestManga.htm. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
- ^ "The Harvey Awards". Harvey Awards Executive Committee. http://www.harveyawards.org/awards_2006nom.html. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
- ^ Debi Aoki (23 July 2007). "2007 Eisner Awards Manga Nominees". About.com. http://manga.about.com/od/imagegalleries/ig/2007-Eisner-Awards/. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
- ^ http://www.thestar.com/article/211329
- ^ "2007 Great Graphic Novels for Teens". American Library Association. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/greatgraphicnovelsforteens/07ggnt.cfm. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
- ^ Mike Toole (28 November 2005). "Dramacon vol. 1". Anime Jump. http://www.animejump.com/index.php?module=prodreviews&func=showcontent&id=706. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
- ^ Erin Finnegan (27 March 2007). "March Manga Madness Reviews". Popculture Shock. http://www.popcultureshock.com/manga/index.php/reviews/manga-reviews/march-manga-madness-reviews/. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
