X-Men Shojo Manga: First looks
Marvel and Del Rey announced this weekend at the New York Anime Festival that they plan to publish two new manga series based on the X-Men. The first project, scripted by the husband-and-wife team of Raina Telgemeier (writer and illustrator of The Babysitter’s Club graphic novels) and Dave Roman (creator of the comic Agnes Quill), will focus specifically on the X-Men team, with the storyline fashioned as a private school shôjo comedy. (Shôjo manga is aimed at girls and often covers popular subjects such as comedy, romance, and drama.) As the only girl in the all-boys School for Gifted Youngsters, Kitty Pryde, a mutant with phasing abilities, is torn between the popular Hellfire Club, led by flame-throwing mutant Pyro–and the school misfits, whom she eventually bands together as the X-Men. Indonesian artist Anzu will illustrate the two-volume series, which will go on sale in Spring 2009.
The nice folks at Del Rey Manga have provided us with looks at the character design sheets by Anzu, starting with Mystique: