With the release of the English-language edition of Billy Bat Vol. 1 from Kana this month, we are delighted to be joined by Kristiina Korpus, editor for Kana. Billy Bat Vol. 1 is a historical conspiracy thriller from Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki. Kana is Abrams ComicArts’ manga imprint.
Hi Kristiina, it’s so wonderful to have you here with us.
Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Of course! I’m Kristiina Korpus, editor for Kana. Kana is a manga imprint under the Abrams ComicsArts label. Most people just call me Tiina and you can find me on socials as @EditorTiina.
When did you discover Billy Bat?
I wouldn’t say “discovered” so much as I was exposed to Billy Bat. A couple of industry letterers were talking about it one day, probably on Twitter, and I thought that it was the craziest manga pitch I’d ever heard. I wasn’t an acquiring editor at that time, so I kind of forgot about it for a while, though it did pop up now and again in licensing conversations.
What can you say about Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki, the creators of Billy Bat?
What wouldn’t I trade to be a fly on the wall for whatever conversation spawned Billy Bat. I am deeply curious how either Urasawa-sensei or Nagasaki-sensei first pitched the twisted plot to publishers. I don’t have the credentials to make any claims about either creator, except that I’d like to see how their minds worked, especially while creating a sprawling epic like Billy Bat.
What is it about the series that makes it so beloved?
It’s hard to say, because everyone likes something different about it. Personally, I love to discuss this book to people who’ve never read Urasawa before and watch their expression as I explain the plot. I think Urasawa is simply one of the great story-tellers of our time and therefore his stories are much beloved by fans, for every reason under the sun.
Why do you think it has taken so long to get an English-language edition of Billy Bat?
It’s a long series, and it’s not new–both of these factors make licensing any series a tough sell, even for a creator as well known as Urasawa. Scans exist and plenty of people have read a different foreign language edition. All of this just means that a publisher is taking a big risk when licensing it. Abrams and Kana saw the potential, though, and we believe Billy Bat can be a stand out and lasting classic in the manga world.
What can you tell us about Billy Bat Vol. 1?
This series has been a labor of love right from the beginning. The whole team of people, from the translators and letterers to the in-house people who keep it moving, everyone has put in 100% to make this book live up to its reputation. I hope that readers will appreciate the lettering, as the letterers painstakingly recreated all the sfx so that Billy Bat in English is read exactly like Urasawa intended. The translators and editorial team have done so much research to check things like historical quotes and speeches, so for everyone here at Kana we hope fans can see the amount of care taken to localize this project.
Any message for the ComicBuzz readers?
Order Billy Bat! (laugh) It’s the best way to make sure you get your copy right when it releases! If you’d like to keep up with what Kana is doing, please follow us on social media, @kanamanga_us. We also have a Discord server where we take licensing suggestions and share special teasers and hints for upcoming announcements. We do giveaways and games, announce panels and cons we’re attending, and share anything fun happening at Kana.
Discord server link: https://discord.gg/MJcC28YeQB
We would like to say a big thank you to Kristiina for chatting with us. We would like to wish her and Kana the best of luck with the launch of Billy Bat Vol. 1.
