TOKYOPOP Inc. and Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising have joined forces to produce Cine-Manga books based on hit FOX television shows including the soon-to-be-resurrected animated cult favorite Family Guy. The shows will be presented in comic book form featuring full-color frame grabs laid out in action-packed spreads peppered with manga-style text balloons and sound effects.
The first offering, a Cine-Manga version of the Emmy Award-winning family sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, is scheduled to debut in stores this August, with adaptations of Family Guy and the Paris Hilton reality series, The Simple Life, set to hit bookshelves in October. Among the major retailers carrying TOKYOPOP’s Cine-Manga titles are Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy.
The Family Guy revival was spurred by DVD sales of the short-lived series. The season one and two release was 2003’s top-selling TV to DVD title and the fourth-best selling TV to DVD title ever. FOX will again pick up production on the show with at least two dozen new episodes, marking the first time a canceled series has been raised from the dead on the strength of its DVD sales.
