Sam Humphries, the consulting editor of Raijin, gives Akadot an exclusive interview about the first weekly manga anthology to hit America. Although each manga title featured in Raijin is translated into English, the actual publication is in Japan giving fans the opportunity to experience authentic manga at its best. Filled with hit titles such as Tsukasa Hojo's City Hunter and Tetsuo Hara's Fist of the Blue Sky, Raijin is destined to thunder through the American manga market. Sam Humphries gives Akadot the latest news, info, and expectations concerning the ground-breaking anthology.

Akadot: Okay, so let's begin! How was Raijin assembled?

Sam Humphries: There is a publishing company in Japan called Coamix that publishes Weekly Comic Bunch. A group editors and artists who left Shueisha and Shonen Jump at the height of its popularity to form their own publishing company and licensing management founded Coamix. Gutsoon is the sister company and an extension of Coamix due to the overlapping of employees, duties, and participation. Coamix wanted to break into the American manga market and created Gutsoon in order to do so.

Akadot: Since Coamix was partly founded by manga artists, did that influence the manga titles featured in Raijin?

SH: Yes and no. Fist of the Blue Sky is by Testsuo Hara and City Hunter is by Tsukasa Hojo and they are founders and investors of both Coamix and Gutsoon. But, they are proven entities worldwide, especially Fist of the North Sky. They were also chosen on their own merits and there are other titles featured in Raijin that have no connection with Mr. Hara, Mr. Hojo, and Shueisha.

Akadot: How were the other titles chosen for Raijin, for example Guardian Angel?

SH: Guardian Angel was selected to create a balance in our line-up. It was something that could appeal to both male and female readers. There are shoujo titles in America that appeal equally to both audiences such as Sailor Moon. Guardian Angel was chosen out of the field of manga available in Japan as a good extension to bring the diversity of Japan to America.

Akadot: How big will the actual magazine be?

SH: The actual dimensions of Raijin will be the same as Issue 0. The page count for the first issue is a little over 240 pages, which is a bit more than what it will usually be. The usual total page count will be around the 200-210 page mark. It usually depends on the actual page count of the stories. Around issues five or six, we will have about nine stories running in each issue of Raijin.

Akadot: There were numerable ads for other stories such as Slam Dunk, Bomber Girl, and other titles. Will there be any additional titles in the comic?

SH: Besides those titles, we have Fist of the Blue Sky which is the prequel of Fist of the North Star, City Hunter, Guardian Angel, Revenge of the Mouflon, Keiji.

Also, there is a manga title called Encounter which is very interesting because it was the first ever winner of the International Manga Award. It just started publication in Japan and only has three installments out. It's almost going to be published concurrently in America in Japan. It's a sci-fi thriller about bizarre suicides and how one man is connected to these suicides.

Then we have First President of Japan, which is a story where the Japanese people dissolve the Japanese Parliament and elect the first President of Japan.

Akadot: Does First President of Japan focus entirely on politics or does it contain any other themes?

SH: It's a political manga, but it has a lot of political thriller elements to it. It's a little similar to the West Wing. It's not really about pushing a bill through, so much as about the issues that influence politics. The author of First President of Japan was born in Japan, but is a former Harvard professor. He is currently the advisor to The White House and the U.S. Navy concerning Japanese and American relations.

Akadot: And he has time to draw manga?

SH: Well, he has time to write it. He has an artist. It is really interesting because this president ignites Japan in the role in the world as a super power. Many other things start to happen in the manga. For example, the Koreans are at war, China invades Taiwan and the manga shows how this president deals with each crisis.