Download the Animation Liberation Magazine - Winter '07 edition

COLLECTOR’S CORNER:
ICE Kunion’s Entire Catalogue!
FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND:
(October 2005 - January 2007)
ICE Kunion, being active for only fifteen months, introduced sixteen separate
series. Their products all fell under Korean drama, but even within that field, there was
diversity: "Cynical Orange" and "Forest of Gray City" played out in such a realistic
manner that they very well could have been autobiographical, while on the other hand
"11th Cat" and "Moon Boy" were purely fantasy.
There could have been a wave. When ICE Kunion introduced itself to the
American market, it was at a beautiful time. Tokyo Pop had already released some
Manhwa over the past years ("Ragnarok" and "Devil Diary" as examples) which sparked
the interest of what else Korea had to offer. In January 2006, Manhwa publisher
NETCOMICS began releasing their products around major bookstores too; there were so
many titles to choose from, if those two companies alone could have retained their
foothold, there very well could have been a cultural movement and in the end Manhwa
would get a separate section on the bookshelves. But the end of 2006 also marked the
end of ICE Kunion's interaction with the market; the wave had died down.
With all great and revolutionary ideas comes absorption. In July of 2007 it was
announced that Ice Kunion was going to be completely absorbed by Yen Press, (a new
manga impress, owned by "Hatchette Book Group USA".) the titles will continue to be
released under this new imprint starting in Spring 2008. While these events are good
mark for those who want to see ICE Kunion's titles stay afloat in America, there is the
underlying tragedy that our manga markets were not sustainable for South Korea's
investments.
ICE Kunion was one of the best publishers to ever grace our bookstores. All of
their releases were 1st editions; their catalogue is worth collecting in its entirety. If you
ever seen an ICE Kunion release in a back bin of a store or at a vendor's booth, don't miss
an opportunity to collect something so great.
Additional information from WIKIPEDIA: ICE Kunion's partners include
Sigongsa and Seoul Cultural Publishers, two of the four largest media empires in Korea.
ICEkunion's former editorial director Ju-Youn Lee (now Yen Press' senior editor) is
quoted with saying "I asked them, would they like to join Yen Press with all the resources
of Hachette behind the titles. They decided it would be a better chance to take risks with
Hachette." Lee said that while the ICE Kunion co-venture was a good project, "We didn’t
have any staff working in U.S., and we had our limits doing work from Korea."
� Austin Wright
Animation Liberation Magazine 18