PRESS RELEASE
Noir Caesar Entertainment, a black-owned indie creative company that supports and nourishes content from marginalized communities across various media, announces the forthcoming release of manga-inspired graphic novels to be published in an initiative powered by the iconic publishing brand, TOKYOPOP, beginning this summer.
Utilizing TOKYOPOP’s extensive channel distribution network, digital marketing resources, and production expertise, Noir Caesar kicks off this collaboration with the print and digital release in July of the coming-of-age martial arts drama, XOGENASYS, and the sci-fi adventure, PRIMUS
7. This will be followed in August by the launch of the gritty crime and redemption saga, TRY AGAIN. Additional new titles will be announced for release by Noir Caesar and TOKYOPOP in coming months.
Noir Caesar Entertainment was founded by self-proclaimed “blerd,” pro athlete, and entrepreneur, Johnny O’Bryant, who grew up a fervent lover of comics, anime, and manga. He attended Louisiana State University and was drafted into the NBA. But his passion for anime and manga never diminished and led to the founding of Noir Caesar in 2017 with a focus on bringing diversity to anime and manga and to developing original stories by BIPOC creators.
“I am very excited to announce our collaboration with TOKYOPOP and the wide release of XOGENASYS, PRIMUS 7 and TRY AGAIN,” says O’Bryant. “These are the first of a diverse collection of forthcoming new as well as previously released titles by some of today’s hottest BIPOC comic creators to be released in partnership with our friends at TOKYOPOP, whose own dedication to telling stories of diversity aligns with Noir Caesar’s and whose strong production and distribution network will bring these stories to avid new readers.”
“The market for BIPOC graphic novels is extremely strong and being driven to new levels by enduring interest from core fans and fast-growing cohorts of mainstream readers and media interested in the burgeoning community of global BIPOC creators who are inspired by anime and manga and using this inspiration to tell their own stories,” says Marc Visnick, COO and Publisher of TOKYOPOP. “Noir Caesar is well-positioned to be at the forefront of this exciting market.”
XOGENASYS Vol. 1, written by Johnny O’Bryant & Tre Mcintosh, artwork by Nikolas Draper-Ivey • Print SRP: 13.99 • 264 pages • ISBN-13: 978142787329 • Available July 25th
The future has grown into a decadent, overcrowded gang-ridden cesspool. If you’re not living uptown, you might as well be dead. Such is the case of Darius Smith, an artistic youth living in the hood, doing his best to avoid trouble and live life. Unfortunately, Darius has a hidden talent – he’s an explosive fighter! This makes him the target of many gangs and pits him in many brawls, landing him in the sight of the honorable Timothy Mustafa, powerful prince and owner of one of the most successful XOGeneSYS teams in the country.
XOGenaSYS is a successful gladiator sport fought with powered exoskeletons, and Mustafa wants Darius to become the next new fighter! Can Darius become the next champion, or will he fall like so many before him?
PRIMUS 7, Vol. 1, written by Johnny O’Bryant, Vaughn Alexander & Marcus Johnson • Print SRP: 13.99 • 194 pages • ISBN-13: 9781427873286 • Available July 25th
The peace of Primordia is maintained for years by the Marine Corporation until one of its most prominent members, a man by the name of Arthur Grove, betrays the organization and those that took him in as family (Jarobi & Sevar Ajamu).
By secretly creating a synthetic form of Orii, Arthur can obtain the power necessary to overthrow the government and install himself as dictator. A resistance movement lead by Sevar Ajamu fails stop Grove and his reign as ruler leaving behind his two sons to take his place and carry out the unfinished mission, Eliminate Arthur Grove!
TRY AGAIN, Vol. 1, created by Will Brown; written by John Lawrence, Marcus Kwabena; artwork by Win Dolores • Print SRP: 13.99 • 194 pages • ISBN-13: 9781427874054 •
Available August 22nd
As a member of the Cacciatore Guild, Danielle Burroughs is one of the Underworld’s most renowned hitmen. Despite her success, memories from her past bleed into the present – forcing her to reconcile the life she now leads. Attempting to leave it all behind, she soon realizes that even atonement has a price.
