Written and drawn by Mami Itou(ROBOT, Pilgrim Jäger) Maleficarum is video game manga at its best. This standalone volume includes five short stories from across the monstrous Darkstalkers universe, as well as a four-chapter tale featuring the swords & sorcery world of Red Earth. You’ll see succubus Morrigan fight the wolfman Talbain, the devilish Jedah confront vampire lord Demitri, the heroic lion-man Leo questing to cure his cursed body, and several more fantastic tales. Also included are gag strips and artist commentary.

DARKSTALKERS/RED EARTH: MALEFICARUM Vol.1 goes on sales at comic shops and book stores everywhere October 13, 2010.

Pre-order Darkstalkers/Red Earth Maleficarum from Amazon.com

COME ONE, COME ALL, TO CELEBRATE THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF TORONTO PUBLISHER AND CREATIVE STUDIO UDON!

September 16 · 7:00pm
Revival Bar
783 College Street
Toronto, ON

The Beguiling are throwing their friends at UDON a birthday party, to celebrate the occasion of their 10th anniversary of publishing and creating comics, illustration, video games, and much more! Past and present UDON alumni are invited to attend, as is the general public and fans of this mighty studio.

Aside from publishing their own comics and artbooks for years, they’ve also created comics, illustrations, and video game material for the top names in the industry, including Capcom, DC Comics, Wizards of the Coast, Konami, Marvel Comics, Toy Biz, Nintendo, Game Pro, Warner Brothers, Legendary Pictures, Alliance Atlantis, and dozens more companies!

The evening will also see the launch of VENT: VOLUME ONE, Udon’s 10th Anniversary Artbook, which features new art and comics stories by nearly two-dozen top creators, extensive behind-the-scenes on the history of the company, and tutorials on writing, drawing, and colouring comics and illustration.

Presented by The Beguiling & UDON Entertainment

You can read a spiffy Q&A interview with Joe about his thoughts on MvC3 over at Capcom-Unity.com

Jim Zubkavich gave a talk on UDON’s 10th anniversary, covering UDON’s history, some of UDON’s newest and upcoming books, and our creative services division.You can read a summary of the UDON panel at ComicBookResources.com.

UDON also brought Mega Man manga artist Hitoshi Ariga over from Japan to visit the Canadian fans. Ariga participated ina Q&A sessions with fans, moderate by UDON’s managaing editor Matt Moylan and translator/Japanese editor Kirie Hayashi.

Listen to an audio recording Ariga’s Q&A here: Hitoshi Ariga Panel

Thanks go to Jamie Coville of TheComicBooks.com for his recording and photos of the Hitoshi Ariga panel.

This weekend is PAX in Seattle, Washington and the UDON crew is there once again sharing a booth with Oni Press! Come and visit our booth, get an autograph or sketch from our artists and buy exclusive stuff!

BOOTH #3824, shared with Oni Press
(see map at the bottom of this post)

UDON Crew at the UDON Booth:
Crystal Reid (Inker- Street Fighter II, Street Fighter IV)
Long Vo (Art Lead- Street Fighter II HD-Remix)
Jim Zubkavich (Writer- SF Legends: Ibuki, UDON Project Manager)

Special Books at the show:
We have 3 convention exclusive hard covers for sale at the show.
These hard cover editions are not available in stores and are limited to a print run of 500 copies each.
VENT: The UDON 10th Anniversary Art Book
UDON’s Art of Capcom 2
The Art of Darksiders

We’ll also have copies of the Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki #1 Con Exclusive cover and lots of other art books and stuff to check out.

Click for full map

This weekend it’s our hometown convention at Fan Expo in Toronto, Canada’s biggest comic and entertainment exhibition!

BOOTH #4002

UDON Crew at the UDON Booth:
Jeff ‘Chamba’ Cruz (Street Fighter II Turbo)
Omar Dogan (Street Fighter Legends, Robotech)
Joe Ng (Street Fighter IV, Transformers)

Other UDON Staff at the UDON Booth:
Erik Ko (UDON Chief)
Jim Zubkavich (UDON Project Manager)
Matt Moylan (UDON Managing Editor)
Stacy King (UDON Marketing Manager)
Michelle Hayashi (UDON Japanese Liason)

Other UDON Artists at the Show:
Scott Hepburn (Darkstalkers, Star Wars) Table P41A
Alvin Lee (Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, Deadpool, Agent-x) Table P20A
Eric Vedder (Street Fighter, Darkstalkers) Table P42A
Joe Vriens (Darkstalkers, Marvel VS Capcom, Thundercats) Table P42B

Special Books at the show:
VENT: The UDON 10th Anniversary Art Book
UDON’s Art of Capcom 2
The Art of Darksiders

We’ll also have copies of the Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki #1 Con Exclusive cover and lots of other art books and stuff to check out.

PROGRAMMING:
SUNDAY 4:00pm – Q&A With Hitoshi Ariga (artist of Mega Man Megamix) – ROOM #2030
SUNDAY 5:30pm – UDON: 10 Years of Pop Culture Art – ROOM #2030

Click for full map

STREET FIGHTER WORLD WARRIOR ENCYCLOPEDIA

Enter the world of Street Fighter, where fighters of every size, shape, and color collide in a global battle for supremacy. Combatants fight for reasons as diverse as their nationalities, each which their own unique moves and fighting style. Now you can learn the whole story behind the world’s greatest fighters in The Street Fighter World Warrior Encyclopedia! Inside you will find detailed profiles of every Street Fighter character, including their histories, strengths, allies, enemies, and more! Each profile is accompanied by pulse-pounding artwork by top UDON artists.

Order Street Fighter: World Warrior Encyclopedia from Amazon.com!
Read a great review of this title from destructoid.com

UDON’S ART OF CAPCOM 2

Beautifully reproduced images from Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, Rival Schools, Final Fight and more are showcased in this lush 280 page art book. Besides comic covers, card game art, and pinups, the book features all the in-game endings from Tatsunoko VS Capcom, promotional art for Marvel® VS Capcom® 2 and an in-depth look at the sprites, backgrounds, and endings that UDON produced for the revamped Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. The book also includes a special tribute gallery created just for this volume, featuring the UDON crew’s unique takes on some classic Capcom® franchises.

Order UDON’s Art of Capcom 2 from amazon.com
Read a great review of this title from destructoid.com

THE ART OF RESIDENT EVIL 5

Dive into the terrifying artwork of Resident Evil 5, the latest chapter in Capcom’s top-selling, zombie-filled franchise. Included in this 200-page art book are character and creature designs, environment paintings, development sketches, storyboards, promotional art, creator commentary, and more.

Order The Art of Resident Evil 5 from amazon.com
Read a great review of this title from destructoid.com

FAN EXPO CANADA:
AUGUST 27-29, 2010
METRO TORONTO CONVENTION CENTRE
North Building, 255 Front Street West, Toronto, Ontario

Hitoshi Ariga will be at the UDON Booth signing autographs throughout the show. He’ll also be doing a panel on Sunday:

HITOSHI ARIGA Q&A Panel
Sunday Aug 29, 4PM to 5PM, ROOM #203D
Ariga will be talking about Mega Man and manga, and answering audience questions!

And for those who can’t make it out to Fan Expo, Ariga will also be making a special appearance at The Japan Foundation. Read the full details on this special appearance below:

Mega Man! Megamix! Megavent!
Featuring Japanese Manga Creator Hitoshi Ariga!

Thursday, August 26th @ 7PM
The Japan Foundation, 131 Bloor Street West, Second Floor
Free to attend, RSVP Required!
RSVP at (416) 966-1600 ext. 103
or online, http://www.jftor.org/whatson/rsvp.php

Presented by UDON Entertainment, The Beguiling, A&C Games,
and The Japan Foundation

TORONTO—The Beguiling, Canada’s Premier Comic Book Retailer is proud to team with UDON Entertainment and The Japan Foundation
to welcome Hitoshi Ariga, the hugely popular and respected manga creator of MEGA MAN MEGAMIX (the official manga of the phenomenally popular Mega Man video games) to Canada for the very first time! Mr. Ariga will make a very rare North American appearance at Mega Man! Megamix! Megavent!, a special event held in Mr. Ariga’s honour to celebrate the launch of his manga for English-language audiences at The Japan Foundation on Thursday, August 26th at 7pm. Please note, while this event is open to the public an RSVP is required.

With over 30 million Mega Man video games sold worldwide, the character is easily one of the most popular and recognizable game characters in the world! MEGA MAN MEGAMIX, the new manga series written and drawn by Hitoshi Ariga and published by UDON Entertainment, is the official manga chronicling the stories of these games—and the stories behind the stories as well! The second volume of MEGA MAN MEGAMIX is scheduled to debut at the event, and volume 1 will also be available. In addition to the popular manga series, Hitoshi Ariga is an acclaimed character designer and graphic designer for video games and creator of many manga series.

“We’re truly honoured to welcome Ariga-San to Toronto,” said Christopher Butcher, event organizer and Manager of The Beguiling. “His work is very energetic and passionate, and it’s fantastic to see the games I remember investing so many hours into brought to comics! I think both fans of Mr. Ariga’s work on the MEGA MAN MEGAMIX manga, and fans of the Mega Man video games in general, are very fortunate to be able to meet him and will enjoy the event.”

The doors will open for the event at 7pm, with the event beginning at 7:30pm. Mr. Ariga will give a short presentation (In Japanese, with an English-language interpreter), and following the presentation he will take questions from his fans and the audience, and will sign autographs for all in attendance. Manga and Artbooks featuring Mr. Ariga’s work will be available for sale at the event courtesy of The Beguiling. Classic Mega Man video games and gaming equipment will be available to play and for sale courtesy of A&C Games in Toronto.

Because of the popularity of Mr. Ariga’s work, the organizers will be capping attendance at 100 participants. To attend, please RSVP at (416) 966-1600 ext. 103 or online at http://www.jftor.org/whatson/rsvp.php.

MEGA MAN MEGAMIX Vol.2(of3)
by Hitoshi Ariga

MEGA MAN ZX Vol.2 (of 2)
by Shin Ogino

And in other Mega Man manga news… during the recent Best and Worst Manga Panel at San Diego Comic-con 2010, MEGA MAN MEGAMIX Vol.1 was called out as one of the Top 10 teen/all-ages manga of the year! Huzzah!