Viz Media LLC is bringing POKÉMON ADVENTURES manga creators Hidenori Kusaka and Satoshi Yamamoto to Comic-Con International 2016 in San Diego (SDCC). The convention, taking place next week from Thursday, July 21 – Sunday July 24th will be the first professional appearance for Kusaka and Yamamoto in North America. From the press release:
“The pair are scheduled to meet fans for multiple autograph sessions and also will participate in a POKÉMON ADVENTURES panel event alongside the Japanese and English language series editors. VIZ Media will support their appearances with an exclusive POKÉMON ADVENTURES art book, as well as a manga bundle that will be available for purchase at the company’s booth on the main show floor.”
I’m really curious to know that if during Comic-Con several attendees will be trying to catch Pokémon using the Pokémon Go app during panels, the exhibit hall, everywhere. We will just have to wait and see.
Viz Media will be located at booth 2813 in the exhibit hall. Here is a breakdown of Yamamoto and Kusaka’s SDCC appearance directly from the press release:
Saturday, July 23rd
1:00pm – 2:00pm Spotlight on POKÉMON ADVENTURES Creators
(Horton Grand Theatre)
The creative team behind VIZ Media’s POKÉMON ADVENTURES manga, Hidenori Kusaka (writer) and Satoshi Yamamoto (artist), will lead this special ticketed panel presentation. Attendees will receive a limited edition poster. Pairs of tickets will be distributed starting at 9:00am at the Sails Pavilion; please check program guide for more details.
3:00pm – 4:00pm POKÉMON ADVENTURES Autograph Session
(Sails Pavilion AA07)
Meet writer Hidenori Kusaka and artist Satoshi Yamamoto, the creators behind the POKÉMON ADVENTURES manga! All attendees at this ticketed signing session will receive a personalized shikishi art board! Ticket distribution begins at 9:00am at the Sails Pavilion.
Sunday, July 24th
1:00pm – 2:00pm POKÉMON ADVENTURES Autograph Session
(VIZ Media Booth #2813)
Meet writer Hidenori Kusaka and artist Satoshi Yamamoto, the creators behind the POKÉMON ADVENTURES manga! The first 100 attendees to participate will receive a personalized shikishi art board and priority will be given to those that purchase a POKÉMON ADVENTURES book from the booth! Stop by the VIZ Media booth for more details.
VIZ Media POKÉMON ADVENTURES Products Available For Purchase:
- THE ART OF POKÉMON ADVENTURES 2016 Con Exclusive: $15
- POKÉMON X•Y Vols. 1-3 Bundle: $10
Hidenori Kusaka writes and Satoshi Yamamoto creates artwork for POKÉMON ADVENTURES, where fans’ favorite Pokémon game characters jump out of the screen into the pages of this action-packed manga! The creative duo have developed several series within the POKÉMON ADVENTURES universe including POKÉMON ADVENTURES, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: FIRERED & LEAFGREEN, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: EMERALD, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: DIAMOND & PEARL/PLATINUM, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: HeartGold & SoulSilver, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: BLACK & WHITE and POKÉMON X•Y. They are currently working on the twelfth and thirteenth story arcs, POKÉMON X•Y and POKÉMON OMEGA RUBY ALPHA SAPPHIRE.
In addition to writing manga, Hidenori Kusaka also edits children’s books and plans mixed-media projects for Shogakukan’s children’s magazines. He uses the Pokémon Electrode as his author portrait.
Satoshi Yamamoto began drawing VIZ Media’s POKÉMON ADVENTURES in 2001, starting with volume 10. Yamamoto’s favorite manga creators/artists include Fujiko Fujio (Doraemon), Yukinobu Hoshino (2001 Nights), and Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira). He loves films, monsters, mysteries, punk rock music, and livin’ the good life. He uses the Pokémon Swalot as his artist portrait.
POKÉMON is one of the most successful international entertainment franchises of all time. More than 275 million POKÉMON video game titles and over 21.5 billion Pokémon Trading Cards have been sold in more than 74 countries in addition to substantial publishing and merchandise sales. VIZ Media is the official North American distributor for a wide variety of POKÉMON home media releases including animated series and films and also publishes a variety of POKÉMON manga graphic novel series including POKÉMON ADVENTURES, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: FIRERED & LEAFGREEN, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: EMERALD, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: DIAMOND & PEARL/PLATINUM, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: HeartGold & SoulSilver, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: BLACK & WHITE and POKÉMON X•Y.
