We are happy to announce the upcoming release of the new second manga in the graphic noiz series. The 98 page manga features Shiro Ijima, the bestselling writer and Noiz, the amateur manga artist as they continue working on the artwork and script to create the Fissure manga based on Shiro’s scifi Fissure series. The story is as much about making manga as it is about the relationship between Shiro and Noiz. The cover features Shiro in the white shirt being hugged by Noiz revealing a little about how the two feel for each other.
Natsuya Uesugi did all the artwork, dialogue and layout for the manga.
Tell me about the process of creating the graphic noiz manga 2
After creating the first graphic noiz manga based on book 1 and book 2 of the graphic noiz novella series, I wanted to create the follow on manga based on book 3 in the series. There are currently 5 books in the graphic noiz novella series with a 6th and final book which has only recently been started and has a 2018 release date.
The process of creating the graphic noiz manga 2 started with referencing the character turnaround sheets from graphic noiz manga 1 and redesigning some of the outfits for the second manga. Noiz got some new outfits and Shiro had more style in the chapter opening scenes. The graphic noiz manga 2 took a total of 5 months to create. The first three chapters were done over a month with a two month break and then a full on crunch to get all 98 pages done. The artwork was done first for 48 pages and then the 11×17 pages were reduced to 8.5×11 to enable scanning. Once the first 48 pages were done work started on the second 42 pages and 6 pages for the gallery. The gallery pages were finished prior to finishing the second half. The character cameo for Shiro was done prior to Noiz’ picture. I wanted the two stars of the series to get their own character pages with a short write up of their likes and dislikes which I think make the characters more human.
Once all the pages were done and the second half reduced, all the pages were scanned into the computer and the dialogue was written while the second half was being drawn so by the time it came to adding the dialogue to the individual pages, all the dialogue and narration was done and ready for the production process.
The pages were shaded in greyscale with 6 shades of grey and black with colour for the front and back cover. Copic markers were used, two sets for the colouring.
The pencil pages were inked prior to scanning at the 8.5×11 size. Then all pages were scanned at once into the computer with the gallery.
Photoshop was used for leveling, darkening and turning all pages initially into flattened JPGs. Once the leveling was done the pages were sized and imported to Manga Studio where the dialogue was added. Each page dialogue was done then exported to Photoshop where the narration was added and the page borders with layers and then flattened into the final drawings.
The 98 page book template was created to 7.5×9 prior to the artwork being done with the dialogue. The cover was the first page added to the book template in InDesign and then the gallery was added starting at page 92. The copyright page words were added in InDesign with the character profile pages and the Advertisement page for graphic noiz and the author bio. Then all the pages of the book were added.
Once the template was filled out the individual pages were exported to PDF as single sheets and then the full book was exported. The InDesign file was then packaged and the printer quote was requested. The book was to be perfect bound 7.5×9, 98 pages, with wraparound cover, with book weight sheets and 100lb cover.
The files were brought to the printer Friday, with file review and endorsed to printing on Monday morning. The proof should be available in a few days with proof review prior to the final print job. Luckily I have used this printer before so they were able to quickly attach the new manga to my account and get my preferences as I have printed manga with them before.
I can’t wait to see the proof this week and then print up the first edition run.
Tell me more about Shiro
Shiro Ijima is a Japanese American who spent his childhood in Japan and his teen years in Scarsdale, New York. He is the best selling writer of the scifi Fissure series. He is haughty, arrogant and likes what he likes. He wears expensive clothes, designer shoes and has a red Porsche boxter sportscar. Shiro is notorious for dating his female fans and dumping them on the second date. In the second volume of the manga, Shiro is finishing up writing the final chapters of Fissure 4. Shiro has a hard exterior but inside he is kind of gentle and emotional. We see this side of Shiro more in the manga than in the novellas. I wanted to explore this side of Shiro and a visual medium allowed me to show more of his gentle side.
Tell me more about Noiz
Noiz is the 19 year old half Japanese/Half Black and Native American manga artist who is contracted as the illustrator for the Fissure manga. He is young and impressionable and has a trauma in volume 2 of the manga. Noiz has an issue expressing his feelings in this volume of the manga. There is a scene in a middle chapter where Shiro and Noiz have a quiet moment and we see Noiz having trouble expressing himself and being insecure. This shows both his youth and his feelings of shyness towards the 26 year old writer.
Noiz is gay were we don’t mention so much that Shiro is bisexual but we do see Shiro going after Noiz with a passion.
What was it like writing about a gay relationship?
Beta readers expressed their joy at seeing a positive view of a gay relationship. You see the dynamic between the two of them and how the relationship goes from the initial insecurity and uncertainty into a more serious time when the relationship starts to settle into a routine. We get to see the relationship mature when Shiro wants to give back by giving Noiz something he always wanted to show off his art.
I wanted to see the relationship evolve and Shiro and Noiz actually start to enjoy being with each other. The two of them need each other in different ways and I wanted to show that in the manga.
Why did you write about creating a manga in the series?
Since creating the manga was a labour of love for me, I wanted to show a little of the insight into my manga process and to show others how books are created working with agents and publishers as well as the editors that review the works that the writers put out.
Why did you write graphic noiz?
I wrote graphic noiz on a whim one night early in January 2017. The first novella was written in about 5 days and self published. After that there were four novellas written after one each month. The first manga volume 1 was released in March of the same year.
I wanted to express a few things in graphic noiz including Shiro’s family dynamic and how he interacts with his elder sister Julia and younger transgender sister Jade who gives him love advice. Shiro has abuse in his background and it allows me to explore that dynamic in the novellas which has an impact on his emotions and how he copes with stress.
I also wanted to put the story in New York City so that in book 6 of the novella series that I can talk about 9-11. This will be a central piece of graphic noiz 6 along with going to Comiket in Japan to debut the Fissure anime which is part of the plot. The anime in the series is based on the Fissure manga that we see Shiro and Noiz working on in the series.
I also wanted to show positive gay role models for LGBT youth in the graphic noiz series and add a set of diverse characters to the yaoi genre. When I was a teenager there were no role models in comic books that I could find who were gay, in a relationship and showed how gay relationships mature. I wanted to create a story that I wanted to see when I was 16 and a college freshman trying to find myself.
I hope you enjoy graphic noiz.
When and Where can I find graphic noiz?
graphic noiz manga 2 will be available in ebook and paperback on Amazon with a release date of December 7, 2017. It will be available for free on Kindle Unlimited.