As I noted a few weeks back, Tokyopop, the company that came in changed comics and then crashed and burned, suspending publication for the most part back in 2011, is coming back as announced on a panel at Anime Expo with plans to begin publishing again in 2016″ announced by founder Stu Levy.

The company is seeking to license “hidden gems that are not yet noticed” from small or independent publishers. In addition, Tokyopop plans to publish art books and collectors editions, and will consider light novels.



The company’s once-ambitious media plans continue with 20 properties—including Knockouts and Riding Shotgun— in development and a series of vidoes on the Tokyopop YouTube channel. Other plans include an anime review series on YouTube, “Pop Comics” a sharing app for iOS and Android for community sharing of comics.

This move was met with a mix of curiosity and hostility online which you can see developing in this ANN comment thread. While some former fans hoped for Tokyopop to finish series that were left hanging in 2011, others recalled the past sins of the company and vowed never to give Levy another penny.

If you’re wondering about the sins—which I covered in detail over the years—a tweet from Darryl Ayo sums it up:

TokyoPop can do comics three favors: 1) GIVE back the IP to the creators. 2) pay those creators backwages. 3) Fade Away And Never Come Back. — Killjoy McCoy (@letsgoayo) July 2, 2015

One of the more interesting things about Tokyopop’s new plans is that when users upload their own comics to the “Pop Comics” app “Users keep the copyright and 100% creative control of their uploaded works.” according to ANN. This was not always the case with Tokyopop, and much of the animus towards the company stems from their publishing history of signing up a lot of original creations by very young creators and refusing to give them the rights back, despite being long OOP (although the rights CAN be purchased back.) Among those creators: Brandon Graham, Becky Cloonan, Felipe Smith, Amy Reeder, Svetlana Chmakova, Rivkah la Fille….yeah kinda a pretty good lineup of people. Most of them don’t even like talking about their Tokyopop experiences any more but a few do:

https://twitter.com/royalboiler/status/616778714328596481

https://twitter.com/royalboiler/status/616779641399816193

https://twitter.com/royalboiler/status/616779806177300480

https://twitter.com/royalboiler/status/616780033206566912

@royalboiler @emmahouxbois I *think* some bought their rights back. I know the Off*Beats kickstarter mentioned having to do that. — Ken H. (@LostPhrack) July 3, 2015

I'm not prepared to forgive or support Tokyopop going forward as they don't seem to recognize that they ever did anything wrong. — Christopher Butcher (@Comics212) July 2, 2015

And yes, there were good people who tried hard that worked at Tokyopop, some of them I count as friends. That doesn't excuse the company. — Christopher Butcher (@Comics212) July 2, 2015

You can read our past coverage of the company as it happened here. And Brigid Alverson has her own summation post right here. But I’d like to list a few contemporaneous accounts for those who want to revisit history via blog posts.

Tokyopop: Hey, dude, totally bad contract!

Tokyopop: the other side

Yet more on Tokyopop

Tokyopop letter to creators

Yet MORE Tokyopop stuff

Platinum and Tokyopop drama continues

Mystery solved: why would anyone sign that Tokyopop Manga Pilot Program contract?

Pavia updates Tokyopop

More on KING CITY’s move

Tokyopop follow-up: Is Stuart Levy the Charlie Sheen of comics?

Tokyopop updates: Who owns what

Must read: Chuck Austen’s advice to Tokyopop creators: ‘Move on’

Can creators really get their books back from Tokyopop?

Plus, Becky Cloonan on never being able to finish her East Coast Rising book.

The first blog post of 2011, or How Cannonball Joe Quelled the Suffocating Death

There’s lot more if you Google around (god people were so loose lipped back in the day! In this day of FB and Twitter no one says anything!). This is not to say that Tokyopop might not come back with a new resolve and a business plan that’s 2015-ready. But at the very least some acknowledgement of past mistakes and a pledge to do things differently would be a great way to get a fresh start.