May 1990 Pt.2b Special Correspondence

By the end of May, once again a thrust for knowledge, and the feeling to connect with a force that for Me drove part of Anime & Manga Fandom especially from over here in England (UK), it was a delight to receive a letter from 'Studio Proteus' sign by Toren Smith.

For those of a later generation of Fans Toren Smith of 'Studio Proteus' scouted Manga in Japan for a north American English speaking audience back in the 80's and 90's, His company translated the Manga and then in conjugation with comic-book publishers & distributors brought them to a wider western market. Companies like 'Dark Horse', 'Eclipse Comics', and 'Viz International'

Having someone hand pick a wide selection of Manga gave us the mark to set other manga by, and by chance or design many of them were made in to Anime OVAs and films too (greatly helped viewing all those raw Un-subtitled Japanimations that we all had acquired!

 

[NOTE: 'The Venus Wars' was published from April 1991 – May 1992 The Venus Wars issues 1 – 14 and The Venus Wars II 1 – 15 from June 1992 to August 1993.]

[NOTE: 'Lost Continent' was published I believe from September 1991 over to May 1992 - Lost Continent #1-6 , but I would need copies of these comic-books\manga to prove these dates.]

[NOTE: 'Dirty pair – A Plague of Angels' was published was published I believe trimonthly from August 1990 to August 1991 Dirty Pair III A Plague of Angels 1-5 but I would need copies of these comic-books\manga to prove these dates.]

[Special Note: Does anyone know of the projects in England that Studio Proteus was involved in?]

Having the power of the Pen has given Me another unique memento that I will always treasure, and even thou I never met him Toren is sorely missed from over this side of the pond.

TorenSmith (April 12, 1960 to March 4, 2013)

More treasures from comic book stores.

A locally started fanzine from Nottingham was 'Console-Magazine' (edited by Onn Lee), a monthly zine about the newly imported video game consoles, many of the games came from Japanese Manga & Anime, and in a few cases the game was made in to a Manga, and Anime show, so the cross-over of die-hard console gamers would soon become aware of Anime and Manga.

The other source of information in the late 80's and beyond was of course the fledgeling Comic books of translated Manga from such companies as :- Eclipse International, VIZ Comics, Dark Horse, First, and even Marvel comics ( under the trade name Epic Comics).

A few containing snippets and portions information, such as, Writers profiles, a Letters Page (with names & address, and some insight from the publishers), cultural articles by well respected authors and translators, Fan Club details, and of course all had the original authors, Artists, and Japanese publishers (This I would use to my advantage later on).

[Information on American and Canadian Anime fan clubs and pen pals, would be a lifeline and hub for UK fans in finding out more and even being put in touch with other UK fans who may live close by.  [Note: started to find more details here EDC & Anime Hasshin.]

[With so few people owning home computers and having Dial-up access to online information, the written word and the art of letter writing became our super-hiway.]