San Diego, CA (Jun 21, 2024) — UDON Entertainment is proud to announce that acclaimed manga creator, character designer, and anime legend Kenichi Sonoda will attend Comic-Con International San Diego (SDCC) for the first time, as UDON’s guest. Sonoda-sensei will attend SDCC in support of the previously-unannounced, all-new BUBBLEGUM CRISIS: COMPLETE ARCHIVE Hardcover Collection, which will debut at the event at UDON’s booth #100.
Kenichi Sonoda is the acclaimed creator of manga that were formative to the North American manga industry, including Gunsmith Cats, Gunsmith Cats: Burst, and Cannon God Exaxxion. He is also beloved for his character and mechanical designs and storyboards for classic anime, including BubbleGum Crisis, Gall Force, Scramble Wars, SoltyRei, and his own Riding Bean. This will be a rare opportunity for generations of fans to meet and get a signature from the creator! Sonoda will be signing for fans for two days of the event, with a different limited-edition shikishi signing board available on each day. This will be a ticketed event with purchase, and final details for these signings will be announced closer to the event.
UDON is thrilled to bring Sonoda-sensei to SDCC in support of the brand-new collection, BUBBLEGUM CRISIS: COMPLETE ARCHIVE. An original publication by UDON more than three years in the making, BUBBLEGUM CRISIS: COMPLETE ARCHIVE is a 304 page collection that includes an amazing assembly of materials from the legendary anime Bubblegum Crisis, as well as materials from its sequel Bubblegum Crash, and prequel series A.D. Police Files. With Bubblegum Crisis originally released from 1987 to 1991, UDON has worked tirelessly to find and include all of the Color Illustrations, Promotional Illustrations, and Design Sheets from the series that are still available in this massive book! This volume also includes detailed character guides, complete episode synopsis, a forward by Bubblegum Crisis comic creator Adam Warren, and featuring a brand new cover illustration by Kenichi Sonoda, and an all-new interview with the legendary creator as well! This is THE ultimate collection for fans of Bubblegum Crisis, and a must-own title for all classic anime fans.
BUBBLEGUM CRISIS: COMPLETE ARCHIVE will be released in two editions: A special shared-exclusive hardcover slipcase-edition (with shikishi signing-board) that will be available at Comic-Con and online at the UDON Store, and a standard hardcover edition which will release to mass-market retail later this fall. Copies at SDCC will be very limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Additional Bubblegum Crisis merchandise will be available at the UDON Booth #105, with more details to be announced.
More information on UDON Entertainment’s presence at Comic-Con International: San Diego will be released in the coming weeks.
UDON Entertainment is a publisher of original and translated art books, graphic novels, and manga. Our best-known projects are those based on popular video game franchises, including Street Fighter, Mega Man, Monster Hunter, Dark Souls, Persona, and more. UDON also publishes art books and manga based on top transmedia properties including More Than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers, Summertime Rendering, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Kill la Kill, FLCL, Rose of Versailles, and Yu-Gi-Oh!.
