As of last Thursday (the 15th) Barbour publishing has cancelled their contract they had with Realbuzz Studios for the Serenity manga series. Previously they had advertised that they'd be releasing other titles from Realbuzz, but they told me in no uncertain terms that Barbour will have nothing more to do or say about the Serenity series.
However, upon futher research, I found out that Westbow Publishing (a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers), the same guys that bring us Peretti, Dekker, and Lawhead, has scooped up the contract with Realbuzz. They're really excited about this new venture and have slated a re-release of the first 6 volumes of Serenity, as well as other titles from Realbuzz early this spring.
Quality wise, Westbow has stronger bindings, bolder ink, and better paper, so we're probably going to be looking at a small price change. We're all used to the standard $10 a pop for manga, and that's what I imagine the books will now be. It's too bad - although they are full color, they can easily be read in 20 minute sittings at the most (making them very easy to burn through even while hanging around the store) which hardly makes them worth $10. However, it's a start.
Here's the link to Realbuzz (never count on them to have up-to-date info, though) http://www.realbuzzstudios.com/
and the link to the article about Westbow signing on Realbuzz http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/10066.html
