Boys of Summer (comics)

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Boys of Summer

Boys of Summer v1.jpg

Cover of Boys of Summer vol. 1 (2007).
Art by Hiroki Otsuka.
Genre
Author Chuck Austen
Illustrator Hiroki Otsuka
Publisher Tokyopop (U.S.)

Original run 2007  2008
Volumes 3

Boys of Summer is a three volume Original English-language manga written by American Chuck Austen and illustrated by Japanese artist Hiroki Otsuka. [1] It is a romantic comedy that deals with the main character's relationships with women upon his arrival at college as well as his relationship with the school's baseball team. The series is published by Tokyopop and is rated as suitable for persons over the age of 16 as it contains scenes with partial nudity.

Original English-language manga

An original English-language manga or OEL manga is a comic book or graphic novel originally published in English. The term "international manga", as used by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, encompasses all foreign comics which draw inspiration from the "form of presentation and expression" found in Japanese manga.

Chuck Austen is an American comic book writer and artist, TV writer and animator. In the comics industry, he is known for his work on War Machine, Elektra, JLA, Action Comics, and the X-Men franchise, and in television, he is known for co-creating the animated TV series Tripping the Rift.

Romantic comedy film genre

Romantic comedy is a genre with light-hearted, humorous plotlines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily". Another definition suggests that its "primary distinguishing feature is a love plot in which two sympathetic and well-matched lovers are united or reconciled".

Contents

Publication history

The first volume of Boys of Summer was released May 9, 2006, running approximately 200 pages, and is the only volume that has seen print in the US. The second volume was released in October 2007 in Hungary. An omnibus edition, collecting all three volumes, was announced but never released.

Hungary Country in Central Europe

Hungary is a country in Central Europe. Spanning 93,030 square kilometres (35,920 sq mi) in the Carpathian Basin, it borders Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Austria to the northwest, Romania to the east, Serbia to the south, Croatia to the southwest, and Slovenia to the west. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a medium-sized member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken Uralic language in the world. Hungary's capital and its largest city and metropolis is Budapest. Other major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr.

In August 2009, Tokyopop announced that the remaining volumes would be released online, as part of their new online manga program. On September 23, 2009, the serialization of the second volume started on Tokyopop.com, with a new chapter scheduled each Wednesday.

Synopsis

Volume 1

Bud Waterston is an 18-year-old male "in full hormonal bloom" with a predilection for nosebleeds. After saying goodbye to his mother and siblings he leaves to attend Wilton State University two hours away with his best friend Manny. Bud is looking forward to meeting what he imagines are legions of scantily-clad young women but things do not begin well for him. Upon arrival he gets into a car accident and runs afoul of an upperclassman. When taking Manny to baseball tryouts, he discovers that the car he ran into is owned by the manager of the baseball team, and that the upperclassman, Jake, is the star pitcher. An altercation with Jake reveals that Bud possesses a high speed fastball with great control, and soon after Bud meets the manager's daughter and the team's starting catcher, Chrissie.

Later, Chrissie approaches Manny to find out more about Bud—namely why he does not play baseball with his incredible skills. Later she finds him at a party thrown by Keeley, a sophomore girl living in his co-ed dorm. Finding Keeley in Bud's lap, she storms off and Bud follows arguing with her only to discover she lives across the hall from him. Afterwards Keeley appears and apologizes to Bud wondering if he and Chrissie are involved. Bud denies it and Keeley expresses an interest in Bud.

The next day Bud and Chrissie are heading down to breakfast together when they discover that Manny has not activated his dining card—meaning he cannot enter the cafeteria. Bud gives Manny his card and resigns himself to skipping breakfast but Chrissie volunteers to buy him something elsewhere and the two of them leave. While eating they talk and eventually the talk turns to baseball when Bud suddenly realizes that Chrissie is only being nice to him to get him to join the team and leaves insulted.

That evening Chrissie's father comes to Bud's dorm and offers not to report the damage Bud caused to his car in return for his joining the team. At first Bud resists but after discovering that Manny, also a catcher, probably will not make the team due to Chrissie and calling his mother and finding out the projected rise in the insurance premiums, he shows up to practice on one condition: only Manny can catch for him.

Characters

Baseball Sport

Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two opposing teams who take turns batting and fielding. The game proceeds when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball which a player on the batting team tries to hit with a bat. The objectives of the offensive team are to hit the ball into the field of play, and to run the bases—having its runners advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called "runs". The objective of the defensive team is to prevent batters from becoming runners, and to prevent runners' advance around the bases. A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate. The team that scores the most runs by the end of the game is the winner.

Notes

  1. Cha, Kai-Ming (May 25, 2010). "A Japanese Mangaka in New York City". Publishers Weekly . Retrieved May 25, 2010.

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References

Tokyopop company

Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx Entertainment, is an American distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well as original German-language manga. Tokyopop's US publishing division publishes works in English. Tokyopop has its US headquarters near LAX in Los Angeles, California. Its parent company's offices are in Tokyo, Japan and its sister company's office is in Hamburg, Germany.

<i>IGN</i> American entertainment website

IGN is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, itself wholly owned by j2 Global. The company is located in San Francisco's SOMA district and is headed by its former editor-in-chief, Peer Schneider. The IGN website was the brainchild of media entrepreneur Chris Anderson and launched on September 29, 1996. It focuses on games, films, television, comics, technology, and other media. Originally a network of desktop websites, IGN is now also distributed on mobile platforms, console programs on the Xbox and PlayStation, FireTV, Roku, and via YouTube, Twitch, Hulu, and Snapchat.

Comic Book Resources Comic book website

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