Del Rey's Secret Saturdays on the March

I finished The Secret Saturdays 1: The Kur Stone

I posted the review at The Comic Book Bin. This is best film-comic (the art is made of stills from the animation, rather than being drawn, like in a traditional comic book) yet from the Del Rey/Cartoon Network publishing deal.

Del Rey Manga Info on "The Secret Saturdays" Film-Comics

Press release from Del Rey Manga:

THE SECRET SATURDAYS: THE KUR STONE – PART 1

After the successful debut of the Ben 10 Alien Force and Bakugan Battle Brawlers film-comics in Fall 2008, Cartoon Network Enterprises and Del Rey Manga are bringing the hit property, The Secret Saturdays, to comics form with THE SECRET SATURDAYS: THE KUR STONE PART 1.

Christina Miller, vice president, Cartoon Network Enterprises says, “The Secret Saturdays features great animation and action, two qualities that lend themselves to a rich publishing program. As a key part of the brand’s consumer products launch this fall, we look forward to building on the success we have had to date with Del Rey Manga to create a strong The Secret Saturdays publishing program.”

The Secret Saturdays series, which debuted in October 2008, found its home on Cartoon Network’s “Action Fridays” animation block, and its combination of family life, fantastical creatures, and action-packed adventures appealed to a large audience. The Saturdays, a family of cryptozoologists, dedicate themselves to protecting secret artifacts and mysterious, hidden monsters, cryptids, across the world. Their adventures – which take them from ancient ruins to bottomless caves – have led to encounters with some of the weirdest and wildest creatures on the planet. In THE SECRET SATURDAYS: THE KUR STONE PART 1, Zak Saturday and his parents, Doc and Drew, must rely on their powers and their knowledge of cryptids to stop the nefarious V.V. Argost from recovering the dreadful Kur Stone, and stop him from unleashing an ancient evil on the world.

“With its rich characters and intriguing stories, The Secret Saturdays is the latest Cartoon Network series to achieve widespread international popularity,” says Mutsumi Miyazaki, director of licensing and acquisitions for Del Rey Manga. “We believe that this new film-comic will bring new fans to The Secret Saturdays, and we look forward to building further success for the franchise while expanding our strong partnership with Cartoon Network.”

The Secret Saturdays 1: The Kur Stone

Del Rey Manga

August 25, 2009

ISBN 978-0-345-51694-7; $7.99 [END]

Review Copy News Alert: The Secret Saturdays: The Kur Stone Part 1

I just opened a package from Del Rey Manga, and inside was a review copy of The Secret Saturdays 1: The Kur Stone. This is the latest release in Del Rey Manga's line of film comics based on Cartoon Network animated series.

In a "film comic" the writer or editors use still images from live action or animated film or video to create the comic book art instead of standard drawn panels of art. They generally take most, if not all, the dialogue from the film or video and put it into word balloons so that the film comic book will essentially tell the same story as the original film or video. So a film comic looks like a comic book except the art is not drawn by artist, but is instead still images from film or video.

Del Rey Manga's license with Cartoon Network Enterprises to produce film comics has also seen the release of Ben 10 Alien Force: Ben 10 Returns and Bakugan Battle Brawlers books.