Barbour Publishing and Realbuzz Studios have announced the impending publication later this year of three full color OEL manga series for the inspirational market. The three new series will include a continuation of Barbour's first inspirational manga title, Serenity: Bad Girl in Town (not to be confused with Joss Whedon's Serenity movie or the Dark Horse Serenity comics and graphic novel). The continuation of Barbour's Serenity series, entitled Life! Camera! Action! Starring Serenity, will debut in the fall.
The other two new series are Hits and Misses, the story of a girls' fast-pitch softball team battling to save their school, and Goofyfoot Girl, a whimsical tale set in the surfing world. Barbour's agreement with Realbuzz studios calls for 4 volumes in each of the three new series.
The first volume of Serenity: Bad Girl in Town ($10.95), written by veteran comic book scribe Buzz Dixon (G.I. Joe) and illustrated by Min Kwon, came out in November, followed by a second installment of the comic misadventures of the blue-haired bundle of attitude in December. A third 96-page, full color volume is due out in March, with volume four slated for this summer. Serenity's bad attitude creates a culture clash with a group of teens from the local Prayer Club, but eventually their unconditional tough love wins her over. This inspirational message has helped Barbour get the Serenity graphic novels into over 300 Family Christian bookstores and 400 LifeWay Baptist stores (Barbour's books are available to regular comic shops via Diamond Comic Distributors). An impressive total of more than 350 stores are on autoship for 12-copy Serenity counter displays.
Barbour Publishing of Uhrichsville Ohio previously published Christian themed-comic books such as The Cross and the Switchblade and comic versions of Bible stories, but gave up those early efforts a decade ago before taking another shot at comic book publishing (in a new full color manga-influenced format) with the publication of Serenity: Bad Girl in Town in 2005.
