Studio Ironcat was a small publishing company based in Fredericksburg, Virginia, dedicated to publication of manga and later, Amerimanga. The company is most known for its publication of the first volume of Megatokyo, a prominent webcomic, as well as the flamboyant style of one of its founders, Steve Bennett. The company was also known for regular turmoil within its wake, primarily during the years 2001–2003. One of these led to a period where the company did business under a different name as I.C. Entertainment.

The company, commonly referred to as "Ironcat", published under the Studio Ironcat, I.C. Entertainment and Fuzzy Kitten imprints. They also had an adult imprint, Sexy Fruit. Over the course of its lifespan, Studio Ironcat published over fifty titles.

History

Founding years

From 1993 to 1997, Antarctic Press published several translated manga series, including Vampire Miyu and several miniseries by Ippongi Bang and her studio, Studio DoDo. However, facing declining sales and a change in the company's focus, Antarctic Press decided to cancel all of their translated manga titles in late 1997, laying off several employees in the process. One of the employees let go from Antarctic Press was head translator Kumi Kimura, who took several projects that had been in the planning stages to his new company, Studio Ironcat. Studio Ironcat was founded in 1997 by manga artists Kuni Kimura, Masaomi Kanzaki and Stephen R. Bennett IV. The new company started publication in January of the following year by releasing the Vampire Princess Miyu manga by Narumi Kakinouchi, then moving on to a series of other books under its Studio Ironcat and Sexy Fruit imprints. The company signed up other well-known artists and titles, working to become a strong player in the shōnen manga genre.

For the first few years of business, things were running somewhat smoothly, but this changed in 1999, with the first major problem for Ironcat.

Embezzlement and departure of co-founders

From its inception until 1999, there were financial issues with Kimura. A report by industry website Anime News Network (ANN) stated that a company employee reported multiple cases of fraud by Kimura, with the alleged cases of Ironcat funds being given to friends in Japan, took unauthorized trips to Thailand and frequently used company finances for personal expenses. The drain of funds was enough that the company ended up on shaky financial ground, and emptied Kanzaki (the primary financial backer)'s investment in the company.

During the post-Kimura restructuring by Kanzaki and the Bennetts, Office assistant Kathryn Hofer left in January 2000 due to lack of pay and bias treatment, Chief Graphics Designer and Copy Editor Mark Hofmann departed in June 2000, citing an issue with internal, "high-school" company politics and lack of pay. Hofer's and Hofman's grievances would later prove to be tragically prophetic, as later employee departures would cite the same problems.

Name change and employee departures

The Bennetts responded by renaming the company International Comics and Entertainment,).

On October 6, 2003, Brown, Johnson, and Graphics Editor Ellen Ohlmacher gave an interview to ANN, accusing Bennett of denying pay to themselves and several other company employees. During this time, the company returned to the Studio Ironcat name in October 2003, having settled amicably with Kanzaki over the name and other issues.

Megatokyo and Amerimanga

By mid-2002, the decision was made to get into the growing Amerimanga trend pioneered by competitor Antarctic Press and made notable at the time by TOKYOPOP's Rising Stars of Manga contest and compilation. This was brought about by Ironcat's biggest coup, obtaining the publishing licenses for Megatokyo and Maelyn Dean's Real Life, two major webcomics. It also began publishing an Amerimanga anthology magazine called, fittingly, AmeriManga.

However, the Amerimanga ventures turned out to be disastrous. The first volume of Megatokyo, released in January 2003, was a bonafide hit, with the entire first printing selling out. Ironcat prepared for the release of the second volume when the publishing deal between Ironcat and Fred Gallagher, Megatokyos creator, fell through. Gallagher would later write on the Megatokyo web site that the parting between him and Ironcat was amicable, though rumors had it that Bennett stated that Gallagher demanded more money for the license. However, many Megatokyo fans noted that Ironcat never shipped out many of their pre-orders for Vol. 1 and also insisted that fans pay in full for pre-orders on Vol. 2 when it had not even gone to press. Gallagher would eventually take Megatokyo to rival publisher Dark Horse Comics.

AmeriManga magazine and author strife

By June of that year, however, AmeriManga magazine had become the focal point of Ironcat's products and a modest hit, boasting 600 subscribers. However, at AnimeNEXT, on October 4 of that year, Bennett announced that AmeriManga would go on hiatus, and that it was awaiting responses from the represented artists before proceeding with plans for future issues.

However, while Ironcat had expressed an interest in continuing the series, it would have been difficult as Senior Editor Kei Blue had departed the company in July, and fourteen other AmeriManga artists followed suit. Blue told ANN that a clause specifying a timetable for product release and payment was included in the AmeriManga artists' contracts, and that when Ironcat failed to meet the timetable, the contracts were automatically voided. On January 12, 2006, a notice was placed on the front page that the catalog was being sent to a liquidator for final dissolution of remaining stock. The site is now closed.

Titles published by Studio Ironcat

Comics, listed by imprint, include:

Ironcat/I.C. Entertainment

  • Iron Cat (from which the company took its name)
  • Vampire Princess Miyu
  • New Vampire Princess Miyu
  • The Vampire Dahlia
  • Vampire Yui
  • Crusher Joe
  • Central City (Released 2002, by Saya)
  • Dragon Wars
  • Futaba-kun Change! (Ironcat's flagship title for several years)
  • Panku Ponk!
  • Makuukan Zero
  • You & Me (Released 2002, by Hiroshi Aro)
  • Amerimanga (Magazine which serialized various series)
  • MegaTokyo
  • My Code Name is Charmer
  • The Wanderer
  • Cutie Honey '90
  • Mantis Woman
  • Hyper Doll
  • Doctor! (Released 1997, by Ippongi Bang)
  • Virtual Bang (Released 1998, by Ippongi Bang)
  • Hanaukyo Maid Team
  • No Bra ‹---(Not in any particular order of publishing. Also, was delayed indefinitely in October 2003)

Fuzzy Kitten

  • Namir Deiter

SexyFruit

  • Ogenki Clinic (Ironcat's best-known SexyFruit title)
  • Cool Devices
  • Bizzarian (Released 2000, by Senno Knife)
  • Oh My! (Japanese title: いや！, Released 2002)
  • Part Timer Rei (Licensed, but never released)
  • Space Dreams (Released 1998, by Harumi Shimamoto)
  • Bang's Sexplosion (Released 1999, by Ippongi Bang)
  • Femme Kabuki (Released 1998)
  • I Love You (Released 2003, by Lei Nekojima)
  • Eden (Released 2002, by Senno Knife)
  • Heart Core (Released 2002)

Notes

References

  • (archive)
  • Steve Bennett's official website