So not too long ago I checked out Gangsta and decided that I loved it enough to review it. I guess I decided not to finish talking about it though, as I sent in some questions to the editor of Gangsta, Leyla Aker (and yes, that’s Viz’s VP of Publishing), about Vol 1 and some of the reasons this title was licensed.
So in reading Vol 1 of Gangsta, I thought it was kind of unusual to see a character (Nic) that’s deaf in a series, since it’s kind of rare in manga. Were there any particular thought processes on how to best portray him, and how would you describe his actions so far in the series?
To your point, it’s relatively rare to see individuals who are differently abled depicted in popular media, and unfortunately when they are they tend to be fetishized or made into martyr figures. Nic is neither of those things. He’s cranky but good-hearted, a badass who makes bad judgments, a guy who can’t cook and doesn’t drink—in other words, a person, one who just happens to be deaf.
I think the major standout for me is the characters. For you, can you share a particular character you like and why?
It’s hard to choose—there are so many good characters in this series. But for now I’ll say Worick, since he hasn’t been getting much love in the reviews or fan reactions so far. I think the reason is that he’s built this shallow, selfish, frivolous persona as a defense mechanism, and people seem to be mistaking the façade for reality. And the reality is that to a certain extent he’s the moral center of the story.
Can you share some of the reasons Viz decided to license Gangsta?
The aforementioned great characters were a major reason. You can have strong art and the most intricate plotting ever, but if the characters are flat or don’t resonate with readers, it’s hard to call any book truly successful. The diversity is another strength. When’s the last time you saw in any manga (or comic or novel) a cast that includes characters who are young and old, male and female, gay and straight, white, Asian, black, and Latino?
The other major reason? The series is straight-up fun as hell.
When you were assigned to work on this series, can you share a couple of things you kept in mind as you approached the series? (In terms of editing the material, reading the JP version, etc)
On a technical level, one of the first things the letterer for the series (Eric Erbes) and I had to figure out was how to render the distortion in Nic’s verbal speech while keeping the text easily legible. I think the font treatment Eric uses is successful in that regard. Katherine Schilling turned in a strong, accurate translation, so the main thing I was concentrating on while adapting and editing the script was getting the character voices down.
What’s challenged you so far in editing the series?
There’s a good amount of specialized terminology to keep track of. As usual, rendering humor is always a challenge, since jokes that work in Japanese usually don’t in English (and vice versa).
What has surprised you so far in working on Gangsta?
That this is Kohske’s first series. This level of accomplishment for a young mangaka is pretty incredible.
With Vol 2 forthcoming, what should readers expect from that volume, and what should we expect to get out of reading Gangsta?
Spoiler: Nic gets into a fight.
Seriously, though, there’s a lot of great action. The plot starts to get more complex, the story deepens, new characters come on the scene. Lots of good stuff to come.