Los Angeles Times to Add Manga to Sunday Issue.

According to ICV2, the Los Angeles Times (among many papers) will be adding Manga features to their Sunday Cartoon section. As noted in the article, the average newspaper reader is "currently 53 and getting older all the time" and newspapers need to find ways to bring younger readers into their subscription base. For years papers have tried releasing youth oriented, or student versions, of newspapers to attract audiences, but these efforts have largely failed.

This time it looks as if newspapers are selecting entertainment content geared toward a younger audience in their flagship publications. The titles, which will be added this January, are Van Von Hunter and Peach Fuzz by Lindsay Cibos (you can also see a preview for Peach Fuzz here). Aiming for teenage boys and girls may be a gambit that pays off for the newspapers. Both Manga strips are Original English Language strips which means that the comics will either bring in young readers or fail on their own merit and won't bring creepy otaku into the picture.

Here is an example of Peach Fuzz character design.

Let's hope they redraw the first episode of Van Von Hunter.

Because it looks pretty good in its current state.