Dan Hipp is the talented co-creator of the rock n’ roll comic book series The Amazing Joy Buzzards, as well as working on the graphic novel version of Ben 10: Alien Force, work for Wildstorm, Dark Horse, and more. In 2007, his original American manga series GYAKUSHU!, a revenge tale filled with violence and action debuted to critical acclaim. In 2008, Volume two of the series debuted. Then the bottom fell out of Tokyopop. In the restructuring of the company, a number of projects, let’s say… Got lost, and one of those was GYAKUSHU!

Two years later, Dan Hipp is releasing the entirety of the first two volumes of the series online, for free, as well as the first half of the third volume. You can check it all out starting today at this link, and we checked in with Dan Hipp himself to talk about where the second half of volume three went, why he’s working in the manga style, and when to expect even more Amazing Joy Buzzards:

Comic Book Club: All right, GYAKUSHU! is back! That must feel good, huh? Or is it a little bittersweet?

Dan Hipp: Yeah, a little “all of the above,” but still great! Obviously the format was intended for print, but I’ve been having a lot of fun setting it up online knowing that everyone and their mom is going to have the chance to see it. Being my first official graphic novel as writer/artist, I’m extremely pleased with how it all came together and glad that anyone who’s been following the book will finally have the opportunity to see the next bloody chapter of revenge!

CBC: Taking a step back, talk to us a little about the history of the project. How’d it first end up at Tokypop?

DH: I approached Tokyopop on my own to see if they would be interested in working on a book with me. At the time I didn’t have a pitch, or an official writing credit to my name, so HIGH FIVES to them, they invited me to pitch something. The first thing I thought of was a horrific, bloody tale of revenge, which as originally intended, would be a giant action set piece. After they bought the pitch and I was tasked with actually writing the thing, it all pieced itself together, from beginning to end. I added and removed a few things along the way, but the overall meat of the story has been there from the beginning, which is why I’m excited that people will finally get to see how the end begins to unfold.

CBC: At what point in the creative process did you hear about the Great Tokyopop Restructuring of 2008?

DH: HISSS!! We don’t speak of that. But yeah, Volume 3, the final book, had already been plotted, thumbnailed and approved. I was working on the actual pages when the proverbial wall came down.

CBC: Obviously that affected your plans for Volume 3… Was your initial thought that the project was lost? Or did you keep working in the hopes the Tokyopop thing would work out?

DH: Tokyopop was honest with me about the immediate future of the book seeing print, but they never suggested I not finish the final volume, or that the book wouldn’t make it out into the world in one form or another. One of my favorite sayings, from everyone’s friend Spike on the Bebop, is “whatever happens, happens.” The situation was not a lot of fun, but there was nothing I could do to change it, so I finished the book. I’m grateful that cutting and running didn’t seem to be a thought for Tokyopop, as I’ve already seen the final volume in print (in Italian) while I was on an amazing trip to the fantastic Lucca Comics festival in Italy this last November for the book’s release.

CBC: What led you to decide to put it all online?

DH: When it was originally suggested that the book might first find a home online, I immediately checked with Tokyopop to see if I could post the first two online as well. The entire three-book series exists as one giant epic, so if anyone saw the third book online without reading the first two, they would just be confused. Ideally, anyone with the patience to read through a hundred pages or more online and liked what they saw, might take the time to order a hard copy (still available from Amazon and your finer book stores (TOTALLY PIMP’D!)).

CBC: How involved is Tokyopop in the posting of this?

DH: While I’m responsible for putting the whole blog together (my idea), Tokyopop has been there for approval at every stage. I will always appreciate the investment they made in the series, and giving me a chance to flex my writer/artist chops to begin with.

CBC: You’re putting all of Volumes 1 and 2 online, but only 75 pages of Volume 3. What’s the big idea, fella?

DH: Yeah, part of that is me being respectful of whatever plans that Tokyopop has for GYAKUSHU! (and there are plans); plus, I don’t have any desire to make a poopy where I eat, so to speak. They’ve been very respectful of my wish to get the book out to both people that haven’t had a chance to read it and to those who have been waiting for the conclusion. I respect that and am looking forward to whatever plans they do have for the book. Rest assured, in the coming months the final 125 pages, which incidentally are f@#$ing gnarly, will find their way out into the world, most likely on the GYAKUSHU! blog as well as wherever else.

CBC: Granted the project is only launching today, but is this something you think more creators will do in the future (putting stories free online)? Is it something you’ll do in the future?

DH: Honestly, I don’t know. I’m sure this will be looked down upon in given circles, but this is the viral marketing age, where stuff ends up online for free and crazy $#it happens, so who knows? I have definitely had some interesting ideas while putting this whole thing together, so the possibilities are exciting. That said, for this particular project, I’m mostly interested in getting people to notice a book they may have overlooked to begin with, while giving a sweet HIGH FIVE to anyone who’s been dying to see the next several chapters of the book.

CBC: Do you see another publisher stepping in and publishing Volume 3?

DH: If I’m being blunt, no. Tokyopop has made an investment in the GYAKUSHU! series, and while they’ve been co-operative about the publishing possibilities and my interest in posting the book online myself, this is still a book they have a vested interest in. I could get upset about that, but then I DID sign a contract, and I DID read it, so to try and argue the point would be ridiculous. Whatever happens, happens.

CBC: Give us a tease about the rest of Volume 3 (the unposted part)… What do we have to look forward to that is going to make us storm the burned ruins of Tokyopop and demand they publish the final volume already?

DH: The narrative of the series was designed to start as simply as possible and build to a tsunami of crazy, bloody, horrific revenge. It’s an idea I picked up from reading Otomo’s AKIRA too many times. Each new volume of AKIRA upped the ante to such a ridiculous degree that I would just read the book with my mouth open. GYAKUSHU! and the story of the Thief, was designed to set you up for something you expected, then flip it on its head. By the end of the Volume 3 preview (being the first seventy-five pages), all the pieces are set for hell to break loose, and in the last 125 pages, you’ll see how the whole series has been my warped allusion to “FRANKENSTEIN.” I can’t wait for everyone to see it!

CBC: What are the advantages, from an artistic perspective, of working in the Manga format versus the pamphlet format?

DH: I’m a big fan of the format, as it allows for a certain pace of story-telling. It’s been picked up enough in western comics, that I don’t really define the format as specifically manga, but yeah, it’s a lot of fun to draw an action sequence over 50 pages, versus trying to get it more compressed.

CBC: Do you think this is a format you’d work in again? Or is it American-style comics all the way, all the time?

DH: Whatever works best for the story I’m trying to tell, I guess. As long as the story works, I love every kind of format. The only format I’m not a big fan of is the manga/comic player that we see online. That was one of the big reasons I wanted to post GYAKUSHU! myself as well, so that I had a certain measure of control in the way it was seen online. Anyhoo, whatever works for the story is always the way to approach a project I think. That probably sounded elitist. HOORAY!!

CBC: On a more important, and final note: when are we going to get more Amazing Joy Buzzards already?

DH: I’ve been working on the next, most excellent, volume of THE AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS: MONSTER LOVE for some time now, squeezing pages in between projects. The hope is that 2010 will be the year of the monster (love). We’ll just have to hold our breaths and see…

Okay, now breathe again. So yeah, we’ll see.