Anime NYC 2025: Creating Your Lane in Comics and Manga Panel
On Saturday, August 23, 2025, we attended the Creating Your Lane in Comics and Manga Panel at Anime NYC. Moderated by Bronx native Bria Strothers (Writer/ Comic Creator). Featuring a Panel of award-winning creators, Gigi Murakami (Horror Manga Artist/Content Creator), Lucy Camacho (Filmmaker/Illustrator), Tony Weaver Jr. (Author/Educator), and Wendy Xu (Comic Book Artist/ Illustrator).
First Thoughts on Creating Your Lane in Comics and Manga
I want to start by saying, Bria is charismatic and was the perfect person to navigate us through these conversations. She provided insight when needed and asked the right questions to get down to the nitty-gritty. Allowing these BIPOC creators to take us along their journey and shine in their own right.
One of the first topics discussed centered around current projects and the chosen routes of publishing. Gigi’s most recent project, The Sinister Sisters, was released under the Abrams Imprint. Wendy received a three-book deal with Harper Collins and is currently working on the final book. She has a preference for traditional publishing. Lucy originally wanted to go the traditional route with Frambuesa Soda, but after two years of rejections, she decided to switch lanes and take matters into her own hands by going indie.
Tony writes to help kids, while he has self-published in the past. He’s learned that traditional publishing is the way into schools and libraries. Where his audience will be best served. His current project, Weirdo 2, is part of a two-book contract with MacMillan. He has a fantasy series called The Dream Frontier that is currently being illustrated. Creating Your Lane in Comics and Manga
The conversation shifted into more specific questions for each panelist.
Wendy shares that she spent a lot of time building out the world of The Infinity Particle. She wanted to build a world void of Billionaires and powered by green technology. Xu wanted it to feel old-timey and found inspiration in Chinese architecture. Chasing down a sense of beauty that she’s always been seeking.
Wendy works with kids as well and finds that perfectionism is a hindrance for a lot of them. She wants them to understand that there is beauty in imperfection. With her newest project, she’s approaching the process differently. More intentionally, with Tidesong and The Infinity Particle, she was just trying to get things done. But this time around, she’s taking things slow. Wanting to understand the bond between artist and their tools better. Tidesong creator tries to remember how she felt as a kid and strives to keep some level of that weirdness in her work.
In pursuit of her Manga Dreams, Lucy found community. People who wanted to help in bringing her vision to life. After being invited to a Discord server, that experience was invaluable. Through those late-night sessions, The New York Native learned so much. She felt supported in a way that she never had in her pursuit of traditional publishing. It relieves so much stress.
Manga Dreams
Camacho goes on to say that she wants to be part of the Shoujo Renaissance. Making stories like the ones that changed her life. Girls deserve stories too. She wanted to include some of her journey as an artist in Frambuesa Soda. Lucy hopes that her shared experience helps people better navigate balancing family expectations and chasing down the life they want.
Everyone has a claim to fame, and for Murakami, it was having Resenter published in the Viz Media One-Shot program. Gigi said she felt lucky and super grateful for the experience, but also shared how she felt like she lost her way during the process. How she wanted to honor the original message of Resenter, and after sharing this with Hisashi Sasaki (Viz Editor). They put together a new storyboard, and that’s what got published.
Tony shared a little 3-minute boot camp on making your dreams a reality. Here is the takeaway!
- On day one, figure out how you want to monetize your project.
- Research the market (Publishers Weekly, etc.)
- Be honest about what you need and use that information to guide your next steps.
Location can play a big role. A bit of advice for aspiring creatives who aren’t able to take advantage of that. Joining organizations like the Society of Illustrators and the American Library Association (Other orgs) can provide a way in. Also, don’t sleep on local or big nerd theme conventions.
Overall, the Creating Your Lane in Comics and Manga panel was very insightful. Be sure to follow all the panelists and check out their work. More importantly, take this as a sign to follow your dreams because we’re rooting for you.
Stay tuned for more of our Anime NYC 2025 Content.
