You've pretty much said everything I liked about Bone...I wonder if we'd tried it later, with some other things in between, if they might have been ready to accept it then. It is, in fact, a very different animal from our other titles. We kept trying new things, and the new things didn't really have that much in common with each other--maybe the problem is that we weren't building on what we'd given them before, and so they couldn't get used to the new styles.

I quite like Dramacon. I grudge it its occasional moments of awkwardness precisely because it's so strong otherwise, and one of the best bona-fide manga-influenced OEL titles I've ever seen. Chmakova is a very talented artist and writer and it's a successful fusion of different comics traditions. I've been underwhelmed by almost every Tokyopop OEL title I've seen, even the ones I enjoyed. Dramacon is the first one I've read with a recognizable shoujo manga legacy, and that doesn't feel like an indy western comic that happened to be made under a TP contract (nothing against them that signed with TP, and power to those who can get published. But manga really is more than a label and a price point).

You are certainly welcome to friend me. :D Mostly I talk piffle and complain about work, though.