Megaman’s Ryan Jampole Sells YA Graphic Novel Taka To IDW

Taka is the debut YA graphic novel by Harvey nominated Megaman artist Ryan Jampole which has been picked up by Megan Brown at IDW for publication in the spring of 2024. The graphic novel tells the story of  Taka, a notorious delinquent, who struggles to right her wrongs after unwittingly releasing a horde of evil robots. In order to stop them, she begrudgingly becomes the Mech Fighter, a powerful cyborg warrior, but it’s tough being a hero. Jampole posts “Cats outa the bag! This is why I’ve been so quiet art-wise lately! TAKA YA novel coming to IDW!!!… This is such a great feeling. Cuz up until this point I’d have to vague tweet “workin on stuff today” or whatever. But now I can say– Doing work on the TAKA graphic novel today! SHE GETTIN A BOOK!”

The Tsundoku Zone, run by a friend of Bleeding Cool posts the following character explanatory video, telling us “Ryan Jampole’s character Taka has been his muse on his Twitter feed, exploring punk aesthetic with a street brawler character, combined with his propensity for cheesecake works. Having fully explored the character in a Shonen Jump contest, the heroine has transformed with a call of “metal blaze!” into MECH FIGHTER TAKA! The star of a one-shot, is this the beginning of a new legend? TSUNDOK-WHO?: A History of Classic and Current Heroes”. You can subscribe for more here.

Ryan Jampole has been working in comics for the last seven years, on titles such as  Mega Man, Sonic, and Sonic Boom comics from Archie and for  IDW’s Dexter’s Lab and TMNT, as well as the book series Geronimo Stilton from Papercutz. He entered Taka for a Shonen Jump competition saying “Hey everyone, my entry for the Shonen Jump Tezuka contest is finally up! It was a big labor of love, so please enjoy this fun TAKA story! [viewing as spreads is best way to view it!]” and it can be read in full here.