The big news out of Anime Expo in Los Angeles Thursday was word that Digital Manga, a Gardena, California, publisher that has successfully funded a handful of manga translation projects via Kickstarter over the past few years, will release Astro Boy creator Osamu Tesuka's entire library of work in North America. All of it.

There are a few caveats, though. Some of the licenses to publish Tezuka's work, such as the 1970s manga Buddha and 1949's Metropolis, are held by other publishers. Those companies will retain those licenses for print editions of those comics, but Digital Manga will publish them digitally.

As its name indicates, Digital Manga's primary goal here seems to be publishing Tezuka's comics in digital formats, though the company may fund print runs for some of his works via Kickstarter. So far, the company has successfully funded efforts to print Tezuka's Unico, Atomcat, Triton of the Sea, Barbara and Swallowing the Earth.

No set dates for release have been announced.

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