MangaNEXT announced this week that Akino Kondoh will be appearing at the convention as a Guest of Honor. MangaNEXT will be held at the Hilton East Brunswick Hotel & Executive Meeting Center in East Brunswick, New Jersey during the Halloween weekend (October 29-31).

Kondoh is an illustrator, cartoonist, and manga artist. She won Seirinkogeisha's 2nd AX Manga Newcomer's Award/Encouragement Award (Seirin Kogeisha) with her manga "Kayoko Kobayashi" in 2000. In 2003, she received the Jury Recommended Work honor in the Manga Division of the 7th Media Arts Festival Awards. She is one of the contributors in the first volume of AX, Top Shelf's compilation of alternative manga from Seirinkogeisha's magazine of the same name.

Other graphic novel and comic creators who are MangaNEXT guests include M. Alice LeGrow (Bizenghast), Nina Paley (Sita Sings the Blues), and Lea Hernandez (Texas Steampunk, Marvel Mangaverse).