Having already successfully brought the popular Japanese anthology series ROBOT back to North America, UDON Entertainment has now partnered with Seoul Visual Works to publish the English edition of APPLE, an all-new Korean illustration and comics anthology.

APPLE stands for “A Place for People who Love Entertainment”, and features original stories and illustrations from the best creative talent Korea has to offer. Over 40 artists from the video game world are represented in APPLE Volume 1, including the artists behind the mega-hit Lineage MMORPG series, superstar Hyung-Tae Kim(Magna Carta, War of Genesis), and dozens of other pro illustrators, animators and graphic artists.

“There are so many illustrators in the video game industry who want to use their creativity outside of video game development,” says Seoul Visual Works Founder Eddie Yu. “They want to create something more personal and subjective. APPLE is a showcase for those illustrators and their personal creations. APPLE isn’t a big budget project but the creators are happy to contribute to a worthwhile project, one in which they can see what other artists are up to, learn from them, and study the current trends.”

“I have known Eddie Yu for many years,” says UDON Chief Erik Ko. “We both have the same vision of bringing Korean comics and art over to the west, and thus started KoreanManwha.com together, as well as the ICE Kunion brand. With the success of this type of anthology/art book format in ROBOT, we felt that we could put together an anthology of equal quality that highlights the best illustrators in Korea.”

“UDON means a lot to me,” continues Yu. “The studio has been there for me since the beginning, and we’ve overcome many difficulties together. Udon is not only a good partner but also a good friend.”

APPLE has already been a huge success in it’s home country of Korea, jumping to #1 on the manhwa charts at Naver.com(Korea’s most popular search portal) just 2 weeks after going on sale. The Korean edition of APPLE Volume 1 is also already on its third printing only a few months after its initial release.

The English edition of APPLE Volume 1 goes on sale everywhere May 2008, with future volumes expected to see print every 6-8 months. For more information on APPLE and a special interior preview, head to www.udonentertainment.com/apple/.