After seeing this exchange, I asked Nakatani for the bottom line on this situation for fans, once and for all.

Q: I noticed that several readers responded to this first issue of Weekly Shonen Jump by saying they had read it already online. Anything you'd like to pass on to these peeps?

Andy Nakatani: We can only release our chapters after they are OFFICIALLY available in Japan. So the magazine in Japan is typically released at stores on Mondays, and that's the same Monday that we release our chapters.

Q: So the next question that inevitably pops up is, 'That's fine for North American fans, but what about the Shonen Jump fans who don't live in the U.S. or Canada?' Are there plans in the works to make Weekly Shonen Jump available worldwide, or at least to English-speaking countries like UK / Australia? Any vague glimmer of hope you can pass on to these fans?

Andy Nakatani: All I can say is that we would really love to see this happen, and I know that Shueisha also really wants to do this eventually. But I don't have an answer for exactly how this will happen and when it will happen.

READER POWER: WANT IT IN YOUR COUNTRY? TALK BACK TO SHONEN JUMP

As the editors/reps from VIZ Media, Shonen Jump and Shueisha have repeatedly mentioned, they're aware that there's a demand for these comics from fans who don't live in North America (which is, for regional licensing reasons, why only readers in the United States and Canada can read Weekly Shonen Jump online). But they do want to hear from the worldwide fans of Shonen Jump. You can have your voice heard by responding to this survey, geared especially for readers from outside North America.

They also want to hear from North American fans, both subscribers and not-yet-subscribers about what you like / don't like / want to see more of in Weekly Shonen Jump, as it evolves in the days and months to come. That's' where the readers' surveys come in, and other online feedback channels like Shonen Jump's Twitter feed and website, plus VIZ Media's Facebook page.

Q: As we've seen in the pages of Bakuman, the readers' surveys in the Japanese edition of Weekly Shonen Jump have a big impact on the survival of a given series. However, I know that the U.S. readership of Shonen Jump is much smaller than it is in Japan, so therefore North American readers probably will never have the same numbers/clout as Japanese readers to determine whether a series is cancelled or keeps going in Weekly Shonen Jump -- or at least that's how things are now.

That said, what impact do North American readers have when they fill out their version of the readers' survey? So for example, what would happen if a given series featured in the English edition of Weekly Shonen Jump doesn't do well in the U.S. survey? Will the series be phased out of the weekly line-up and only be available as digital/print volumes? Or will it continue appearing in the North American edition as long as it's popular/serialized in the Japanese edition?

Andy Nakatani: We like to know what our readers and the fans out there are thinking, so it definitely has an influence. As for if a series will be cancelled if it doesn't do well in the US survey -- There's a lot of different factors involved, including, as you say, the vast difference between the numbers of readers in Japan versus readers in North America. Also, the digital medium is totally new territory and things are changing all the time, so we really do have to make a lot of decisions as we go along.

Q: Will you post the results of the weekly surveys?

Andy Nakatani: We'll make some of the information available, but probably not all of it. Surveys will be weekly, and the main consistent question throughout will be to rank the series in each issue.

Q: What does readers win if they get picked as the winning respondent? Will there be different prizes every week?

Andy Nakatani: These weekly survey's will not necessarily have a prize associated with it every week, but we'll try to make it happen often.

ONE-PUNCH MAN AND OTHER COMING ATTRACTIONS/SURPRISES TO COME

The newest addition to the Weekly Shonen Jump line-up was an unexpected pick. Instead of a series that's currently featured in Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan, the newcomer is a series that was originally published as a webcomic on Shueisha's Young Jump website: One-Punch Man by ONE and Yusuke Murata (the artist from football manga, Eyeshield 21)

While North American readers should be familiar with superhero-centric comics, One-Punch Man brings a goofy spin to the genre by featuring a bald, bland-looking hero with an unusual superpower: he can knock out any opponent, no matter how strong/big/fierce with a single punch. What's a superhero to do, when he realizes that with great power comes great… boredom?

Q: So why One Punch Man? What made this an appealing pick as the newest series to join the Shonen Jump line-up?

Andy Nakatani: Because it's such an awesome series! Yusuke Murata's artwork is so incredibly dynamic and vivid, and the comic sensibility of ONE's writing adds such great variety to our current lineup.

Q: Will we be seeing more series from other Jump magazines like Weekly Young Jump (original home of Gantz and Real) or Jump SQ (home of Blue Exorcist, Tegami Bachi and Ultimo)?

Andy Nakatani: As you've noted, we aren't limiting ourselves to just the Weekly Shonen Jump lineup, so it's totally within the realm of possibility for us to do more series from Young Jump and Jump SQ. However, the identity of Weekly Shonen Jump is pretty strong, so any new series would still have to be a good fit for the lineup.

Q: I noticed that you published the first chapter of One Punch Man instead of the most recent chapter currently available in Japanese. (New chapters of One Punch Man are posted every 3 weeks in Japan) Will this be published as a weekly series, until it catches up with Japan?

Andy Nakatani: Yes.

Q: I know it was originally created as a webcomic (and that two volumes are currently available in print in Japan) -- but will it soon be available for purchase via VIZmanga.com and eventually as printed volumes in 2013?

Andy Nakatani: This is not set in stone yet, but I sure would personally like to see that happen.

Q: You're already publishing a mix of series that have new chapters weekly from the Japanese edition of Weekly Shonen Jump, and series from monthly Jump magazines like Jump SQ. Do you have a regular schedule when the monthly series are posted?

Andy Nakatani: Chapters from monthly series will go up the closest Monday after the chapter appears in Japan. If the official release in Japan falls on a Monday, then we'll put it up on that same Monday.

Q: Can readers submit suggestions/wish lists for Jump series they'd like to see featured in Weekly Shonen Jump? If so, how can they make these suggestions to the editors?

Andy Nakatani: For now, I would say either ping us on our VIZ Media Facebook page, or place a comment in the current issue or the "What's New in Shonen Jump!" article on our website at http://shonenjump.viz.com/new-shonen-jump.

Q: We all love seeing new series, but any discussion of additions to the Weekly Shonen Jump line-up will always include questions about the fate of Shonen Jump series that are currently on hiatus / were published in North America but have since been cancelled in mid-run. Do you have any updates to share about series that are currently in limbo, like Gin Tama, Reborn (a.k.a. Katekyo Hitman Reborn)?

Andy Nakatani: No updates on this at this time, but keep checking in with us in the coming weeks for other exciting things to come in Weekly Shonen Jump.

Q: Speaking of old/new series, I'm loving the one-shots by Akira Toriyama (creator of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z) that you've been publishing lately, like Sachie-san Good! (a one-shot collaboration between Masakazu Katsura and Toriyama) featured in the Shonen Jump Yearbook) and Kintoki, a one-shot by Toriyama that will be featured in the January 28 issue. Is manga's sleeping dragon (ball) ready to awake again / come out of retirement and make new comics?

Andy Nakatani: I'm not privy to any info on what Toriyama Sensei's plans for the future are, but on a very relevant note, stay tuned for exciting news about things to come in next week's issue of Weekly Shonen Jump!

Okay! Looks like the crew at Shonen Jump have lots more surprises up their sleeve in the weeks and months to come. If you live in North America and aren't a subscriber yet, well, what are you waiting for? A year's subscription costs $25.99, which gets you 48 weekly issues, plus 4 Yu-Gi-Oh cards, access to exclusive digital comics you can't get if you only buy the single issues (which cost 99 cents), and lots more extras like the yearbook and more. You can also give or get subscriptions as a gift via VIZManga.com.

If you're new to Shonen Jump, get a headstart on what's going on in the latest issues by checking out the free "Starter Pack" manga on VIZManga that'll get you up to speed with all the current series in Weekly Shonen Jump - or at least give you a no-strings-attached peek at what you can expect in this weekly manga magazine.

Not a resident of U.S. or Canada? That's okay too - you can get your voice heard by responding to this survey just for international readers. Speak up and tell VIZ Media/Shueisha that you want your share of the Shonen Jump fun too.