Entering its third year of operation, CMX, DC Comics’ manga imprint, is hitting its stride, offering an eclectic lineup of manga and introducing the U.S. market to new genres.
Based in La Jolla, Calif., CMX shares an office with another DC imprint, Wildstorm. CMX has a full-time editorial staff of five, lead by editor Jim Chadwick and director of manga Asako Suzuki, with production assistance provided by Wildstorm Studios. CMX publishers about 100 books a year and according to Chadwick, debut series are selling well and seinen titles (manga for young men) like Sword of the Dark Ones and Tenjho Tenge have gone back to press. And for females, shojo properties like Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, Gals! and the Devil Does Exist have done well and have increased recognition among readers since their launch. CMX scored a coup in 2006, convincing Fred Gallagher to bring Megatokyo, his popular original manga, Web comic and now book series, to CMX from Dark Horse.
CMX manga properties include traditional genres like romance, comedy, action and drama. But CMX has tried to set itself apart from the competition by publishing genres that are underrepresented in the US. In an era where series like Naruto and Fruits Basket rule, action and romance manga tend to dominate manga sales. CMX has tried to offer a genres that are fresh to Western readers. Mysteries and thrillers, popular abroad and found in practically every manga magazine in Japan, are just starting to get attract fans in the U.S. CMX’s Chikyu Misaki, a title Wildstorm general manager Hank Kalanz said “went under the radar of most readers,” is a tightly written mystery with fantasy elements; it’s described as maho shonen (or magical boy manga).
Japanese publishers devote entire magazines to manga based on Tokusatusu, a genre of live action sci-fi films that includes classics like Ultraman. Along those lines, CMX publishes Kikaider: Code-02, a tale that caters to the Ultraman and Godzilla crowd with an android battling demons in a kind of monster-of-the-week format. CMX offers manga about everything from royal alchemists and Victorian maids to aristocratic thieves and competitive concert violinists.
Manga director Suzuki explains that the well-known DC Comics brand can be helpful during negotiations with Japanese publishers. But she acknowledges that Japanese licensors are often surprised by CMX’s eclectic taste in manga. Since Chadwick and Suzuki joined the company in 2005, diversity has been the imprint’s strong point. "I like good stories and strong characters,” said Chadwick, “rather than focusing on whether a title is shonen [for boys] or shojo [for girls].
CMX has also begun to experiment with the looks and production of its books. Trim dress and design are constantly being revisited. While it is common to find color plates, posters and other omake (extras) in books produced by boutique manga publishers, this kind of detail can be unusual for larger publishers like DC. Mori Kaoru's popular maid series Emma features covers printed on textured card stock with lighter-weight paper inside to give it an old-fashioned look and feel. All three volumes of CMX’s Densha Otoko series feature fold-out posters and color plates. Cover designs and logos are also designed to incorporate many of the original elements used by the manga artists.
Summer releases include Samurai Commando 1549, a sci-fi adventure title about a modern-day military battalion accidentally transported to feudal Japan. The two-volume series is based on a prose novel by Hanmura Ryo, winner of Japan’s Naoki Award for best popular literature by a young writer. The comic world's favorite little dinosaur, Gon, created by Tanaka Masashi, returns in its original right-to-left format and will be published by CMX in July and priced at $5.99. King of Cards is a rare shojo title from boys’ love manga-ka (writer or artist) Makoto Tateno. Likened to a shojo version of the card game manga Yu-Gi-Oh!, King of Cards combines elements of trading card gaming and fantasy romance.
During the recent San Diego Comic-con, CMX announced new shojo and seinen titles, as well as the first two properties acquired through its partnership with Japanese manga and digital comics producer Flex Comix. TeruTeru Shonen is an 11-volume series about a modern-day teenage ninja watches over the young mistress of his clan as they attend school in Tokyo. Emma, Mori Kaoru’s popular maid series set in Victoria London, will continue with two new side stories: Emma 8 is a collection of stories told from various perspectives, including a one set before the Emma story begins; and Shirley is a one-volume novella about another maid in Victorian England. A manga based on the award-winning animated movie The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was also announced.
The first of the Flex Comix titles will be Leader’s High by Arashi Shindo (artist for the Disgaea series, published by Broccoli Books) and Zombie Fairy by Torii Daisuke. Both are expected in spring 2008. Flex is also introducing new shojo titles to its primarily shonen line in Japan this October. DC and Flex are working on ways for readers to access Flex Comix via cell phone. Flex is also finishing work on ports that will allow readers to read comics over Nintendo DS and the Xbox Live networks. Readers can sample all of Flex's books in Japanese at the Flex Comix Web site.
And in the fall CMX will launch its newest license, Presents by Inuki Kanako, the imprint’s first foray into Japanese horror, scheduled to be released around Halloween. Considered the Queen of Japanese horror, Kanako’s titles (which include Dark Horse's School Zone) often combine popular urban legends and traditional folklore with Inuki's trademark grotesque character designs. Presents is a collection of stories revolving around the concept of gift giving, and looks to be an entertaining but creepy treat for the holidays from CMX.
