DC TO LAUNCH MANGA IMPRINT: CMX

[MattBrady]

In a brief report in the current Time magazine (also available online), the magazine’s Andrew Arnold wrote that DC is planning on launching a manga imprint entitled CMX later this year. When asked by Newsarama, DC would neither confirm nor deny the claim by Arnold, but the fact that DC has acquired the domain name cmxmanga.com lends a certain amount of credence to the idea. Additionally, Newsarama has learned from other sources that the line will indeed be a reality later this year.

What will the entry of yet another (admittedly power) player into the already beefy manga market do? A few thoughts.

Assuming that DC will follow the model established by other manga publishers, that is, reprinting material already published in Japan, won’t the island nation shortly run out of manga for American publishers to repackage and publish?

Short answer, no.

Ballpark figures put roughly 45% of everything published in Japan as manga, and has been covered extensively, comics don’t hold any stigma in Japan as being only for kids, so, long story short, each year sees hundreds if not thousands of manga releases, as well as a library among all manga publishers of tens of thousands of titles to choose from.

So, what to bring over? Publishers Shueisha and Shogakukan own Viz, so they get first dibs on the best stuff from those publishers. Meanwhile, Dark Horse and Del Rey have a relationship with Kodansha that gives them the same thing. For years, Dark Horse has had the crown jewels of manga in the eyes of many Western fans, but, with the advent of Tokyopop and ComicsOne, as well as new, high quality popular manga titles, it could be argued that the grouping of “crown jewels” has shifted to include more contemporary titles as GTO, Love Hina, Mars and others.

While Shueisha, Shogakukan, and Kodansha are seen as the “big three” of manga publishers in Japan, as Tokyopop and other companies have shown, it is possible to do well – and even dominate the bookstore market in the case of Tokyopop, with titles from other, second tier publishers. Barring a yet-unknown relationship with one of the big three, DC’s CMX will most likely pull from the second tier publishers, which, to date have been responsible for some very popular titles in the American market. Additionally, as Tokyopop is showing, Korea has its own wealth of comics that can be imported as well.

Where will CMX focus its efforts though? DC already has a solid presence in the bookstores, as well as the eye of the market, thanks to works such as Sandman: Endless Nights and others, including At Death’s Door and Elfquest, which are already racked with manga, and now appear to have been trial balloons for the publisher in the tight manga marketplace. Given that manga’s main presence to its audience comes through bookstores, a large push of CMX will undoubtedly be through bookstores.

As an aside of sorts, CMX also represents a return to manga in a way for DC. Through Paradox Press, and shepherded by the since fired Andy Helfer, DC collected and published Masashi Tanaka's Gon in digest size beginning in 1996 - well ahead of the current manga boom.

However, given DC’s reputation with comic retailers (in the eyes of many retailers, DC can do no wrong in regards to customer service and assistance), it is possible that they could make a strong push to get CMX titles into comic specialty shops. However – whether or not the audience will find it there is the question. While some retailers are able to capture both the manga and comic book market in their area, some cannot, finding that the manga audience stays almost exclusively to the bookstores. Some retailers report to have even stopped carrying manga entirely, not able to keep up with their local bookstores in terms of selection and depth of stock.

Going back to the bookstore market and DC working to establish a beachhead there with CMX…there are already whispers among some pundits of 2004 being the year of the manga bloodbath. In 2001, there were roughly 200 individual volumes of manga released. In 2002, it was roughly 400; and in 2003, 600 volumes. Already in 2004, there are plans for over 1000 manga books coming – with over half of those coming from Tokyopop.

While a quick trip to any Borders or Barnes and Noble will tell you, shelf space for manga has increased tremendously for manga in the past year (usually at the expense of American trades – which, interestingly opens the door to the argument that DC could be seen as eating its own tail), but it’s a tough argument to make that the shelf space will nearly double again to accommodate all the new manga coming in this year. Again, Tokyopop is the king in terms of shelf space and sales in many bookstores, so it’s a safe bet that much of the Tokyopop expansion will be greeted with (albeit conservatively) open arms in bookstores.

As for the rest, it’s going to get bloody. Most likely, lower sellers will drop out of stores entirely, as they won’t pay for their shelf space, middle sellers will sell less, while big titles will sell more.

With that scenario starting to play out at bookstores, CMX, like the upcoming introduction to the market by Del Rey, will most likely have to play a conservative and savvy game, picking titles that will sit at the top of the charts from the outset.

Historically, manga based on popular anime can be counted on for solid sales, and anime accounts for some of the most popular programming on Cartoon Network (which, like Time is owned by DC’s parent company, Time Warner). However, publishing rights to Dragonball Z, Gundam, and Yu-Gi-Oh, arguably the most popular anime on the network, are already taken. Recently, there has been more synergy between DC and CN (Teen Titans being one example, as is the makeup of the JLA), so a debut of a new anime series and manga at the same time is not out of the question.

Regardless, for manga watchers, 2004 is shaping up to be an interesting year.

[Erik K]

sounds like a savvy business move. artistically, we'll have to wait and see. if they get more stuff as good as jill thompson's at death's door, it'll be very cool.

[Space Canuck]

A very interesting analysis of this news Matt.

I wonder do any Manga companies have entire Universes of comics (like the DCU or Marvel U) that could be reprinted. Something to hold together a group of titles, you know, that they all occur on the same 'Earth'.

[Erik K]

Originally posted by Space Canuck
I wonder do any Manga companies have entire Universes of comics (like the DCU or Marvel U) that could be reprinted. Something to hold together a group of titles, you know, that they all occur on the same 'Earth'.

lord, i hope not. that leads to the sort of continuity miasma that may be keeping the young manga fans from crossing over to the american stuff (just may be, i said, and i'm aware that the reasons are many and varied). i like the fact that many mainstream manga have definite endings and don't try to stretch out storylines in an attempt to squeeze a bit more money from the property.

[Franklin Harris]

Originally posted by Space Canuck
A very interesting analysis of this news Matt.

I wonder do any Manga companies have entire Universes of comics (like the DCU or Marvel U) that could be reprinted. Something to hold together a group of titles, you know, that they all occur on the same 'Earth'.

Some manga creators cross over characters from one series to another. I know, for example, that the CLAMP women have a crossover coming up in one of the Tokyopop titles solicited in the new Previews, although I forget which title it is.

Go Nagai also has many of his characters cross over to meet each other.

[Johnny Soko]

Originally posted by MattBrady
Recently, there has been more synergy between DC and CN, so a debut of a new anime series and manga at the same time is not out of the question...

This part is going to play an important role, I think; after all, it's how they do it in Japan.

Anyway, good luck to DC. And I'm really looking forward to seeing what they have to offer.

Originally posted by Space Canuck
I wonder do any Manga companies have entire Universes of comics (like the DCU or Marvel U) that could be reprinted. Something to hold together a group of titles, you know, that they all occur on the same 'Earth'.

Yeah, and like others, I don't know so much about companies doing that, but the Gundam franchise/universe has been going for... 25 years now, I think? Although it's not quite the same as the Marvel or DC Universes.

[Note: The Gundam link may be down.]

[MicroZone]

Originally posted by Franklin Harris
Go Nagai also has many of his characters cross over to meet each other.

I would LOVE for someone to bring over some of Go Nagai's stuff. We got a color Mazinger GN in the 80s and some cheaply published reprints of Cutie Honey in the 90s and that's been it. "dated" manga like Lupin the III and Cyborg 009 clearly sell. I think that Devilman or Mazinger or Getter Robo could find just as big an audiance.

[Victoronehalf]

Originally posted by Space Canuck

I wonder do any Manga companies have entire Universes of comics (like the DCU or Marvel U) that could be reprinted. Something to hold together a group of titles, you know, that they all occur on the same 'Earth'.

You should check out the works of Leiji Matsumoto. His science fiction comics all exist in the same universe. Unfortunately, I think the only manga translated here was the later version of Galaxy Express 999. BUT, many of the cartoons based on his work have been translated here, such as the first two Galaxy Express 999 movies, Star Blazers, some Captain Harlock, the Queen Emeraldas OAVs, and I think there may be a couple others.

[SpyGuy]

Well, this should be interesting to watch. I've watched manga shelf-space grow considerably at my local Barnes & Noble over the past year, mostly at the expense of shelf-space for STAR TREK and STAR WARS novels. Trade paperbacks, meanwhile, seem to be at a constant, although various hardcover items (DC & Marvel character guides, Alex Ross' MYTHOLOGY, etc.) are haphazardly lumped in with the trades.

Hopefully, this means CMX will release another DEATH manga by Jill Thompson, along with manga versions of DC characters (not just the Big Three, either). I don't know about you, but I think an Impulse -- excuse me, KID FLASH -- manga drawn by Humberto Ramos or Carlo Barberi would be a natural idea.

And hey, CMX..."CoMiX"...I suppose that's pretty clever...

[saiyanspider]

Way to go DC, I look forward to the imprint.

[jasinmartin]

Well, it will indeed be interesting to see how this plays out.
Both the big picture of Manga sales and trends through 2004, and specifically what this CMX initiative is with DC. Is it manga reprints or DC content repackaged/re-imagined like the Marvel Age initiative?

This crossroads we're at has me excited for the medium and industry.

Originally posted by SpyGuy

And hey, CMX..."CoMiX"...I suppose that's pretty clever...

Yeah, took a sec for me to pick up on it (just waking up), but I suspect it's more to do with reading it as "comics" then relating back to the term "comix", don't think they want to compare to underground stuff.
You can just picture them saying, "and it uses the coveted letter 'x', joy!"

[Gordon McAlpin]

I just hope someone decides to rerelease Nausicaa in a decent edition! The seven volume edition that's now long since out of print and difficult to find (though I have my own copies) is terrific, but the more recent three volume one is very poorly designed.

And I realize it raises production costs, and that the low costs of reprinting manga works explains their popularity with publishers (higher profit margins), but can we flop the artwork and stop this backwards-reading stuff? ENGLISH READS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT.

[brazilgilliam]

Am I the only one who is getting sick and tired of the oversaturation of artists who are ripping off manga styles in order to keep up with today's manga dominated market? I like manga, don't get me wrong but I also think that art by such artists as Olivier Coipel and a lot of the artists who worked on Exiles are just relying on manga art styles and trends to the point that whatever originality manga had is now lost amongst the deluge of manga and manga rip-offs. I don't know what to make of DC's new company: on the one hand it's a good business move but on the other hand, I feel that it will just be more of today's continuous barrage of manga.

Manga? Stale?! Never!

[Johnny Soko]

Originally posted by brazilgilliam
Am I the only one who is getting sick and tired of the oversaturation of artists who are ripping off manga styles in order to keep up with today's manga dominated market?

Are they really ripping anything off, or it is just their normal style? (I don't know is why I ask.)

I do know that the majority of the next generation of artists will be heavily influenced by manga, though. And that's simply because that's all they're reading and it's what they like; so it's only natural.

[jasinmartin]

Originally posted by brazilgilliam
Am I the only one who is getting sick and tired of the oversaturation of artists who are ripping off manga styles in order to keep up with today's manga dominated market? I like manga, don't get me wrong but I also think that art by such artists as Olivier Coipel and a lot of the artists who worked on Exiles are just relying on manga art styles and trends to the point that whatever originality manga had is now lost amongst the deluge of manga and manga rip-offs.

Manga? Stale?! Never!

No you're not the only one, this topic was discussed on the recent YOUR MANGA MINUTE column here a few days back, check that out if you'd like.
But, I think you're missing the point with your perceived over saturation of manga style artists. While I'm sure it's true that some of them are intentionally adopting a style in the sense that you say, the majority are more likely just influenced by manga. To say comic artists are just ripping off manga totally misses the point. Artists are influenced by other artists and develop their styles based on those influences, and manga has been a growing comic book influence for decades. It'd be more accurate to accuse the publishers of trying to cash in on the style. Though, that's their job, they are a business.

[DCON]

is about time!, i would like to see dc in a new light.

[xdemon]

I wonder if this will be the pin that bursts the manga bubble in the US?

[CapPixel]

Isn't there in the US an edition of masterwork manga like Devilman? Really?

Can't believe that... O_o

[Michael C Lorah]

well, the real question is, are they going to be doing mangaesque versions of existing DC characters? I'm not sure that will go over well. It could, but I think a lot of people might see it as "fake" manga, trying to capitalize on the popularity of real manga.

If CMX is going to be translating existing japanese and korean comics, then I think it should be quite successful.
I've been saying for several months now that the major explosions in comic book popularity, the Golden Age 40's and Silver Age 60's, were driven by new characters and new ideas.

That excitement of newness, coupled with what I believe is a better format, 200 pages or so per book, is what's driving much of the manga boom. As much as I love our mainstream super-heroes, I really believe that DC and Marvel need to get some new material on the shelves if they're going to compete with Viz and Tokyopop for the bookstore dollars (which is quickly blowing past the direct market dollar totals).

If CMX does some original mangaesque work and it goes over well, part of me wouldn't be surprised to see versions of Superman and Batman slowly integrated into that line, much as they adapted to co-existing with the more sci-fi Silver Age heroes after the passing of the Golden Agers.

Anyway, I think the super-hero "fad" is likely to die before the manga "fad." This is a good move by DC and I wish them the best.

[Alex Scott]

Originally posted by Space Canuck
A very interesting analysis of this news Matt.

I wonder do any Manga companies have entire Universes of comics (like the DCU or Marvel U) that could be reprinted. Something to hold together a group of titles, you know, that they all occur on the same 'Earth'.

Not really, at least, not company-owned universes (Gundam started out as an anime, so it doesn't really count). Manga is more creator-driven, so you're not going to see much crossover between characters unless they're both by the same creator. It's more like how Terry Pratchett or Stephen King will reuse characters and settings, but won't, say, cross them over into a Tom Clancy Book. You're never going to see Goku in a volume of GTO, but don't be surprised to see a reference to Angelic Layer in Chobits (both by CLAMP).

I just hope someone decides to rerelease Nausicaa in a decent edition! The seven volume edition that's now long since out of print and difficult to find (though I have my own copies) is terrific, but the more recent three volume one is very poorly designed.

The good news: Viz is rereleasing it in spring (but where are you getting the three-volume stuff? My edition is four volumes).

And I realize it raises production costs, and that the low costs of reprinting manga works explains their popularity with publishers (higher profit margins), but can we flop the artwork and stop this backwards-reading stuff? ENGLISH READS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT

The bad news: It's unflipped, but really, get over it. It doesn't take long to adjust to, and flipping raises all sorts of problems with the artwork. Since both creators and fans prefer it unflipped, so it's not likely to change anytime soon. And besides, it's not like they're printing the text right-to-left.

[Mr Wesley]

i think the most interesting part of this is the mentioned "synergy" between Kids WB and Cartoon Network, and the speculation that it will only tighten with the new CMX imprint.

Some things that have already been announced or are in stores already:[list=1][*]Digest-sized Justice Leage Adventures[*]Digest-sized Powerpuff Girls[*]Digest-sized Elfquest[/list=1]

Those series, along with Samurai Jack, have a noted manga/anime influence. I think that black and white "straight-to-digest" volumes of Powerpuff Girls and Samurai Jack could do especially well.

I think developing new cartoons that are "manga-ready," like Teen Titans is a not only a great creative idea, but also one that will help DC Publishing push past Marvel financially, because DC has the resources to put it into production without having to make agreements with other companines.

As far as giving other DC characters the "manga treatment, there are lots of lesser-known DC characters that could easily lend themselves to manga-type adaptions or "straight-to-manga" collections. I'm thinking of characters on the fringes of the DCU, like The Phantom Stranger or The Challengers of the Unknown. Or, on the other end of the spectrum, dare I say it, Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew.

Of course, when the whole manga invasion started a few years back, I wondered then why DC and Marvel didn't start reprinting adventures in black & white anthologies, like Shonen Jump. I still think that's a good idea.

[mrhelm]

DC wants to recapture its shelf space at the bookstores. This is a really good idea on their part, just like Marvel Age is for Marvel. This is the real way to get fans interested in American comics again.

Who thinks Teen Titans Go will be one of the first series produced by CMX?

And is it sad to anyone else that no one has ever came up with CMX as a publishing name for comics before?

[Tivome]

Originally posted by Franklin Harris
Some manga creators cross over characters from one series to another. I know, for example, that the CLAMP women have a crossover coming up in one of the Tokyopop titles solicited in the new Previews, although I forget which title it is.

Clamp's Tsubasa, a weekly manga that's filled with CLAMP characters from their other manga.

As for crossover, it's kinda rare since each manga tend to want to establish its own story and characters. You may see many similar characters in each story by the same creator, but to have actual crossover is rare except in the case of silly side stories or, like Tsubasa, a fun-filled side series designed for CLAMP fans.

As for "continuity", the only thing I can think off is the Universal Centry (original) Gundam series of anime. Each story is unique and self-contained, but all happened within the same timeline and background universe. Starting from the original Mobile Suit Gundam to Zeta Gundam, I believe there's several hundred years of UC timeline that's covered. Since Zeta, there are other "Alternative Universe" Gundam series where each world is unique in their respective series, such as Gundam Wing, Turn A, and Gundam SEED.

However, there has been talk that the original Gundam creator wanted to do a "Unifying Theory" which ties ALL Gundam series to in the same universe, and that has sparked some controversy among the Gundam diehards. Generally UC fans and AU fans are not from the same background (UC fans are generally male and older, whle AU fans are younger and about 50%-60% female).

Yes fanboys; young girls in Japan and US dig giant robots.

[TheRay]

Way to go DC! Sounds like some amazing potential with this new imprint.

And am I the only one who sees this as a "gateway drug" toward other comics/trades? A kid could see the DC logo on one of these manga titles and may spark an interest in other DC stuff (i.e., "brand name recognition").

Sounds like another step toward getting more young readers toward the great comics out there that they SHOULD be reading!

[Taylor Porter]

Originally posted by TheRay

And am I the only one who sees this as a "gateway drug" toward other comics/trades?....Sounds like another step toward getting more young readers toward the great comics out there that they SHOULD be reading!

What's wrong with the manga books being the books they should be reading? Why do they have to lead to anything? People reading any comics is great, why do they have to be reading Superman and Batman?