DC COMICS LAUNCHES CMX,
A NEW MANGA IMPRINT IN OCTOBER
forthcoming titles include THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERs Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne AND TENJO TENGE, AS WELL AS TITLES by Tajima Sho-u (who created the character designs for the anime sequences in the FILM Kill Bill: VOLUME 1) and FUJII MIHONA’s GALS! (THE BASIS for the popular anime series SuperGals!)
Paul Levitz, President and Publisher of DC Comics (a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company) announced today that DC Comics will launch CMX, a new imprint of manga graphic novels, with the publication of three titles in October, 2004. The first three to be released are the initial volumes of MADARA (art by Tajima Sho-u and written by Otsuka Eiji from Kadokawa), Mekakushi no Kuni (illustrated and written by Tsukuba Sakura from Hakusensha), and EROIKA YORI AI WO KOMETE (illustrated and written by Aoike Yasuko from Akita Shoten.)
“There’s tremendous enthusiasm for manga in the States,” said Levitz. “New readers, particularly girls and women, have rushed to embrace new talent from abroad, which we’re excited to bring to American audiences as part of DC Comics’ commitment to publishing diverse and exciting works from around the world.”
Each of the CMX titles are Japanese manga, which are being released for the first time in the United States, and will be published in the traditional manga format—sized at 5 X 7 3/8”, with black and white interiors. Subsequent volumes of each series will be released on a quarterly schedule.
Upcoming titles include Fujii Mihona’s Gals ((GALS has been adapted as the popular anime series SuperGals!) from Shueisha), TENJO TENGE (by Oh! Great from Shueisha), 9 Banme no Musashi (by Takahashi Miyuki from Akita Shoten), Swan (by Ariyoshi Kyoko from Akita Shoten), MONSTER COLLECTION (by Sei Ito from Kadokawa Shoten), Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne by Tanemura Arina (from Shueisha), and AKUMA DE SORO (by Takanashi Mitsuba from Shueisha).
"We believe that manga readership is going to continue its rapid growth and also evolve in the US," said John Nee, Vice President of Business Development at DC Comics. "CMX is committed to publishing all genre of manga including horror, fantasy, science fiction and adventure titles and the line will be as diverse, and as author friendly, as that of DC Comics, Vertigo, and WildStorm."
Nee also announced today that DC Comics has hired Jake Tarbox as the Group Editor of the CMX imprint. Tarbox has spent the last 14 year living in Tokyo, Japan where he worked at Coamix, Inc. as the International Affairs Manager and Vice-Editor-Chief of Raijin Comics, administered the creation of the American subsidiary company Gutsoon! Entertainment, and edited the manga magazine, RAIJIN COMICS. Tarbox will handle the editorial responsibilities for the CMX imprint including overseeing the translation and printing of manga titles into English.
ABOUT THE LEAD
TITLES AND TALENT:
MADARA Volume 1 (originally serialized in MARUKATSU FAMICOM magazine) represents the first work done together by the creators of the hit series MPD Psycho, artist Tajima Sho-u (who created the character designs for the anime sequences in the movie “Kill Bill”) and writer Otsuka Eiji. When his village is attacked by demons, Madara, a blacksmith’s apprentice, discovers that he possesses fantastic powers.
Artist Tajima Sho-u debuted as a manga artist in 1987 with the publication of Madara. He has worked on illustration and character design for computer games (including Galerians) and animation. He has illustrated MPD Psycho, Brothers Baby Baby, Madara Colors, and his current hit series Gorilla Kick.
In addition to his work with manga, writer Otsuka Eiji is a critic, essayist, and author of several successful non-fiction books on Japanese popular and “otaku” sub-cultures. In the 80s, Otsuka was editor-in-chief of MANGA BURIKKO, a leading women’s manga magazine where he pioneered research on the “otaku” sub-culture in modern Japan.
Mekakushi no Kuni Volume 1 was originally serialized in LaLa DX magazine from 1998 to 2004. In this nine volume series, creator Tsukuba Sakura tells the story of Otsuka Kanade, a high school girl who can see visions of the future. Should she act to change their fate, or sit back and wait for events to unfold?
A rising young author in the shojo manga world, Tsukuba Sakura decided to become a manga artist in high school. As she was about to graduate college, she furiously distributed her work to publishers. Her first published work was A Bright Spring Day, in LaLa magazine. She has also written and drawn Invisible World: a Dog’s Story (published in LaLa magazine) and Past Day Present (published in LaLa magazine).
Eroika yori Ai wo Komete Volume 1 was originally serialized in PRINCESS magazine from 1977 to the present. Eroika yori Ai wo Komete follows the adventures of a British aristocrat and international art thief who taunts his nemesis, Major Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach, by leaving notes behind at the scene of his crimes, signed “From Eroica with Love.”
Aoike Yasuko’s first manga, Sayonara Nanette, was published in RIBBON magazine when she was fifteen years old. Afterwards, she garnered attention by publishing several hit stories in rapid succession, including Shojo Blend, When Roses Cry, Oh Carol, “I love you, Tetsu-sensei,” and “Hey, Young Guy.” In 1976 her sci-fi comedy Sons of Eve in PRINCESS magazine, represented a switch from pure shojo stories to a new kind of storytelling.
Debuting in 1977, Eroika yori Ai wo Komete became a huge best seller, and its sequel series is still being serialized today. The series is built on a great deal of research about European art history, and has helped to popularize many European painters in Japan as well as Japanese tours of European art museums.
Aoike Yasuko has
continued a long and
productive career in the pages of PRINCESS, a highly popular girl’s
manga anthology magazine. But her work is so popular that she is at
present concurrently publishing stories in several magazines. She is
the creator of Miriam Blue's
Lake, Sons of Eve,
Seven
Seas, Seven Skies, The Castle, Ivy Navy,
Trafalgar,
Z, Der
Freischutz, Alcasar,
The
Tale of a Priest and a
Doctor, The Day of
Saladin, Richard, the
Lion-Hearted, Brother Falco,
The
Temptation of Scarlet, The
Carthaginian Fantasy, The
Melancholy of Her Majesty, The Knight of
Drachen, and Plus Ultra.
