MangaBlog

You know, there is a section of the blogsophere where DC Comics has become known chiefly as the company that shut down CMX. If you’re wondering why everyone is so bummed about this, check out Kate Dacey’s roundup of their tween- and teen-friendly titles at Good Comics for Kids. At Mania.com, three editors put together their list of 20 must-have CMX series. I’m seeing more reviews pop up of individual CMX titles as well; it would be ironic if their sales went up now that DC has shut them down—and even taken down their website. In fact, DC has already airbrushed all their books right off their site, as if they never existed—they don’t even show up in the search engine, although they are supposedly not shutting down CMX until July 1. Classy.

For the bigger picture, check out former Yen Press co-publisher (and former DC vp of sales) Rich Johnson’s essay on what’s going on with the manga market. It’s good stuff, for the most part, although I argue with him a bit at Robot 6.

Sesho pushes back on the criticism of CMX, maintaining that manga simply isn’t popular. It’s an interesting point of view, maintaining that manga is a niche rather than trying to be the manga missionary to the world, like most of the rest of us do.

The Manga Moveable Feast continues, and Kate Dacey posts another round of links to reviews of To Terra at The Manga Critic. Checking in with new entries are Daniella Orihuela-Gruber and Sean Gaffney.

Melinda Beasi has all the latest manhwa news, including some discussions of scanlation, in this week’s Manhwa Monday update.

Kate Dacey looks at this week’s new manga.

J. Caleb Mozzocco uses the manhwa Comic as a window into the Korean comics industry. Maybe not a very good window…

Patrick Macias posts a sampling of Go Nagai’s art from a Japanese artbook at his blog.

News from Japan: Hunter x Hunter will be going on hiatus, according to Canned Dogs.

Reviews: Speaking of J. Caleb Mozzocco, as we were just a minute ago, he reviews the first volumes of Comic and Alice 19th at Every Day Is Like Wednesday. Johanna Draper Carlson looks at some manga-influenced graphic novels (including Red String doujinshi!) at Comics Worth Reading. Bad Jew has two ultra-micro-mini reviews of new Viz releases at Sleep Is For the Weak. And the Manga Recon bloggers take a quick look at some new titles in their latest Manga Minis column.

Sophie Stevens on vol. 2 of Biomega (Animanga Nation)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Black Butler (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Jennifer LeBlanc on vol. 5 of Breath (The Yaoi Review)
Jones on vol. 1 of Detroit Metal Cityle (Let’s you and him fight)
Leroy Douresseaux on Dry Heat (The Comic Book Bin)
Johanna Draper Carlson in vol. 1 of Flower in a Storm (Comics Worth Reading)
Tangognat on Fruits Basket Banquet and Songs to Make You Smile (Tangognat)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow (The Comic Book Bin)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of The King of Cards (Kuriousity)
Greg McElhatton on vol. 1 of Kingyo Used Books (Read About Comics)
Deb Aoki on vols. 1 and 2 of Kobato (About.com)
Alex Woolfson on Loud Snow (Yaoi 911)
The Four-Eyed Stranger on MW (PopMatters)
Anna on vol. 1 of My Girlfriend’s a Geek (2 screenshot limit)
Nick Smith on vol. 1 of My Girlfriend’s a Geek (ICv2)
Zack Davisson on vol. 1 of Neko Ramen (Japan Reviewed)
Nick Smith on vol. 1 of Neko Ramen (ICv2)
Nick Smith on vol. 1 of Ratman (ICv2)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Samurai Commando: Mission 1549 (Manga Xanadu)
Zoey on vol. 2 of Sarasah (Manga Jouhou)
Connie on vol. 10 of Slam Dunk (Slightly Biased Manga)
Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of Stepping on Roses (Comics-and-More)

Wow, the CMX shutdown really touched a nerve, much more so than the other manga publishers that we have lost over the years. Heidi Macdonald gathers up the wrath in a good roundup post at The Beat, and as always, be sure to read the comments. Christopher Butcher gives us a little history, pointing out that CMX got off to a rocky start with retailers as well as fans. Simon Jones has some further thoughts on CMX and DC. David Welsh lists his ten favorite CMX series and starts looking for new homes for the orphans. Connie lists her favorites at Slightly Biased Manga. Lissa Pattillo reflects on losing CMX after recently rediscovering it. At Heart of Manga, Laura mourns the series left unfinished. And Jason Yadao says farewell and notes

When I wrapped up the Rough Guide to Manga about a year ago this month (and hey, have I ever mentioned that it’s still on sale at finer book retailers online worldwide?), I listed 21 active mainstream manga publishers. Five of them — Aurora, DrMaster, Go! Comi, Infinity and now CMX — have since gone dormant or shut down, and Viz is 40 percent smaller in terms of workforce. Sure, one publisher also opened up during that time, but Kodansha’s release of all of two volumes of manga in six months — and re-releases of older material, at that — doesn’t exactly inspire much hope in me.

Jason Thompson has a fascnating article on the manga creator Ippongi Bang, in which he also chronicles the manga boom and bust of the 1990s and the heyday of Antarctic Press as a manga publisher: “Rumiko Takahashi may have been more famous, but Ippongi Bang would actually come to your convention and party with you.”

Who’s checking out the new manga this week? David Welsh and Sean Gaffney, that’s who! And Lori Henderson looks at this week’s all-ages comics and manga, a list that will soon be sparser now that CMX is shutting down.

Erica Friedman speaks out on scanlation at Okazu:

No mangaka is excited to be scanlated. You are not providing a service – you are complicit in copyright violation. You are not “building an audience,” you are devaluing something that many people have worked hard to create. And for every one person who *might* buy a work *if* it comes out and *if* it’s available at a local book store when they want it, you’re giving someone else’s work – something you have no right to in the first place – away to hundreds, maybe thousands of people who will take it and ask for more. The only audience you are building is one made up of people who have no intention of paying for the privilege – or worse, paying you to “support the group,” while the mangaka who did the actual work gets nothing from it.

JoonAng Daily looks at sagging sales in the manhwa industry; sometimes being made into a movie can give a series a boost, but other times that’s not enough. The article points to piracy as the culprit, and artists are fighting back by putting their work on the web themselves.

I had forgotten Del Rey put out so many good books! Thomas Zoth runs through 15 essential Del Rey series at Mania.com.

Same Hat reprints Enter the Id, an essay on manga by Frederick Schodt.

Tanbishugi spots two new Tokyopop listings on Amazon, for Kirameki Gingachou Shoutengai and Sorairo Kaigan (Skyblue Shore), both from Hakusensha.

Reviews

Michelle Smith on vols. 3 and 4 of Banana Fish (Soliloquy in Blue)
Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane on vol. 2 of Beast Master (Manga Life)
Charles Webb on vol. 1 of Bokurano: Ours (Manga Life)
Russell Phillips on vol. 2 of Cat Paradise (Manga Jouhou)
Julie Opipari on Cute Devil (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Billy Aguiar on vols. 1 and 2 of Happy Cafe (Prospero’s Manga)
Julie Opipari on How to Capture a Martini (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Ed Sizemore on vol. 1 of I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Itazura Na Kiss (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Snow Wildsmith on vol. 1 of Kobato (ICv2)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of K-On! (Okazu)
Nick Smith on vol. 1 of Maoh: Juvenile Remix (ICv2)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 4 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Zack Davisson on vol. 2 of Mikansei No. 1 (Manga Life)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Millennium Prime Minister (The Comic Book Bin)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of My Girlfriend’s A Geek (ANN)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 4 of The Name of the Flower (Comics Worth Reading)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 3 of Nightschool (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Rin-ne (The Comic Book Bin)
Clive Owen on vol. 10 of Rosario + Vampire (Animanga Nation)
Zoey on vol. 1 of Sarasah (Manga Jouhou)
Becky Fullan on Sighing Kiss (Manga Jouhou)
Emily on Stolen Hearts (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Tangognat on vols. 12 and 13 of Swan (Tangognat)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 2 of Taimashin: The Red Spider Exorcist (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)

At this point, there have been so many reactions to the shutdown of CMX that rather than rounding up the comments, I’ll just round up the roundups: I posted on the reactions at Robot 6, and the Good Comics for Kids bloggers pulled together a quick roundtable on the topic as well. Deb Aoki quotes some of the voices in the discussion (including mine), and Simon Jones (possibly NSFW) has a handy annotated list.

And returning to last week’s news, at Publishers Weekly, I talked to insiders and bloggers about the significance of the Viz layoffs.

Gottsu-Iiyan points out that the proposed censorship laws in Tokyo have nothing to do with what foreigners think about Japanese manga, because the Japanese don’t care what foreigners think of them.

Black Lagoon creator Rei Hiroe will be an official guest of honor at Anime Expo.

Heidi MacDonald is giving away some old review copies, starting with Junji Ito’s Museum of Terror, at The Beat.

Reviews

Deb Aoki on The Box Man (About.com)
Kelakagand on vol. 5 of Fushigi Yugi (VizBig edition) (Kelakagandy’s Ramblings)
Andre on Genghis Khan (Kuriousity)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 8 of Gin Tama (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Gon (Manga Xanadu)
Sean Gaffey on vol. 6 of Otomen (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 5 of Phantom Dream (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Kate Dacey on vols. 1-4 of The Times of Botchan (The Manga Critic)
Snow Wildsmith on vol. 1 of Twin Spica (ICv2)
Andre on The World I Create (Kuriousity)

Well, this is sad news: CMX Manga, the plucky little manga division of DC Comics that put out some nice little series but always seemed to fly under the radar, will be shutting down as of July 1. Here’s the official statement:

Over the course of the last six years, CMX has brought a diverse list of titles to America and we value the books and creators that we helped introduce to a new audience. Given the challenges that manga is facing in the American marketplace, we have decided that CMX will cease publishing new titles as of July 1, 2010. 

The shuttering of the CMX line does not affect the best-selling series Megatokyo which will continue publication, now as a DC Comics title with story and art by Megatokyo’s award-winning creator Fred Gallagher.

We’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the efforts and dedication of the CMX staff and to thank our fans who have supported CMX.

– DC Comics Co-Publishers Jim Lee and Dan Didio

We are of the opinion that DC never really gave CMX the love they deserved—they didn’t give it much publicity, and the books were impossible to find in bookstores. But editor-in-chief Asako Suzuki and editor Jim Chadwick did an incredible job of picking great manga and bringing them over, including The Name of the Flower, Kiichi and the Magic Books, and Diamond Girl, which had my husband laughing out loud this weekend. We are going to miss them.

Update: ANN reports that seven titles will ship next month.

Neko Ramen

Melinda Beasi takes a look at recent news and reviews in her latest Manhwa Monday post at Manga Bookshelf.

Rick Marshall talks to Dave Roman, co-writer of The Last Airbender: Zuko’s Story, at MTV’s Splash Page.

Jason Thompson gives us the lowdown on five cooking manga worth keeping at comiXology.

Ernesto Priego at Nieman Storyboard takes a look at two examples of autobiographical manga, Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s Black Blizzard and a Web 2.0 project called Manga Memoirs, in which writers of Canadian or Japanese descent tell brief stories about their lives and the best are chosen to be turned into manga, with professional artists doing the illustrations.

At Comics Alliance, David Brothers takes a look at Ax, the alt-manga anthology due out soon from Top Shelf, and how it may shatter all some common preconceptions.

Kate Dacey picks the best of this week’s new releases.

Ed Sizemore pens some thoughts on fans, and what a real fan doesn’t do.

It’s time for the next Manga Moveable Feast! Kate Dacey is the host, and the topic this month is Keiko Takemiya’s To Terra. To play, write your review or thoughts on the book, post it, and let Kate know; if you don’t have a blog, you can post at Kate’s. Enjoy!

News from Japan: Kodansha will publish an original English language manga based on Hagakure, a collection of stories told by real-life samurai Yamamoto Tsunetomo.

Reviews: Snow Wildsmith reviews three yuri manga from Seven Seas at Fujoshi Librarian. The Manga Recon team posts some Manga Minis to start the week.

D.M. Evans on vol. 1 of Afro Samurai (Manga Jouhou)
AstroNerdboy on Azumanga Daioh (omnibus) (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 1 of The Battle of Genryu: Origin (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Dave Ferraro on Black Blizzard (Comics-and-More)
Todd Douglass on vol. 2 of Deadman Wonderland (Anime Maki)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 17 of D.Gray-Man (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of Gatcha Gacha (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Erica Friedman on vol. 5 of Gunsmith Cats Burst (Okazu)
Julie Opipari on vol. 3 of Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Rob McMonigal on vol. 6 of Nana (Panel Patter)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Neko Ramen (Comics Worth Reading)
Kristin on Songs to Make You Smile (Comic Attack)