In the latest news to demonstrate the troubles of the manga market, DC Comics today announced that their manga imprint, CMX Manga, will close on July 1st. In a statement from co-publishers Dan Didio and Jim Lee, the closure was blamed on “the challenges that manga is facing in the American marketplace,” presumably referring not only to slowing sales, but also the recent layoff of 40% of the staff of San Francisco-based industry leader Viz Media and seeming closure of Go! Comi.
The news means that the following titles, previously solicited for sale later this year, will not be published: 51 Ways to Save Her Vol. 1, The Battle of Genryu: Origin Vol. 3, Broken Blade Vol. 4, Carved, Crayon Shinchan Vol. 12, Diamond Girl Vol. 2, Fire Investigator Nanase Vol. 5, Go Go Heaven!! Vol. 9, I Hate You More Than Anyone Vol. 10, My Darling! Miss Bancho Vol. 2, Nyankoi! Vol. 1, Oh! My Brother Vol. 3, The Phantom Guesthouse, Polyphonica Cardinal: Crimson Vol. 2, Shisso Holiday, and Venus Capriccio Vol. 5. However, the series Megatokyo by Fred Gallagher, will continue under the DC Comics banner.
This is the second significant recent change to a DC Comics imprint; last month, the publisher’s webcomic division Zuda closed its open submission competition amid, in editor Ron Perazza’s own words, “accusations of cheating, confusion about the process, spamming in the the name of promotion and argumentative, dismissive or even aggressive behavior,” although the imprint itself remains active.
