Because DC has done something shocking… something entirely out of character, and the fainter hearts in the audience may need to prepare themselves.
They’ve issued a press release about their CMX titles (found via Love Manga). Even more shocking is the fact that the press release announces a promotional effort for their CMX titles. They’ve put together a sampler of titles for retailers to share with shoppers who are fans of titles for mature readers.
I go away for a week and the world turns upside-down. I don’t know if DC’s daring gambit will actually work, but it’s got to beat deafening silence as marketing maneuvers go.
Oh, and speaking of CMX titles with mature content, the Tenjho Tenge flap gets covered in The Comics Journal 268. It’s a pretty solid overview of the situation, and it’s strangely comforting that DC won’t even talk to TCJ about it. I do wonder about characterizing all of the people objecting to DC’s handling of the property as “otaku.” You don’t really need to be a manga maniac to raise your eyebrows at censorship, inept marketing, and questionable application of content ratings. (I would just love it if the upcoming CMX preview had “As featured in The Comics Journal!” printed on the cover.)
In another corner of manga’s sexually charged public education system, I look at one of Digital Manga’s yaoi titles in this week’s Flipped.