At the New York Comic Con, DC Comic's manga publishing division CMX announced that starting in July it would be re-publishing Masashi Tanaka's Gon in an un-flipped format at a very attractive $5.99 price point.  Anyone who has seen the wordless adventures of this miniature T-Rex, previously published in the U.S. by DC's Paradox Press, knows what a singular achievement that Tanaka created with these volumes of pure, breathless visual narrative.

 

Six of the eight new series announced by CMX are shojo manga, all of which are published in Japan by Hakusensha.  Two of the shojo entries Two Flowers for the Dragon (an on-going 3 volume series) and Palette of 12 Secret Colors are by manga-ka Nari Kusakawa.  Two Flowers for the Dragon, which is due out this spring, is the comedy-filled romantic saga of a princess with two fianc?s, while Palette of 12 Secret Colors, which ships in July, is a magical farce that takes place on an exotic island.

 

Also shipping in July is the first volume of I Hate You More Than Anyone.  This 13-volume series by Banri Hidaka is a delightful romance about a tomboy's first serious crush.  This is the first series by Ms. Hidaka to be published in the U.S. but Tokyopop and CMX (see below) each plan to publish another of her superb shojo titles during the next 12 months.

 

King of Cards, which CMX will bring out in August, is the shojo equivalent of Yu-Gi-Oh! -- a manga about a kid who becomes very good at a card game, but in this case the kid is a girl and in this 9-volume series by Makoto Tateno, who has created many different types of shojo manga, demonstrates her mastery of yet another genre.

 

In November CMX will publish the first volume in Yuki Nakaji's Venus in Love, a 12-volume romance with equal numbers of cute guys and gorgeous girls.  The final release announced by CMX is Tears of the Lamb, which will debut in January of 2008.  This seven volume series will be CMX's second manga release by Banri Hidaka -- a light, but poignant romance about an anorexic teen who manages to overcome her affliction thanks to the help of a very shy (and somewhat damaged) neighbor.

 

In addition to these six shojo properties CMX is also planning a July release for the two-volume seinen (young men) series Samurai Commando: Mission 1549, the manga adaptation of Sonny Chiba action picture about a group of commandos who travel back in time to the samurai era that was remade in 2005.

 

CMX's final new series announced at the New York Comic Con was Presents, a horror anthology by Kanako Inuku, who is known as 'The Queen of Horror' in Japan.  The first release in the 3-volume Presents series is due out in October in plenty of time for Halloween.