DC Comics has made an investment in Flex Comics, a new Japanese company that will publish manga first on cell phones or the Internet before they are collected for print publication. Other investors include Softbank Technology, Archetype Technologies, Movida Entertainment, and T&M. DC will publish English language print and digital editions of Flex titles.
Flex has entered a market for electronic marketing of manga that was already highly competitive, as major communications companies in
Electronic delivery of manga is well developed in Japan, so another benefit of DC's investment in Flex Comics (in addition to a pipeline of content for its CMX line) will probably come from the lessons learned about the various means of electronic delivery of comic content in the most advanced and highly competitive market for downloadable content in the world.
