CMX, the manga imprint of DC Comics, announced eight new titles at Comic-Con International in San Diego.  Two series debut in March of 2007 -- Go Go Heaven!! a supernatural shojo comedy from Keiko Yamada, creator of VS. (also published by CMX), and The Time Guardian, an all ages saga written by Tezuka Award-winning novelist Daimuro Kishi and illustrated by Tamao Ichinose about a high school girl who gets a part time job at the Time Pawn Shop where people who are desperate for a few more days or hours can trade in their prized memories for more temporal latitude.

 

In April CMX is releasing the first volume of Canon, a superbly drawn modern gothic adventure by writer/artist Chika Shiomi about a teen girl, the only survivor of a vampire attack, who in spite of being bitten, endeavors to use her powers for good and avenge her friends.

 

One of the most interesting new CMX titles, Apotehcarius Argentum, debuts in May.  This tale of a slave trained to resist poisons who protects a royal princess at the cost of becoming toxic himself is both touching and exciting.  Released from bondage the slave becomes a great healer and eventually is reunited with the princess, though the affection they feel for each other must be held in abeyance since his touch is deadly. Written by Tomomi Yamashita, a pharmacist by training, this intrigue-filled romantic fantasy has enough grounding in fact to make it really fascinating.

 

CMX also announced four series published in Japan by Kadokawa including Dorothea: Era of Lions (2003) by Tetsuya Hasegawa, an action fantasy (rated 16+) about a brave and independent girl who joins the military to save her hometown, Ohkoku no Kagi (Key to the Kingdom--2003), an all-ages mystery/fantasy with dragons and an RPG-like storyline, Orfina (1994), a 10-volume science fiction/fantasy adventure series by Kitsune Tennoji, creator of Edens Bowy, and Variante: Requiem for the World (2004) a 'mature' rated horror/suspense tale currently appearing in Dragon Ace Magazine about a girl whose family is murdered by an unidentifiable monster (chimera).  She wakes up in the morgue intact except for a transfigured left arm, which has the DNA of a chimera and a violent mind of its own.