Raijin goes "on hiatus": SBC also passes along word that manga publisher Raijin Comics will stop publication of its magazine and comics lines. In a letter posted on its website, Raijin writes that, "Based on our research with readers, retailers and distributors, we have come to a conclusion – our publications, though appreciated by hard-core manga fans, are not penetrating a larger market."

In the letter, Raijin says its magazine and comics lines will be "on hiatus for the time being" while the publisher takes "time out to come up with ways to broaden the appeal of our publications, retooling stories and overall editorial content."

Newsarama also reports on what it calls "the manga wars":

"As previously reported, a manga bloodbath has been coming for a while, according to many industry observers, as the volume of manga releases for 2004 looks to be roughly double what it was for 2003 – and all publishers are fighting for readers. Add to that, DC Comics looking to establish a beachhead in the market with its CMX imprint due later this year (most likely accompanied by a significant flex of DC’s marketing muscle in both the bookstore and direct market), as well as Del Rey coming in with strong properties, and the fight for space on the shelf is going to get far uglier as the year goes on. Most likely, lower sellers will drop out of stores entirely, as they won’t pay for their shelf space in the eyes of the bookstore market, middle sellers will sell less, while big titles will sell more."

Augie De Blieck Jr. also comments on the announcement in this week's "Pipeline."