The magazine was launched in November 1995 by ASCII as a successor to Famicomi and ASCII Comics. Enterbrain acquired the magazine in 2000, before they were merged with Kadokawa in 2013. The magazine has struggled with low sales throughout its history, though it has managed to cultivate a small audience of hardcore comics enthusiasts.
History
Comic Beam was launched by ASCII as a successor to Famicomi and ASCII Comics[ja].[2][3] Initially, the magazine's focus was manga based on video games.[4] Its first issue was released on on November 11, 1995.[5] The magazine was acquired by Enterbrain in 2000.[6] In 2006, the magazine published a special issue, Comic Beam Fellows!, which was spun-off into the magazine Fellows! (now Harta) in October 2008.[7]
In 2013, Enterbrain was merged into the Kadokawa Corporation.[8] As part of the magazine's 30th anniversary in 2025, the magazine launched the Comic Beam Manga Award for new manga artists.[9]
Content
An editor at work in a Comic Beam office in November 2006.
Comic Beam is considered to be a seinen manga magazine.[10][11] However, critics have described it as distinct from other seinen manga magazines, with Shaenon K. Garrity describing the magazine as "alt-seinen"[12] and Erica Friedman calling it part of a "fifth column" distinct from other manga demographics.[10] It is also sometimes considered to be an alternative manga magazine.[4][13]
Works published in Comic Beam tend to be more experimental in nature.[10]Noriko Tetsuka[ja], who was the editor-in-chief of AX, felt that, despite being owned by a major publisher, Comic Beam still published works shunned by other manga magazines.[13]Jason Thompson wrote that the magazine publishes "an eclectic mix of material".[4]
Comic Beam has been noted as one of the first manga magazines in Japan to publish works written by Korean authors.[14] The magazine also published Wandering Son, a manga that features a transgender protagonist and discusses gender identity in Japan.[15]
Beam Comix
The magazine's titles are published in tankōbon volume format under the Beam Comix (ビームコミックス, Bīmu Komikkusu; also spelled 'Beam Comics') imprint. Until September 2017, Beam Comix volumes were released on the 25th of each month, but since October 2017, they have been released on the 12th of every month instead, which corresponds with the magazine's release date.[16] The Beam Comix imprint also publishes works that were not serialized in the magazine, such as Captivated, by You.[17]
Circulation
In 2009 and 2010, Comic Beam had a circulation of 25,000.[18][19] The magazine has struggled throughout much of its history and has published manga making fun of its low sales.[2][6] It has often resorted to "going-out-of-business scare tactics" and begging to keep its existing readers.[4] In 2016, the magazine declared a "state of emergency" due to declining sales.[20] A year later, an editor stated the magazine improved its financial situation by offering more of its titles through digital services and increasing their international distribution.[21]
Despite the small readership, the magazine has managed to cultivate an audience of hardcore comics enthusiasts, with Friedman describing it as a "comic for comic freaks".[10]
In the 2018 edition of Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! guidebook's list of the top manga magazines, Comic Beam ranked thirteenth.[51] It ranked eighth in the 2020 edition.[52]
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