Elex Media Komputindo is a

publishing company Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

in Indonesia which publishes books, comics, magazines, novels and other print media. Established on January 15, 1985, Elex Media Komputindo is a subsidiary of

Kompas Gramedia Group Kompas Gramedia is an Indonesian conglomerate. It has focused on several businesses, predominantly mass media, as well as hospitality, manufacturing, and event organizing. The company's businesses comprises multiple divisions, such as media ass ...

. Elex is headquartered in

Tanah Abang Tanah Abang is a district of Central Jakarta, Indonesia. The district hosts the biggest textile market in Southeast Asia, Tanah Abang Market. It hosts Bung Karno Stadium, in Kelurahan Gelora, and the western half of the largely skyscraper-dom ...

Central Jakarta Central Jakarta ( id, Jakarta Pusat) is one of the five administrative cities () which form the Special Capital Region of Jakarta. It had 902,973 inhabitants according to the 2010 censusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 1,056,896 at the ...

. Elex Media Komputindo is known as the pioneer of

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

publishing in Indonesia, and is now one of the largest comic publishers in Indonesia.

History

Established in 1985, Elex Media initially published various electronic and computer-themed books. The founder of Kompas, Jakob Oetama, was interested in the potential of manga during his visit to Japan in the late 1980s. In 1991, Elex Media plunged into the manga publishing industry with the publication of

Kyoko Mizuki is one of the pen names of , a Japanese writer who is best known for being the author of the manga and anime series '' Candy Candy''. Kyoko Mizuki won the Kodansha Manga Award for Best '' Shōjo'' Manga for ''Candy Candy'' in 1977 with Yumiko I ...

's ''

Candy Candy is a Japanese series created by Kyoko Mizuki. The main character, Candice "Candy" White Ardley is a blonde girl with freckles, large emerald green eyes and long hair, worn in pigtails with bows. ''Candy Candy'' first appeared as a mang ...

'' manga, originally published by Kodansha. Other manga like '' Kungfu Boy'', ''

Doraemon ''Doraemon'' ( ja, ドラえもん ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in December 1969, with its 1,345 individual chapters compiled into 45 ''tankōbon'' volumes and p ...

'', and '' Dragon Ball'' began to follow. The decision of the New Order government to allow the establishment of private television stations was also influential in the spread of outside culture, including the manga. Various private television stations licensed and broadcast Japanese

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

which also influenced the interest of comic and manga lovers in Indonesia. Indonesian local comics began to appear in 1994 with the publication of the ''Imperium Majapahit'' (Majapahit Empire) by Jan Mintaraga. Elex Media began to adopt the Japanese manga style publishing in 1995 and applied it to local comics in 2001. As of December 2008, almost 7500 comic volumes had been published. Elex Media established their adult manga imprint, Level Comics in 2005. Their manga titles including ''

20th Century Boys is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa. It was originally serialized in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Big Comic Spirits'' from 1999 to 2006, with the 249 chapters published into 22 ''tankōbon'' ...

'', ''

Homunculus A homunculus ( , , ; "little person") is a representation of a small human being, originally depicted as small statues made out of clay. Popularized in sixteenth-century alchemy and nineteenth-century fiction, it has historically referred to the ...

'', ''

Vagabond Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, tempor ...

'', ''

Shin Angyo Onshi /() is a South Korean-Japanese manhwa series created by Youn In-wan and illustrated by Yang Kyung-il. The story takes place in a world reminiscent of ancient Korea, and follows the Korean-folktale-inspired adventures of Munsu, one of the few ...

'', and '' Soul Eater''. They also adopted the age rating system for its readers. All adult-themed comics and manga are published under the Level Comics label, while Elex Media is responsible for publishing comics in all age categories or teenagers. In determining the age rating of an individual comic, Elex Media doesn't follow the rating standards in Japan, but rather the suitability of the comic for readers in Indonesia. Elex Media doesn't publish comics or manga with blatant

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

. In August 2009, Elex Media established Romic (euROpean coMIC line). The book titles included in this category are ''

Lucky Luke ''Lucky Luke'' is a Western ''bande dessinée'' series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborating with French writer René Goscinny. Their par ...

'', '' Smurf'', ''

Michel Vaillant ''Michel Vaillant'' is a French car racing comics series created in 1957 by French cartoonist Jean Graton and published originally by Le Lombard. Later, Graton published the albums by himself when he founded Graton éditeur in 1982. Michel Va ...

'', '' Yakari'', and ''

Spirou & Fantasio ''Spirou & Fantasio'' (french: Spirou et Fantasio, wa, Spirou eyet Fantasio) is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comics. The series, which has been running since 1938, shares many characteristics with other European comics, European ...

''.

Magazines

*''

Hanalala ''Hanalala'' was the Indonesian version of the manga magazines '' Hana to Yume'' and '' LaLa''. The magazine was started in 2006. It was published by Elex Media Komputindo, a component of Kompas Gramedia Group, the largest comic publisher in In ...

'' is an Indonesian version of ''Hana to Yume and LaLa'' (discontinued) *''

Shōnen Star ''Shōnen Star'' was the Indonesian version of '' Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' published by Elex Media Komputindo (member of Gramedia group), the largest comic publisher in Indonesia in 2005. The magazine published Kurozakuro, Robot Boys, My Wing, Mid ...

'' is an Indonesian version of ''Shonen Sunday'' (discontinued) *''

Shonen Magz ''Shonen Magz'' was a Shōnen-oriented manga magazine published monthly by Elex Media Komputindo. It was the Indonesian version of the Japanese '' Shōnen Magazine'' and therefore, contained Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishi ...

'' is an Indonesian version of ''Shonen Magazine'' (discontinued) *''

Nakayoshi is a monthly ''shōjo'' manga magazine published by Kodansha in Japan. First issued in December 1954, it is a long-running magazine with over 60 years of manga publication history. Notable titles serialized in Nakayoshi include ''Princess Knight ...

'' is an Indonesian version of ''Nakayoshi'' (discontinued) *''Champ'' is an Indonesian version of Korean manhwa titles (discontinued) *''Winnie The Pooh'' is an Indonesian version of Disney's ''Winnie The Pooh'' *''Cars'' is an Indonesian version of Disney's ''Cars''

Books

Elex Media have also published a range of books in various genres, including

self-help book A self-help book is one that is written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems. The books take their name from '' Self-Help'', an 1859 best-seller by Samuel Smiles, but are also known and classified under " self ...

s, novels, business and travel genres. Some of its best selling authors are Ippho Santosa and Dedy Dahlan, who both written non-fiction self-help and business books. Elex Media also translated some foreign books, including, formerly,

Microsoft Press Microsoft Press is the publishing arm of Microsoft, usually releasing books dealing with various current Microsoft technologies. Microsoft Press' first introduced books were ''The Apple Macintosh Book'' by Cary Lu and ''Exploring the IBM PCjr Ho ...

titles.

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Kompas Gramedia Group Manga distributors Comic book publishing companies of Indonesia

History

Magazines

Books

See also

References

External links