DC TO LAUNCH MINX LINE OF GRAPHIC NOVELS IN MAY

[MattBrady]

Focusing specifically on teenage girls, it was announced today that DC Comics will launch Minx in May, a line of graphic novels targeted towards young female readers.

The Minx line will be overseen by Karen Berger and Shelly Bond of DC’s Vertigo imprint, and will include between six and seven titles in 2007. The original graphic novels will be slightly larger than manga digest sized, and will retail for under $10. Minx will be the first concerted effort by a US publisher at an entire line of graphic novels aimed solely at this specific audience.

The line, according to a report in The New York Times Arts section, is seen by DC as an alternative, not only to superheroes and its other output, but also to manga, which has found a rock-solid audience among young girls. The stories, Berger told Newsarama, will not be manga-esque, or in manga format, but rather, all-new works aimed at the specific audience. Clarifying the content for the Times, Berger said the new OGNs will be “about more than going out with the cute guy. This line of books gives them something to read that honors that intelligence and assertiveness and that individuality.”

As noted by the Times, DC will team with Alloy Marketing + Media to promote Minx in the coming months, and will spend $250,000(*) in promotion of the line, making it “be the largest thing we’ve done in at least three decades,” according to DC president and publisher Paul Levitz.

Leading off the Minx titles will be the 146 page The P.L.A.I.N. Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim (Street Angel) Rugg (pictured above).

From the Times:

It tells the story of Jane, a transfer student in a suburban high school who starts a campaign, “People Loving Art in Neighborhoods.” It’s a call to appreciate the everyday world that comes to involve everything from protesting the construction of a new mall to encouraging pet adoptions from animal shelters.

Jane’s classmates and fellow believers are Jane, who is interested in theater; Jayne, an academic whiz; and Polly Jane, a jock. Each is decidedly not part of the in-crowd. The reason for Jane’s transfer is serious: her family fled to suburbia after Jane survived a terrorist attack that blew up a cafe in fictional Metro City.

Other upcoming titles from the line include Clubbing, about a London party girl who solves a mystery; Re-Gifters, which tells the story of a Korean-American teenager in California who’s into martial arts; and Good as Lily where a young girl meets three different versions of herself at three different ages.

Berger told Newsarama that Mike Carey is also writing for the line.

Look for an interview with Berger about Minx Monday, here on Newsarama.

(*) The Times reported that the marketing budget will be $125,000, but Newsarama has since been informed that the budget will be $250,000.

[The_Adventurer]

While I'm not the target audience I applaud DC for taking a chance with such a great idea and concept. More companies (*cough*Marvel*cough*) should look outside the confides of the Super-Hero genre and work to build new audiences and generations of comic readers. To stick with that genre alone is the road to stagnation, decline, and death.

Going the OGN novel route is sure to grab the attention of the manga readers, as they're used to reading a series of chunky books for their comic reading.

Again, bravo DC.

[jedifish]

Interesting. I'll buy some for my goddaughter for her birthday to see what she thinks.

[EmeraldGuy32]

Fantastic News. Put Alex de Campi on one of these books!

[Crazy Penguin]

I hope this takes off, it's about time there were more comics that appealed to a mainstream audience. The books themselves sound interesting, I'll keep an eye out for them this summer.

[Goodman]

It sounds promising. It's great that manga has opened the door to this market.

[The_Adventurer]

Now lets see if the market takes the bait.

[grantg]

Am I the only one that finds the name "Minx" to be a little odd. Do girls call themselves this now? Is this a positive thing? Am I that out of the loop?

Other than that, I think it's a great idea. And, although I loves me some superheroes, this is a step in the right direction for the industry.

[The_Adventurer]

I agree "Minx" does sound a little.... slutty? Conniving? ??

Or maybe just old, Minx doesn't sound like a word used in the modern slang vernacular.

[al_capone]

It's good to see that American comic companies (well, DC at least) no longer feel that the only way they can attract this demographic is by making feeble attempts at immitating manga.

[SeamusMcClernan]

Originally Posted by The_Adventurer

I agree "Minx" does sound a little.... slutty? Conniving? ??

Or maybe just old, Minx doesn't sound like a word used in the modern slang vernacular.

Yeah!

How's about "Doxie" or "Flapper"?

What's really cool is that in just a few more years we can all use "23 skidoo again!!!"

[Moonbeam]

Great news.

The more American comics available for my daughters, the better. Our selections each month are horribly slim, and my girls just aren't into manga.

Kudos to DC.

More! More!

- Vaneta

[Jason A. Quest]

Originally Posted by The_Adventurer

I agree "Minx" does sound a little.... slutty? Conniving? ??
Or maybe just old, Minx doesn't sound like a word used in the modern slang vernacular.

They probably figure it's archaic enough that it's lost any sting. What was "slutty" in great-grandma's day is "cool" now. Plus, kids of a certain age often take insults and wear them as a badge of coolness (e.g. the popular "Bratz"™ dolls, which are basically Barbie, Skipper, etc done as cartoony hookers). I'm definitely no 13-year-old girl, so I may be wrong, but "Minx" might be just "inappropriate" enough to be fashionable.

[tiso_spencer]

I applaud DC for actually focusing on 1 audience, but the name sounds way too "sly as a fox" for teenage girls, never mind that why not just make them manga instead? I mean that's what everyone is into right?

[Pack]

New graphic novel line: "I'm a mink!"

[Colonsus]

What a stupid name- why don't they just call it 'Whorez' (the z will make it X-treme, to appeal to today's "wanton woman," the definition of minx). Great idea for a brand name...

[Pack]

From www.yourdictionary.com:
minx , n.
1. A girl or young woman who is considered pert, flirtatious, or impudent.

2. Obsolete A promiscuous woman.

Do we really need to reinforce the stereotype that Newsrama posters automatically, unreasonably have to hate everything...?

[Pack]

I don't understand. Aren't comics like "Withchblade," "the Eros line, "All-Star Batman and Robin" and anything drawn by Jim Balent or Michael Turner already for icky girls?
Don't broads like Jill Thompson, Gail Simone and Amanda Conner see the "No Girls Allowed" sign on the door of our He-Man Women Hater's club house?

[astronato]

My 15 year old niece reads Fruits Basket, Kare Kano, Chobits and Tsubasa manga. The only American comics she reads are Papercutz Nancy Drew and Alias' Lullaby mostly because I buy them for her. She shops for books at the mall and on amazon and has only been to a comic shop once, when I brought her. She has no interest in superhero/superheroine books (and I would never give her a Supergirl book that is made for horny boys) but she does love fantasy. I think there could be a big audience for womens comic books but it may not be in the local comic shop.

good luck with Minx.

[CodeGuy]

There's a cartoon aimed at girls called the Winx Club. There's the Bratz dolls. The girls that those things appeal to will be getting into the target age group of this line over the next few years. Minx sounds like a pretty good name to me.

[BillReed]

JIM RUGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

Dammit, now I want to buy teen girls comics.

[velocity119]

i think this sounds like a great initiative - i wish DC success in reaching out to new audiences with new genres.

[caleb]

I already read a ton of comics aimed at teenage girl audiences, but they're all from Japan or Korea, so it's good to see an American company--maybe the only one with the funds to try it on a huge level--get into the game and, perhaps more importantly, work on building a bridge for the manga audience to get into American "sequential art." Oni Comics does a lot of stuff aimed at this audience, but don't quite have the name recognition and money to burn that DC does. That SOUNDS like a ton of marketing dough to me, but I'm not in the business, so maybe not...does anyone know how that compares to what DC might have spent on Vertigo, CMX or Humanoids pushes?

At any rate, the names Berger, Bond and Rugg are more than enough to get me excited about this news...

[erikthered25]

Originally Posted by The_Adventurer

While I'm not the target audience I applaud DC for taking a chance with such a great idea and concept. More companies (*cough*Marvel*cough*) should look outside the confides of the Super-Hero genre and work to build new audiences and generations of comic readers. To stick with that genre alone is the road to stagnation, decline, and death.

Going the OGN novel route is sure to grab the attention of the manga readers, as they're used to reading a series of chunky books for their comic reading.

Again, bravo DC.

Again it amazes me how quickly people forget that DC is under the Time Warner conglomerate so they can afford to do all these Vertigo and now Minx lines because their budget is bigger than Marvel's. They can afford to let books that are not selling well languish on the shelf. Ask any small business owner and they will tell you that when you're independently owned you can't afford to throw everything at the wall to see if it sticks. Whereas DC has more money to throw at other more risky projects Marvel has to be conservative with their dollars so they focus on what works for them. They have to be concerned about their bottom line. Back in the 90's they put out an extraordinary amount of books and then had file bankruptcy.

I still say kudos for DC. But honestly let's not turn this into a DC versus Marvel thing because DC is in a much better financial shape than Marvel will ever be.

[bishop-m]

This is great news. I am glad to see DC take a chance on this....