 | |
| Parent company | DC Comics |
|---|---|
| Status | Defunct |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Defunct | 2008 |
| Successor | DC Ink |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | New York City |
| Key people | Karen Berger Shelly Bond |
| Publication types | Graphic novel |
| Fiction genres | |
| Official website | Official website |
Minx was an imprint of DC Comics that published graphic novels aimed at teenage girls. It ran from 2007 to 2008.
Minx was announced in November 2006, following several years of planning. [1] Senior Vice President Karen Berger and Group Editor Shelly Bond were supervising the imprint.
DC had contracted Alloy Marketing + Media to market the line's books, with a budget of $125,000 [2] to $250,000. [3] Berger said [4] that the success of translated manga and Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis among teenage girls helped motivate the creation of the imprint.
Rachel Kitzmann, a Los Angeles Public librarian, emphasized that the Minx imprint was focused "on real world, plausible situations" and that the "MINX books are an attempt to contract two different formats: the content of YA literature with various types of art. [...] The content of MINX diverged from the traditional aim as American comic books don't typically put the focus on an internal emotional journey, and even manga aimed at girls (shojo) has an extraordinary element. MINX truly focused on the external and internal lives of teenage girls". [5]
Initial online reaction to the imprint had some controversy over the sexual connotations of the name [6] [7] [8] as well as the small proportion of female creators in the lineup, [9] [7] especially due to an emphasis on female creators in The New York Times article that broke the story. [2]
In September 2008, Comic Book Resources (CBR) reported the confirmation of the imprint's cancellation. [10] [11] Some remaining projects were published, while others were cancelled. [10] CBR summed the situation up:
Multiple sources close to the situation agree Bond and DC aren't to blame for MINX's cancellation, and that this development should be seen as a depressing indication that a market for alternative young adult comics does not exist in the capacity to support an initiative of this kind, if at all.
Of the imprint-closing titles, Emiko Superstar, Token and The PLAIN Janes 2: Janes in Love were published. The sequels to The New York Four and Clubbing were all canceled along with the nearly complete All Nighter. All Nighter's creator David Hahn said: "Over the past two-and-a-half years, I've ignored my other creator-owned projects to devote my efforts to 'All Nighter', so somehow, I will see to it that it eventually gets published". [10]
Most of the explanations for the imprint's downfall focus on the failure of distributor Random House to place the books in the Young Adult section of major bookstores. [10] [8] [12] However, creators who were questioned said they felt that this could have been achieved if given more time. [10] Kitzmann highlighted that graphic novels have to fight for shelf space in libraries & that the Los Angeles Public Library divides its graphic novel section between American comics and manga. Kitzmann wrote that "this type of shelving is not conductive for the MINX titles to find the appropriate audience. A graphic novel is not picked up because no one know about it, and no one knows about it because it is difficult to find. Since it is difficult to find, people don't care to try, which leads to the format stagnating with only a few key publishers/characters that appeal to a devoted few. It is this cycle of exclusion that makes the ending of MINX a sad but almost inevitable lesson". [5]
Lucia Serantes, in the book Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas (2014), wrote that "the reasons for the imprint's cancelation are still unclear and it has received a rather unusual attention from the mainstream press, reflecting the opinions of readers, creators, and critics. Some consider that the female audience in comics was not as large and strong as expected; others criticized the lack of time given to the project to establish a name and audience and the fact that the imprint never made it into general bookstores where their target audience tends to shop". [13]
Brian Wood and Ryan Kelley's New York Four had a sequel published under DC's Vertigo imprint, entitled New York Five. It launched in January 2011. [14] In 2014, Dark Horse "acquired several backlist titles by Wood originally published by Vertigo and Minx" as part of a push into the YA market. Dark Horse published "a new combined edition of the two-book series New York Four/Five, created with artist Ryan Kelly, followed by a new edition of DEMO, with art by Becky Cloonan". [15]
Also in 2011, David Hahn's All Nighter was published as a mini-series by Image Comics. [16] [12]
In 2020, The P.L.A.I.N. Janes was reissued by Little, Brown for Young Readers. It also included a third new volume by the original creators Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg. [17] [18]
Graeme McMillan, for The Hollywood Reporter , wrote: "Minx as a whole was an imprint significantly ahead of its time, with a number of its creators, including [Cecil] Castellucci, Mariko Tamaki, Joelle Jones and Sophie Campbell, finding mainstream comic industry success in the wake of its closure". [17] Brian Heater, for Publishers Weekly , highlighted that the Minx imprint "targeted at a wholly underserved segment of the comics market: teenage girls. It was a bold and laudable creation, but a concept that was also a bit ahead of its time. Minx closed shop just over a year after launch. But in retrospect, the names on those Minx graphic novels read like a who’s who of comics creators, including such highly regarded artists as Derek Kirk Kim, Mariko Tamaki and Jim Rugg". [15]
In 2017, Abraham Riesman, for Vulture , highlighted that "up until recently, there was a near-total disconnect between kids and comics. Just ten years ago, DC tried to do a young-adult comics line called MINX, but it was shuttered after only a few months" and that the recent shift in audience for graphic novels didn't have to do with either Marvel or DC Comics. [19] Riesman wrote that the "shift was the result of decisions made by librarians, teachers, kids'-book publishers, and people born after the year 2000. Abruptly, the most important sector in the world of sequential art has become graphic novels for young people. [...] According to Milton Griepp of comics-industry analysis site ICv2, aggregated annual comics sales across different kinds of retailers for 2016 revealed that more than half of the top-ten comics franchises were ones aimed at kids. [...] DC is hiring for a new division targeted at young readers, and has already done a bit of a stealth launch by publishing youth-friendly takes on their fabled characters like Supergirl: Being Super and DC Super Hero Girls: Finals Crisis". [19]
Timothy Donohoo, for CBR in 2020, compared the failure of the Minx imprint with the success of the more recent DC Ink imprint which also targets the YA audience. Donohoo wrote: "One of the biggest changes DC has made with DC Ink titles, as opposed to the direction of Minx, is base the current line around familiar DC superhero franchises. [...] The authors behind DC Ink, while typically being first-timers in comics, already have their own fanbases through pre-existing young adult novels. This gives them a built-in brand, while also allowing newcomers to bring their writing styles and world views into comics. The DC Ink books have also been accessible in everyday stores such as Wal-Mart, a benefit which most regular comic books do not have. On the other hand, the Minx titles struggled to be shelved in even dedicated bookstores, as sellers didn't know whether to place them amongst the comics or the YA section. The current superhero and comic book movie boom had also not quite begun when Minx titles were published". [8]
| Title | Creators | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| The P.L.A.I.N. Janes | Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg | May 16, 2007 |
| Re-Gifters | Mike Carey, Sonny Liew and Marc Hempel | June 2007 |
| Clubbing | Andi Watson and Josh Howard | July 2007 |
| Good as Lily | Derek Kirk Kim and Jesse Hamm | August 2007 |
| Confessions of a Blabbermouth | Mike Carey, Louise Carey, and Aaron Alexovich | September 2007 |
| Kimmie66 | Aaron Alexovich | November 2007 |
| Burnout | Rebecca Donner and Inaki Miranda | June 2008 |
| Water Baby | Sophie Campbell | July 2008 |
| The New York Four | Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly | July 2008 |
| Janes in Love (PLAIN Janes 2) | Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg | September 2008 |
| Emiko Superstar | Mariko Tamaki and Steve Rolston | October 14, 2008 |
| Token | Alisa Kwitney and Joelle Jones | October 2008 |
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Vertigo Comics, also known as DC Vertigo or simply Vertigo, was an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics started by editor Karen Berger in 1993. Vertigo's purpose was to publish comics with adult content, such as nudity, drug use, profanity, and graphic violence, that did not fit the restrictions of DC's main line, thus allowing more creative freedom. Its titles consisted of company-owned comics set in the DC Universe, such as The Sandman and Hellblazer, and creator-owned works, such as Preacher, Y: The Last Man and Fables.
Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third-largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share.
Wildstorm Productions is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1998. Until it was shut down in 2010, the Wildstorm imprint remained editorially separate from DC Comics, with its main studio located in California. The imprint took its name from a portmanteau of the titles of the Jim Lee comic series WildC.A.T.S. and Stormwatch.
Karen Berger is an American comic book editor. She is best known for her role in helping create DC Comics' Vertigo imprint in 1993 and serving as the line's Executive Editor until 2013. She currently oversees Berger Books, an imprint of creator-owned comics being published by Dark Horse Comics.
In comics in the United States, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually presenting either a complete miniseries, a story arc from a single title, or a series of stories with an arc or common theme.
Cliffhanger was an imprint of Wildstorm, publishing creator-owned comic books. It was founded in 1998 by Joe Madureira, J. Scott Campbell and Humberto Ramos, when Wildstorm was still part of Image Comics.
In comics, an ongoing series is a series that runs indefinitely. This is in contrast to limited series, a one shot, a graphic novel, or a trade paperback. However, a series of graphic novels may be considered ongoing as well. The term may also informally refer to a current or incomplete limited series with a predetermined number of issues.
Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing Inc. is an American graphic novel publisher. Founded by Terry Nantier in 1976 as Flying Buttress Publications, NBM is one of the oldest graphic novel publishers in North America. The company publishes English adaptations and translations of popular European comics, compilations of classic comic strips, and original fiction and nonfiction graphic novels. In addition to NBM Graphic Novels, the company has several imprints including ComicsLit for literary graphic fiction, and Eurotica and Amerotica for adult comics.
Cecil C. Castellucci, also known as Cecil Seaskull, is an American-born Canadian young adult novelist, indie rocker, and director. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California.
Zuda Comics was DC Comics' webcomics imprint from 2007 until 2010. Some of the imprints series won awards and nominations from comic industry's Glyph Comics Awards and Harvey Awards. Bayou, Volume 1 was also named one of the 2010 Great Graphic Novels for Teens by the American Library Association.
Sophie Campbell is a comic writer and artist known for her indie comics such as Wet Moon and Shadoweyes, and for her art on the Jem and the Holograms comics, as well as IDW Publishing's ongoing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series. She primarily writes and draws characters who are adolescent or young adult women, including various races, body types, sexual orientations, and abilities. In 2019, she became the lead writer of IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, for which she designed the character Jennika.
Jim Rugg is an American cartoonist and illustrator from Pittsburgh known for his tongue-in-cheek evocation of 1970s-era comics and pop culture. His graphic novels and comics collections include Street Angel, Afrodisiac, The P.L.A.I.N. Janes and Janes in Love, One Model Nation, and The Guild.
Marley Zarcone is a Canadian comic book artist who works primarily for Image and DC Comics. Along with Corey Lewis, Brandon Graham and James Stokoe, she's a part of a studio/collective called "Yosh Comics". In 2015, she launched Effigy with Tim Seeley for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. In 2016, she launched Shade, the Changing Girl with Cecil Castellucci for Gerard Way's Young Animal imprint.
Joan Hilty is an American cartoonist, educator, and comic book editor. She was a Senior Editor for mainstream publisher DC Comics and currently works for Nickelodeon as Editorial Director for graphic novels, comics, and legacy properties. Hilty works independently as both a writer-artist and editor.
Joëlle Jones is an American comic book artist and writer, best known for her work on Lady Killer, a series published in 2015–2017 by Dark Horse Comics, for her cover work on various Marvel Comics series, and for her work writing and illustrating DC Comics series including Batman and Catwoman.
A line is a concept in western comic books which denotes a specific group of publications by a publisher. Sometimes taking place in a separate continuity or more loose continuity or exploring a kind of subject matter and or genre which the publisher does not want to involve in their main franchise or so called "universe".
DC Graphic Novels for Young Adults, formerly known as DC Ink, is an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics consisting of original one-shots, graphic novels and reprints of books previously published under other imprints. The imprint intends to present traditional DC Universe characters for young adult readers. The first title of the DC Ink imprint, Mera: Tidebreaker, was published on February 2, 2019 and Batman: Nightwalker was the last title to be published under DC Ink. Wonder Woman: Warbringer, the first title of DC Graphic Novels for Young Adults, was published on January 10, 2020.
DC Graphic Novels for Kids, formerly known as DC Zoom, is an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics consisting of original one-shots and reprints of books previously published under other imprints. The imprint intends to present traditional DC Universe characters for middle-grade readers. The first title of the DC Zoom imprint, DC Super Hero Girls: Search for Atlantis was published on September 26, 2018. Black Canary: Ignite and Super Sons Book Two: The Foxglove Mission were the last titles to be published under DC Ink. Diana: Princess of the Amazons, the first title of DC Graphic Novels for Kids, was published on January 7, 2020. The first reprint, DC Super Hero Girls: Weird Science was published on July 14, 2020.
| |||||||||||
| Key People |
|  | |||||||||
| Publications | |||||||||||
| Universe | |||||||||||
| Lines and imprints |
| ||||||||||
| Adaptations | |||||||||||
| Related | |||||||||||
