Today, DC Comics announced a new comics imprint targeted at teenaged girls called MINX. The imprint will feature talent such as Andi Watson, Josh Howard, Mike Carey and some other people I’ve never heard of, but they seem to have established careers, so good for them. You can see the full list and DC’s press release after the click.
By the way, anyone slightly weirded out by the name MINX being used for an imprint meant for teenaged girls? Is it just me or is that a little weird?
*** PRESS RELEASE ***
DC Comics is launching a new imprint called MINX, which will publish original graphic novels for teenage girls. MINX will be the first imprint from a major American comic book publisher devoted to reaching the teenage girl. MINX will launch in May 2007 with the publication of THE PLAIN JANES, a graphic novel written by young adult novelist Cecil Castellucci (The Queen of Cool and Boy Proof) and illustrated by Jim Rugg (the creator and artist of Street Angel). The MINX imprint will be overseen by Vertigo Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Karen Berger and Vertigo Group Editor Shelly Bond.
“The launch of MINX represents an opportunity for us to reach a very active reader who has only recently begun sampling graphic novels: the teenage girl,” said DC Comics President and Publisher Paul Levitz. “Until now, there has not been an American graphic novel imprint specifically for teenage girls. We want to reach out to this audience with creativity and offer them a line they can look to for titles designed for them.”
In an unprecedented level of commitment for an American comic book publisher, DC Comics will launch MINX with a major national, year-long marketing campaign. As part of this effort, DC Comics has hired Alloy Media + Marketing, the promotional experts behind such youth-targeted best-sellers as the Gossip Girl series, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The A List.
“We see an opportunity in the marketplace for fresh stories for and about young women – and we have to be smart and respectful about how we reach them,” said DC Comics Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Stephanie Fierman. “With Alloy’s guidance, our messaging and marketing efforts will reflect teen girls’ growing sophistication and individualism.”
MINX is currently scheduled to publish seven books in 2007. MINX books will feature a diverse cast of characters, including a tenacious martial artist; a rebellious detective; an ex-surf punk; a big mouth blogger and a futuristic brainiac. From risk takers to troublemakers, the MINX characters don’t just play by their own rules – they invent as they go along, resulting in up-to-the-minute, unexpected adventures.
“MINX books will appeal to the many young women who have been introduced to the visual impact of graphic novels through manga and books like Persepolis,” said Vertigo Senior Vice President, Executive Editor Karen Berger. “The first book, THE PLAIN JANES, tells the story of a girl named Jane who leaves the city. She meets three other girls named Jane, and together, they form a secret art gang and take on suburbia to bring about change for the better. MINX stories are smart, fearless, and about the real world.”
2007 MINX TITLES:
* THE PLAIN JANES (May 2007)
The story of four girls named Jane who are anything but ordinary. Once they form a secret art gang, the girls take on Suburbia by painting the town P.L.A.I.N. – People Loving Art In Neighborhoods.
Cecil Castellucci
Cecil Castellucci grew up in New York City. In addition to being the author of two young adult novels, The Queen of Cool and Boy Proof, she is filmmaker, actress and a singer-songwriter. Currently, she lives in Los Angeles, in the “belly of the beast” known as Hollywood.
Jim Rugg
Jim Rugg is the artist and co-creator of Street Angel. He grew up in and currently lives near, Pittsburgh.
* RE-GIFTERS (June 2007)
A Korean-American California girl learns that in love and in gift-giving, what goes around comes around.
Mike Carey
Mike Carey is a comic writer, novelist and screenwriter who lives and works in London, England. He is best known for his work on Vertigo’s LUCIFER and HELLBLAZER series. His novel, The Devil You Know, will be published by Warner Books in summer 2007.
Sonny Liew
Sonny Liew is an illustrator currently residing in Singapore. His works include Malinky Robot and MY FAITH IN FRANKIE, he has been part of the Flight and 24Seven anthologies.
Marc Hempel
Marc Hempel is best known for his collaboration with Neil Gaiman on THE SANDMAN: THE KINDLY ONES, as well as his own creations GREGORY, Tug & Buster, and Naked Brain.
* CLUBBING (July 2007)
A spoiled, rebellious London girl conquers the stuffy English countryside when she solves a murder mystery on the 19th hole of her grandparent’s golf course.
Andi Watson
Andi Watson was born and bred in Leeds, England. He attended art school in Liverpool and spent his post-graduate years penniless in London. He has written several graphic novels including Samurai Jam, Skeleton Key, Geisha, Breakfast After Noon, Slow News Day and Love Fights.
Josh Howard
Josh Howard is the artist and writer of Dead @ 17 (Viper Comics), named by Wizard Magazine the #1 independent book to watch in 2005. Josh lives in Arlington, Texas with his wife and two children.
* GOOD AS LILY (August 2007)
What would you do if versions of yourself at ages 7, 29, and 70 suddenly became part of your already complicated high school life?
Derek Kirk Kim
Derek Kirk Kim has been writing and drawing comics all his life. His work includes Same Difference and Other Stories, as well as a story in FABLES: 1,001 NIGHTS OF SNOWFALL.
Jesse Hamm
Jesse Hamm’s cartooning has appeared in various mini-comics, anthologies and on the web. GOOD AS LILY is his first mainstream project. Jesse lives near Portland, Oregon with his wife Anna, and her cat.
* CONFESSIONS OF A BLABBERMOUTH (September 2007)
When Tasha’s mom brings home a creepy boyfriend and his deadpan daughter, a dysfunctional family is headed for a complete mental meltdown, compliments of Tasha’s blabbermouth blog.
Mike Carey
Mike Carey is a comics writer, novelist and screenwriter who lives and works in London, England. He is best known for his work on Vertigo’s LUCIFER and HELLBLAZER series. His novel, The Devil You Know, will be published by Warner Books in summer 2007.
Louise Carey
Louise Carey’s writing includes The Diary of a London Schoolgirl for the website of the London Metropolitan archive. She is a member of the Chicken Shed theatre company in London and has acted in their productions of Alice in Wonderland and Grimm Nights.
Aaron Alexovich
Aaron Alexovich was born in Chicago, Illinois, the year Elvis died. He currently sleeps the daylight hours away in Southern California. He contributed character designs to Nickelodeon’s Invader Zim and Avatar: The Last Airbender. He is also the creator of Serenity Rose.
* WATER BABY (October 2007)
Surfer girl Brody just got her leg bitten off by a shark. What’s worse? Her shark of an ex-boyfriend is back and when it comes to Brody’s couch, he’s not budging.
Ross Campbell
Ross Campbell currently lives in Rochester, New York. His published works include the Exalted RPG books, Spooked and Wet Moon, and The Abandoned.
* KIMMIE66 (November 2007)
This high-velocity, virtual reality ghost story follows a tech-savvy teenager on a dangerous quest to save her best friend, the world’s first all-digital girl.
Aaron Alexovich
Aaron Alexovich was born in Chicago, Illinois, the year Elvis died. He currently sleeps the daylight hours away in Southern California. He contributed character designs to Nickelodeon’s Invader Zim and Avatar: The Last Airbender. He is also the creator of Serenity Rose.
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Some rights reserved.
Isn’t “minx” slang for slutty girl? I’m basing that on my extensive watching of Austin Powers movies, but that doesn’t exactly seem like a name that’s going to drag women to comics.
Yes they were initally going to call it whore comics but apparently there was already an indie company named that so….
Perhaps it’s some kind of elaborate attempt to get back at all the comic-hating women fanboys have had to deal with over the years. Ah here are comics especially for you….you whore.
I’ve never met a comic book-hating woman.
I think that it just kind of shows that they don’t know their audience. They could attract female readers by presenting good stories; they don’t need a new imprint. Vertigo already has a respectable, by industry standard anyway, m:f ratio
I agree with Conor, I don’t think I actually know any comic book hating women.
BUT does a line called Minx kinda pander to the audience? Very good point about Vertigo, most girls I know who read comics have read/liked Vertigo
I wonder what the ratio of comic-book-hating women to women-hating comic books is…
Very little : Very many ?
I’m just glad that Josh Howard has enough free time from the Dallas Mavericks to draw “Clubbing”
Women don�t hate comics, they just emasculate them!
I think they’re just trying to avoid the stereotype that girls who read comics are frumpy.
DC: the first comic company with a no fat chicks bumper sticker
Women don�t hate comics, they just emasculate them!
They don’t do that, either.
I think they’re just trying to avoid the stereotype that girls who read comics are frumpy. I don’t know this stereotype! The only one I’ve heard is that girls who read comics are imaginary or Japanese. Possibly both.
imaginary japanese chicks are hot
The name of the line is perhaps the most colossally inappropriate ever conceived.
I am reminded of Talking Malibu Stacy.
“Don’t ask me. I’m just a girl. TEE HEE!”
http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/?column=10
“It’s not every week I get to sorely disappoint my hardest-core readers, but here goes.”
“For the past couple days I’ve received a small flood of email asking for comments on Vertigo’s new Minx line for girls, most of them hinting that it’s a ridiculous idea. It isn’t. It may be a bit late, given that manga have not only resuscitated the dormant girl’s comic market here (presumably encouraging DC and its corporate masters to put a little money behind the line) but thoroughly colonized it, but we’ll see. It’s not like that market doesn’t exist. The question is what it takes to crack it. ”
More in link.
Sounds like Harry Knowles sort of comics from the imprint name…
they’re beginning to put the creators out there
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=92711
kind of like earlier in the week, newsarama had a get to know your thunderbolts: bullseye story. Main difference though is that this one is informative
Minx is a Bad idea. The problem isn�t in the title its in the idea. I read comic books and novels created by people who want to create them with their own ideas. I listen to music and watch movies by people who want to create music they love and make movies they would want to watch. Hand Mike Carey some money and tell him to write a story and you get a crappy X-Men story but it�s HIS crappy x-men story. Now tell him to write a story with a specific audience in mind and you can be 99 percent cretin it�s going to be a piece of shit. Designing titles for kids or girls is just a BAD fucking idea.
Hand Mike Carey some money and tell him to write a story and you get a crappy X-Men story but it�s HIS crappy x-men story. Now tell him to write a story with a specific audience in mind and you can be 99 percent cretin it�s going to be a piece of shit. Designing titles for kids or girls is just a BAD fucking idea.
I agree with the premise of your statement in that, good stories come from the people who want to tell them. If you try to do marketing on your story and aim it, then it rarely rings true.
HOWEVER: I think that your example of Mike Carey is misguided in that X-Men is an example of him applying his writing where his heart is not. But if you look at his Vertigo work, he’s frequently dealt with young female characters, and he seems to have an affinity for that type of story. Lucifer has Elaine as a main character in the story. It could be said the whole series was about her. There was My Faith in Frankie, where Frankie was a teenaged girl, and now there’s Crossing midnight, about a teenaged girl. And I’ve heard from him that when certain people in the Minx demographic get ahold of that work, it does speak to them.
The same could be said of Andi Watson’s work.
Further, I think you guys are being too hard on this. If there was ever a group that needed some intelligent yet fun literature thrown at them, it’s teenage girls. They’re either treated as sacred children, or spring break whores in training. Why not try to market to a new group of people who aren’t reading comics? If we all agree that comics are a great way to tell stories, then why not try to get different people to read them.
Is Minx a bad name? No, not really. Young girls want to be thought of as pretty and coquettish. The title isn’t gratuitous, but rather just risque enough that no one is going to get pissed off.
Really, the thing that will judge this is whether the content is any good. And frankly, a bunch of comic reading dudes won’t be able to judge that for the most part, because we’re not the target. The second hurdle they will have is getting this stuff into the hands of their audience. I think the prevalence of manga has softened that challenge, but it’s still a mighty haul.
Finally, Vertigo is not the place to do this kind of work, because Vertigo is for adults. Vertigo stuff is largely R-rated, and with the right wing fervor in this company, if most of the stuff from Vertigo were marketed to teens, they’d have a lot of protest on their hands. While I would agree that Vertigo isn’t a gender specific imprint, it definitely is for the 18 and up crowd.
From yesterday’s Joe Friday:
Q: �Crazy Penguin� – What are your thoughts on DC’s recently announced Minx imprint? Does Marvel have any plans to produce original non-super-hero comics targeting the young female audience?
JQ: I think it�s a great idea! Again, the health of the industry and our expansion into other genres and demographics is really encouraging. Also, Karen Berger has proven that she�s a visionary, so I don�t doubt that it�s going to be great. We�re also looking into a similar idea, while not as far along obviously as Minx, I have hopes that we may be able to come up with a cohesive plan that works and a timing that works for us and the industry
I know I’ve taken some cheap shots at the name but that’s just because it’s a stupid name.
I don’t really have a problem per se with the concept, I just think that it’s misguided. I really believe that the superhero market has traditionally been a guy thing because they haven’t really tried to make any inroads. Runaways backs me up. They finally gave that demo a shot and it worked and worked well. Now is Runaways a superhero book in the way that say Spider-man is? Probably not, but they are superhuman/aliens and chicks dig it. Is it a gateway? I think so if done right. Was Civil War YA Runaways done right? I don’t think that anybody would say yes and it was a huge missed opportunity.
I think that even if they wanted to target a specific demo without launching a new line I’d be supportive. But this just feels like separate but equal man and I can’t get behind that.
Is Minx a bad name? No, not really. Young girls want to be thought of as pretty and coquettish.
See, this is exactly the problem with the name: it’s based on a stereotype of What Girls Want.
If girls just wanted to be thought of as pretty and coquettish, they could get that damn near anywhere – heck, that’s one of the main problems of mainstream comics: far too often the female characters are just there to be eye candy and sexual rewards for the male heroes.
Shoujo manga offers heroines who are usually pretty, yes, but also brave and powerful and clever and determined, and who have their own goals and desires, their own stories.
And what does DC do? Their “comics for girls!” line gets a name that connotes sexuality and physical beauty and nothing else. Great. This is a key example of American comics just refusing to get it.
I think I used the word “coquette” incorrectly. In fact, I can’t think of the word I need here. But I think we’re just arguing semantics, and we’re still coming from the same place of what they should be doing. Damn these text limitations.
The fact is, a name is a name, and whether of not this sells will really depend on how good the content is.
The fact is, a name is a name, and whether of not this sells will really depend on how good the content is.
Really, a name is a name. How good would the content have to be for crackwhore comics to take off?
ridiculous distortion, of course
wholly inacurate, i don’t think so
“a seductive woman who uses her sex appeal to exploit men ” from Princeton.edu
Why pick a name that attaches itself to such a negative stereotype? How does that draw in a new audience that already is largely alienated from anything to do with comic books? For what it’s worth my wife, who occasionally reads comics, thinks it’s a really unfortunate choice.
The title of the comic book line doesn’t sit well with me but the objective of the line is a great idea. People talk about wanting people to read and get into comics and I think this is a good way of doing it. I say let’s keep an open mind and see where it goes.
After 3 months to reflect on this, I’m with acbg on concept but I still say the name is stupid and insulting