Minx RIP: 2007-2008
I’m still trying to clear all the cobwebs of brain medication from my skull (just 5 pages this month, holy god!), but I figured I should at least post some thoughts about the big Minx collapse last week…
If you haven’t heard, a few days ago DC Comics abruptly guillotined their whole “Minx” line of teen-girl-targeted books after just 16 months in the wild. The status of all their pending releases and pitches and whatnot is sort of up in the air right now, it seems. I had three pitches over there (including a Kimmie sequel), but I hadn’t heard anything about those in a while…
Anyway, here’s what I told Andy Khouri at Comic Book Resources (sorry to steal, but I’d just be repeating myself otherwise):
“Confessions of a Blabbermouth” illustrator Aaron Alexovich (also a character designer on “Invader Zim”) had the unique privilege of not just drawing a graphic novel aimed at teenage girls, but also collaborating with a teenage girl on its creation. “Mike [Carey] and Louise [Carey] put so much personality into those characters, I was more than happy to be dragged out of my typical spookyscreamymonster comfort zone,” Alexovich told CBR. “I’d work with them again anytime.”
Alexovich also wrote and illustrated for Minx the 176-page “Kimmie66,” a critically acclaimed graphic novel about a girl in the 23rd century who investigates the apparent suicide of her closest internet friend. “I have nothing but good things to say about working with Shelly on my Minx books,” he said. “‘Kimmie66’ was my first book for DC, so I sort of went into it expecting a pretty heavy editorial hand, but there was a lot more freedom than I expected. There was a lot of conversation and re-jiggering, yeah, but in the end, that book came out feeling just as much ‘mine’ as if I’d done it with a smaller publisher. That’s probably the saddest thing about Minx falling apart. It’s one less place at the Big Two for unique, personal voices to be heard. You can certainly pour a lot of your own voice into a Superman story, but it’s just not the same thing.”
“Kimmie66” is widely considered a highlight of the Minx line, but that didn’t make it any easier for its author to find in bookstores. “All I can say is that whenever I’m in a Borders, I look to see if my books are there, and I’ve found them maybe three times, always smooshed in among the ‘Captain Americas’ and whatnot,” he said. “I don’t think they ever found the best place to shelve the Minx stuff, to be honest. I don’t think I would have, either.
“Alternately,” Alexovich added, “maybe people just didn’t like them as much as they, y’know, liked other things.”
Read the whole thing here. It’s really in-depth… I think he got quotes from pretty much every creative team involved.
I haven’t really gone mucking through the comic blog-pits for other comments, but I did find some great posts on my Livejournal Friends Page:
Mariah (who helped edit Kimmie66) has her usual in-depth, well-thought-out take on the situation. I especially like that she brought up the lack of “genre” books in the line. Kimmie66 always seemed like an odd duck at Minx, and I’m absolutely certain the marketing department realized it… (There’s a reason Kimmie was released dead last in 2007.) This whole “real girls in the real world” dictate seemed to come about long after I’d finished my book, and it just depressed the hell out of me. I mean, that “teen girl” perspective has been so hard to find in so much “genre” stuff for so long, especially in comics, why not try to tap into that? Maybe more girls would read science fiction (or westerns, or war stories, or monster stuff, action-adventures, whatever) if the stories had more relatable protagonists and recognizable situations. Maybe they wouldn’t,* but it’s something for the next intrepid publisher to consider.
Mariah also points out that “Moxie” would’ve been a better name for the line. I agree 100%… but sadly, the focus groups did not. This, unfortunately, marks the first time I and any random group of average teenage girls have not been in total agreement on matters of personal taste.
Some other findings from my LJ Friends Page: Ross brings the whole line down with short-shorts,** Dave Roman (Agnes Quill rocks!) has some great points about serialization, my new favorite artist Faith Erin Hicks dodges a bullet, and Re-Gifter’s beyond-brilliant Sonny Liew wraps it all up thusly:
“As comics creators i guess all we can really do is try and tell the stories we think are worth telling and hope that the jungle of the marketplace out there somehow thinks they’re worth reading too.”
In other words: If you want certainty, may I suggest a career in mathematics?
*Yes, they would.
**Knock it off, Ross! Your work is beautiful and your girls are the truest, most realistic-looking teenagers in the business. Anyone who doubts that oughtta be strapped into one of those “Clockwork Orange” chairs and have Wet Moon forced into their eyes over and over and over again until they’re properly reprogramed.
O_O That’s the first I’ve heard of it.
I find this immensely depressing. Minx was a great line, and I was looking forward to seeing more comics added to it.
Oh well. I guess I’ll just have to go self-publish my own goddamn comics. 😛
Wowow, I have to de-lurk to say, as one of those teenaged girls who actually really liked the Minx line, despite coming in with reservations, especially about the bullshit “real girls real world” stuff (Why would I want to read about my life? Or my friends’ lives? What the hell? GIVE ME MY ESCAPISM.)… That’s just lame. And depressing. And frustrating as all hell. Just another reason not to like DC very much, to be honest. :/ Anyhow, I know that I had trouble finding Blabbermouth and Kimmie66 (still haven’t found Water Baby), they would have done a lot better if the bigger bookstores had them. (Though at least my local comic store put them where you could freaking *see* them.)
And yeah, us teenaged girls would read more diverse things if there were more characters we could relate to. I always did read fantasy/sci-fi novels but… Well, I’m nicknamed “The Honorary Gentleman”. xD;;
Also, I really would have loved to read more about Kimmie. D:
Well, I’m very sad to hear the new, but I can’t say I’m not shocked. The second I saw how the books were handled and marketed (or lack there of), I just had a feeling the line was doomed from the start. I mean, one week I’m in Boarders and the Minx books are in the manga section, then the next week they’re shuffled amongst the Marvel and DC essential collections.
I really think you hit the nail on the head with your views regarding the whole “real girls real world” theme as well. Personally, I’m not a teen girl myself, so I can’t say for sure, but I do imagine the audience being out there for more sci-fi, fantasy, western, etc aimed at girls. I recall a publishing company was putting out a line of Sci-fi/romance novels aimed at girls recently called Shomi fiction (http://www.shomifiction.com/). I can’t say how successful they’ve been however.
I do have one question for you though Aaron. You mentioned a possible Kimmie sequel and I wonder: are you in a position to make that with another publisher or self published (web or print) if you wanted? Or is the property completely under DC so you legally couldn’t? Or can you not legally even discus that?
Well I was not expecting this at all i thought Minx was doing pretty well for it’s self, I was really excited to see more from it. Minx will be missed greatly.
The problem appears to be LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!
Aparently, Borders, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million couldn’t find a place to put the Minx comics even with a Garmin. The local comic book stores did, especially with Kimmie66 and Blabermouth.
If anything, it is the fault of the distibutor (Random House) for not giving clear instructions to the bookstores. (Heck, I’ve searched several times for the SR tome and had no luck. Johnen’s tomes were in the graphic novel secion as were Gloomcookie, Bear, and Lenore.) But hey, RH is distributing the Ace Attorney manga this fall.
Right now, the bookstores in my area seem to continue to shrink the Computer sections as well as the science section. It scared the bejesus out of me when I went down to the local book store to pick up a book on PHP and right behind were all the teen books. This was before the Twilight series became a phenomenon with the teen readers, especially the young ladies. (I must have seen several girls in my neighborhood wearing a t-shirt promoting Twilight books or the movie that is coming soon.)
I think what Minx lacks isn’t so much an audience. It needs a fanbase. Minx had a product but there was no visibile place for fans to write back or discuss what interested them.
I think when the economy picks up soon (despite the media fearmonger of “So you won’t give us $800B. Well, we’ll cut ourselves. Now Main Street will feel the pain of Wall Street and go into a depression…now. Ok, now. Just a second. It is getting there. Now. Oh for crying out loud! SUFFER LIKE US, ALREADY!”), Shelly Bond might get a second chance with Vertigo.
Until then, try developing a fanbase.
this is super depressing! i loved the minx line and I’m 21 years old D: i hope they will still keep some issues in print, i’d love to get them before they aren’t anymore.
Sad, but not really. Kimmie66 was the highlight of Minx to me. It wasn’t in your face teen drama. That’s just annoying. Stoppit.
Blabbermouth was great, Re:gifters was okay, and Clubbing…sounded like a 40yr old trying to be ‘hip’.
I do agree though, Ross is amazing. I’ve only read one book, but he has me hooked.
Ah, correction, I just saw Water Baby is Minx too. (I ran out of bookshelves and had to dig around a bit.) Hmmmm…. I crave Wet Moon now….
I worked at Borders Bookstore for over 4 years, and to the stores do i give the blame. Regardless of intended target audience (I’m not a girl and i’ve read almost all the minx titles), you cannot reach any target unless the book can be found. As Aaron stated, minx books, along with most other “alternative fiction” books from Slave Labor comics, Oni press and other companies were always- by company shelving standards- to be placed intermingled with superhero titles, whose gigantic format as compared to the more reader-friendly manga-styled sizes, would overdominate and hide the titles from shoppers. the most noted success i ever witnessed from american alternative comics selling well on Borders shelves was titles from Viz and those from Tokyopop. Countless copies of “I Luv Halloween” were sold because, by company contract or something from the merchandising standards, they were the exact size of all the manga books, and BY COMPANY STANDARDS REQUIRED TO BE SHELVED IN MANGA. Meanwhile, all the minx titles were gasping for air inbetween muscle heroes and female anti-role models. The comic world has and is losing thousands of readers constantly because they cannot find comics they like. Some fill the void by buying manga, but even that does not hit close to home. The short-lived Minx line was a tribute to alternative comic artists everywhere. I fear that, with it’s death, the future of comics is now much more grim than it ever was. For now, we can be thankful we have a few independent publishers, even though their reach is not that far. As for the young girls and teenage audience minx were intended for, they will have to settle for the comic inserts in W.I.T.C.H. novels (no thanks), get there kicks from Gossip Girl novels (please, no), or read all the crappy manga that somehow makes its way to b&n’s shelves. Maybe this will infuriate them enough that they will start writing and drawing their own comics, and upset the industry in a few years. Can i dream? Viva La Revelucion!!!
Well I don’t think that we’re all doomed, yet, Joseph.
I, being with a sound mind and male reproductive organs, can honestly said I’ve never seen or read part of the Minx line. I’ve seen stuff from Blabbermouth and Kimmie66, but I never got to take a look at them, mostly because I never found them while looking over the mashed and piled Superhero and manga comics at Borders, Waldenbooks, and Barnes and Noble. F**k, I’ve seen a polar bear ride a unicycle, but I haven’t seen a single one of those books.
And, mentioning it, it’s complete utter bullshit that books must be shelved with their standard sizes. Grade A bullshit only religion and the fans of Dane Cook’s petty attempts to make me like him can top. I wish I’d read those books.
The comedy world is doomed with George Carlin biting the dust, but comics might still have a chance. The air is saturated with all these superhero comics (I like the movies and some of the comics, but dammit, I can’t get into ’em too much, I can’t!) and mangas. But SLG is still pumping out excellent comics (I just bought “Chumble Spuzz Vol. 1” at my neighbor’s comic book store, and it is AWESOME!), and who knows, Dark Horse and Vertigo might just pull something out of their asses eventually. With that given to the masses, we can insight a violent comic revolution (I saw violent for no reason at all. It just fits with “revolution” so well).
LET THE REVOLUTION BE MADE INTO A COMIC, MUTHAF#@KA!
Waaaah?!! Minx is DEAD???? I feel so sad now…. that was a pretty great line, and that would have been AWESOME to see a Kimmie sequel…. I love kimmie.
Ya know, I think it’s Comics Apocolypse week, what with Berkeley Breathed cancelling opus, and now minx….. *sniffle*
I know I’m a little late on the comments here, but better late than never.
Most bookstores have been shitting on their GN section lately. I can’t find ANY new titles unless it’s Marvel, and if I do, I’m lucky.
I think one of the big problems with Minx was that it was almost Manga sized, but clearly didn’t belong in the manga section, and those tiny books just got lost and overlooked when spread throughout the big bad full-sized comics (I had a big problem trying to find them, and if I didn’t have a second pair of eyes helping me look, I wouldn’t have found Kimmie66 when I went looking). I don’t know how that could have been combated, though. Comics gotta be organized by their titles, you know.
Also, I special-ordered Serenity Rose through Borders over a year ago, and they never got it to me 🙁
Also Ross sometimes eats his own poop (just kidding. That’s a lie, I hope. But it IS true that he draws fantastic chicks).
It’s sad to hear, but not that unexpected. The big guys haven’t really put their hearts into promoting the line. Marketing exclusively to “teenage girls” instead of just promoting the stories as something different from the superhero genre also limited them. Especially for non-teenage persons who didn’t want to be mistaken for someone’s mom. Some of us just really enjoy good stories about interesting topics, which could be found in the Minx line. The bookstores weren’t the only places that had a hard time shelving the Minx lines, comic book shops had them in the most random sections. It’s too bad, I had gotten excited about at Kimmie66 sequel when I found the Plain Janes’ sequal.
I’m glad to see someone else who likes Sonny with a chance as much as I do, Chad is my favorite character on the show. Thanks for this post, I enjoyed reading it!