[...] Book Resources is reporting that DC has cancelled the Minx line. After putting out six books in 2007, this year so far they’d [...]

[...] think that’s been assumed, but the more I look at the Minx line, the more I think it exists to be a solution to a non-existent problem. DC looked at all the teen [...]

[...] everything on his plate, he’s got a lot to keep up with! Including re-teaming with Wood on The New York Four for Minx next [...]

And I’m sorry to hear that they didn’t do as well for you as hoped, Ford. I too find the digest format much easier to deal with.

It’s my understanding that Minx is DC acting more like a traditional book publisher — with long lead times and investments of several years — so it’s going to run for a couple years regardless of results. Anything less would be abortive.

For the sake of bringing more professionalism into the industry (and, er, girls), I hope they succeed. I just think it’s going to be a while before we’ll be able to judge that.

Also, as a retailer, I think more comic companies need to get on that digest format. They’re terrific. Books with a smaller thickness-to-cover-width ratio (like, regular tradebook size) are much easier to display and merchandise than their comic-book sized counterparts, which you can’t do anything else but spine them out on the shelf.

[...] One year later, Johanna Draper Carlson and David Welsh (and Johanna again) ponder DC Comics’ marketing strategy for their Minx line [...]

[...] Welsh responds to my recent Minx overview by saying: I can understand the desire to quash the notion that the books actually sold better in [...]

I haven’t really been totally wowed by anything from Minx yet. (only read the first 3 on Johanna’s list) Like I have with things like DramaCon (picked up #3 earlier this week!) or some of my other favorites. Yet I’ve enjoyed reading them.

Next year’s bunch does seem to have some punch though.

The New York Four sounds really interesting. I’ve never read anything by the creators involved, but the premise sounds really interesting.

Also while the premise does make me give pause. It will be nice to see a new book by David Hahn whose Private Beach series I loved.

New ideas are important, but so is understanding the specifics of the medium. And new-to-comics writers can do that, too, but with education and guidance.

But everything Minx produced in 2007 _was_ written by a regular comic writer, except for P.L.A.I.N. Janes and Kimmie66, and the latter was still done by someone who’d drawn and written comics before.

[...] wondering about that too, so I took a quick look around. Here’s what Paul Levitz had to say in this September interview with ICv2: “[ICv2:] We wanted to talk a little bit about Minx, the new DC imprint, which was another event [...]

WATER BABY isn’t on the list either, perhaps because it was previously announced.

The seven books they’ve announced for 2008 are TOKEN, EMIKO SUPERSTAR, BURNOUT, THE NEW YORK FOUR, ALL NIGHTER, POSEUR and CLUBBING IN TOKYO. Like Johanna, I’m surprised that they’ve commissioned a sequel to CLUBBING, which wasn’t exactly the best received of the first wave.

Not so much Clubbing in Tokyo, though – hopefully they’ll have worked out some of the kinks that dogged the first book. It wasn’t hopeless, but it wasn’t great.

Actually, I think having the non-comics writers involved is a great strength – lord knows, the medium needs to open up in acceptability (even more than it already has) as a viable and exciting way to tell your story, the same way film and children’s books have, and I think this is a very positive step in that journey.

bri