The reaction was generally negative, although the reason WHY it was disliked varied greatly depending on the speaker. And before I get into all that, note that key details are missing from the announcement, like price point, marketing plans, and release dates, so a lot of reaction, including mine, is speculation, informed or not.

Lots of people are assuming that this is DC’s way of experimenting outside the direct market and the model of periodical serialization. It’s been discussed for years how many customers don’t care to visit a specialty shop for overly confusing, high-priced-for-what-you-get monthly comics, although they do like the characters and would read stories about them if there was a clear entry point that provided stand-alone entertainment. (Latest example: Long-time superhero readers talk about how they think comics are worse this year. Those of us who gave up chasing books that were clearly no longer written for the mainstream reader think, “it’s not that the books are worse, it’s that your tastes have finally grown up.” :) )

Anyway, I’m digressing. When it comes to this particular Earth One effort, I’m glad to see DC considering trying something new. Putting out comics for the bookstore market and their readers, stand-alone single-volume experiences that capture what’s good about the characters while ditching the accreted baggage, is a fabulous idea. However, in this case, I think it may be (as so many of their past outreach attempts have been) too little, too late. Note that I’m only assuming that this IS an outreach effort. And the company has lots of inertia in leadership and customer reaction (remember, direct market shops are DC’s customers, not the comic readers) that makes it hard to try something really new. Baby steps are a lot easier, even if such lukewarm attempts are doomed to fail.

Me, I don’t think that the world needs yet another origin retelling (this is like the fifth one for Superman in recent memory), but maybe that’s just a starting point. DC does say that this will be an ongoing series, so maybe they felt they needed to “set the rules”, although the kind of new readers they need for this project to be successful won’t care about such details. Regardless, don’t we all already know how Superman and Batman came to be heroes? Wouldn’t it be more interesting to see them living their heroism in modern day? And will the Earth One title mean anything to new readers? Are the connotations too continuity-bound?

I don’t care for the work of writers J. Michael Straczynski (Superman) and Geoff Johns (Batman), so I don’t think they’re particularly good choices for this effort. I don’t think they write well for readers more interested in story and characterization than nostalgia and status quo.

It doesn’t solve the biggest problem with “converting civilians” (and isn’t that interesting language that’s commonly used?) — what do they read NEXT? There’s little to recommend to someone attracted by one of these books as a starting point. (Compare, for example, Vertigo, where someone can read 10 Sandman volumes and then move on to similar books and keep going.) If the line succeeds and continues for a few years, there would be several items to choose from, but there are enough problems with the idea as presented that that survival doesn’t seem likely.

I’m not sure I’m still part of the target market for any effort like this, though. I’d rather see a story about one of the lesser known characters with potential, although I do think I’d read a fresh, stand-alone take on the core heroes — I adored Superman: Secret Identity, for example — but maybe I’m too picky to be worth chasing. Let’s go to the retailers.

Forward-looking Christopher Butcher postulates that DC has chosen their language carefully so that they won’t turn off existing readers, which allows them to use those near-guaranteed direct market sales as a kind of safety base while reaching into bookstores. (My opinion: trying to please both audiences when their interests are almost diametrically opposed is a bad idea, or at least an overly cautious one, that will cause neither to be satisfied.) Says Chris:

[T]his is all speculation and analysis, but looking at the announcement as it stands, it seems like a half-measure at capturing a new audience (at best) with product that’s indistinguishable from their regular releases, or recent initiatives. Possibly worse.

He also wonders how that hypothetical book shopper will know that Earth One is the best choice for the new reader when faced with a shelf of Superman: This and Batman: That collected volumes. In other words, there’s a huge marketing hurdle to overcome.

Mike Sterling thinks they’ll sell well if they’re under $10 each and tie into a hypothetical upcoming movie. Then there’s Brian Hibbs, who runs some guesstimates and concludes that he’ll make less money with original graphic novels than he does with serialization. This is likely true, since selling comics and then their collections gives the retailer two bites at the (often) same apple (customer). The bigger question is: is a customer that will buy the same story in two different formats just to keep their collection complete the future of the industry?

I know, I’m making as many assumptions in that word picture as he does. But my point is that trying to keep wringing money out of outdated business models may work in the short term but lose you the future. The existing serialization is not bringing in new customers, and it’s increasingly losing the old ones. The publishers have tried to make up for that with bigger and bigger events (so the same people have to buy more comics) and higher prices, but that’s not an effective long-term strategy, because it burns out old customers and doesn’t bring in new ones.

Retailers like being able to sell to the same customers every week or month, and so it’s important to them to bring them into the stores consistently. People who load up on book comics every three or six months or so go elsewhere, to bookstores or Amazon.com, so they’re already not part of the direct market strategy. In the comments to his post, Hibbs says, “there are significantly more people who are willing to spend $2.99 for x minutes of entertainment, then there are who are willing to spend $20+ for 6x minutes of entertainment.” In comic shops, sure. Comic fans have notoriously been cheap. But it seems to me that there are enough people willing to spend $10 on two hours of entertainment to make The Dark Knight a $600 million-grossing movie. Again, a lot depends on the price point of these original graphic novel comics. And problematic as Earth One sounds, I kind of want to see it succeed just to support book-format comics.

It’s about a girl named Maggie, who has three brothers (as I do), who was home-schooled (as I was), and is now entering her first year of public high school (as I did). She also is stalked by a ghost (that has yet to happen to me). She gets mixed up in High School Drama, makes friends with the wrong people, and because the story is written by me, it will contain two things: 1) Zombies. And 2) Someone will, eventually, get punched in the face.

She tells the story of how she came to work with the publisher and got a agent as part of the background on this story (which was originally intended for DC’s defunct Minx imprint). There are also art examples posted at her site. Go check it out! She does great work with young women characters, and I’m already eager to read this next book.

Token
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Alisa Kwitney writes a story about a fifteen-year-old Jewish girl in Miami in 1987. Shira’s best friends are her grandmother and her buddy, a former movie star. They feed her nostalgic dreams of glamour, which don’t help when her father gets seriously involved with his secretary. She feels like she’s losing his love, with no one’s support to replace it.

Some of the elements are standard — mean blonde classmates, a feeling of no one understanding her until she meets an unusual boy — but the idea of shoplifting as a vehicle for self-discovery is unusual, and events don’t work out in the standard, expected ways. More, Joelle Jones’ impressive art elevates the work with her expressive figures. Regardless of whether they’re beautiful, Jones’ characters are attractive in their uniqueness. (Her previous book, 12 Reasons Why I Love Her, was one of my Best of 2006.)

Although Minerva’s stories of the glory days have influenced Shira, especially how she thinks about the signals of love, the point of the book is that life isn’t a movie. The boy may just be a temporary enjoyment instead of a life-changing true love. Culture clash provides the allure of the different, but sometimes it can’t be overcome. Shira’s learning to make her own choices and deal with the consequences. Her father wants to pay attention to his life without letting her do the same. Working out a resolution and dealing with the heartbreak to get there makes everyone stronger.

The usual Minx title was a coming-of-age story in which a teenage girl discovers love and makes the first steps towards her own identity. While Token fits that mold, it provides a more mature, subtle take on things. It takes the line out on a high point.

Don MacPherson’s review includes some sample panels.

It’s barely November! Putting out a “best of” list ignores two months’ worth of publications, or 16% of the year. Maybe the publishing world is just getting ready for the holidays early.

Although some are cheating, a little. The PW list includes the much-discussed Kramer’s Ergot 7, which has only just debuted at a convention and has yet to widely ship. Alan’s War came out last week in bookstores and is due out tomorrow through Diamond.

Titles on both lists are Lynda Barry’s What It Is and Dash Shaw’s Bottomless Belly Button.

My tastes differ. I’m still strongly looking forward to these comics and graphic novels, due out before the end of the year:

• The Love & Capes collection
• Token, the last Minx book, which I just received
• Larry Marder’s Beanworld Holiday Special, the first new Beanworld in years
• And most of all, Sam’s Strip.

are comics starring superheroines in trouble? Is it the Minx effect?

She goes on to answer her own question in the negative. No, it’s probably not.

I am also willing to see this or that book go (or to be reconfigured or have the characters move on to other titles), and not feel it was a “sexist” thing that they were canceled.

I agree with her eventual conclusion. Yes, superhero books starring women have an uphill battle in reaching the mostly male core market. But these books weren’t singled out because they feature females. In my opinion, they’re getting canceled again because they’re doing the same things that got them canceled before.

All superhero serial comics have a declining readership over time. Many of the customers are easily distracted by whatever’s new, different, or a big event. By returning with the same premise, characters, and creative teams, there’s no reason to think that the end result — not enough sales — would be any different. The promotional bump from “you get one more chance — better make sure more people buy it this time” doesn’t work as a strategy, especially once you’ve gone to that well four or five times too many.

Slowpoke: One Nation, Oh My God!

Slowpoke: One Nation, Oh My God!
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Jen Sorensen’s latest book of editorial cartoons was one of the first on my list to seek out. I’d tried to order it through a comic store, but since I wasn’t willing to pre-order, Diamond refused to ship it to them. (They cancelled the back-order the shop placed for me.) At least this way, I got a charming little sketch of Mrs. Perkins in a hamburger-shaped spaceship that doesn’t run on carbon-based fuel.

I’ve enjoyed the previous two Slowpoke books, both because of Sorensen’s pointed perspective on modern life and politics and her thick-line cartooning. It’s attractive while paring down her images to only what’s needed. New to this volume are her annotations, commentary on what inspired a particular comic. I’m always glad to learn more about an artist’s thoughts on her own work, so that’s a great addition. Plus, the explanations remind the reader of the context of when the strips were created, making them seem less outdated.

Many will likely condemn her work for attacking the bureaucracy in charge, but her strips move beyond traditional politics to express concern for such topics as voting rights, ethical journalism, fads and trends, economic decision-making, sexual freedom, the environment, and the abuse of language. Her comments make her leanings clear, though, with a righteous anger that fuels art with a definite perspective. See samples at the Slowpoke website.

The Baby-Sitters Club: Claudia and Mean Janine

The Baby-Sitters Club:
Claudia and Mean Janine
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I’m sorry to hear that this will be the last in the series for a while after enjoying the previous volumes by Raina Telgemeier.

This edition focuses on the fourth original member, Claudia, an artist who struggles with school, while her older sister Janine is more typically brainy. Their frustrating-yet-loving relationship is beautifully realistic, and I like the way that their family structure includes grandmother Mimi, who serves as a calming, wise influence. Everyone’s facial expressions and gestures are wonderfully evocative while still comedically exaggerated.

The kids are growing up, as Claudia has to cope with Mimi having a stroke and the club runs a summer camp-like playgroup for their charges. New girl Dawn and leader Kristy have some conflicts, but they work them out in a well-drawn barn setting. It’s a charming graphic novel that will be especially loved by girls, who will relate to the domestic conflicts and challenges. And it’s refreshing to see Janine, a young woman I could relate to, learn how to balance family life and the computer classes she loves.

Crogan’s Vengeance

Crogan’s Vengeance
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I had a lovely conversation with Chris Schweizer about some snarky comments I made earlier in the year. We’re all fine now, because he’s a very nice guy, and he explained the lack of women on his promotional material as having two good reasons behind it: they *are* aiming at young men with the stories, and although there are many female characters appearing, he didn’t want to ruin romance hints and plots of the upcoming books.

His boys’ adventure series of graphic novels kicked off with this first volume, about pirates, and next up, in March, is book two, Crogan’s March, about a Legionnaire. I admire his plans; a 16-book series is ambitious, but I believe he’s going to do it.

The Soddyssey and Other Tales of Supernatural Law

The Soddyssey and Other
Tales of Supernatural Law
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The latest Supernatural Law collection fills in a gap in the series. It’s second in reading order, after Tales of Supernatural Law and before Sonovawitch! Like the rest of the series collections, it’s a very handsome book, with the most gripping cover yet, and completely remastered pages. To quote the copyright page, “Most [stories] have been completely relettered, and many have been retoned; in some cases, art has been redrawn.”

Batton Lash’s monster lawyers are funny. Well, that’s not quite right — they’re often the sane everyday folks while funny things and puns happen around them. In this volume, the cases include an X-Files parody about a missing child, a woman having Satan’s baby, a wannabe stand-up comedian haunted by ghostly laughter, a klutz suing his guardian angel, some personal involvement with other lawyers, and the trial of a plant monster named Sodd. The Ann Rice analogue, in a story set in New Orleans, really took me back to when I was reading her vampire novels.

Emiko Superstar

Emiko Superstar
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The next-to-last Minx book is just like the rest of them: the story of a significant (and visual) event that teaches a girl more about what she wants from life, forces her to stand up to her parents, and gives her the possibility of a boyfriend. This one most closely resembles the original release, The Plain Janes, in that it preaches the transformative power of Art, although in this case, the definition of art is stretched so widely as to cover reading someone else’s diary while standing on stage wearing your grandmother’s 60s dresses. (I do wish the ethics of stealing that diary had been a little more directly addressed.)

I read it because I like Steve Rolston’s (One Bad Day) art. He draws the cuddliest pierced punks, all round faces and non-threatening features. The story, by Mariko Tamaki, is just a little too precious, with self-aware narration that includes cross-outs. By the seventh page, one character, looking back, is telling another “how wyrd it is that 1 summer can chg everythg.” (They’re texting, don’t'cha know.) Except it really doesn’t. Not for our lead, anyway — I was more interested in following the story of the suburban mom who came out and moved to the big city with her new lover. But then, I’m not a teen girl wishing for fantasies of changing your life just by attending a rave with people who wear weird clothes and glitter and discovering that anyone can be a superstar by calling themselves one.

Paradigm Shift 2: Agitation

Paradigm Shift 2: Agitation
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I had an amusing conversation at the show with Dirk Tiede, author of this manga-styled cop story. I was talking to the person at the table next to his, and as I finished, he got my attention. He’d recognized my name on my badge and mentioned he’d sent me a review copy of book one. I said, “I know, I wrote about it over the summer.” He’d never seen it. I’d sent him an email at the time, but he hadn’t gotten it. So I pulled up my site on my cellphone and let him read the review right there. Ah, modern technology.

The story continues at its same relaxed pace as Kate and her partner are still investigating a series of grisly maulings. It’s all leading up to a werewolf story, but it’s taking a long time to get there. I suppose the plodding interrogations and slow piece-by-piece examination of the case are realistic, but I’ve read more engrossing fiction. There is also a shootout action sequence. The art’s professional, easy to read, and distinctive. (See earlier comment about the cop’s bangs having a life of their own.) I enjoy the notes in the back, many of which are about actual Chicago locations used in the story, and I applaud Dirk’s work ethic. Read the strip at the Paradigm Shift website.

Lore

Lore
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Jennifer Hachigian has collected the first eight issues of her minicomic about vampires and robots in high school into a paperback. It’s a bit much for the material — the simple black-and-white art may seem more approachable in photocopied-and-stapled minis. You can see a progression from beginning to end as the artist becomes more confident, especially with use of black areas. Check it out for yourself at the Lore website.

Enigmatics

One of my more interesting acquisitions was a galley copy of this kids’ graphic novel by Daniel Langsdale (Geeks in Disguise). He’s looking for a publisher now. It’s a combination of four youngsters investigating neighborhood mysteries and fighting bullies, mixed with activity pages — logic puzzles, codes, word finds, and the like. Their detective club starts off figuring out the real story behind rumored werewolf attacks.

One boy’s a handyman, one’s the natural leader, another’s studious, and the lone girl is the athletic one. The art’s scratchy, with dodgy anatomy, but it has energy. My favorite part was when the kids were discovering an abandoned bomb shelter (closed since 1984, or “like forever”, according to them) and turning it into their clubhouse. There’s an old-fashioned feel to it that makes it timeless, while the kids still seem reasonably modern.

My first impression was of the staff. Everyone was polite, friendly, and seemed excited to be there. There was a great positive atmosphere from everyone; not just staff, but artists, volunteers, and attendees. I’ll say this up-front so I don’t repeat myself a hundred times; every person I talked to was pleasant, upbeat, patient, and just all around nice.

I have to admit I’m always a little anxious about approaching an artist’s table, because I know the person has put a lot of hard work and money into the books on the table. So I feel bad when I look at a comic and it doesn’t interest me for whatever reason. I mean, it’s a very intimate experience, when the artist is right there in front of me and I’m walking away. I want to say, “I’m sorry, you’re a nice person, your comic just doesn’t connect with me.” What I really appreciated at SPX was that nobody there was pushing the hard sell. Each table I approached, the artist explained what their comics were about, asked me to take a look, and then just let me look through their books and merchandise. Even if I didn’t buy anything I was thanked for looking. After the second or third time this happened my anxiety dissipated and I was able to start browsing in earnest. This made the convention a very enjoyable experience.

I did have a few books I wanted to get signed. I gave my copy of Knights of the Lunch Table to my seven-year-old nephew, who loved it as much as I did. I had Frank Cammuso sign the book for him. This makes it the first signed comic of any kind in my nephew’s collection.

Andy Runton signed my three Owly books and put a very nice sketch of Owly, Wormy, and friends in each book. He also gave me some great tips on using a brush pen. I like practicing calligraphy and he helped to see what I was doing wrong.

Rob Ullman signed the dozen items I had. He’s a fellow Richmonder, but I always forget to bring his books to the local comic show. So I finally got all my stuff signed. I also picked up some great books I didn’t have (see below).

What was amazing wandering around were the number of self-published people with bound trade paperbacks to sell. It’s a good indicator of where I think the comic market is headed. There were plenty of mini-comics and pamphlets, too. My problem was I seriously underestimated the amount of cash I needed. I would have liked to pick up a few more comics to sample than I did, but my empty wallet had the final say. I did pick up business cards from all the artists I liked so I could check out their websites. Here’s what I did get and just some quick thoughts or impressions.

Raina Telgemeier – Picked up a collection of Take-Out comics, the first chapter of Smile, and a new mini-comic called Outreach. All of these are slice-of-life stories. I’ve already read through them and really enjoyed them. I wish I had a couple hundred more of these to read. JDC: Raina’s big news of the show was having Smile picked up by Scholastic/Graphix, so she’ll be finishing the story for print publication in color. Yay! It’s due out in 2010.

Jim Ottaviani – Picked up Levitation, which is about the history of the levitating person magic trick. It’s a great book with tons of reference material listed in the afterward. I also picked up Dignifying Science: Stories about Women Scientists and it looks equally as good.

Jim8Ball – Picked up the first two issues of Tail of the Samurai Cat and he gave me the third for free. A nice parody of Lone Wolf and Cub. I’ve already finished these and liked them. JDC: I didn’t even see this table!

Rob Ullman – Picked up Teeny Bikini #5, Grand Gestures #1, From the Curve #5, and Atom-Bomb Bikini #5. Grand Gestures and From the Curve are slice-of-life books that I’ve already completed and enjoyed. The Bikini books are sketch books with a focus on good girl art.

Mariko Tamaki – Picked up Emiko Superstar, apparently the last of the Minx books, it looks good. JDC: I think Token will be the last Minx, due out early November.

Jay Hosler – Picked up Optical Allusions, The Sandwalk Adventures, and Cow-Boy. All look excellent. Since my seven-year nephew likes science and comics I plan to pass these on him. (Except Cow-Boy, that’s mine.) Jay also did the artwork for all the SPX badges. I got him to sign mine. I plan to laminate it and use as a bookmark. (This was the also the first convention I attended as a member of the comic press.) JDC: I loved Jay’s image for the press badge of a woman in a fedora interviewing a talking comic book. I should have had mine signed, too. And I hope Ed enjoys Sandwalk, since I pressed it on him, given his love of philosophical discussion.

Frank Naif gave me a copy of Super Secret Bungling & Crookery. Just finished this and liked the humor a lot. I was in the military so I can appreciate his frustrations with the government bureaucracy. The art is simple but effective for the humor.

T.J. Kirsch gave me A Murder of Crows. It’s an interesting story of a Vietnam vet dealing with his experiences. I wish the piece was a little longer.

Jane Irwin was extremely generous and gave me a copy of the first volume of Vogelein. It looks intriguing. Wait, there are footnotes at the end! I’m sold. Seriously, I’m a sucker for comics with that much thought put into them.

Fanfare/Ponent Mon – Deb Aoki from About Manga was running the booth for them. She was generous enough to give me copies of Times of Botchan volumes two and three. I was really glad to see and talk to her. We were both at NY Anime Fest the prior weekend, and I missed getting a chance to met her there. I love Jiro Taniguchi’s art so I can’t wait to read these. I believe I now own every book Fanfare has published in the US.

I also attended the Critic’s Roundtable discussion with moderator Bill Kartalopoulos. The panelists were Rob Clough, Gary Groth, Jog, and Tim Hodler. There wasn’t a lot of crosstalk. The hour went quickly. Bill had a chance to ask about five questions and get a response from each member. I won’t give much detail on the panel, since my understanding is that the panel was recorded and either the audio or a transcript will be made available soon. Basically, each guest discussed what they tried to achieve when reviewing a comic. What they thought of the current state of comic reviews and criticism. Some of the common problems they saw in comic reviews. Also, mainstream versus comic press coverage and reviews of comics. I enjoyed the panel and wished they had an hour to discuss further issues. I would also have liked to seen the panelists ask questions of each other.

Overall, I really had a good time at the show and will definitely be back next year. JDC: Thanks, Ed, for the company on the trip. And I ditto your feelings! Great time, great comics!

DC Comics sent out an official statement confirming the news but otherwise saying nothing:

Minx will cease publication beginning January ‘09. Minx was an experimental imprint for DC Comics and we are extremely proud of the books we published and the stories we told during the past two years. We thank all of the writers and artists who lent their talents to our endeavor and especially thank readers who came along for the ride. DC Comics remains committed to publishing diverse material for diverse audiences as we continue to welcome new readers.

When I questioned them as to what this meant for the next three titles specifically, they said “We are declining further comment at this time.” All I was asking was whether we’d still be able to buy Emiko Superstar, which already had advance reading copies put out!

The artist, Steve Rolston, answers that question: yes, it will be released on October 8. No word yet on Token, which was due in November. Given DC’s statement, I’m hoping that it’s still planned to come out, especially since it was already solicited (JUL08 0205). Update: It seems likely, given its October release date and state of completion, that Token will come out, so at least the line will end with a bang.

Hope Larson, author of Chiggers, has some insightful statements, including how her life might have been different if her pitch to them had been accepted.

I found that post via David Welsh, who ponders how mediocre works go over with girls who read.

The first comment at Heidi’s post points out that in his library system, the books “sat on our shelves gathering dust while most manga and superhero fare from the Big 2 continued to fly out the door at a brisk pace.”

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

• Burnout (best of the lot, in my opinion)
• Water Baby
• Janes in Love, sequel to the debut release
• The New York Four

The big problem? Distribution. CBR states

Random House, DC’s book trade distributor, has not been able to successfully place MINX titles in the coveted young adult sections of bookstores

I’ve previously speculated that the books were selling better in the established comic direct market than bookstores, which wasn’t the goal for the line, although it plays to DC’s strengths and comfort levels.

But then, the line was formed out of jealousy. Shelly Bond, the editor behind the imprint, said she “pitched this line as an alternative to manga, but also as an alternative to traditional fiction” — in other words, why aren’t these kids buying OUR comics? Which is typical DC thinking.

Too much of the promotion revolved around what the books weren’t, instead of what they were. The analysis at the CBR article states 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

Alternative to what? Again, that’s being reactive — “we’re not superheroes, we’re not manga” — instead of proactive. What are you, then? And the answer is some middling soap opera work without much passion, telling comfortable stories about young women who learn to accept themselves (and often get a boyfriend) after a significant event, with serviceable but not astounding art.

Also, DC spent at least $125,000 just on promotion. That’s a lot of money to expect a new line reaching to a new market to cover in under two years. An initiative of some other kind might be very well supportable.

Let’s not forget one major issue: the lack of significant female creative contribution, a problem from the start.

No one loved these books. Some of them weren’t bad, but none of them were truly great. And that, ultimately, is why they failed. Although being part of a company that over-controls creative efforts and isn’t really sure whether it wants women readers probably also contributed.

So farewell to the non-published titles:

• Emiko Superstar by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Rolston (previously scheduled for October – anyone have an advance copy they don’t want?)
• Token by Alisa Kwitney and Joelle Jones (whose work I loved on 12 Reasons Why I Love Her – I’ll miss this one the most)
• All Nighter by David Hahn (was due in January 2009)
• Poseur
• Clubbing in Tokyo by Andi Watson

Perhaps some will be resurrected under Vertigo, or elsewhere.

Pure speculation: also announced this week was that another couple of CMX books were cancelled to be resolicited at a later date. Is that the next imprint to face cost-cutting?

CWR: So, a logging town in Oregon. Why that setting? Any personal connections? 

RD: Years ago I went on a road trip with friends, and one of the places we stopped was a small town in the coastal mountain range of Oregon. It made an indelible impression on me.

CWR: What’s your take on eco-terrorism?

RD: When an act of vandalism is considered an act of terrorism, an important distinction has been lost.

CWR: What made you want to write a comic? And how did you come to Minx? 

RD: I was working on my second novel and kept reaching this kind of cul-de-sac. So I decided to put it away for a while and write something radically different. I sent Shelly Bond at DC Comics a pitch for a graphic novel that I’d been kicking around my head for a while. The genre is so imaginatively expansive — I found myself both dizzied and inspired by all the possibilities.

CWR: How were you paired up with Inaki Miranda? How was working with him? 

RD: During my first meeting with Shelly, she plunked down a stack of illustrators’ portfolios and said, “Who do you want for Burnout?” All of the illustrators were talented and technically proficient, of course, but Inaki had an amazing ability to convey subtleties of emotion through facial expressions and gesture. So I picked him. He lives in Spain, and we communicated solely through email. He’d send the breakdowns after receiving my script pages and I’d email back my comments and suggestions and so forth. I’m incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with such a prodigiously gifted artist.

CWR: How did you deal with writing for a teenage audience? Any changes or particular choices you made? 

RD: I didn’t change my approach at all, in terms of crafting the narrative. A good story is a good story, regardless of who a publisher markets it to.

CWR: Given the open ending, any plans for more stories with this character? 

RD: Definitely. Is Haskell alive or is he dead? I want to find out what happens to him!

CWR: What’s your favorite comic? What did you find helpful as research? 

RD: Daniel Clowes, Alison Bechdel, and Lynda Barry were inspirations, to name a few. I came across a wonderful graphic novel called Mother, Come Home by Paul Hornschemeier, about a son struggling to come to terms with the death of his mother. The prose is beautifully spare, yet so powerfully invested with this palpable sense of longing and loss. In writing Burnout, I wanted to craft a narrative with spare, laconic prose, and anchor it with that same sense of longing and loss, even as there’s this surface play of teenagers’ games and foibles.

CWR: Do you have plans to write more comics? 

RD: Absolutely…!

Burnout
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Danni’s grumpy and bitter, a very typical teen. She doesn’t like her surroundings, but she can’t do anything to change them, so her pain comes out as complaints. Then she develops a crush on Haskell, her morose soon-to-be-step-brother with secrets. Turns out that he’s an environmental activist (or eco-terrorist, depending on whose label you accept), which pulls her between her attraction to him and her best friend, a smart rocker from a logging family.

Danni feels three-dimensional. She’s not a paragon, but she’s also more than a group of clichés. She can be hard to understand, hiding what she’s feeling, as so many of her age do. The other characters also seem to have lives beyond what we see on the page; events involving them that go on whether or not we’re watching.

The story is typical for the Minx line — a teen girl goes through a significant growing-up experience that gives her a better understanding of love and family — but there’s more depth than in other releases, and more mature treatment of the themes. This book doesn’t provide a lot of pat answers or simple life lessons. Like reality, things here are more complicated.

Rebecca Donner hasn’t previously worked in comics, but she’s written novels, films, and plays, and the experience serves her well. The art’s impressive, with emotive, unfussy figures. Inaki Miranda well portrays the natural setting, whether wide swathes of nature or the imposing presence of a huge tree or a night of pouring rain. The lines are clean but there’s plenty of details in the background, grounding the work in reality.

There are preview pages available on MySpace. A complimentary copy for this review was provided by the publisher.

I realized several things: 1) I am the only one responsible for whether I have a good time, and I need to quit trying to do so much! 2) I’m ambivalent about con-going because my schedule doesn’t match up with everyone else’s. I wake up early and want to get things done so I can relax after dinner and go to bed before midnight. 3) Most importantly, time spent on the floor chatting with people, no matter how enjoyable, is not time spent doing the work. I do this because I want to think and talk about good comics, and doing laps on concrete doesn’t get that done. (Although it does round up more material.) So now that I’m better aware of all that, I can make whatever decisions I need to.

Following are brief notes on what thrilled me.

Zot! pins. To promote the upcoming Complete Black and White Collection 1987-1991, Harper Collins had a set of three Zot! pin-back buttons, featuring Dekko, Zot and Jenny, and the logo.

Visiting good independent publishers. Chris Staros of Top Shelf, Randal Jerrell at Oni, Gina Gagliano at First Second, and Brent Erwin of Ape are all always pleasures to talk with, knowledgeable and friendly. Brent, especially, is always a font of optimism whenever I stop by, which is incredibly refreshing during a lengthy show. Randal recommended their Salt Water Taffy, which I’m looking forward to trying. As he put it, I like the all-ages comics. Gina had early copies of Drawing Words and Writing Pictures, the Jessica Abel/Matt Madden textbook that looks fabulous.

Comics! I got to pick up the first issue of the new Perhapanauts series, Comic Book Comics #1, Love and Capes #7 (the upcoming FCBD issue), and the FCBD Comic Book Diner issue from Kids Love Comics. And the latest not-yet-released Amelia Rules! collection, When the Past Is a Present. And isn’t that a wonderful title to capture the nostalgic, positive overall approach of this title?

Speaking of which, there was lots of emphasis this year on kids’ comics, including dubbing Sunday as “kids’ day”. The programming — well, I went to one panel, and at least I got to sit down. Panels, I think, are best for those interested in a topic who don’t know much about it but want to know more. Introductory coverage, in other words. Those who have really thought about a topic will likely be frustrated. Or maybe that’s just me.

I’m thinking of going to more tomorrow, but I know going in that checking out the Viz or Del Rey panels, for example, will be promotional in nature. Speaking of which, Adi and April at Del Rey were as charming, as always, even when they hit me with Fairy Tail snap bracelets (which make terrific wristbands). It’s a shame that Viz didn’t set up at the show. Tokyopop did, but I only stopped by briefly, to browse one of their titles I’m curious about, The Knockout Makers. Oddly, they had none visible in their store, and the very helpful gentleman had never heard of it.

Am I the only one who finds it strange that Viz’s big announcement was a book with Stan Lee, while Del Rey is going to be promoting their X-Men manga designs? I know this isn’t an anime/manga specific show, but the crossovers strike me weird.

Anyway, more happy meetings — Kevin Church was signing his Cover Girl at Boom!, where I also had a great conversation with Chip Mosher and got to meet Tom Spurgeon, which was a pleasure. I enjoyed speaking with Rebecca Donner, the novelist whose Burnout kicks off the next Minx season. I also got to catch up with many former co-workers, all of whom seem happier now than in the past (which is always the direction I hope people are going).

I forgot to mention that after we arrived and got checked in Thursday night, we walked over to Jim Hanley’s Universe and bumped into the tail end of the Caption Action signing. Their booth today was hopping every time I walked by, so I wasn’t able to see how they were doing, but I thought their logo t-shirts and hats were cool. I’m hoping to get back to Hanley’s Saturday at 7:30 for a signing by Ariel Schrag.

Overall, this is the show we dreamed about ten or fifteen years ago, when we were hoping for diverse titles and publishers of all sizes and genres. The dreams have come true. It’ll be interesting to see what attendance figure is reported; I heard they were expecting 50,000.

Not one of the Minx titles makes the Top 750, nor does any CMX title except for Megatokyo, which is OEL. Looking deep into the Long Tail, Minx’s Plain Janes sells 3201 copies, none of the other four Minx titles even manages to crack a meager 800 copies sold in the bookstore environment. Aren’t those books specifically designed for the bookstores, and the customers that shop there?

– Brian Hibbs

I 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 girls reading and buying manga and decided that they deserved a piece of that market. But those girls were plenty happy with the product they already had. What incentive do they have to spend the same money on shorter books without the serial hook?

If I had to reverse engineer the target market from the material and its marketing, I’d say that the Minx books were designed to sell to people who could be convinced that that’s what teen girls wanted (instead of the teen girls themselves), and who had a predisposition to put stock in the DC brand when it came to comics. Which means direct market retailers who are uncomfortable with the large amount of manga to choose from and would rather stock a smaller line from a publisher they already know (or who prefer American comics over ones with those foreign author names). Alternately, library and similar purchasers, who might be impressed by the reviews and press bought by DC’s extensive marketing budget for this project.

(Hibbs acknowledges the latter possibility as well, saying “the DM and BookScan accounts are not the grand total of all venues possible — there are also library sales, book clubs, academic sales, and probably another dozen channels that I’m not thinking of — it is entirely possible that these works could be doing gangbusters in those channels, and we’ll never have any way of knowing…”)

No one’s come close to estimating Minx sales through the direct market, although ICv2 stated while interviewing DC head Paul Levitz, “It looked to us from the first numbers we saw that the direct response was stronger than the bookstores which was sort of the opposite of what I would’ve expected.” Levitz didn’t confirm that but didn’t exactly deny it either.

The thing is, the BookScan numbers show sales to actual customers, who take the books home to read them. The direct market numbers show sales to retailers, who think what they buy can be sold to someone else. Is this a case of a product that sells better to resellers or gatekeepers than end customers? Like Grandma picking demure clothes for a Christmas gift when Suzy really wants that imported leather miniskirt?

1. Doctor 13: Architecture & Mortality by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang
2. Cairo by G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker
   These two books surprised me most this year. The first presented an up-to-date yet completely new take on forgotten superheroes, reassuring me that there were still imaginative things to be said with that tired old genre without resorting to sordid sex and excessive violence. Gorgeous art by someone with a solid grasp of all the necessary skills helps. The second came out of nowhere (at least for me, who hadn’t heard of it or the creators previously), tackling a Middle Eastern adventure in a modern, exciting way with distinctive, emotional characters and a thought-provoking take on a significant part of the world.
3. Nothing Better by Tyler Page
   Everyone thinks they can do a story of college life, because it seems so simple, especially to the majority of the audience who’ve been through academia. That’s not the case, because realistic characters, and especially dialogue, are harder to do than you might think. Page gets it right. He even covers a subject most are afraid to tackle in depth, religious belief, with sensitivity and understanding through the story of two first-year roommates getting to know each other and themselves.
4. Alice in Sunderland by Bryan Talbot
   Not as much a graphic novel as a happening, made up of bits and pieces of every kind of image and graphic design. An unusual blend of pictures and text that eschews the usual panel borders or page grids to immerse the reader in a phantasmagoric trip through Talbot’s mind and the history of this particular area of Northeast England. Nearly impossible to describe accurately, it must be experienced.
5. Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan
   A quiet exploration of family in the face of Tel Aviv terrorism told through deceptively simple styling. The most “novelistic” of the books on this list.
6. Age of Bronze: Betrayal Part One by Eric Shanower
7. A Treasury of Victorian Murder: The Saga of the Bloody Benders by Rick Geary
   Both of these are just plain old good comic storytelling with juicy subjects. Age of Bronze retells the Trojan War with detailed, precise linework and emphasis on the people politics of the day. Victorian Murder is the historical equivalent of a tacky talk show, exploring what drives people to graphic crimes in long-ago times. This time, it’s a murderous family in frontier Kansas knocking off travelers in Geary’s distinctive thick-lined style.
8. First in Space by James Vining
   An impressive debut that reminds us of the contributions animals have made to science through the story of the first chimpanzee in space.
9. Re-Gifters by Mike Carey, Sonny Liew, and Marc Hempel
   The best of DC Comics’ Minx line, aimed at teenage girls, follows the same “young woman finding herself” formula, but it does it so well.
10. The Annotated Northwest Passage by Scott Chantler
    This reissue collects the adventure series in a handsome hardcover with author’s notes. It covers the struggle over possession of a key fort on the Canadian wilderness frontier just before the Seven Years War. Chantler’s art combines the best of a simplified, cartoon-influenced style with historical research for the story of an old-fashioned hero.

And then there’s my favorite manga of 2007 or my best of 2006 list for comparison.

I was concerned when I saw the last two issues of Oni series Local listed in the last Previews as “Cancelled by Publisher” (instead of “Will Resolicit”). So I asked the writer Brian Wood about it, and he reassured me:

…it looks like the plan is: #11 in April, #12 in May, and hopefully the trade in July. We have #11 complete and part of #12 done.

with Ryan in and out of the hospital this fall, we pretty much gave up entirely on all previous plans and decided to get the entire rest of the series drawn and lettered before trying to solicit anything.

Very sensible. Ryan is artist Ryan Kelly. I hadn’t realized he’d been ill (kidney stone, apparently, and it sounds absolutely miserable), and I hope he’s now recovering nicely. With 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 year.

Thanks for the update, Brian! I look forward to seeing how the intriguing series concludes.

I can understand the desire to quash the notion that the books actually sold better in specialty comic shops than bookstores, because that certainly couldn’t have been the desired outcome.

Well, it might have. That result makes sense, once you look at the factors involved. Bookstore buyers aren’t afraid of manga and are eager to carry a full range of graphic novels. The same for librarians, who have a good network of recommendations and awards to guide them. Both are looking at a much greater pool of material to choose the best from.

Direct market retailers, on the other hand, value DC as a brand name a great deal. They don’t like manga because there’s too much of it to study in order to make sensible decisions, and some of them, well, they don’t really want too many female readers in the clubhouse. So it seems reasonable, by that skewed logic, that they’d invest in a DC-backed non-manga attempt to attract girls. It’s familiar to them, and it isn’t foreign. (Don’t underestimate this factor. Some retailers aren’t comfortable with comics where they can’t pronounce the non-American names creating it.)

DC, as a company, may not want Minx to be too successful, anyway, because it would put the lie to many of the pieces of received wisdom that they’ve been comforting themselves with all these years. And their strong relationship with the direct market makes it difficult to be successful in the bookstore market, because it’s seen as disloyalty to their “core customers”.

• The Plain Janes
• Re-Gifters
• Clubbing
• Good as Lily
• Confessions of a Blabbermouth
• Kimmie66

This completes the first year of Minx. Interestingly, Karen Berger when interviewed a year ago about the line, said there would be seven Minx releases in 2007. Which book went missing?

Valerie also looks at the line as a whole up to the point she posted.

Due in 2008

They do plan seven books for 2008, including work by Joelle Jones (12 Reasons Why I Love Her) and Steve Rolston (One Bad Day).

I’m more excited about the artists than the writers because the latter are performance artists, novelists, journalists … the kind of non-comic-writers that have caused some of the pacing and structure problems in the line’s books so far. (I hope the former Vertigo editor doesn’t have that problem!) At least this time the majority of writers are women, and they finally got around to including their first female artist (Joelle Jones)!

Looks like David Hahn still isn’t returning to Private Beach, as he’s done All Nighter about “an angry young punk rocker” (oh joy). And the only sequel so far is to the worst of the bunch, Clubbing in Tokyo. My guess at 2008’s best? Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly’s The New York Four, about new college students.

The Big Question

Is the line a success? I don’t pay attention to sales figures much, so I don’t know how well the books are selling either in the direct market or in the bigger bookstore field. That they’re doing a second year says to me that they still are optimistic about the idea. I’m guessing the books are most popular among schools and libraries, since they’re classically styled stories (teenage girl learns life lesson) that are easy to justify for purchase. I have yet to hear anyone really excited about them, though, in any market.

It’s such a pain in the butt when you don’t know your friends’ real names. I mean, people who live outside the lairs just don’t have problems like this, do they?

Kimmie66
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(Ok, that’s early on — there’s more to come.) I could relate. I don’t game or get involved in MUDs or networking sites (both of which are similar to the “lairs” described here), but anyone who spends a lot of time online has had the problem of how to talk about it to offliners.

Alexovich’s distinctive look works better for me here than in Confessions of a Blabbermouth, since most of the settings are artificial. His exaggerations fit better in such an environment, although some events are a tad unclear. I love Telly’s hair (the girl on the cover, our hero) with the way it looked as though a spiky octopus has taken up residence on her head, flopping every which way.

Telly’s friend Kimmie isn’t quite gone yet, though, reappearing as a ghost when Telly connects, which leads Telly to investigate further. It’s only after a significant event forces things that you realize how much you might not know or how much you’ve assumed about the people you call friends. In a world where you relate based on which fantasies you prefer (and thus decide how to tag yourself), you have to accept how people present themselves, or be constantly rude.

This is the most imaginative Minx title, and one that has at its core something beyond “learning more about the person the teen girl is or will be”. It allows Telly to focus on someone other than herself, so from an intellectual perspective, it attracted me more than the other books. I still like Re-Gifters best, though, because I like that girl the most of all the leads.

David Welsh faintly praises the book, and this interview with the author explores more of the question of identity.

Confessions of a Blabbermouth
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The book starts in a very cartoony fashion, with Tasha, our Teenage Heroine, throwing an iron around in frustration at her mother, who runs an online underwear business, because Mom’s going to bring the new boyfriend home. Goofy, right? Sitcom-like? Except the plot turns on hints of father/daughter incest. Which is a bit heavy for this kind of intended comedy. Especially given the twisted way it’s handled.

It turns out that the incest is all a misunderstanding, which makes it worse, to use this not as a plot point but a feint to mislead the reader. The real secret is that Dad is writing his daughter’s column for her. She doesn’t want to be a writer, but he forces her to front for him so he can talk about the real youth of today.

Let’s look again at those creator credits, shall we? Daddy and daughter are co-writing a book about a modern girl. Creeped out much now? Especially when you read the “about the authors” blips and see that Ms. Carey is listed as writing a journalistic column. Just how much is fictionalized here?

Then there are the little inconsistencies, like: Do a lot of teens blog from an internet cafe? Don’t most have their own computers? (At the end we find that she does, so why does she pay for access?) Why does Tasha get so upset at a pretty innocuous column about bloggers in the paper? (I’ve seen a lot worse from comic writers ranting about review blogs.) Why does she hate the idea of other people praising her writing skills so much when she’s obviously looking for attention or she wouldn’t be blogging?

In short, the personalities didn’t ring true for me. The book was drawn by Aaron Alexovich, about which more tomorrow. His style is very much love it or hate it, lots of black, lots of scratchy, gnome-like characters. He previously did Serenity Rose, about a goth witch, where it fit more organically.

Jeff Lester uses his dislike of elements of the title to talk about problems with the Minx line overall.

Good as Lily
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Why now? Because Grace is unsure of where her life is going to take her, and her other selves aren’t very reassuring. The 29-year-old is single. The 6-year-old only wants to eat constantly. And the eldest is an annoying pain. This is a turning point for Grace, her chance to experiment with love and being the lead in the school play before she heads off to college and adulthood.

The exposition is naturally presented, with all of Grace’s friends introduced as they give her birthday gifts at a surprise picnic. Best friend Jeremy wants to be more, something subtly clear to the reader from their introduction to him. Typical of the high school age, though, Grace needs more of a nudge. She’s distracted by her crush on Mr. Levon, her drama teacher.

Particularly impressive in terms of the writing is how Kim balances the voices. All four women are Grace, so they should all sound like her, but at the same time, they’re distinctive in their concerns and attitudes, as demonstrated when they first meet and squabble. Plotwise, the book is dense, with plenty happening. The reader is involved in events at just the right level — they’re not spelled out simply, but everything’s there if paying attention.

They’re well-selected for visuals, too, like a car wash and a food fight and family dinner, all choices that allow for lots of character movement and varying angles. It’s also great to see the classic mean girl showdown resulting in Grace standing up for herself instead of running away in embarrassment.

I love the images of Grace swinging at the magic pinata that spurs the story. I can see her moving, and the montage effect captures the wild nature of blindfolded batting. That almost makes up for not understanding exactly how all this happens, with the other versions of herself, but that’s not really the point of the story, either. It’s a Maguffin — accept it in order to get to the point. Which is that being open and honest with others about how you feel is always much better off in the long run.

One thing Minx gets very right is their usage of cultures and backgrounds beyond the white Midwesterner. It’s neat seeing Grace and her Korean family and friends presented so naturally. Paul O’Brien also enjoyed the book. Hamm has been interviewed and shares eight art tips. There’s an online preview if you click through the publisher’s promo site.