ARCHIE COMICS
Archie #589, $2.25
Archie Double Digest #192, $3.69
Jughead #191, $2.25
Sonic X #37, $2.25

BONGO
Bart Simpsons Treehouse Of Horror #14, $4.99

CINEBOOK
Iznogoud GN Vol 2 Caliphs Vacation, $11.95 ^^AA Pick^^

DARK HORSE
Star Wars Clone Wars TP Vol 1 Shipyards Of Doom, $6.95

DC COMICS
Cartoon Network Block Party #49, $2.25
Scooby Doo #136, $2.25

GEMSTONE PUBLISHING
Barks Rosa Collection TP Vol 3 Golden Helmet Charts Columbus, $8.99
Uncle Scrooge #379, $7.99
Walt Disneys Comics & Stories #694, $7.99

IDW PUBLISHING
Complete Terry And The Pirates HC Vol 4 1941 1942, $49.99

KENSINGTON PUBLISHING COMPANY
Vampress Girls GN Vol 2 Witches Of Cazador, $9.99

MARVEL COMICS
Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #40, $2.99
Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #3, $2.99

PAPERCUTZ
Classics Illustrated HC Vol 3 Through The Looking Glass, $9.95 ^^AA Pick^^

Picks:

Iznogoud GN Vol 2: Caliph’s Vacation – I’ve been giving a lot of attention to Cinebook, mostly because I think they have a good line of all ages books. They cover many different genres, and take you to different and exotic locals, unlike most books available now. Iznogoud, is a comedy title that takes place in the middle east. Iznogoud is a grand vizer to the Caliph, leader of the country, and he wants to be the Caliph. With the help of his faithful servent Wa’at Alahf, he tries, and usually fails to get rid of the Caliph, in much the same way Cyote was always trying to get rid of Roadrunner. Just reading the names of the characters gives you an idea of what kind of comedy you’re in for. I don’t think there’s enough slapstick comedy for kids nowadays, and this title seem to fit the bill.

Classics Illustrated: Through the Looking Glass – Some classics are better appreciated with pictures as well as words, and this title, the sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, is surely one of them. This adaptation is by Kyle Baker, an eight-time Eisner Award winner. His art adds to the strangeness of Carroll’s story as Alice walks through a looking glass to meet such characters as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Lion and the Unicorn, Humpty-Dumpty, and face the Red Queen in a surreal chess match. These Classics Illustrated are a great way to open a child’s mind to classic literature, that just see the novel may not. They should know more about this classic title other than the Disney version, and I think this is a great way to do it.

David Welsh at Precocious Curmudgeon:

My strongest impression of the Minx books I’ve read (all of the books in the first wave and some of the subsequent ones) is that they felt incomplete, that they were at least two rigorous edits away from being a finished piece of entertainment. Whether DC was assuming lower standards among the books’ target demographic or not, I have no idea, but all of the marketing in the world really shouldn’t excuse generally mediocre product

Anna at Tangognat:

It didn’t seem like there was much in the way of marketing for the line, and I’m not surprised that it is folding. In some ways it seemed like a halfhearted attempt to capture the YA book market, without actually investing in the types of stories that teen girls would want to read.

Dirk Deppey at Journalista:

No, I think the bigger problem is that building a line — indeed, an entire category — of books for the bookstore markets requires a great deal of patience and endurance, and there’s very little evidence that DC Comics has ever demonstrated these qualities in their publishing efforts.

Christopher Butcher at Comics212:

Most importantly, I don’t think the rise or fall of this line says anything at all about the validity of “comics for girls” or any variation thereof… There are still plenty of excellent graphic novels for the YA market, and for girls in particular, out on the stands. I also think that there’s a market for more, and that every publisher looking to enter the market can learn from the successes and failures of MINX to create something that will ultimately succeed.

KadyMae in her LJ:

Hot tip: Teenaged girls with crappy lives don’t want to read books about other teenaged girls with crappy lives who go to school where everybody else shits on them too and there’s nothing they can do about it. They want to escape from their crappy lives for a few hours into a world where they are important and have power and do meaningful things and have adventures. (Oh, and a little m/m ho-yay never hurts.)

She also notes, “We sold the Minx books to *some* of the Manga readers, but mostly we sold them to people in their 20s who liked slice of life alt/indy comics anyway.”

Kevin Church at Beaucoup Kevin:

I honestly think it was marketing. I saw no posters or copies of the Minx books outside of the direct market – something I was looking for at local and chain bookstores following the announcement that Cecil Castellucci was involved and googling her name because it sounded sort of familiar. The initial New York Times Article mentioned that there was a “significant” marketing budget in place with Alloy Marketing + Media handing the campaign, but I never saw where it was being spent.

Hope Larson at I was fakin’:

Minx could have been good, and important. I really believe that, and I’m sorry to see them go, but most of the books they published are not very good. They have suspect artwork and dull, predictable plots, and would probably seem pandering to anyone over the age of 12. They’re safe. To quote some ad copy from the back of Marjorie Dean, College Junior, a girls’ series published in the ’20s: “These are clean, wholesome stories that will be of great interest to all girls of high school age.” I don’t think kids in the ’20s believed that, and neither would kids today. (Although, haha, their parents might.)

Lea Hernandez at Dangerous Beauty:

Shelley Bond said she saw girls reading manga in a bookstore and wanted that audience.

Yay!

That would’ve been the time to do something like I pitched to Paul Levitz (which piqued his interest enough for him to have me contact Dan DiDio and Shelley Bond at different times): manga-influenced superheroine books. A Batgirl book where she is searching for her long-lost brother Tony. (Yes, Barbara Gordon has a Secret Agent Man brother.) Wonder Woman. Black Canary. Zatanna. Supergirl. Amethyst. Harley and Ivy. Importantly, make these books that didn’t just take the names of the characters and run with them, but do books that were grounded in what the existing fans of those books like, with an appeal to draw in new female readers.

(Click for interesting history lesson about failed lines and DC and girls.)

Johanna Draper Carlson at Comics Worth Reading (1):

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.

Johanna Draper Carlson at Comics Worth Reading (2)

And more at…

Mariah Huehner at tired fairy Mariah was involved with the Minx launch and has an excellent discussion of the marketing and gender issues.

Becky Cloonan at Ink and Thunder. A thoughtful post by an experienced comics creator.

Brian Wood’s LJ gives a firsthand account from a Minx creator.

Katherine Farmar at Whereof One Can Speak, who compares the American and Japanese comics marketing models.

Heidi MacDonald at The Beat (1)
Heidi MacDonald at The Beat (2)
Heidi MacDonald at The Beat (3)
This last post has lots of links to other discussions. I hope you weren’t planning on doing anything else today. Also, read the comments on all three of Heidi’s posts as they are fascinating freewheeling discussions.

The Kids Love Comics group will be out in force at the Baltimore Comic-Con this weekend. Plus surprise guests! Check the list at the link to see who will be there—lots of talent in that group. And if you can’t make it there, maybe you can be at the Poughkeepsie Public Library on Oct. 3 to see Mail Order Ninja creator Josh Elder do his thing.

Ypulse writer Alli has some thoughts on graphic novels:

I think it’s ironic that at my school we are hearing some concerns about some of the graphic novels on our shelves. Specifically the questions are around age-appropriateness and balanced reading. The fact is that some boys just want to read graphic novels and what teachers refer to as “fun stuff.” As a result they’re not getting enough text to read, in their opinion– not enough old fashioned, straight forward reading. This is the essential issue isn’t it? It just doesn’t look or feel like serious reading. What to do?

She is also looking for suggestions for graphic novels for grades three, four, and five, so if you have any ideas, bring ‘em on.

Folks tell me that Misako Takashima (a.k.a. Misako Rocks!) had a great launch party for her new series, Detective Jermain, last week. If you missed that, but you’re heading to New York Anime Fest, you’re in luck, as Misako will be holding a panel and book signing there.

Here’s some sad news: the mom-and-kids team of Tracy, Shelby, and Susan, who ably review all ages titles for Newsarama and at their own site, are with his six-year-old son, and they both enjoyed it.”>ending their run. As a reviewer, I have some sympathy for the kids, who want to be able to just enjoy their comics and not think about reviewing them, but I will miss their insights.

At Manga Xanadu, Lori Henderson defends comics against Diane Ravitch’s charge that “they are not good ‘tools’ for teaching reading.”

Brian Cronin has a brief profile of Raina Telgemeier (The Babysitters Club), including some samples of her work, at Comics Should Be Good.

I’m Learning to Share provides a generous helping of stories and covers from the vintage kids’ comic Mr. and Mrs. J. Evil Scientist.

Newsarama has a preview of the Princess Bride comic, which seems to have been created solely to promote the Princess Bride game.

Blog@Newsarama’s Michael May read vol. 1 of Flight Explorer with his six-year-old son, and they both enjoyed it.

Reviews:
Chris Mautner on The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby (Panels and Pixels)
Conor Carton on Castle Waiting (Comics Village)
John Mitchell on J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography (Shuffleboil)
Ed Sizemore on Knights of the Lunch Table: The Dodgeball Chronicles (Comics Worth Reading)
Greg McElhatton on Mo and Jo: Fighting Together Forever (Read About Comics)
Charles Tan on One Piece, vol. 1 (Comics Village)
Dave Ferraro on Prince of Persia (Comics And More)

Some creators have been told their books will be published, but at least one completed project is biting the dust. Minx debuted to a fair amount of controversy: some people hated the name, while others were troubled by the lack of female creators. The quality of the initial offerings varied widely, but it looks like the fundamental problem was getting the books into bookstores:

Developed over several years and backed with the full financial support of DC Comics parent Warner Bros., the MINX line and its many titles are generally well reviewed, and the imprint’s ambitious goal was met with optimism and support from direct market retailers. Nevertheless, CBR News was told that Random House, DC’s book trade distributor, has not been able to successfully place MINX titles in the coveted young adult sections of bookstores like Barnes & Noble.

Multiple sources close to the situation agree Bond and DC aren’t to blame for MINX’s cancellation, and that this development should be seen as a depressing indication that a market for alternative young adult comics does not exist in the capacity to support an initiative of this kind, if at all.

First of all, if you’re trying to reach teen girls, the direct market probably isn’t your best bet. Secondly, it would be interesting to know how much marketing effort DC invested outside the comics community. I saw a lot of interviews with creators and reviews of the books on the comics blogs, but the point of a line like this should be to draw in new readers. I often see Minx books in the teen section of Barnes & Noble, but they are shelved spine out, never on a special display.

At The Comics Reporter, Tom Spurgeon sees the problem as wider than just marketing.

My hunch is that a bigger set of factors could have been what I would call structural: how/if to sell these books through Direct Market accounts, how to pay people for the investment of time in the projects necessary to make the books, where to shelve them in bookstores, how to keep them a vital concern within the corporate structure and competing interests of DC’s overall culture.

And then the scary question becomes, if DC couldn’t do it, can anyone?

So canceling Minx now not only ends what must have been a very decent gig for a lot of people, not only suspends what was one of the few corporate comics opportunities that didn’t involve drawing/writing superheroes at funerals or vampires turning on their own or whatever, and pulls the plug on what might have been some decent books as the line settled in, it also stands as a vote of no-confidence from one of comics’ biggest entities in doing comics their way for that market.

It might also have an impact on the potential for those kinds of books becoming a category along with scattered efforts at other companies like Skim and Chiggers, although one imagines a negative appraisal of the potential for a thriving category was part of the decision to pull the plug.

Tom also hints that DC parent Time Warner is more interested in the grittier properties, such as Dark Knight, perhaps because they show more crossover potential.

At Occasional Superheroine, Valerie D’Orazio touches on the marketing problem but also ascribes the failure of Minx to DC’s corporate inability to deal with female characters and readers. She winds up with some creative ways to off the Minx heroines.

So, readers, here’s your question for today: Is it possible to create and successfully market graphic novels for teen girls? If so, what did DC do wrong, and what are other people doing right? If not, why not? I look forward to hearing your opinions.

ARCHIE COMICS
Betty & Veronica Spectacular #85, $2.25

BONGO
Simpsons Comics #146, $2.99

DC COMICS/JOHNNY DC
Billy Batson And The Magic Of Shazam #2, $2.25
MAD Classics #23, $4.99
MAD Magazine #494, $4.99
Tiny Titans #8, $2.25

MARVEL COMICS
Marvel Adventures Avengers #28, $2.99
Marvel Adventures Two-In-One #15, $4.99
Power Pack TP Day One Digest, $7.99  ^^AA Pick^^
Skrulls Vs Power Pack #3 (of 4), $2.99

SCHOLASTIC
Into The Volcano HC, $18.99  ^^AA Pick^^

Picks:

Power Pack TP Day One Digest – This is a trade paperback collecting the first four issues of Power Pack Year One.  It tells the new origins of the Power Pack, four siblings with superpowers, giving them a new continuity in the MU.  Alex, Julie, Jack and Katie Power were just ordinary kids.  But in the span of twenty four hours they must escape aliens, learn to use their newly acquired powers, rescue their parents from an alien tyrant and save the Earth from total destruction.  Power Pack is a good title for kids in general, as the main characters are the same age as the readers and easy to relate to.  The art is animated looking without feeling cartoonish.  There’s even a little bit of education in some of the side stories.  Entertaining and educating, imagine that.

Into the Volcano HC – Into the Volcano is an action adventure graphic novel written and illustrated by Caldecott winner Don A. Wood.  Sumno and Duffy Pugg are brothers who are suddenly sent off to help an Aunt they don’t even know on a volcanic island.  They discover that their Aunt seems to be up to no good, and are sent on an expedition that sends them straight into an errupting volcano.  They must hike through the volcano to escape, facing all kinds of dangers along the way.  This is a title that will appeal to both boys and girls, and has a bit of a coming of age feel to it.  The brothers must work together to escape the volcano, and in doing so go through a sort of role reversal.

With loose ties to Peter Pan and Never land, this manga is part of the Disney Fairies franchise. It seems to me, that this manga is an adaptation of the series put out by Random House. Tinker Bell features prominently in some of the other Disney Fairies stories, but only gets a mention here.

The story starts with the bubbling excitement of all the fairies of Pixie Hollow, who are eager to attend Queen Clarion’s Arrival Day Bash. But on the eve of the big day, the Queen’s crown goes missing and all fingers are pointing to Vidia, the ‘rough around the edges’ fairy, who earlier that day cavalierly threatened to snatch the crown off the Queen’s head during the party. But if Vidia is found guilty she will be banished from Pixie Hollow forever. Prilla is the only one who believes in Vidia and together they investigate the disappearance of the crown in hopes of clearing Vidia’s name.

I’ve been searching for the perfect way to describe this manga, and the best I can come up with is cute. It’s a sweet story, that has a valuable lesson tied to it (Never assume anything. Be nice. Don’t take the easy way out.), but somewhat predictable.

The artwork is standard manga fair, even though the artist does well in capturing the different fairies characteristics through the artwork. I didn’t need words to realize Prilla was sweet and innocent or that Vidia was just not likeable. There’s as much to read in the pictures as in the words.
But there isn’t much meat to the story. Maybe that isn’t meant to be, given the young age demographic intended for these books. Maybe because the story was packaged by Disney or one of its subsidiaries (conjecture on my part, I wasn’t able to confirm this). But if one of my young nieces and nephews was clamoring to read manga, I’d suggest this title to their parents, because I know it’s safe.

This review is based on a complimentary copy supplied by the publisher. All images copyright © Tokyopop.

ARCHIE COMICS
Archie & Friends #123, $2.25
Betty & Veronica Double Digest #164, $3.69
Sonic The Hedgehog #192, $2.25

BROCCOLI INTERNATIONAL
Nui GN Vol 01, $9.99      ^^AA Pick^^

DC COMICS/JOHNNY DC/CMX
Cartoon Network Action Pack #29, $2.25
Legion Of Super Heroes In The 31st Century #18, $2.25
Palette Of 12 Secret Colors TP Vol 04, $9.99
Super Friends #7, $2.25

HARPER COLLINS PUBLISHERS
High School Musical GN Vol 01 First Impressions, $9.99
Warriors Tigerstar & Sasha GN Vol 01 Into The Woods, $6.99  ^^AA Pick^^

IDW PUBLISHING
Doctor Who Classics #10 (Regular Charlie Kirchoff Cover), $3.99
Igor Movie Adaptation #4 (of 4), $3.99

MARVEL COMICS
Marvel Adventures Hulk #15, $2.99
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #43, $2.99

SCHOLASTIC
Good Neighbors HC Vol 01 Kin, $16.99

TOKYOPOP
Bratz Super Bratz GN, $6.99

VIZ MEDIA
Lets Find Pokemon Fire Red Leaf Green HC (resolicited), $11.99

Picks:
Nui Volume 1 – Even though this isn’t really a new release, I wanted to bring it to people’s attention.  It’s about a girl named Kaya, who gets into trouble one days and is saved by her stuffed animals!  It seems, if you love a stuffed animal enough, it can come to life and turn into a person.  But, just like people, not all stuffed animals are nice, and some can be downright dangerous.  I think the idea of stuffed animals coming to life is a great one for kids.  Tweens are at the inbetween stage where they still love their plushies even if they aren’t playing with them like they used to.  I think this title would do well with them.  The creator of this title also created +Anima, a teen title that seems to do well for Tokyopop.

Warriors: Tigerstar & Sasha Volume 1 – Erin Hunter’s Warriors series is still going strong, both in novel and graphic novel form.  This title is a new series, centering on the characters Tigerstar and Sasha (obviously).  Sasha has been leading the perfect life; with the Twolegs during the day, and exploring the woods beyond at night.  But when she is forced to leave her home, she make a life for herself in the forest alone.  She becomes lonely, and after meeting Tigerstar and his Shadow Clan, she must decide if she should join them, and if she can trust Tigerstar.  These manga titles are great for fans, as they tell side stories from the novels, and not just a retelling the novels themselves.  I can highly recommend this series as I know my daughter would.

We interviewed Misako a few months ago about Detective Jermain, her other graphic novel Rock and Roll Love, and her work developing a Japanese character for Archie comics. And if you can’t be in New York next week, check out this video of Misako demonstrating how to draw DJ.

AAM MARKOSIA
N-Guard #2, $3.50

ARCHIE COMICS
Archie Digest #247, $2.49
Veronica #190, $2.25

DC COMICS
Looney Tunes #166, $2.25

IDW PUBLISHING
Dreamland Chronicles IDW #3 (Scott Christian Sava Cover A), $3.99
Dreamland Chronicles IDW #3 (Dean Yeagle Cover Cover B), $3.99

INNOVATIVE KIDS
Phonics Comics Level 1 Sugar And Spice Best Friends Forever, $3.99
Phonics Comics Level 2 Hiro Dragon Warrior Battle Mt Kamado, $3.99

MARVEL COMICS
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man TP Vol 10 Crisis Digest, $7.99
Marvel Two-In-One #15, $4.99

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS
Pinky & Stinky GN (New Printing), $15.00

TYNDALE HOUSE PUBLISHERS
Dopple Ganger Chronicles HC Vol 01 First Escape, $19.99  ^^AA Pick^^

VIZ MEDIA
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Adventure GN Vol 02, $7.99
Prince Of Tennis GN Vol 27, $7.95
Whistle TP Vol 20, $7.99  ^^AA Pick^^

Picks:

Dopple Ganger Chronicles HC Vol 01 First Escape – This book is the first in a series that combines art and text to create what the publishers call illustra-novellas.  Pictures and text alternate with comics to tell the story.  Identical twins Sadie and Saskia Dopple and their friend former theif Erik Morrisey Ganger all live at Isambard Dunstan’s School for Wayward Children, an orphanage.  One day, Saskia is adopted by a mysterious, wealthy woman.  Alone in the mansion, now her home, Saskia learns of a conspiracy that puts her life in danger.  Meanwhile, Erik and Sadie escape the orphanage to try and find her.  I think this “illustra-novella” is an interesting concept.  The transition from text to comic to text is fairly smooth.  There is a 19 page preview of the first chapter that shows this.  This title will appeal to both boys and girls, and will hopefully help reach reluctant readers and show them that reading can be fun, and not just chore.

Whistle Vol 20 – A shonen sports manga, this title is about soccer.  Sho Kazamatsuri loves to play soccer.  His goal is to become the best soccer player he can possibly.  But, as in all shonen manga, this isn’t going to be easy.  He has gone through many obsticles to reach where he is now.   His team, the Tokyo Select has just won in Korea, and return to Japan to enter the Japan Toresen – the national youth championship.  Their first opponents are Kanto Select, who’s leader comes from Sho’s past.  Even though I’m not much of a sports fan, a lot of the sports manga has a good message of playing as a team and doing your best, over the sheer competition and drive to win.  It’s not that these titles don’t have that, they just don’t get over emphasized, and therefore making the sports enjoyable to watch.  And it’s another good title for boys, though girls will enjoy it too.  Check out the review of volume 1 from Sabrina Fritz at Comics Village.