CBR News has confirmed through multiple sources that MINX, the young adult graphic novel line published by DC Comics, has been cancelled. Creators were informed this morning, and some have been assured their solicited or otherwise greenlit projects will be published, while others have been told their books — at least one of which is actually completed -- will not be released, at least not as part of the MINX line.
Masterminded by longtime Vertigo editor Shelly Bond, MINX publishes original graphic novels aimed primarily at teenage girls and debuted with “The Plain Janes” by "Street Angel" artist Jim Rugg and novelist Cecil Castellucci, author of the successful young adult novels "The Queen of Cool" and "Boy Proof.” The line also includes work by other novelists such as Rebecca Donner (“Sunset Terrace”) and Alisa Kwitney (“Flirting in Cars”), as well as mainstream and acclaimed comics creators like Mike Carey, Brian Wood and Andi Watson.
Bond was inspired to create MINX after observing the growing number of teenage girls reading manga in bookstores. “I started to wonder what was going to happen in a few years when those readers would want something new,” she said at the MINX launch in February, 2007. “So I pitched this line as an alternative to manga, but also as an alternative to traditional fiction, because I thought that it was really about time that teenage readers had their own imprint and that they could experience a brand new visual reading experience."
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.
The question of rights reversions is presently being asked by some MINX creators whose books will not be published under the imprint, but there also exists the possibility for some in-progress or otherwise unreleased MINX projects to be repurposed as Vertigo titles, should the content transfer easily. Indeed, the MINX line was partially inspired by the success of Vertigo’s “My Faith in Frankie” black-and-white digest-sized release by Mike Carey and Sonny Liew & Marc Hempel, who went on to produce “Re-Gifters” for MINX.
DC Comics had no comment when approached by CBR News.
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