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Article by Teresa Jusino
TERESA JUSINO was born on the same day that Skylab fell. Coincidence? She doesn't think so. As a writer, her work has appeared in Elmont Life newspaper, and on the sadly defunct website, CentralBooking.com. She is a founding member and editor of The Revolving Door Commune Blog, is currently at work on a collection of short stories, and is writing a web series for Pareidolia Films called The Pack, which is set to debut this fall! As a geek, Teresa loves all Star Trek, Lost, Fringe, comics, and anything Joss Whedon, Brian K. Vaughan, and Neil Gaiman ever touched. She is also an aspiring fangbanger. 9 Comments
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[...] The comics industry is suffering because of their history, but it’s not because that history is difficult to “jump onto.” It’s because they’re slaves to it. Because we’re still talking about the SAME superheroes doing the SAME kinds of things, and whenever they do anything “new” it’s not new so much as a reshuffling of what already exists. Whenever they DO try something new, or try to diversify, they immediately abandon it, more interested in short-term sales than they are in the long-term survival of the medium. See MINX for a prime example of this. [...]
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The Newsarama article about the end of Minx points out that a huge number of young girls read anime and that DC was trying to invent American comics that would appeal to them. But for a variety of reasons, including lack of interest in what DC was offering, it didn’t work out. No one is disputing that women like comics, but they didn’t appear to like THESE comics very much. DC was losing money, so they pulled the plug.
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/090825-DCMinx.html
PS – The article also says that Minx has the largest marketing budget of any DC project in 30 years: $250,000 per month.
@ Adam:
“But for a variety of reasons, including lack of interest in what DC was offering, it didn’t work out. No one is disputing that women like comics, but they didn’t appear to like THESE comics very much. DC was losing money, so they pulled the plug.”
But that’s exactly what I was upset about. My whole point is that no one is staying in it long enough to figure out what girls DO like. They just put something out, girls don’t like it, so they give up. I’m saying that they need to make it enough of a priority to stay in it for the long haul – long enough so that girls DEVELOP a larger interest in comics.
For crying out loud, if DC shut down every time they had a bad year, or a comic that people didn’t like reading, they would’ve closed up shop years ago!
And yes, I actually read the article. It’s why it’s hotlinked in my post. And yes, I understood every word. I didn’t miss anything.
PS – spending lots of money on marketing doesn’t mean the marketing is effective.
I was wondering about manga (Japanese graphic novels) as well, cause that’s how I got my start into comics. There always seems to be an abundance of girl readers in that category, even if the comic is more “guy centered”…Shonen, I think is what the manga speak is. (I hope. It’s been ages since I’ve been hardcore about manga.)
Also, I thought I’d mention this since you mentioned Ann M. Martin: did you know that The Baby-Sitters Club is now a graphic novel series? I like that quite a bit, especially since you can’t find the original BSC books in major bookstores anymore.
Also, make sure comic shops display this stuff prominently. Usually, “girl stuff” gets lost on the shelves.
Also also, make sure that the comic book owner guys are cool and encouraging and don’t treat the girls like crappola. I just recently found a comic book store that doesn’t give me the “Oh you’re a giiiirl” look and I’m 24! Sheesh.
What was DC doing with that Minx marketing budget? I take in a lot of media and saw very few ads. I knew about Minx because I read sites like Newsarama – I can’t imagine that many teen girls who aren’t already into it would find their way to Newsarama. I wonder if DC’s marketing team even knows where to find this teen girl market.
@ Rhea:
Yeah, I mentioned manga. Yes, girls seem to be very into the manga – which is great! At NY Comic Con, I was at a panel on “Comics for Girls”, and they were saying that manga is popular because it’s something that girls found for themselves, making it truly theirs, which I thought was an interesting point.
And yes, I did know about that Babysitters Club comic! The writer/artist, Reina Telgemeier, was at this “Comics for Girls” panel. She’s really cool.
However, a part of my point was that comics shouldn’t always and exclusively come in book form for girls. I think that developing monthly/weekly comics for girls is an important, yet absent, part of the equation.
@ Alpha-Girl:
Yeah, I can’t really imagine DC taking an ad out in Elle Girl.