So, CBR has reported an update about the MINX line.
I think this cancellation of the line is truly unfortunate. Vertigo editor Shelly Bond started MINX as a way to reach teenage girls with graphic novels, and because she thought that teens deserved their own GN imprint. Hear, hear! The reason the line is being discontinued is that they haven’t been able to get enough placement in bookstores, which I get. Obviously they’ve gotta turn a profit. But I hardly think they gave it enough of a chance to succeed.
They haven’t yet announced what will happen with the third book in the PLAIN Janes series. I really hope it gets released one way or another. Cecil Castellucci rocks, the PLAIN Janes series rocks, and there is DEFinitely a market for her stuff. Castellucci makes a good point in the CBR post: bookstores would do well to shelve GNs in the teen area as well as in the GN area. A line like MINX would’ve been the perfect test case for cross-shelving, but bookstores don’t seem to get it (at least I haven’t seen one that did).
Regardless, I hope to see more of this type of book being published, regardless of who does it.
You might be interested in the last bit of the interview with the Plain Janes artist: http://freneticreader.blogspot.com/2008/10/short-qna-with-jim-rugg.html
I didn’t hear about Minx closing up shop until I read that. I hope they can find a way to put out the third Janes novel still.
Thanks for the link, Alea! Very interesting – I hadn’t seen in print yet that the third Janes book is officially dead, but hearing it from Jim Rugg is probably pretty definitive (sad!).