The trouble with manga
Ned Beauman over at the Guardian blog has a fascinating article on Minx, an imprint of the powerhouse DC Comics. Minx aimed to capture some of the growing audience on the middle path between manga and traditional teenage girl fiction. Cool idea, but after four titles, DC have pulled the pin. It’s a cautionary tale for publishers looking to capture the mainstream market. And a fascinating slice of the world of Japanese comics. Or maybe it’s a lesson in the way large corporations misread subcultural styles.
I am something of a GN-sceptic, at least where publishing for teens is concerned. The Minx experience shows just how hard this kind of book is to create. More successful, I think, are those novels that break down the barriers between traditional novel and illustrated work. Books like Shaun Tan’s Tales From Outer Suburbia and Sherman Alexie’s Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which I am starting to see in the shops now.
