DC wants to draw in girl readers with this?
I had to pinch myself to see if I was awake. The Times-Picayune of New Orleans ran an article about their new Minx line, which is aimed at girls, and purportedly tells about real girls in the real world. But the premise of their first offering in line here has me frowning:
I think they're making a mistake to launch this line with a book involving a political theme, and the whole idea of making this about "real people", which may turn out to be far from real as the story comes to light, may have been the wrong way to go too. Surely they didn't consider that girls are just as interested in fantasy and escapism as boys are? And where did DC ever get the idea that "the real world" in and of itself was what would appeal to girls as part of this line? A better idea would've been to publish an adventure in the Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld vein. Why do they think that realism is truly what girls want? It all sounds very odd to me.
Open trackbacks: Big Dog's Weblog, bRight and Early, The Hill Chronicles, MacBros. Place, Pirates' Cove, Point Five.
The opening salvo in the new publishing imprint is "The Plain Janes," written by Cecil Castellucci, author of such young adult novels as "Boy Proof" and "Beige," and drawn by Jim Rugg of "Street Angel" fame.?!?!? Is this what they think will be a masterpiece? How much more aren't they telling here? What kind of scarves and hats are they putting on the hydrants? Keffiyehs? I can't tell enough from this description here, but I can say that it sounds very insulting to depict a girl who'd been through a traumatic experience with terrorism doing something that frightens other people as if the same is going to happen right in their neighborhood. After what she'd been through, surely she'd feel much better off living in a safe neighborhood, away from danger?
"The Plain Janes" is about a young girl -- named Jane, naturally -- who moves with her family to the suburbs after surviving a terrorist attack in the city. At her new school, she comes across a trio of girls sitting at the reject table, all blessed with the same name as hers.
Frustrated by the dull safety of suburbia and still reeling from her traumatic experience, Jane bands the other girls together to form the secret art gang P.L.A.I.N., which stands for People Loving Art In Neighborhoods.
While their innocuous acts of art terrorism thrill their fellow students (at one point they wrap all the town fire hydrants in scarves and hats), they only manage to draw the wrath of local law enforcement, with everything coming to a head on New Year's Eve.
While "The Plain Janes" makes a few missteps (many of the supporting characters -- particularly the other Janes -- come off more as types than individuals), it's a perfect choice for the imprint's launch as Castellucci and Rugg complement each other very well. The result is a charming, fun book that doesn't feel weighted down by political allegory or "chick-lit" frothiness.What's fun about causing a scare for everyone with "art terrorism" by causing them to fear that the real thing could be around the corner? That's not funny, and despite what they say, it still seems to have some kind of political underlining to it, which sounds tacky at best. However, if their acts really are innocuous, then why are they describing it here as terrorism? Isn't that a little extreme, or is it an attempt to trivialize the meaning of terrorism?
I think they're making a mistake to launch this line with a book involving a political theme, and the whole idea of making this about "real people", which may turn out to be far from real as the story comes to light, may have been the wrong way to go too. Surely they didn't consider that girls are just as interested in fantasy and escapism as boys are? And where did DC ever get the idea that "the real world" in and of itself was what would appeal to girls as part of this line? A better idea would've been to publish an adventure in the Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld vein. Why do they think that realism is truly what girls want? It all sounds very odd to me.
Open trackbacks: Big Dog's Weblog, bRight and Early, The Hill Chronicles, MacBros. Place, Pirates' Cove, Point Five.
Labels: dc comics
