You’ve no doubt heard this complaint from people who Talk About Comics:
“Why is comics’ biggest publisher farming out all its all-ages books to another company? Doesn’t it know the kids’ graphic novel market is a goldmine?”
We’ve made that observation over and over and over again.
Welp, Marvel’s apparently licensed its characters out to another publisher for more young-reader content.
But this time it’s good, actually.
Marvel on Thursday announced a partnership with Scholastic’s Graphix graphic novel imprint to produce a line of OGNs starring its characters. The first book, “Miles Morales: Shock Waves,” is due out next spring and will be written by Justin A. Reynolds and drawn by Pablo Leon. Future books are expected to star Ms. Marvel and Shuri.
A diverse lineup of characters, in the middle grade graphic novel format, published by the leader in book fairs and the home of “Bone,” “Dog Man” and Raina Telgemeier?
THAT’S HOW YOU HOOK THE YOUTHS, BABY!
Marvel licensing out all-ages floppies to IDW never made sense because it felt like a declaration of “Yeah, we don’t know how to market to younger readers. You publish ‘My Little Pony,’ you figure it out.”
Take it from the father of a 9-year-old in the target market. My son has a shortbox of floppies, but they largely sit ignored, buried in his closet under loose bedding and clothes that have fallen off their hangers. His “Dog Man” and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” books, on the other hand, have a hallowed position on the shelf next to his bed, ready to be read at a moment’s notice.
Don’t get me wrong: He likes superheroes, but he’s more likely to read his digest-size trade of “Spider-Man & Venom: Double Trouble” than he is a loose issue of “Marvel Action: Spider-Man.”
By hooking up with Scholastic, Marvel is still acknowledging it doesn’t have the internal infrastructure to target the middle grade market, but it’s finally figured out who actually does and how to leverage them. It’s a smart partnership, a way to be competitive with DC’s Graphic Novels for Kids and a win all around.
Now if only Marvel could make up its mind on its digital-only series.
Dan Grote is the editor-in-chief of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Winston Wisdom.
