200810170220We know the last thing you want to read is another Minx autopsy, but Shaenon K. Garrity just had to go there:

I can think of two other key causes of Minx’s demise. First, they didn’t do a crappy vampire comic. As someone who works in the manga business, I can attest that if you want to sell to teenage girls, you put out something with vampires in it. It doesn’t have to be any good. Just look at Twilight. One crappy vampire comic could have kept Minx afloat for years.
Second, almost none of the creators involved could draw sexy guys. No offense to my dear friends Derek Kirk Kim and Jesse Hamm, creators of the excellent Minx book Good as Lily, but you know what Derek’s idea of a handsome male lead is? Somebody who looks exactly like Derek Kirk Kim. And that was one of the better efforts. Most of the artists could not top the raw sexual power of a skinny Korean guy in checkered Vans.


Garrity uses this as a jumping-off point to poll experts on which artists draw the sexiest guys in comics. Mike Mignola and Jaime Hernandez are frequently mentioned, but the winner is…Carla Speed McNeil…to which we can only say, “Hubba, hubba!”

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1 COMMENT

  2. Nice one, Dave! Was Minx really trying to break into the “manga business” or into the “YA business”? Because while the two can overlap, they’re not the same thing. Yesterday, while at Borders (mourning their eventual demise), I was looking through the manga section. I saw Plain Janes shelved among the books. It did NOT look like it belonged there — wrong dimensions, wrong spine size, wrong art design. Everything about its presentation said: “I’m not supposed to be here.” I’m sure I’m not the first person to say that.

  5. David – indeed, what she actually seems to saying is “it wasn’t manga” but hasn’t original manga just gone down the shitter as well?

  6. My question: Was Minx *trying* to tap the manga audience? If so, they were waaaaay off.

    Is original manga going down the shitter? I don’t know. I just read DEATH NOTE (all twelve volumes) and YOTSUBA&!, which were two of the best comics I’ve read in a long, long time.

  8. I think Charles Knight was referring to the troubles with original manga-influenced works produced outside of Japan. There’s been a lot of talk lately how few publishers are putting money behind those projects unless they are based on popular franchises. But there’s still plenty of great Japanese manga being imported into the states for sure, and Death Note and Yotsuba are at the top of the quality list.

  10. I don’t want to stereotype (or make implications about any artist’s sexuality), but as a rule, to get hot-looking guys you usually need to hire straight/bi female or gay/bi male artists (e.g. P.Craig Russell, Eric Shanower, Phil Jimenez, Stephen Sadowski). Straight guys just don’t do it very well.

  11. I vote Deal Haspiel for drawing the hottest guys. But maybe that’s just my love of hairy, bulky men, though. You get a little tired of seeing either super skinny or ultra shaved men in your comics pages after a while. Lumberjacks and cowboys are IN, baby! :D

  12. I vote Deal Haspiel for drawing the hottest guys. But maybe that’s just my love of hairy, broad-shouldered (but not overmuscled) men, though. You get a little tired of seeing either super skinny or ultra shaved men in your comics pages after a while. Lumberjacks and cowboys are IN, baby! :D

  13. Here are my nominees for Best Beefcake Artist (and they draw sweet cheesecake too, and are all-around-capital T-talented):

    Colleen Doran

    Alan Davis (Even his ugly characters are a thing of beauty!)

    Kevin Maguire

    Frank Cho (Yes, his males tend to be from the shallow end of the gene pool, but the occasional hunk, like Brandy’s fiance, are eye candy.)

    Steve Rude (Go Google his shirtless Race Bannon!)

    I like the previously mentioned artists, so did not repeat them here. Also, I am a hetersexual male, so my aesthetic judgement is different from others.

    Now… which Legionaire would you like to see on a bearskin rug, and by which artist?

  14. Lots of straight artists draw hot guys, like Alan Davis, Darwyn Cooke, Steve Rude, Al Williamson, John Bolton, Gene Colan, Russ Heath, Adam Hughes, Gil Kane, Joe Kubert, Jae Lee, Kevin Maguire, Kevin Nowlan, Yannick Paquette, Chris Sprouse, Leinil Yu, etc. That being said, I think P. Craig Russell and Carla Speed McNeil draw the hottest guys.
    I also think there are more artists in American comic paying attention to male bodies than in European comics. Or maybe that’s just my tastes in men speaking…

  18. Eric Shanower. Much agreement on Alan Davis and P Craig Russell. Nicola Scott, Michael Ryan, Amanda Conner, and Tim Fish also bring it when it comes to pin-up worthy men.