Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Dynamite | Tagged: disney, graphic novel, maleficent, ya

Maleficent Had a 90,000 Launch, Now Gets YA-Style Digest Collections

Dynamite is collecting their Disney Villains: Maleficent comic by Soo Lee in a digest style aimed at a YA audience.

Published Thu, 25 Jan 2024 17:57:08 -0600

Article Summary

Dynamite collects 'Disney Villains: Maleficent' with a 90,000 first issue launch into YA digest editions.
Soo Lee's series will be available in 6" by 9" hardcover and paperback formats for YA and MG readers.
Complete series including a variant cover gallery is over 130 pages, featuring iconic cover art by Jae Lee.
Shift reflects comics industry trend of targeting YA audiences as the new generation of readers.

Dynamite is collecting their Disney Villains: Maleficent comic, which launched with 90,000 orders for the first issue last year. The series written and drawn by Soo Lee, is being collected in a different fashion to Dynamite's usual approach. Maleficent will be published in 6" by 9" digest-sized editions, in both hardcover and paperback, simultaneously aimed for bookstore and library shelves, for YA and MG audiences, for March 2024.

"Queen Maleficent rules the Forbidden Woods. It's a mysterious land shrouded in darkness and steeped in evil. Countless kings and knights have traveled from far and wide to try and vanquish this realm and expunge its threats, including the Forbidden Mountain. Many have fallen prey at the hands of the dark queen Maleficent. But she's more than she seems; she cherishes her kingdom and embraces her responsibilities.

"Writer and artist Soo Lee has crafted five stellar chapters starring the beloved and complicated Disney Villain Maleficent. She's joined by letterer Jeff Eckleberry for a lean and mean creative team, executing their crafts at a top level for fans of Disney's magical characters.

"This new collection features the complete published series as well as a gallery of variant covers at just over 130 pages. All under an instantly iconic cover by superstar artist Jae Lee. The book will be available as either a paperback or a hardcover. Both editions are being produced at dimensions of 6 by 9 inches, a digest size ideal for young adult readers. Introduce teen and Disney fan customers to the latest exciting Disney stories found exclusively in the comics medium."

Recently, DC Comics has been repackaging certain comics, like Prez, to be aimed at such a market, that it has previously tackled with original graphic novels. The expansion of children's graphic novels is fuelling all manner of publishers extending into the comics medium. Right now it seems like an infinite market that is being tapped into, and creating longstanding comic book readers for decades to come. It is not for nothing that kids and YA graphic novels in bookstores are being referred to as the newsstand of the twenty-first century, and the future readers of the medium are being formed and created right here, right now.