Breathing New Life into Comic Collections: Drawn & Quarterly's Choice to Reformat & Republish for a Young Readership

Graphic novels and comic reprints have recently surged in popularity due to Hollywood adaptations and bestselling titles such as Art Spiegelman’s Maus and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. Despite these successes, publishers still struggle to find the right audience for many comic collections. This report focuses on Drawn & Quarterly’s decision to reprint two comic collections in smaller, kid-friendly editions. It analyzes why D+Q decided to reformat the Janssons’ Moomin comics and Mizuki’s Kitaro manga for specific readerships, with a focus on the emerging genre of crossover literature. The importance of accessibility for serialized comics/manga and crossover literature is underlined as a reason why these titles are ideal for a redesign, and the production work done by the D+Q staff to turn each title into a “kid-friendly” work is explained. Lastly, the report offers insight on how publishers can use D+Q’s tactic for their own success.