• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, November 28, 2006

In a departure from industry targeting practices, DC Comics Monday unveiled plans for MINX, the first imprint from a major American comic book publisher aimed at teenage girls. The new imprint, which launches in May 2007 with the publication of The Plain Janes, comes as comic books and comic book characters are expanding their audience base due to a variety of new media platforms, especially television.

Long a popular source for theatrical films such as "Spiderman," "Batman" and "Superman," comic books are emerging as the hottest genre on television, contributing to the only breakout hit of the new season, NBC's "Heroes." Although "Heroes" is not adapted from an actual comic book, its characters and storylines are based on the genre and are sparking an interest from a broader base of viewers, not just the traditional teen and young adult male readers that have sustained what has remained a niche publishing sector, despite its role as a source of programming content.

"Heroes," in fact, is helping to popularize the print format as well, and is utilizing the Internet to do so. As part of the online, multimedia extensions of the popular prime-time series, NBC.com is offering weekly installments of a printable online comic book based on the show.

The popularity of "Heroes" is expected to fuel a new wave of network TV development that will mine plenty of me-too super hero spin-off projects.

The genre, meanwhile, has grown popular enough to spawn its own new TV network, the Hero Television Network, which will go live as a broadband channel on Friday, and is negotiating video-on-demand distribution deals with major cable TV operators.

While comic books have never broken through as a major media buy on Madison Avenue, the genre has been an effective way of reaching teenage boys and young men who have proven otherwise difficult to reach via other media. But comic books have never been a significant vehicle for targeting girls.

To help give its new imprint a super human start, DC has put Karen Berger, the senior vice president and executive editor who helped nurture DC's successful Vertigo comic book line - an imprint credited with helping to spark a new wave of interest among grown-up readers during the 1990s - in charge of the new imprint.

To help launch the new series, DC has retained youth-marketing specialist Alloy Media + Marketing for a yearlong marketing campaign. Details were not disclosed, but Alloy is known for campaigns that have a strong viral component.