Customer Reviews

The Plain Janes (Minx Graphic Novels)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a 25-year-old female comics fan, and I've been impressed with the "Minx" line [I've read "Re-Gifters", "Kimmie66", "Confessions of a Blabbermouth", "Good as Lily", and "Clubbing"]. I was really looking forward to "The Plain Janes", given my previous enjoyment of the rest of the line. I was sadly mistaken.

The biggest issue with "The Plain Janes" is that every character who is not the central character is completely one-dimensional. All of the adults are cardboard cut-outs who scream, freak out, and are otherwise completely unreasonable. The other students each have one particular trait [sporty, nerdy, theater geek, gay, good-looking, popular] and that's about it. Even the main character isn't terribly well-rounded, as all she seems to do is freak out, not freak out, and talk about how awesome it is that she's brought art to the obviously lacking suburb which she lives.

The pseudo-9/11 plot does nothing for this book except drag it down. It's overused to the point of being boring, and all it does is set up a couple of ridiculous scenes where Jane's mother yells at her, and then Jane acts surprised when she's grounded for sneaking out of the house and hitchhiking nine hours to check on a John Doe she writes to at the hospital.

This book needed a better writer. Mike Carey, who wrote "Confessions of a Blabbermouth" and "Re-Gifters" should have been given this book. He writes teenagers much more realistically than Cecil Castellucci and does so in a way that doesn't make the adults come off as horrible, useless things that are just out to stop the teenagers from having a good time.

Read the rest of the "Minx" line, or buy it for the teenage girl in your life, but let this one rot on the shelf.

First off, I'll give you a little disclaimer. I'm a 21 year old male, so this book really wasn't written for me at all, but as a writer and fan of comics, I decided to give it a try.

The story is interesting, but Castellucci has a bit of a problem with dialog. The characters really sound like they were written, not how they would talk. It all just has a bit of an exposition feel to it the entire way through.

Rugg's art is effective here, but not all that impressive. It doesn't detract from the story being told, but I also thought it didn't really enhance it

Now, onto the characters. This is where I had the biggest problem with things. The main character of Jane is pretty well nuanced and rounded, but every other character in the book is just a stereotypical cardboard cutout of a cliched character type. The police officer is always screaming, the gay male character is always being so incredibly effeminate it's off-putting, the drama crazed Jane is constantly speaking as if here words were pulled directly from Shakespeare. This is an OK template to build a character off of, but absolutely nobody acts like this in real life. I could understand the use of character types like this in a book designed for children, but I would think that teenagers would desire something a little more dynamic

One other criticism here, and this just really smacks of a first time comic book writer. How in the world does Jane get a phone that automatically picks up and broadcasts in speakerphone without any input from the user? This is absolutely ridiculous, and I really think that it's a very visible crutch that Castellucci uses more than once in the story

All in all though, despite all of my critiques, I mildly enjoyed the book...it's not nearly the worst thing I've ever read, but it just didn't resonate for me. I would like to see what Castellucci can do in the future, but she's going to have to improve over her debut.

I just got--and read--Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg's graphic novel THE PLAIN JANES yesterday afternoon. What a wonderful book. I loved the characters and the ideas. I loved the art. I liked how clean the pages felt, and how so much of the story seemed to be told in the pictures. I kept flipping back in the pictures to gather more information.

Art is important. I think sometimes about how millenia ago, when survival was far more difficult and people spent most of every day trying to get food and shelter, but still, they created art. It is a need, to do more than survive, to leave a mark in the world, to do something that is just for the beauty of it. Sometimes we forget that, but it seems the most extreme experiences help us remember.

I'm a 27-year-old male, but I could relate to the characters in The Plain Janes. I could especially relate to the protagonist, Jane. Or should I say Main Jane?

Art was an outlet of expression, an outlet of relaxation, for me during high school. Seeing the Janes create art everywhere, as an escapsim from the world, was very interesting. I wish I would have thought of that.

I want to commend the creators of this graphic novel. It was 45-minute read that was better than any television show I saw this week and well worth my money.

Pick up this book if you're interested in fun literature -- and be glad to be P.L.A.I.N.

This is the first book from the new Minx line of DC Comics.

As a debut, it is something fairly promising for the line. The previews in the back give me the feeling that much better stuff is coming up as well.

As a comic, the story works and the art is clean and coherent. While the story works, it is far from perfect, there is something missing from most of the story elements. By the standards of other graphic novels, this serves as a breath of fresh air (and hopefully the DC association will get some superhero comic readers to check it out). The author, on her first graphic novel, has an excellent sense of the comic medium, better then some of the higher profile talent that the Big Two have hired.

This gets a recommend from me. If you have the extra time and money then its a good thing to read over an hour or so. But I wouldn't go to the ends of the Earth to hunt it down.

A friend of mine gave me this book; he thought I would really enjoy the different personalities of the girls with the same name. I wasn't so sure. I really don't like teen angst or girls who are into cliques and fitting in, but boy was I wrong. I was immediately sucked into the story. The lead character, Jane, has to leave her home in Metro City due to a terrorist attack and finds her self in a small suburb of the city all alone. I loved watching Jane find her niche in the small town. She finally finds where she wanted to be: with the other Janes. It was interesting to see how determined she was to make friends with these girls even though they didn't want anything to do with her or each other for that matter. Each of the girls had something they wanted to do, none of them were a like, which eventually brought them all together. The girls decide to form a group called P.L.A.I.N. (people loving art in neighborhoods) and jazz up their suburb by making objects throughout the town into large pieces of art. This causes many of the adults in town to think that the kids are destroying their simple, small town life and impose strict rules for all teenagers. Now that all that is said, there is a whole side story with the main Jane, which I didn't see coming and it really exposed me to what teens go through when they have been involved in a major disaster and how they deal with other teens and adults. It really is a book about growing older, dealing with boys and real world problems. Some of the dialogue bothered me, it was boring at times and I didn't necessarily have to be told some of things that they said. But I guess that comes with the graphic novel territory. I highly recommend this book for girls around 13-16; these girls deal with things that most teenage girls can relate to. Overall I really enjoyed reading this book, it was a quick and easy read and for a person who doesn't read all that often it's a miracle! This book definitely got me in touch with my inner PLAIN Jane.

After terrorism strikes Metro City, Jane's parents move the family to the suburbs, but Jane can't seem to make friends with the few people who interest her. Eventually she enlists these "losers" in a bold guerilla art project that could bring to life both the conformist suburban town and Jane's own adrift self. This moving graphic novel layers meanings into both the drawings and the text, and, like Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl (Readers Circle), celebrates art, creative nonconformity, and risk-taking.

Art saves and art heals are the themes of The Plain Janes a graphic novel created in the MINX imprint, a new line of graphic novels that uses the popular media to tell stories that traditionally would be done in written format.

Jane was walking the streets of New York when a bomb went off near her. Her parents freak out and move the family to the suburbs to protect their darling Jane. But Jane wants to stay in the city so she can keep visiting her comatose friend, a man she calls John Doe. He has been in a coma since the day of the bombing. She visits him in the hospital and has taken up sketching to honor him, since he was carrying and dropped a sketchbook that day. For whatever reason, she takes a major interest in him and feels devastated that she won't be able to continue her frequent visits.

Now she is trying to start a new life. Interestingly enough, she is determined NOT to be in the popular crowd. Instead, she finds paradise in the reject lunch table, at which sits three girls named Jane: a drama geek, a jock, and a whiz kid. Our main Jane doggedly finds ways to connect with these girls until they call her a friend. She wants to use art as therapy for her sadness. During the accident, she found a small dandelion, a thing of beauty that made a different to her in the moment. Now she wants to be a living incarnation of that dandelion, a thing of beauty in the middle of chaos. She and the Janes start an underground group that installs art in the middle of the night. The art is treated maliciously, as if it was gang graffiti instead of whimsically fun. What type of projects do they create? They hang bottles from a tree that give people instructions like sing, play sports, or give someone a hug. They put bubbles in the city fountain. And my personal favorite, they spread stuffed animals over the lawn of an animal shelter.

Her home life conflicts continue, due to her mother, who is convinced she will die if she leaves the suburbs. Her midnight trysts with the Janes are the one shining light in her life.

I like how Jane became friends with the other Janes. She just went after them, trying the activities they liked in order to get close to them. I like how she resisted becoming a popular kid. The concept of this story was very intriguing. But the ending was weak and disappointing. There was no closure, although I don't think there will be sequel. And Jane lets a good friend take a hit for her and tries little to correct the mistake. It felt like a huge buildup with little payoff. Still, the Plain Janes will be enjoyed by girls that long to rail against the system.

Plain Janes is an interesting, comic sort of story right from the get go. With Jane's move from Metro City, where she experienced a traumatic bombing (in the first several frames), there is more to Jane's back story than expected. I know that I found myself trying to figure out if "Metro City" was supposed to be some city today, with some connection to an attack or event, but I had to give that up to go with the story. Although Jane has experienced something traumatic, that has changed who she is, the story is more about her difference and others who feel different right along with her.

Jane has a nice bunch of "misfit" Janes that she befriends and is able to convince to start this gang of "artists" who go out doing obscure things to garner attention for art. In this case, that art is an expression of some sort, which intimidates the law and everyone else who are trying to keep some order to Suburbia. Of course, to this mix we have to add a mysterious boy, who may or may not like Jane. What teen story would be complete without the mysterious guy who seems to notice how unique our main heroine really is?

Plain Janes was an interesting read, with what felt like a heartier theme than I've felt from other graphic novels I've read in awhile. There are some unique, gutsy characters to go along with the themes, so you really feel unable to predict the story. As with most graphic novels I've read, I enjoyed Plain Janes for the interesting reading experience and story. It's nice to get a message, but in a different way.

After a terrorist attack strikes Metro City, Jane's parents move her to suburbia. No museums and a whole new school. She knows the drill and just wants to find some like-minded kids. She finds a table that seems perfect at lunch, surprisingly filled with Janes. The Janes decide to start up P.L.A.I.N., People Loving Art In Neighborhoods, and decorate the town in beauty. There's love and mystery and covert missions. High school kids trying to make the world see beauty instead of fear.

This was an interesting post 9/11 tale. I love street art when it's classy and not just someone's name crappily spray-painted on something. Loved seeing all the different art projects that the Janes got up to. Damon, oh Damon you silly fool. He was a fun character and one of my favorite scenes involves him and Jane. Officer Sanchez reminds me of Farva from Super Troopers. The way he looks and acts just cracks me up. Each of the Janes are fun and quirky and different. I loved how different they were, but still were held together by a common thread. This is one of my favorite Minx books and I recommend it highly to girls who love graphic novels.

First Lines:
"Metro City. Last spring. When it happened, I fell. There was a pop and then nothing. I didn't know what was happening."

Favorite Line:
"Maybe, just maybe, art does save."