10 Superhero Comic Books Your Kids Should Be Reading
There was a time when parents warned their kiddos that reading comics would rot their brains. Okay, some people still say that, but I'm sure a lot of you would love for your kids to put down that Xbox controller and just read something!
The fam and I are in the local comic shop every Wednesday like obedient comic nerds and I'll let the uninitiated in on a little secret... comic books really aren't for kids. Case in point: Supergirl.
I'm not referring to older teenagers, of course, as I'm sure plenty of the mainstream books are suitable. However, tweens and younger should be relegated to the comic shop's (appallingly) small kiddie section. Don't worry, your geeklings will dig this stuff, too!
Both DC and Marvel have age-appropriate titles that feature your kids' favorite superheroes. Best of all, they are self-contained stories, so your kids won't get lost if they miss an issue or two. (Saves you money in the long run, that. Trust me, collecting is a disease.)
I heartily recommend the following titles for your little ones. (We have been picking up some of these and tucking them away for our toddlers, lest they someday resort to Daddy's Punisher collection and suffer intense trauma.)
- Justice League Unlimited
- The Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century
- Super Friends (Issue #1 due on March 19 -- w00t!)
- Teen Titans Go!
- Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four
- Marvel Adventures Hulk
- Marvel Adventures Iron Man
- Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- Marvel Adventures The Avengers
- Marvel Adventures Two-In-One
This is great information! I know on more than one occasion when my husband was collecting I wondered how 'children' could read some of comics. They are so 'adult'; is there a reason they 'need' to draw them so provocatively? I guess it brings in more sales...dunno.
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Honestly, I don't know if it drives sales as much as they think it does. I mean, stuff like Vampirella and Lady Death is obvious cheesecake material, but I don't think the male fans would complain if Supergirl's skirt covered a bit more skin... as long as the story's good, right? She can look sexy without looking like a porn star IMO.
I don't have a knee-jerk feminist reaction to it or anything (after all, I don't know any men who are built like Batman), but it's definitely not for kids.
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Oh thank you. I like comics for the art work (usually indie work) and manga and so seldom like ones that are appropriate for children and all my husband really likes is Spiderman and Batman Dark Knight. My kids love "Bone" and "Calvin and Hobbes" and want to go to the comic book store and buy comics like daddy's and I am afraid I am clueless there. I can lead them to suitable manga but not regular comics (Sugar and Angelic Layer are both awesome!).
I told hubby about this and he was thrilled as well. Thank you.
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That's awesome, I hope they like some of these. Other than The Goon and The Walking Dead, I'm strictly a superhero comic reader.
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I agree with your reccommendations. I also suggest the old-school Archie comics, since they're pretty clean-cut.
Also of note: the latest Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four is written by a guy who is a well-known author who teaches at my college, who wrote (among others) Bubba Ho-Tep.
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I LOVE BUBBA HO-TEP!
I think that was Campbell's finest role. We've even played several wargames of Elvis taking on lesbian Nazi vampires, a brain washing fast food chain and a used car salesman selling cursed used cars to gain souls for the devil. Great fun!
Would love to see another movie, comic book or even a TV series of Elvis kicking some ass with that walker!
Tell him he has some hardcore fans over at the Cottrell residence.
B
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It may not be a widely held opinion among comic book readers, but I would like to see more self-contained stories in all titles. Especially considering today's prices.
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I think that's why a lot of people are becoming "wait for trade" readers. Too many titles, too expensive, etc.
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Great post. My 7-year-old, like his father, is a huge comics fan and collector.
btw - I love your blog.
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My son and I just saw Tiny Titans at the store the other day (I grabbed it because it was an issue 1). It's very kid friendly but you can tell from the art that it's geared towards kids. Anyway, it's not TEEN titans. It's kids.
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Why not just give the kids old superhero comics?
The Marvel Essentials are very inexpensive and collect a ton of great superhero comics from back in the days when-- you know-- superhero comics were actually aimed at kids.
Kirby's Fantastic Four and Ditko's Spider-Man are totally readable and fun for just about every age.
Maybe the fashion and lingo is a tad out of date, but the situations and characters are totaly relevant and identifiable.
I gave some old Ditko Spider-Man reprints to a 5 year old recently and he devoured them!
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That's a great point! The DC Showcase series is super cheap, too.
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I think I muist have read over half of those
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It's one of the things I lament about todays comics is very few are kid-friendly. And most of the ones that are are too cartoony. That's one thing I like about the Marvel Adventures line, they are drawn for the most part like regular superhero comics, but with the 1-shot PG-rated stories like we grew up on. I'm not sure why kids comics have to be drawn so cartoony. Some of the my most vivid comic memories were of stuff like the grim and gritty look of Batman v. Ra's Al Ghul back in the 70s/early 80s. Yet they were still kid friendly.
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Oh, and I'm letting my 7 year old daughter read the first 5 issues of The Power Pack circa 1984, which are about the only kid-oriented comics I could dig up on short notice when she decided she wanted to read comics like me, but she wanted ones with kids in them.
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I'm also a Marvel comic book fan. I have a boxful of them in the attic. I'm handling those treasures to my children one day.
I'm also an avid Archie fan...hehe
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I feel children need a balance of both. We read certain books in class which I choose, and they choose books within an assigned genre or level for outside/project reading. I use the books I choose to teach a specific skill or theme. Then I trust the students to choose a book which matches their interests to reinforce the lesson taught. How else will they learn to make good choices if they aren't allowed to practice doing so?
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When I was a child, I never imagined that comics would have the influence over popular culture that they now do.
Excellent first article! All the best to you.
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I will read time to time that...
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