Kids DO love comics! I have proof.
So on a flight from Chicago to Kansas City a few days ago I ended up sitting across from a young boy of about 8 or 9. I was reading the latest Giffen/Dematteis/Maguire tpb and minding my own business when out of the corner of my eye I saw the young man in question literally staring slackjawed at the book. He was mezmerized.
And I, giving soul that I am, shared my Justice League bounty with the boy. I had a the latest Justice League Unlimited digest collection on hand so I let him read that while I finished my BWAHAHA masterpiece. Once we landed he bombarded me with questions about where he could find more comics like that and I directed him towards the many fine bookstores (including the one that I work at) in the KC area.
It was a great moment and one that's far too rare. Kids want to read comics. They love 'em just as much as I did when I was their age. Sadly, neither DC or Marvel really make an effort to put their books in places where kids can readily find them. And when they do, they're overpriced and often filled with inapropriate content.
And people wonder how comics turned into a niche medium...
posted by Josh Elder @ 1:24 AM
5 Comments:
Excellent story and I agree with your conclusions from it. I always see lots of kids at local conventions and comic shop events. They want to read about superheroes, but we're making it too hard for them.
I've been in a similar situation, and it is encouraging to see how excited the younger set gets when they're introduced to comics. In my case it was through some Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures collections I had with me on a flight.
Though, considering you work at a store and would be able to replace them fairly cheaply, I'm a little suprised you didn't give your books to the kid. Imagine how that might've impacted him -- being able to take 'em home, re-re-re-read them, and then have something specific to show the folks while he's bugging them to drive him to your store.
That doesn't take away from your story, or your gesture to share the reading experience, though. Nicely done.
Yep. Kids do like comics -- in spite of the fact that they are being brainwashed by the public education system here in the U.S. not to.
A few years ago I got into a rather "sprited" discussion along these lines at a comic book store in Indianapolis, where I used to live.
Comic books, you see, usually involve some sort of conflict between good and evil, between empirical right and wrong. Kids these days are being taught that there is no such thing as right and wrong -- only different points of view.
In a school system like virtually every one in the U.S. these days with a moronic "zero-tolerance" policy toward anything remotely scarey, where little kids are expelled simply for drawing pictures of guns, can you imagine the trouble one would get into for having a Justice League comic on campus?
It's a horrible world for kids these days. It would be nice if more could find the freedom they seek between the pages of a comic book. But I wouldn't want to be the adult charged with providing such sedicious material to a minor by some brain-dead school teacher.
Hmm.. sorry for ranting in your comments section.
they like candy, too.
and rides from strangers.
Nice story, Josh. Some 25 years ago I had a similar experience, only not so much. I was in a local store w/a news rack that still sold comics. As I was looking over the comics a youngster (10, 12?) saw me looking at the comics, and asked in awe, “Do you read comics?” (I’m guessing that I was probably the first “adult” he ever saw interested in comics).
I smiled, and said “Yes, I do, and I’ve been reading them since I was younger than you.” Whereupon the boy turned to his mother (who had just approached us) and said (with the same awe-filled voice, “Mom, he reads comics!”
The mother (who was about 200 lbs overweight, and looked like poor white trash was a step up for her) looked me up and down, sizing me up as the deviant she was sure that I was, and said with all the disgust she could muster. “So what?” Then left with her son (who was completely crestfallen) in tow.
I tell you, it was everything I could do to keep from punching her square in the face. The kid was so obviously looking for some kind of creative outlet, and an adult who would codify his imagination, and this woman crushed him like the constant irritant to her life that he was. To this day I regret that I had no comeback for her .
I’m glad your story ended better than mine.
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