I think the confusion arises from the fact that superhero comics are, for the most part, children's-style comics aimed at and read by adults. This leads the adults who read comic books to think that all children's comics should appeal to them, and that children's comics that don't pander to adult interests must be stupid or bad.

Of the comics in Shonen Jump, "One Piece" is the only one I would recommend without hesitation to adults; it has the generation-crossing simplicity of Cole's Plastic Man or Beck's Captain Marvel. The other titles are aimed more solidly at preteen boys. I enjoy most of them (okay, I don't get the appeal of "Yu-Gi-Oh!"), but I kind of have to think like a preteen boy.
Shaenon | Email | Homepage | 11.20.03 - 2:02 pm | #

Well, there's also the theory that all men are really just preteen boys deep down. Look at men and their high-priced electronic "toys" ;)

(To really geek out, the earlier chapters of "Yu-Gi-Oh!" reminded me of the Fleischer/Aparo Spectre, only with more gaming.)
John Jakala | Email | Homepage | 11.20.03 - 2:30 pm | #

Nice work John. :)

I ended up doing a response here.
Shawn Fumo | Email | Homepage | 11.20.03 - 9:38 pm | #

Hi John: I'm a little concerned that my item about my kids' reading preferences has been misinterpreted. My son loves a superhero comic - Justice League Adventures. That book is specifically written and drawn for children and he responds to it. It's the mainline books, which are clearly written and drawn for you and me, that don't catch his interest.

Obviously the Cartoon Network connection with JLA plays a role here too. All of the books my son and daughter pick up on are TV property licenses. My son loves superheroes as such. I suspect my daughter, the PPG fan, will too. It's comic books as they are presently written and drawn that don't appeal. I am inclined to think that, were dad not modeling comics reading, they might not have a great deal of interest even in the kids titles.

Acid test would come if I could bring myself to pay money for Teen Titans. My son loves the show. The comic book has the same name but is not written or drawn like the show. My hypothesis is that he would give it barely a sniff.
Jim Henley | Email | Homepage | 11.21.03 - 9:43 am | #

Jim -

I understood your point, but perhaps my own wasn't clear. I was referring to the "mainline books" that most comic bloggers spend their time kvetching about. As far as I recall, I don't remember anyone complaining about the quality of Justice League Adventures.
John Jakala | Email | Homepage | 11.21.03 - 10:11 am | #

AH. Got it. I have a weird update though. My three-year-old daughter was fascinated by JLA: Liberty and Justice from the moment she set eyes on it. Way more than her father, actually.
Jim Henley | Email | Homepage | 11.21.03 - 7:52 pm | #

Maybe it's the format. I used to LOVE those Marvel and DC Treasury Editions when I was a kid. Maybe kids are drawn to bigger comics in general.
John Jakala | Email | Homepage | 11.22.03 - 12:03 pm | #

Could be! Problem being, of course, that retailers must despise them, since they're the farthest thing from shelf-friendly. (I don't mean just direct-market retailers here, but any bookstore and most newsstands too.)

There are a lot of full-on painted books for children - though not so many where people speak voluminous paragraphs with their mouths resolutely closed - so there appears to be something kid-friendly about painting too.
Jim Henley | Email | Homepage | 11.22.03 - 1:01 pm | #