Are Comics Still For Kids?

Marvel: Not for kids.

Dark Horse: Not for kids.

DC: Definitely not for kids.

Some are. But most aren't

As if comics are still for kids...

Interesting article, even if it was written over half a decade ago.

I don't really see how the current range of DC books are aimed at kids at all. The violence can be quite confronting. Batman in particular often has quite graphic violence and gore that I personally find a little tiring (and I'm no prude).

The DC Animated Movies are also surprisingly violent, and I bet more young people are watching those.

So yeah, I think they're too violent and it often isn't necessary.

The comics made for kids are.

bump.

Honestly, depends on the writer.

It doesn't depend on age, whether its a teenager or kid or even an adult, it matters on the readers maturity.I'm 15 and I read that issue when I was 13 and i didn't pay much attention to that scene.But I read the Grant Morrison run of Batman and Robin which I borrowed from a "older friend" when I was 11 and got traumatized by it. I couldn't sleep fro a month or two and then I told him to lend me the latest issues as they come and now I don't get scared by them anymore. The only recent comic which i got scared of was Death Of The Family.

So.......The content of the comic is judged differently by everyone according to their mentality.There are still some 50 year olds who are afraid of Joker while my brother used to be afraid of him until the age of 9.

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They are still for kids but 30 years ago these comics wouldn't be for kids. I am 18 years old and I saw watchmen when i was 14 in theaters, My brother who is 8 saw django unchained. It doesn't matter how strict you are as a parent people under 15 are going to watch this shit at there friends house or on there computer. I remember swearing when i was like 9. So compared to all the movies and tv kids watch these days these comics aren't that bad

Even back in the 70s I didn't think it was for kids.

They had people killing each other even back then

I, as a teen, am neutral on the issue. I mean if teens are considered kids then heck yeah, they are definitely for kids. But honestly would any of us read the same comic that a ten year old boy asks his father to explain? Comics are comics. I'm sure some random 8 year old asks his parents to buy him a random superman comic at the book store just to check up. And by the way they make comics for kids. Ever heard of Tiny Titans.

Nope and have not been since the kids who grew up reading them in the post Watchmen/DKR era started writing them and took all the wrong lessons about "mature stories" from the above mentioned.

I'm not saying it's a good thing that kids are no longer reading comics, I'm just saying that we as a readership and an industry need to accept the reality that they are not and haven't been for about twenty years. Look around your LCS, I bet there are very few children. I see maybe one a month, and that one doesn't even necessarily buy anything. One reason is that comic companies are terrible at gaining new audiences, like I said, most people, especially kids are unaware that comics even exist. As long as comics only market to their base through house ads or Previews that won't change.Even more so the case is that comic books were most popular for children in the time before home television, video games, and big special effects movies. Kids have plenty of other opportunities for entertainment now, and static pictures on a page are just not the most exciting of options. Especially when you consider that you can get maybe five comics for the price of one full length retail video game, a kid's limited allowance is not going to go to the funny books. It just won't. It's the same reason action figures are becoming increasingly a collector's market. If books being too mature was the issue, then all ages comics would not have such trouble in sustaining themselves. There are manye issues in play, but comics being geared towards adults is simply an effect and not a cause.

Just because kids don't read comics, it doesn't mean the industry will die out either. As kids grow into their young adult years, the ones who really love superheroes will often do research, and find out where their favorite characters got their start. Once they are more mature and have more disposable income then they are more likely to start reading. I read maybe 10 single issues in my entire life before I turned 13 years old, and that was back when you could actually pick up comics in a Wal-Mart, grocery store, or 711 (now you can't). It wasn't until I was 16 that I actually read comics with any regularity. But even if traditional superhero comics as we know them aren't around in 100 years (sequential art in some form has been around through all of human history, and it won't ever completely disappear), that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It just means that it's something nobody wants. The only people who will miss comics like you and myself will be long dead in that scenario anyway.

The kids who aren't buying them and aren't aware they exist are the kids who won't be buying them and won't be sustaining the industry when the rest of us are old or dead. If you want comics to have another hundred years, you should care about whether kids read them or not.

The bottom line here I think is not whether comics are acceptable for children or not, but rather that THEY DON'T read comics in the first place. They just don't. I think it would be very sad if comics were to hold back artistic intent in order to not offend a group that isn't even buying them and more likely isn't even aware they exist.

My thirteen yr old brother read this and didn't even mention it to me so he musn't have considered it a big deal. Our younger generation is diving head first into a lot of mature material in all kinds of media so by the age of 12 they're prepared for almost everything. That being said, a gun shot and blood is nothing, but I think a huge close up of a gruesome head shot is going overboard for a teen book. However, they should not start aiming for a younger audience because it really detracts from the books.

Does it matter? Comics are still seen as a Childrens medium. Society still feels that they are for children. Which is whats limiting the genre right now. If big Companys like Marvel and DC would try to advertise it as a medium that has something for everyone, then sells would be much higher than they are now.

I think the issue of are comics still written for children has been since say the early 90's at least and catwoman's death compared to other deaths featured in comics was... fair. aside from blood, the scene did not feature and bone, organs, or a more gruesome death.
for example in marvel there have been scenes and other product related images. of worse deaths like wolverine being torn apart by the hulk, venom hunched over a partly devoured spiderman (I remember seeing a card of this back in the early 90's). the blob eating the wasp.
and these are just the ones (gruesome hero deaths) I know about or remember seeing.

compared to those type of scenes gore wise the scene was quite standard, as for the location of the shot... I guess it makes a bit of a big deal being as there is a small chance for the character to survive that (I've heard of actual people being shot in the head and surviving). but art wise unless the scene featured the characters head exploding (which could have made the scene a whole lot worse and has been done before) it was quite standard. like seeing a character being shot in the chest.

basing on the comics I've been following, comics written for teens seem more humane than they were in the 90's. sure they're still no golden age superman, ironman, spiderman. but they're closer.
there are less (maybe by a little) female characters in skimpy outfits or the outfits are less revealing. heck, powergirl's.... first outfit in new 52 wasn't skimpy or revealing.... until it got shredded in almost every battle :/
psylocke's new/current outfit is stylish and not skimpy or revealing at all.
supergirl's isn't bad either though it still has that revealing-ness to it. atleast it covers more.

so yeah... are comics still written for kids in mind is... debatable and depends on what you compare it to. compare it to the golden age rendition than, no. it's not. but compared to it's 90's - till now. it's a toss up, but may be getting better.

I have never been of the opinion that comics were strictly the domain of children. I find anyone that says that clearly has not read many comics reciently cause if they did they will see that most mainstream titles which makeup the bulk of comic sales in general are clearly not aimed at children but young adults and older. Its an old political attitide from way back that relegates comics and cartoons to the realm of childrens entertainment and people today that continue to perpetuate that attitude are usually trying to push some kind of political agenda and it is clearly divorces from reality.

Don't Matter.

I just recently picked out a few back issues of mine to give to a friends son who is 5 so that he could read more about the "superheroes in that movie" (referring to avengers). For the first time ever I had to consider what issues would be age appropriate for him. I ended up going with a few bronze age fantastic four, avengers, spiderman and a couple issues of the batman adventures series. I think its very clear that in the recent past comics have taken on a more mature tone. A panel that stands out in my mind that shows this recently is from the court of the owls arc in batman when the talon comes up behind batman and shanks him through with blood quite graphically spurting out. I cant imagine that the target audience for that kind of story being a little boy. However their are some great kid oriented books such as Batman lil gotham (which is also one of my favorite series) out there for the younger audience. Even beyond the fact of violence and sexual inder tones being more widespread in mainstream comics the dark stories are just not that appealing to young kids because really does a little kid want to see the reason behind batmans obsession with fighting crime and understand him on a psychological level or see him swoop in stop the bad guys and put them in jail? Id say its the latter

Kids aren't buying comics because comics aren't available in the venues that kids used to buy comics in (grocery, drug, newsstands, and convenience stores) and prices are, even adjusted for inflation, three times what they used to be in part because the industry shifted to computer coloring and high quality paper. Parents aren't buying comics for their kids because the number of comics that are acceptable in the view of most parents for their kids is shrinking. Bendis can't seem to write a page without it being full of unnecessary punctuation marks, Millar can't write a book where people keep their clothes on, and the industry continues to dress female characters like sexpots even when they aren't actually being sexpots (some parents actually do object to the continued sexification of young girls and tweens).

Marvel gave it one shot with MC2/982, making a line that was more or less family friendly, then it gave up with that and went the opposite direction with the Ultimate/1610 universe where everything was even more gritty than the regular universe until they started taking that back into normal continuity.

Marvel and DC are run by the people who ran Dark Horse and Image and wrote for the small press audience back in the day, so it should be no shock they're going towards "edgy." The surprising thing is that the small comics press is now catering towards families and kids far more than any of the big guys.

Comics are not for kids anymore. The violence, the language, and how 90% of all women in comics are showing way too much cleavage are not for anyone 15 and under.

No. Nor do I believe they should be.

Yes... and no... sort of... um, okay.

I believe that the interpretation of what is "too much" or "enough" for kids has drastically changed in recent years. Nowadays, the average third grader understands the concept of death and murder. There is a study somewhere that says that kids will see several thousand deaths and murders in various media before they even leave elementary school. Continuous pushing of the boundaries and coming very close to "the line" has changed our society.

Comic writers like to place these fictional characters in real-world settings because these settings parallel what we understand and are familiar with. We get something from reading it. However, there used to be great boundaries on violence in comics. Why? I think it is because either we did not want to frighten children, we didn't want to effect their minds violently, or we liked the concept of escapism more and more back then. In this world where kids are being subjected to the depiction of terrorism, war, hate crimes, etc., comics are growing more violent due to us being used to it. Now, I can deal with the fact that violence exists and that we live in a post-911 world and we all know this stuff happens, but...

Catwoman's murder upset me even though I know she will come back. The brutality of the scene just bothered me. I don't want to see Selina Kyle's blood pool everywhere in a mainstream comic book. Just a simple gunshot and a fall backwards would have been enough. I don't know about you, but I don't need blood to trigger an emotional response. Maybe I sound like a prude but I just like mainstream comics where it feels like I'm having fun seeing a suspenseful, action-packed, and intelligent story. When I want lots of brutality in my life, I'll just read some Vertigo or flip on some Game of Thrones.

What I am clumsily trying to say is that people need to understand that comics are violent. Katana chops heads off on occasion, ten-year-olds in Robin suits can be killed on the job, and Animal Man has some crazy situations. These are things that comic readers are prepared for mentally and emotionally. Comics do not need to be incredibly violent, though. Yes, it is flashy and it catches peoples' attention. Yes, it deals with real world situations at times. Does it really need to be a gorefest just for the sake of getting the point across? My answer is no.

There are plenty of comics that kids can read - Adventure time, Sonic, Mega Man, Lil'Gotham, the kiddie Green Lantern, Young Justice, Avatar, Scooby Doo, Looney Tunes, My Little Pony, etc.

Kids are NOT the demographic for comics any more, they just aren't. It's like video games. The average age of a gamer is 26. Read that again, 26. The reason Rated M games are so popular is because they appeal to older audiences (i.e. the majority). Very few adults would relish the thought of playing the equivalent of Viva Pinata every-time they sat down to play a video game.

Now-a-days, kids play games like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto. We live in a very de-sensitized world where violence is a-ok. Heck, they can even say "kill" on kids shows these days.

To be honest, I don't think Catwoman's death was that graphic. We see that kind of stuff in movies and TV all the time. As a kid, I would have been far more irked by Catwoman having sex with Batman. Even Batwoman's sex scene (which was artistic and not gratuitous) probably would have irked me. You know what was beyond the pale? The Joker's face. That disturbs me - and I'm an adult!

I wouldn't normally be opposed to it, if it weren't for the fact that my local Toys-R-Us has a well stocked comic section, which was complete with copies of all the Batman titles. All of the Death of the Family comics were there. Kids were buying them! That was just... It blew my mind. Parents didn't check anything because they just assumed, "Well I'm in Toys-R-Us and this is a safe environment."

I understand the concern, but sometimes the "graphic" panels make you root for the hero because you know what the villian has done, and that makes the Heros triumph more triumphant because the bad guy gets what's coming to him. Now I don't mean to spoil anything, but that last page of JLA #4 shows the bat symbol with the word "vengeance" so you know when batman finally gets his vengeance that moment wills feel good to the catwoman fans

Marvel and DC Comics are written for more audiences now.

That doesn't change the fact that small kids still buy comics to only look at the pictures.

I've said for years that comics are not for children. That being said I don't think it matters what rating the companies put on the outside of the book, I think that parents should be involved enough in there children's lives to know what they are reading and if it is age appropriate for their own child.

Honestly I think a large majority kids under the age of 12 are not buying comics regularly, but instead opting for cartoons and movies, etc. 12+ is a pretty good age to aim at with mainstream superhero comics, as that "teen" rating should be able to take itself seriously enough to appease most people.

That being said, most 12+ books are way too mature, but in strange ways. Take a look at the Iron Man Extremis storyline, very mild language, yet very mature themes and plot points, and many ridiculously gory scenes. So gory in fact that the motion comic based off of it got a TV-MA rating. Obviously a Teen in comics shouldn't be on par with a TV-MA rating.

OH IF THIS WOULD'VE COME OUT LAST MONTH

if this were to happen a month ago i would have a perfect help to my final ten page paper for research methods damn it

oh well

I don't think most comic books are for kids.

The main question of "Are comics still for kids?" should really be reworded to it's true intent, "Are mainstream superhero comics still for kids?" Of course the answer to that is obviously no. DC and Marvel have rating systems and all mainstream official canon books are rated Teen or more mature. It's been like that in the mainstream for a few decades now so I can't imagine why it would surprise anyone unless they have been away from comics for a while. And it's not as though adult oriented comics are a new thing since underground comics for adult audiences have existed almost since the inception of the medium.

If you compare comics to any other medium you see that most TV, most movies, most books, most music, etc are intended for a more adult audience or at least a late teen audience. Sure children's movies, books, etc are produced but not nearly to the same degree. Go to the movies today and you will probably find 1 family movie for every 10 adult oriented films. In this sense comics being generally more adult is a symptom of societies overall attitude toward entertainment.

Also, after reading several comments here it seems clear that a lot of people feel that Marvel and DC superheroes should be written for all ages. I think that's the bigger question. Should characters created for children stay for children? I can understand being upset with the idea that while I may have grown up reading Batman that was clean but still challenging for a younger reader that my kids don't really have the same option. They can read children's Batman geared for around 10 and younger or they can read Batman geared for maybe 16 and older. Maybe for their more popular characters Marvel and DC could provide at least one title which is in continuity but written for that early teen/young adult market. Something perhaps more in line tonally with the likes of Harry Potter. I think it would be good to provide that options but I don't really see a need for all Marvel/DC superheroes to remain all ages. I think rating systems for comics should be more clear and universal but I don't feel like all or even most Batman titles for instance need to be all ages.

I think comics in the superhero genre are for pre-teens and teenagers. The tropes, colors and story lines are strongly geared towards simple themes with pretty pictures being weighted more heavily than strong writing. "The Maxx", some Vertigo titles and stories dealing with relatable characters such as "Whiteout", "For King and Country" and etc are more adult-oriented.

With the end of the comics code authority , also came the end of comics directed towards children.

Usually comics directed towards children aren't what they should be.

Teen Titans Go is for younger children.

MC2 was better at being for all-ages. Maybe even some of the 70's and 80's comics.

I can't imagin many on "this" site thinking comics are for kids! ;)

There is actually a large amount of people over the age of 46 that read comics. A lot of people don't like "comics" on Facebook. I don't. I just really don't like random sh*t in my timeline. And a lot of people of 46 just don't have Facebook. Also take into account the people that are lying. There are tons of people that have read one graphic novel and say that they read comics. A lot of people don't even know the difference. There is a lot to take into account. At my age, people aren't even using Facebook anymore and I'm only 22. No one wants their personal information online for everyone to see. Youth is obsessed with social networking. I'd suspect that is the reason so many young people "like" comics.

And no, comics are not for kids. If they were, the industry would fail. Comics are essentially a new way to tell stories. Is television too graphic? That is the same question. There are certain tv shows that are for a younger audience just as there are certain comics for a younger audience. And they should be for adults rather then kids. I think a big problem with the big two publishers is that they don't know who they're selling to. They making adult comics, but adding elements that kids would like. Then in comics, at times, they'll hold back. Instead of showing someone getting shot in the head, there'll be a silhouette. You can argue that it works better in the story and that you didn't want it to be gory on the page, but it happens way too often for it not to be for a younger age.

Overall, I think they censor a lot in comics because the general public thinks that comics are for kids. If the media finds one things they don't like in comics, it goes all over the news. And that would ruin the industry. For that reason, mainstream comics can never be fully "adult." They have to be in that niche. A niche that could actually work for them because a slightly younger audience becomes interested. And this audience is full of "kids." Maybe they're older kids, but these kids will buy the products and will help the industry prosper.

So yes and no. It's a complicated question.

As with everything else in today's world of sex, drugs, and violence, as a parent I agree it is unfortunate how these things you wish to shelter your child from have become common place. That being said good parenting is being actively involved in what your child is consuming physically and mentally. You can't fault a company for catering to their demographic clearly the 18-30 year old male set in this instance. The point of a company is to make a profit Disney knows this well it is why you won't see the marvel line altered. Fact is most parents have become to distracted with their smart phones and dvr's and need to shut off the noise and look at what it is their child is doing maybe read some of the things their kid is pulling off the shelves. I think it is easy to blame a big faceless corporation and it has become second nature to us to shirk responsibility. I know I have a commitment to my daughter to know as much about everything she is consuming otherwise what kind of parent am I? A present deadbeat dad if I have no idea about her.

I think we've all watched,read or listened to things we probably shouldn't have when we were kids,we grew up relatively alright and stable. There are comics for kids and adults,at some point parents should step in,obviously Lady Death or Suicide Squad is NOT for little kids,did I watch horror movies when I was a kid,yes,who didn't? It's sad when things can't be enjoyed or created without putting a warning label on it and analysing it to pieces. Truthfully I don't believe reading that Justice League is going to damage a kid,that's unrealistic,kids aren't that naive. As far as character deaths,do you want realistic,or suspension of disbelief,in real life you probably would most likely die being shot in the head,but it's not real life so real life rules do not apply. Did Catwoman die? who knows ,for two or three comics maybe untill they write a back from the dead issue with a poster and 8 variants.

They haven't been for kids for a long time except the comics who are targeted especially to kids.

Comics first of all should be good the question then becomes what constitutes “Good” morally good if so whose values and why? Artistically good who then defines that? As far as violence in comics sure there are some things a 12 year old shouldn’t be reading.

The question then becomes who decides that and ultimately it’s a parental responsibility at the end of the day, as far as are comics “for children” anymore.

I’d say not really sure there are some all ages titles but as a whole I think comics has moved on to catering to an older audience and the rating system could just be a sop to Parents giving the image of a responsible company.

Or it could be that society has become so jaded and desensitized to violence that was once considered shocking or inappropriate for a 12-13 year old is looked upon as not as bad in comparison to other titles.

In comparison sure the death in JLA is brutal but in a creative landscape where titles like The Boys by Garth Ennis or Ultimates Two by Mark Millar exist maybe it says more about our society as a whole.

In the end comics I feel have become an medium that has become a niche genre of entertainment that still thinks its mainstream because of media tie ins like movies comics themselves have become a ghettoized commodity that haven’t “woken up” to their own irrelevance in the cultural mainstream.

In conclusion comics have become (in my opinion) a hermetic medium of entertainment unaware that society still perceives them as simply “children’s entertainment” the best course of action is to acknowledge that comics have outgrown the perceived age demographics people have placed on them and move on to simply making comics alone.

Just my two cents take it or leave it.

Comics ,movies and video games that involve super hero characters that will attract children have all gone more and more toward a more mature rating across the board. I would like for my kids to be able to enjoy the same heroes that I did and not have to worry about the language or content that comes along with it. The world is pushing kids to grow up faster than they should.

I think once you read the comic adaptation of the official 9/11 commission report the lines between material written for children and adults disappear

I don't think so. I would have let my 13 year old (I'm not a Dad yet, so maybe my sentiments will change when that time comes) read that comic. I will also try and introduce my younger children to comics. There are plenty of kids comics, Superman Family Adventures, Young Justice, even Sesame Street for younger kids. I think people are just being too sensitive. You can see the same things on a PG-13 movie nowadays... or even some TV shows.

No, for the most part.

However, I don't know who DC comics are being written for these days anyway.

Comics haven't been for children for a long time now. I'm pretty sure that the comic industry is targeting people in their teens in up.