Sweating the Small Stuff
Comics Aren't Just For Kids Anymore
Copyright © 2003, Glenn Walker
Comics aren't just for kids anymore. But come on, it's been a long time since they were. Really. When was the last time you saw a kid with a comic book? Rephrase that; when was the last time you saw a kid (whose parents were not already comic book readers) with a comic book? Hard thought, isn't it? Has it been years? Maybe since you were a kid yourself.
When was the last time you saw a kid in a comic book shop? You think you got me there, right? Last week, right? Think back though. They were there for Magic or Pokemon or Yu Gi Oh, right? Not comics.
Kids (without parents who are already comics readers) don't read comics. I think it's a matter of access. There's only really one place you can get comics anymore—a comic book shop.
Back in the day comics were everywhere; newsstands, drugstores, 5 & 10s, 7-11s, grocery stores, everywhere. All the kids read them; we traded them in school and on the playground. It was an everyday part of our childhood. Now you have to get to a comic book shop.
If you weren't already into them you could always get comics. You saw "Superfriends" on TV, went wow and the next day you hit your local newsstand or 7-11 and picked up the latest issue of Justice League or World's Finest or whatever for a quarter or two. Today a kid who sees "Justice League" on Cartoon Network has to get a ride to a mall and then decide whether their hard-earned allowance should go to the new Nelly CD or "Grand Theft Auto 4" for his X-Box or a comic book or two.
If the money gets to the comic book shop—what do they buy? I can't imagine any outsider being drawn in by what passes for the Justice League comic book these days. Unless a helpful comic shop clerk (a rare animal I'm sad to say) takes a hand and shows the kid Justice League Adventures (DC's special comic for kids based on the TV series) he's going for Nelly or the X-Box game.
Think about it. This is a disturbing trend. Except for second generation comics readers (and probably third generation as well) there really aren't any kids reading comics these days. The age of comics readers is going up. Most are in their twenties through forties now. If this trend continues the comics will die out like the folks who read them.
Comic books need to stop being so isolated. They need to get back out there in the mainstream where anyone can get them. Waldenbooks is a step in the right direction as is Tower Records. Can we get back in the drugstores and on the newsstands? I hope so. Like jazz, comic books are a true American art form. I would hate to lose them.