Buddy Saunders of Lone Star Comics in Arlington, Texas has been following the recent Steve Bennett column (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--We Fear Change") and resulting response (see "Mark Dudley On Steve Bennett's Latest 'Confessions' Column") regarding comic book content and had this to say:

Regarding recent discussions of trends in comic book content and what they represent:  I agree that comics aren't for kids anymore.  That so few comics are appropriate for children is a pity.  However, it is laughable to suggest that comic publishers and creators have replaced all-ages comics with adult fare in any literate sense.

Rather, the older comic models, which found an audience in all ages, have been replaced with an over-arching adolescent-driven genre of death, graphic violence, and now even a push-the-envelope trend into sadism.  Whatever this stuff is, it is not adult in any meaningful sense, and moreover, it is steadily pushing comics into a narrowing alley of diminishing readership.

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