Rembert Parker of Reader Copies in Anderson, Indiana read Jay Bardyla Talk Back regarding the current state of All Ages comics (see "Jay Bardyla of Happy Harbor Comics on Comic Book Content") and sends in his thoughts on the subject:

While there may be a lot more All Ages comic books this year than in recent years, it still doesn't solve the real problem "real" retailers face.

When a man walks into our comic store with his 8 to 10 year-old kid and wants to buy some comics like those he read as a kid--Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, Fantastic Four, etc.--we have a real problem.  We have no new comics to sell him.  The kid line of comics from Marvel and DC may be for kids, but they aren't like the comics in the 60s and 70s and 80s that anybody could read.  They're aimed directly at young, little kids.  Meanwhile, the regular comic lines contain material that simply isn't appropriate for kids that age.

The only current solution?  Point them to a couple of boxes of comics from the 70s and 80s that we're willing to sell for a dollar each.  While this may solve the problem temporarily, it isn't what they came in for--they want NEW stories that they can read and enjoy together, and those comics don't exist.  

Sure, we can try to guide them back to the new Disney comics from BOOM! Studios or Marvel's Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz or hand them a Previews and let them borrow that to look for something to read, but there is no way for them to relive the experience the father had except with the exact same comics he read as a kid.

While I agree with parts of Jay Bardyla's assessment of Steve Bennett's columns, our problem remains--there are no All Ages comics similar to what was available in the 70s and 80s.  But that's okay, Marvel is rapidly trying to move those potential customers to their digital comics subscriptions, and they're part of a new digital generation, so they probably won't be bothering us in the store much longer.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.