Confessions of a Comic Book Guy is a weekly column by Steve Bennett of Super-Fly Comics and Games in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  This week, Bennett talks about comics for kids.
 
Last week (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--Variations on a Theme") I wrote that Marvel and DC "know" that "kids don't read comics," in numbers significant enough to make marketing to them commercially viable anyway.  By which I meant that they don't know; they think, they believe but they don't know, because to actually find out they'd have to spend money.  I know that market research isn't some kind of cure-all for what ails our industry, the same way I know too much of American popular culture has been homogenized and dumbed down by an over reliance on market research and focus groups.  I know you've heard this from me before but I don't suppose I'll ever get over being connected to an industry where publishing firms owned by multi-billion dollar synergistic youth entertainment conglomerates would prefer to just, you know, guess, who’s buying their products.  Because it's cheaper.
 
Though it might be more accurate to say that kids aren't reading their comics.  Publishers like Papercutz, IDW Publishing, BOOM! Studios, VIZ Media, Lion Forge, etc. have found nice niches for themselves doing comics for kids.  And some of those comics have to be being purchased by kids--I can't believe that every single copy of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is being bought by Bronies.  Those publishers were at Comic-Con and they were marketing, hard, to kids, according to a piece in Publishers Weekly by Brigid Alverson, "Kids' Comics Grow Up at San Diego Comic-Con 2014."  And there were definitely kids there, we have photographic evidence, just Google "The Most Adorkable Kids of Comic-Con 2014" (I wish I could tell you how many kids attend comic book conventions every year but I've checked online and as far as I can tell nobody is keeping track).
 
So it sure looks to me like kids read comics but I may be wrong, as previously established I frequently am.  On the other hand, if kids aren't reading Marvel comics someone please explain to me the ads that appeared in Captain America #24.  I'm reading and enjoying it when the story comes to a sudden stop at a two page spread of a dad and his kid playing with Marvel brand Hasbro toys with the tagline "Super Hero Smashers at Your Local Retailers" (I can only assume they don't mean us).  I kept on going and found an advertisement flogging Spider-Man hoodies available only at Kmart with the slogan "with great power comes great fashion ability."  Which was followed by one for Marvel brand bedding and accessories and an ad promoting Spider-Man Web Warriors on Disney XD.
 
For the record those ads were in aid of 'Marvel Super Hero September.'  Partnered with Disney Consumer Products, it's a "national multi-platform campaign" that gives 'sons, daughters, fathers, mothers and fans" the chance to "power up like a Marvel Super Hero!"  One good thing about this, for us, is that Marvel has relaunched its Marvel Kids site and among all the games, activities and other "Super Hero content" is, hey, free comic books!  And not just any free comic books but some of my favorite Marvel comics for kids, the various  Power Pack mini-series done by Marc Sumera and Gurihiru a couple of years ago.  It's a baby step, but I can't help but appreciate the effort.
 
I usually don't spent $20 on a single comic but I've wanted a copy of Giant-Size Kung Fu Bible Stories ever since I first heard the title.  Originally a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive it's now available in print and as a digital download; I chose the digital option, which kind of defeats the purpose of a Treasury Edition size comic book.  However it does give you the option to expand the pages and immerse yourself in the art, and you'll want to.  Like with any anthology it's a mixed bag and while the stories by Bruce Timm and Adam Warren are definitely worth reading there are two that make the book worth buying, even at its elevated SRP:  "Frankenstein of Mars" by Andy Kuhn (as high concepts go the Frankenstein Monster fighting Martians is tough to beat), and "Jack Champion" by Erik Larsen (a super smooth mix of monsters, rays guns, superheroes and old dark houses, I  can only hope it's the opening installment of a series).
 
For a comic on the other end of the price spectrum, for $1.99 you can get a digital copy of Gallant Comics' John Aman Amazing Man written by Barry Gregory and drawn by Steven Butler.  It's an absolutely solid, completely professional superhero story that does a fine job of reviving Bill Everett's early superhero Amazing Man.  But then it's hard not to love a comic that shows due respect to one of the strangest characters of the Golden Age, Dr. Vampire.  I'm definitely putting myself down for #2.
 
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.