When I was a kid, all those many years ago, we pretty much all read comic books. It has taken me years to refer to some of them as graphic novels. There are a few I can refer to that way, some of Alan Moore's work, maybe Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman, but you know, I still think they should be called comic books.
We read the funny ones, Bugs Bunny, etc. and they truly were funny, but the ones we loved were the super hero comics. I was never big on Superman or Wonder Woman. Batman was okay. but I was especially fascinated by The Flash and The Atom. I think they were the most science fiction of the lot. There were also military comics, such as GI Joe, and a lot of Westerns, which I loved. Then, of course, there were Romance comics, for girls ( at least I never knew a boy who read them, although, who knows?).
Among the best were the Classic Comics. These were bits of classic literature, illustrated beautifully and using bits of the text from the book. It was in this form that I first read Moby Dick, A Tale of Two Cities, and Treasure Island. These were a fine way to get kids used to the idea that great literature contained great stories.
Then we, on occasion, got hold of the grand and gory EC Comics like Tales From The Crypt. These were truly scary and a bit gross, but we loved them and I don't think they did us any harm ( on second thought, as I look around the world, maybe they did, but, too late to worry about that now and besides, they were fun)
I have no idea if there are still comic books available for kids and if there are, can kids afford them? We used to get them for a dime a piece and big, bonus editions for a quarter. Not only did they get us used to reading for pleasure, they got a lot of kids I knew interested in drawing and painting. Not bad for the price. Just think, if I had all my old comic books, in good condition, I would be worth a small fortune. If you ever find any of the old comic books around, give them a look. They were fun
No comments:
Post a Comment