Help me pick a good comic book series for a 9 year old.

March 3, 2009 6:45 PM

Help me pick a comic book series for a birthday gift for my nephew.

My nephew will be 9 this week and I was going to get him a comic book subscription. But then I realized that the subscriptions aren't actually for issues 1-12 of a series, but instead they just pick up where they currently are in the storyline.

So I though maybe instead it would be a good idea to get him one of those big comic anthologies. I just have no idea what to get him.
He's always loved Spider-Man ever since he was little, but I don't know that he's ever actually read many comics. I always thought the X-Men seemed like a cool series to get into.

Or are there just any other generally awesome comics/graphic novels I should consider? He absolutely loves the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.
Nothing too violent, his mom won't really appreciate that.

posted by Becko to grab bag (17 comments total)

There are some X-Men titles aimed at younger readers. Or at least there were a couple of years ago. I'm not sure what they were called right now.

Everyone is probably going to recommend Bone but that's for good reason. It's Lord of the Rings meets Looney Toons -- there's nothing too scary for a 9-year-old. You can buy the huge all-in-one volume, but the Scholastic books are nice (and in pretty color!).

I've liked what I've read of Tiny Titans, but he might be too old for it.

Amelia Rules! might be a maybe. Flight Explorer (sorry, no good link) may also be good. I haven't read it, but I like the Flight volumes a lot. Likewise, Kazu Kibuishi's Amulet might be worth looking into, too.
posted by darksong at 7:05 PM on March 3

I think the Marvel Adventures books (Spiderman, Avengers, and Fantastic Four) are the books targeted at that audience. They typically require less knowledge of the continuity (they exist separate from the mainstream universe) and have less mature plotlines.

In contrast mainstream Avengers, Fantastic Four and Spiderman are typically much more challenging storylines. In addition all three books have gone through a ringer in the past few years. Combined with Marvel's tendency to go from one event series to another with tons of crossovers and I would suggest these are not the greatest selections.

Superman is generally okay from DC. Wonder Woman is "girly" and Batman is generally grim as hell.

Personally I really loved the TinTin books by Herge at that age. They were self contained stories and with the exception of I think TinTin in America (with negative racial depictions) they were really fun. I believe you can pick up all of them in a 4 part series.

Another suggestion would be getting books from the Marvel Essentials line. They are printed in black and white so aren't as pretty but you can get a boatload of issues in a cheap format and many of the early series were much more kid accessible.
posted by vuron at 7:07 PM on March 3 [1 favorite]

I would fully recommend any of the Marvel Essential titles, particularly The Amazing Spider Man, Fantastic Four, The Mighty Thor or Uncanny X-Men.

Showcase Presents is effectively the DC (Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, etc.) equivalent of Essentials.
posted by turgid dahlia at 7:07 PM on March 3

(Looney Tunes. Not Toons. I knew that.)
posted by darksong at 7:07 PM on March 3

Oh and Asterix is fantastic at any age.
posted by turgid dahlia at 7:10 PM on March 3

Scary Godmother by Jill Thompson. There's illustrated books and comics (these are single-issue mostly). It's fun, charming and the art is awesome.
posted by Iosephus at 7:14 PM on March 3

Oh, and re: Bone. Perhaps 9 year old-s are braver than me, but the Locust Lord creeped the holy shit out of me, heh.
posted by Iosephus at 7:17 PM on March 3

I will second Scary Godmother. Jill Thompson has also done a title called Magic Trixie, but that may be a little girly for most 9-year-old boys.
posted by darksong at 7:18 PM on March 3

DC has their own version of Marvel's Essentials line, personally, as a 9 year old, I loved, loved any story with Hal Jordan in it. They have at least three mini-phone books of Green Lantern comics that, when I was 9, I would have died to have.

Also, when I was 9, The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill was my absolute favorite comic, ever, but the trade seems to be out of print, right now. I think this is it, but it is hard to tell for certain (though there are plenty on eBay.)

Also: Asterix, Tintin, and Bone can never miss, with any one, of any age. Phenomenal stuff, all of it.
posted by paisley henosis at 8:09 PM on March 3

I-need-three-second-edit-filter: The first two Disk World books are out in a single volume, hardbound trade. They are well done and very enjoyable, with (as far as I can remember) nothing objectionable for a 9 year old.
posted by paisley henosis at 8:10 PM on March 3

Bone would be my top pick, great story for all ages.

Tin tin was my fav. at about that age and has great adventure stories.

also Usagi looks pretty good i know its won a bunch of awards

also Akiko
posted by ljesse at 8:11 PM on March 3

Paisley, the entire Simonson Thor run can be purchased in TPB form under Marvel Visionaries: Walt Simonson. I still have the original issues and I definitely concur that it's some of the strongest art and storytelling in Marvel's History. I think the heroism of Thor can really translate well for young readers as well.
posted by vuron at 8:41 PM on March 3

Amulet is good, about some kids who discover a hidden world inside their grandfather's house.

The Flight anthologies are good, but are obviously collected works.

Bone is genius, and should be read by everyone.

Asterix and Tintin were part of my regular reading at that age.

Prince Valiant's large Sunday reprints are excellent (though my girlfriend disagrees).

I love love loved Pogo at that age.

Around that age is when I got my first subscription to the X-Men. You could start with the collected Asgardian Wars.

Justice League from the late '70s through the early '90s is all pretty decent stuff and is aimed at that audience. You also can't go wrong with anything Marv Wolfman wrote.

Classic Mad Magazine collections would be good too.
posted by klangklangston at 9:49 PM on March 3

Spiral Bound by Aaron Reiner is a great little mystery/adventure comic with a cute side story about a little elephant with confidence issues. Great art too.

And I'll chime in with support for Bone - it really is the shizz-nizzle when it comes to kids comics.

Amulet is also great.
posted by AzzaMcKazza at 11:32 PM on March 3

Superman is generally okay from DC. Wonder Woman is "girly" and Batman is generally grim as hell.

Superman isn't even in his book at the moment, having decamped to New Krypton. Batman is currently dead/in the distant past/existing as multiple imagined motes in the glorious continuity of Grant Morrison's mental dreamtime. Trying to pick up any of the mainstream DC books right now is probably worse than jumping on the Marvel bus.

I always thought the X-Men seemed like a cool series to get into.

The various First Class books might be the way to go if he likes mutants. They're Year One, not-quite-in-continuity, one-story-per-issue deals, as I recall.
posted by permafrost at 2:45 AM on March 4

A Power Pack graphic novel might be up his alley. It's about a family of kids wih superpowers around his age.

I really enjoyed the Silver Surfer series that started in '87 when I was about his age. You can probably find the early comics in graphic novel format somewhere.

I also loved the X-men offshoot X-Factor. I much preferred the original team to the later one that began in 91. You can probaby find the original issues reprinted in graphic novel form as with the other two.

Archie comics digests are great as well. I have no idea how many I read when I was that age, but it was certainly in the hundreds.
posted by thekiltedwonder at 9:04 PM on March 4

If he loves Spider-Man and his mum doesn't want violence, definitely go with the Marvel Adventures Avengers series. (Okay, or Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, but Marvel Adventures Avengers is better IMO - plus that way he gets Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man and Hulk in the same book, amirite? Not that Captain America and Tigra and Giant Girl and Storm are not near and dear to my heart, but assuming for a moment that he's a fairly typical nine year old boy...)

There's a new issue every month - I think this past Wednesday was #33's release - but the back issues are out in $8.00 digests of a few issues at a time. It's pretty light-hearted punch 'em up fun, but I actually like them more than the "real" Marvel universe right now, which is all Dark and Angsty and hey-let's-undo-Spider-Man's-marriage-by-making-a-deal-with-the-devil. Very self-important. As opposed to Marvel Adventures, which is like, "the Avengers are fighting the Agents of Hydra! Let's make bad Snakes on a Plane jokes that will go completely over the head of our target audience!"
posted by bettafish at 2:02 AM on March 6