Please help me raise a geeky child
May 1, 2010 9:01 AM Subscribe
I'm planning on taking a trip to the Comic book store for free comic book day. Can anyone recommend some titles for my 7 year old son that are funny rather than crazy violent? He likes magic, knights, star wars, greek gods (we're reading Percy Jackson now). I'd be happy with some superhero suggestions, but I don't want anything approaching Dark Knight style storytelling. Any suggestions for me?
...and well, damn. It seems that the series was discontinued (or so says wikipedia here). Grumble.
posted by jquinby at 9:06 AM on May 1, 2010
posted by jquinby at 9:06 AM on May 1, 2010
This might be more mainstream than you're looking for, but my seven-year-old son likes Garfield and the Clone Wars comics. That's two separate series, not one with Garfield fighting in the Clone Wars. (I thought he liked Tintin, Asterix, and the Babysitter's Club, too, but he denies it. He's a wee bit cranky this morning.)
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:12 AM on May 1, 2010
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:12 AM on May 1, 2010
jquinby, they are apparently relaunching the series with Spider-Man and Superheroes! Should be out now. I was just about to buy them for my library's kids' collection.
posted by Knicke at 9:15 AM on May 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Knicke at 9:15 AM on May 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
Atomic Robo!
posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:21 AM on May 1, 2010
posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:21 AM on May 1, 2010
I second Marvel Adventures. I think many adult comic fans enjoy them more than the "canon" universe stuff, because of the focus on clever, funny adventures rather than on grim constant angst.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 9:37 AM on May 1, 2010
posted by Solon and Thanks at 9:37 AM on May 1, 2010
Marvel's been doing a series of 4-issue Power Pack series which while kid-friendly are still pretty good superhero comics. Additionally, one of the Free Comic Book books is an Iron Man and Nova team-up which looks like a Marvel Adventures title. Marvel also has collections of their Mini Marvels stories out, which are basically the Marvel superheroes mashed up with Peanuts (they used to run in the back of other titles, including a lot of the Marvel Adventures books). The guy who does the Mini Marvels also has some creator owned work in a similar vein called G-Man which is published by Image.
Boom! puts out series bases on the Cars and Incredibles movie franchises. While I haven't read them they seem to get good reviews.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 9:41 AM on May 1, 2010
Boom! puts out series bases on the Cars and Incredibles movie franchises. While I haven't read them they seem to get good reviews.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 9:41 AM on May 1, 2010
Uh, just FYI -- the free ones are pre-selected. I couldn't tell from your question if you know that already. But I have a seven-year-old boy and we'll be there, too!
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:51 AM on May 1, 2010
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:51 AM on May 1, 2010
While I do have a great deal of love for the above-mentioned Tom Strong, and I would read it to a seven-year-old, I have to admit that it does contain some stuff that is fairly... intense. It's not super-violent, but some of the content could be a bit disturbing to a younger reader.
On the other hand, I've met a number of seven-year-olds who love Bone by Jeff Smith. Which only goes to show that children have great taste.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 10:07 AM on May 1, 2010
On the other hand, I've met a number of seven-year-olds who love Bone by Jeff Smith. Which only goes to show that children have great taste.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 10:07 AM on May 1, 2010
Tin Tin, Asterix, Garfield, and Bone are in with my kids. Not quite comic, but Captain Underpants is also a big fave here.
posted by kch at 10:22 AM on May 1, 2010
posted by kch at 10:22 AM on May 1, 2010
Response by poster: It was a pretty small store, so the selection was limited. We picked up a Marvel Adventures The Avengers, a nice intro to a lot of characters. I might go back for the Tom Strong, that looked cool. My son is more excited about the Munchkin Game we got, we've played it three times already.
posted by saffry at 2:10 PM on May 1, 2010
posted by saffry at 2:10 PM on May 1, 2010
I second Atomic Robo-- I gave a set of the TPBs to a 13-year-old the other week and he's devoured them four times already. They're cartoony-violent, science-geeky, and entirely kid-safe. Also, Atomic Robo writer Brian Clevinger is doing an upcoming Marvel Adventures book called The Avengers vs. The Infinity Gauntlet-- if your kid likes Robo, he'll probably enjoy that book too.
(There's some free Robo comics online here, too. The FCBD '09 story is a particular delight, and 100% indicative of the sort of storytelling you get in the TPBs and single issues.)
On the higher end, there's a hardcover of humorous, twisted takes on fairy tales coming out July 14th from Image/ Silverline, called Fractured Fables. It's listed at $30, but if your kid likes the original myths and fairy tales, he may enjoy the comedy factor, and Image does put out some very attractive hardcovers; it probably won't look out of place on the bookshelf.
Boom! Studios does, indeed, have a pretty solid lock on the Disney/ Pixar books; those should work fine. The editor-in-chief of Boom!, Mark Waid, has written some very solid superhero work for more mature readers; consider the Disney books gateway drugs for things like DC's Kingdom Come when he's an older teenager.
You might also look into some of the offerings from Archaia Comics; they've been collecting Tom Siddell's magic-and-schoolkids webcomic Gunnerkrigg Court into some gorgeous hardcover editions (here's volume one, and I think I saw vol. 2 on the shelf at my shop the other day). Archaia also puts out Mouse Guard, which has an accompanying roleplaying game-- your kid sounds like he'd be into that, if you're willing to run a game for him.
(Bonus thing: you can read Gunnerkrigg online first and vet the content for your kid before committing to buying the book.)
And, yes, I'm 34 and have no kids and I will go to the store and put down for TPBs of Tiny Titans without thinking twice. The book is completely adorable, the creators are great guys who love kids (their signing line at SDCC last year was a big ol' hoot, including some little kid dressed as, of all supervillains, Bane), just good fun all around.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 6:13 PM on May 1, 2010
(There's some free Robo comics online here, too. The FCBD '09 story is a particular delight, and 100% indicative of the sort of storytelling you get in the TPBs and single issues.)
On the higher end, there's a hardcover of humorous, twisted takes on fairy tales coming out July 14th from Image/ Silverline, called Fractured Fables. It's listed at $30, but if your kid likes the original myths and fairy tales, he may enjoy the comedy factor, and Image does put out some very attractive hardcovers; it probably won't look out of place on the bookshelf.
Boom! Studios does, indeed, have a pretty solid lock on the Disney/ Pixar books; those should work fine. The editor-in-chief of Boom!, Mark Waid, has written some very solid superhero work for more mature readers; consider the Disney books gateway drugs for things like DC's Kingdom Come when he's an older teenager.
You might also look into some of the offerings from Archaia Comics; they've been collecting Tom Siddell's magic-and-schoolkids webcomic Gunnerkrigg Court into some gorgeous hardcover editions (here's volume one, and I think I saw vol. 2 on the shelf at my shop the other day). Archaia also puts out Mouse Guard, which has an accompanying roleplaying game-- your kid sounds like he'd be into that, if you're willing to run a game for him.
(Bonus thing: you can read Gunnerkrigg online first and vet the content for your kid before committing to buying the book.)
And, yes, I'm 34 and have no kids and I will go to the store and put down for TPBs of Tiny Titans without thinking twice. The book is completely adorable, the creators are great guys who love kids (their signing line at SDCC last year was a big ol' hoot, including some little kid dressed as, of all supervillains, Bane), just good fun all around.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 6:13 PM on May 1, 2010
My son loves Bone and Calvin and Hobbes. Also just getting into the Artemis Fowl series.
posted by cross_impact at 6:45 AM on May 3, 2010
posted by cross_impact at 6:45 AM on May 3, 2010
I placed a hold on Tom Strong at the library based on the above recommendation, and it came in today. I flipped through the pages and immediately returned it. It might be great for adults, but there's no way I'm handing a comic book with all those boobs in it to my seven-year-old.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:51 PM on May 7, 2010
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:51 PM on May 7, 2010
Boobs? What there are Boobs I don't remember any b- oh ..the Many Worlds Of Tesla Strong- Oops. I just remembered the fun action parts.
posted by The Whelk at 5:05 PM on May 7, 2010
posted by The Whelk at 5:05 PM on May 7, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jquinby at 9:05 AM on May 1, 2010