With Passover coming up, I want to buy the little man his first comic book. I haven’t bought one in thirty or forty years, so hope someone can help me hone in on what I’m looking for and not have to slog through page after page of what I’m not.
First, given the late time, I’m hoping to find something on Amazon Prime to get it here by the weekend.
Second, I want to go with the classics. I was never a big fan of the Japanese style for a variety of reasons that no one really cares about. Suffice as to say he knows of Batman, Superman and a few others.
He’s also kind of into Transformers and Tomás the Sociopathic Engine. But, I’m sorry, fuck that kind of souless production work. Though I imagine I can’t get completely away from it, I’m not interested in clip-art comps and intern-generated stories.
He’s 4.5, but can read on his own (current book is James and the Giant Peach). So I don’t imagine vocabulary is a big issue, but I’m not about to subscribe him to Heavy Metal (do they still make that?).
So basically, I’m looking for a good volume that’s not too over the top of fun comics that are light on the gore, preferably a bit low on outright violence, and are the kind of things I’d like listen to him read. For the record, he liked the Complete Don Martin set we got a year or so ago, but gasp is still a bit young for the Complete Calvin and Hobbes.
How about some of the Disney titles? They tend to be well written, geared towards a younger audience, and have above average, more traditional artwork. Mickey Mouse and Friends and Uncle Scrooge are two of the more popular titles. There are collections of both on Amazon.
That’s a good idea. So far he’s had no exposure to the Mouse that Consumes All, but my brother did just move next to Disneylandworld.
ETA: I think it’s cute how the “they’re not dolls!” mentality has been enshrined in the categories. “They’re not comic books; they’re graphic novels!”
Mrrr? Is there some kind of Pesach Buy a Comic Day tradition I’ve been missing all these years? Or are you looking for something he can hide inside his Haggadah to keep from getting bored?
I got Shazam! and the Monster Society of Evil for my superhero-obsessed nephew when he was about that age (make sure you get the collection of all 4 issues).
It’s sort of related to the Ralphie Cohen, the bit of matza that gets hidden under the table cloth year after year. We take our secular Judaism very seriously, and whoever finds it (they youngest, though he’s the only kid at the moment) gets a ‘prize’. There will come a time when his hopes and dreams are dashed against an overcooked, flavourless koogle and he gets bupkis instead of a prize, but today is not that day. We’ve always tended towards books and the like, though there is that tragic story of a toy boat that was never delivered (see dreams, dashed).
Holy cow, at first glance that Frank Richards comic made me think of Calvin!
My morning started out looking for something along these lines, but I don’t have the background to tell if it’s exactly (or close) to what I’m looking for. A page after page of good ol’ fashioned superheros colourfully drawn, sanitized by the Comics Code, not directly tied to a product line (as in it was written as a comic book, not written to make people see the movie), and since it’s his first one, more than a single issue or two.
I’d recommend the stories that started me on a lifelong journey into comics fandom when I was his age: Superman in the Sixties and Batman in the Sixties. There are also similar volumes that cover the Forties, Fifties, Seventies, and Eighties.
DC and Marvel sporadically publish ‘Kids’ versions of their heroes, I would hope some of those series are collected in trade paperback form. Batman : Brave and the Bold; Tiny Titans; Superman Family Adventures…
[Gestures with his hand]these are not the answers you’re looking for[/gwhh]
We’re secular Jews, which means repeating any answer we give must be taken with a grain of (Kosher) salt.
There’s this bit in the Seder where everyone points with a funny gesture, finger pointed straight down, thumb in just the right way. It’s a tradition handed down from the House of Rabbi Maxwell who rescued the traditional Seder from obscurity and snoozery by bringing caffeine to the massess. In addition to many new traditions (finding crumbs from years past, pointing correctly, skipping ahead to see when we get to the festive meal), it includes hiding a piece of matzoh (or matsa, or Mazda, depending on your origin) at a certain time. At a different time, all the young kids around the table are sent in search of it.
It’s really a three-part ritual, I think. Part one, The Silly Pointing, gives a distraction to slip a piece under the table cloth, because just because you have to look for it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know were it is. (Don’t ask, it’s part of the Secular Jew philosophy). Second, the ritual finding, even though you know where it is gives the adults a chance to drink down the wine in Elisha’s cup. Or is that when the little one goes and opens the door? I won’t remember until we get there.
Anyway, all that lunacy aside, whoever finds it gets a token prize. Not a bit, glitzy toy like you think you’re going to get as a five year old searching all over for the magic afinitykomen (since you’re too young to realize it’ll be where it was last year), but a nice book or other somewhat staid learning gift to remind us Jews that we take our heritage and culture very seriously. Now, pass the eggs and salt water and don’t ask what it represents.
