# How much do kids read comics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2003, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-kids-read-comics/197225 "2003-08-23T21:51:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Selkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Selkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Selkie)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-kids-read-comics/197225/21 "2003-09-04T23:37:14Z")
**coyasicanbe** , have you tried looking for suitable children’s comics outside the Big 2 publishers? [**Oni Press**](http://www.onipress.com) offers several titles, including _The Magic Pickle_, and _Courtney Crumrin_ (the latter is a fabulous all-ages book that even I, a grumpy old adult, love). Anything they publish should be readily available through [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). Another terrific book is [_Clan Apis_](http://www.jayhosler.com), which can loosely be described as a story about the life cycle of a bee but which is so much more. Some other small press titles to investigate would be [_Herobear and the Kid_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0972125914/002-3748190-1230406?v=glance), [_Amy Unbounded_](http://www.amyunbounded.com/), [_Thieves and Kings_](http://www.iboxpublishing.com/), and [_Bone_](http://www.boneville.com/). Another place to keep an eye out for recommendations for kids large and small is [Artbomb.net](http://www.artbomb.net). Their selection of reviews for children’s books is small but growing. (I do question their inclusion of _Goodbye, Chunky Rice_ as a kid’s book) As for the subject of this thread, I’ve found getting kids (and adults, for that matter) hooked on comics is as easy as showing them some. It helps to choose the appropriate title for the specific child, but even just spreading out a bunch of different comics and letting the child choose what s/he likes can be very succcessful. To the teachers on this thread: if you’re still looking for a source of cheap, bulk kid’s comics, drop me a note through my profile. I may have a source who can meet your needs. ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-kids-read-comics/197225/22 "2003-09-05T00:19:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Askia \* > \*\*I do my part as a kindergarten teacher to turn children on to comics early as they learn to read, \*\* **Askia** There is a special place in heaven for people like you. Thank You. Thank you for being there. I think that you are one of those people that I remember with great affection 20 years later. (ok, maybe 30, argh ☹ ) You make a profound difference, you really do. God(ess) bless. Bless you. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-kids-read-comics/197225/23 "2003-09-05T00:36:21Z")
Oh, and I just mean people who put their heart into what they do. Not everyone does, and I no longer feel any animosity towards people who were just being the best that thay could. Thanks for going the extra mile. You may not appreciate how much it means looking back 3 decades and realising that soomeone didn’t have to do or say what they did, but did it for their own reasons. I remember, and it means a lot. I suck at expressing myself. Thanks, anyway 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Muldoon\_s\_Squishiness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Muldoon\_s\_Squishiness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muldoon_s_Squishiness)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-kids-read-comics/197225/24 "2003-09-05T01:05:47Z")
I collected comics for a little over 15 years, staring around high school. I had a subscription at my local comic shop, **Big Planet Comics** and would stop in once a month or so to pick up my titles.When I started going there, there were virtually no tradepaperbacks, except in the adult section. Two years ago, TP’s took up maybe 25% of the floor space with the remainder being devoted to single issues. I stopped in there this past spring, and the change was astonishing. I’d say nearly 90% of the floor space was now taken up by TP’s/graphic novels. The single issues had been relegated to the back corner of the store. ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-kids-read-comics/197225/25 "2003-09-05T04:07:01Z")
I know quite a few teenagers who are into Jhonen Vasquez–his stuff is pretty fashionable among the Hot Topic set. He does Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, etc. And like other people have mentioned, manga is pretty big–heck, I saw a big stand of various manga collections at my local Fry’s Electronics… they don’t even sell books. But the traditional stuff? I haven’t seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Turbo\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Turbo\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turbo_Dog)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-kids-read-comics/197225/26 "2003-09-05T04:27:51Z")
My son just turned 9 and last year got into comic books. He has quite the collection now, but as mentioned, it wasn’t like when I was a kid when I could pick up a few soda bottles, turn them in at any store and buy a pack of comics. We are lucky enough to have a comic book store around the corner, but it still costs a small fortune to get him a bunch of them, even when I supplement his collection with a pile from the 10 for a buck rack. When I was his age, I was huge into Conan. I was stunned when I saw the going rate for those. If I’d saved my whole collection of Conan alone, I probably could have retired now. It is common to see people in front of us at the cashier to drop a few hundred bucks for some comics, and by their conversations, they are very regular customers. It’s sad to me. I remember my joy at buying my weekly 5 pack of Batman, Spiderman, Green Arrow, Turok and Sgt. Rock for next to nothing at any local store or gas station. Then the collectors killed comics. Everything is a limited edition it seems. A couple of comic books cost the same as a best selling novel. A lot less kids read comics today than 20 years ago, not because they don’t like them, but because they aren’t easy to find, and expensive when you do. It is no longer entertainment for kids, but an investment for adults hoping to have a valuable collection. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-kids-read-comics/197225/27 "2003-09-05T07:10:11Z")
So odd to read this - and sad. Every Norwegian boy I know between the ages of maybe 8 and 12, and quite a few girls in that age range, has a subscription to _Donald Duck & Co._ or buys it every week. Flodjunior has a subscription and looks forward to a new issue every Monday. It’s consistently the best-selling magazine in the country. And it’s not the only popular comic; I’ve promised myself a subscription to the monthly [_Pondus_](http://my.opera.com/comics/) when I finally get a job. And totnak loves the little kid ones like _Ole Brumm_ (Winnie the Pooh) when I get them for him. All of these cost about as much as the glossy weekly magazines at the supermarket check-outs; in fact, Donald’s usually on the same rack with 'em. Wonder why American kids don’t read comics? Did kids stop reading comics because they got too expensive, or did they get so expensive because kids stopped reading them? ---
**Author:** ![Selkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Selkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Selkie)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-kids-read-comics/197225/28 "2003-09-05T15:07:23Z")
I re-read the OP and had a few more thoughts to share. The received wisdom on comic book message boards is that “a marketing survey” indicated the average (American) comic reader is 24 years old, and 95% of the readership is male. When pressed for a specific attribution for that data no one ever has one, but I must say it jives with what I see at conventions. My LCS (local comic shop) claims to have a 30% female readership, but they’re noted nation-wide for being an especially female-friendly store. Personally I’ve never seen many other women shopping there, but perhaps I’ve been there on the wrong days. I’m one of those supposedly non-existent people brought to comics via the movies (the first X-men movie, to be specific) and never touched a comic before I was nearly 30. In other words, I don’t exactly have the most long-range perspective on the industry, but fortunately my boyfriend does, and I’m not without some exposure to the Silver Age classics. Certainly there was a time that comics were seen as strictly a medium for children - hence the infamous Wertham hearings - but if anything, it’s the older audience the publishers seem to be trying to cultivate. I feel it’s safe to say that the aging fanbase has stepped up the sex, violence, and complexity of the average, mainstream superhero comic that once would have been considered children’s material. The Big Two haven’t completely abandoned the young readers’ audience, particularly DC, but most of their output is geared toward an older teen/young adult market. There’s a chronic tension between the views “particular comics should be for younger kids” and “younger kids aren’t buying the comics, so why not adapt titles to serve the people who are reading them”. On the whole, I’d say the latter is what’s actually happening at the larger publishers, whether or not that’s what they want to acknowledge. The Big Two may have abdicated the kid’s market, and almost any title geared to any age that doesn’t involve Men in Tights, but the small press stepped in and there are many titles available. Sometimes they require a miner’s hat, pick axe, and compass to locate, but they are being published. Their low sales figures indicate they aren’t finding much of an audience in the comic book stores, which is a shame because many are wonderful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-kids-read-comics/197225.md?page=1)