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Photo Diary: July 2017 Part 1
DC Comics
Hey, Kids Comics! – Supergirl, Cosmic Adventures In The 8th Grade
We’ve finally hit the sweet spot in my house where we’re doing nightly reading with the kids — dubbed Books & Bed, yes I’m a professional writer — and they want to check out comics! I’m sure I’ve talked about this here and there, but actually reading comics with kids can be a little tricky. Even if they’re interested in the format, leading them along in the right order and keeping them invested for what can be a longer reading experience, can lead to boredom or even frustration. Now that our oldest is reading more and more on her own and has had a fair amount of experience with comics, though, she’s a lot more interested.
And that means I’m buying more kids comics, which I’m pretty stoked about. Over the summer we spent some time at my inlaws’ place and I found myself with an afternoon to myself and a new comic book shop called Midgard Comics & Games to explore! I usually dive through longboxes looking for random 90s comics that I’ve always been curious about, but that time I decided to lean into the kid’s rejuvenated love of the medium and walked away with Supergirl, Cosmic Adventures In The 8th Grade by Landry Q. Walker and Eric Jones as well as the second volume of Scooby-Doo Team-Up, which I will get to in a later post.
Hey, Kids Comics! – DC Superhero Girls
You never know how, when or where your kids will finally be interested in the things you love. When I first heard about DC Superhero Girls a few years back, I was super stoked because it looked like it would be perfectly up my daughter’s alley. Young women with cool powers all going to school together and fighting bad guys? What could be better?! Continue reading
DC Entertainment Offers Super Back To School Supplies
When I was a kid, there weren’t a lot of fun ways to show that you were a superhero fan. In the 80s and 90s, the heroes were somewhat well known, but nowhere near as ubiquitous as they are today. To give you an idea, it took over a year for me to find a shirt with a simple Superman symbol on it whereas today you have several options just at Target alone.
So, when I got an email from the fine folks over at Warner Bros. Consumer Products about a whole batch of superhero-themed back-to-school products for girls and boys I was equally excited and jealous. I would have LOVED a Superman lunchbox when I was a kid! But, I’m even more excited that my daughter will have her choice between Batman, Superman, Batgirl and Wonder Woman ones from Thermos when she goes back to school! Jinkies, there’s even a Scooby-Doo one. All five of these are well insulated and padded to keep lunches safe, while the superhero versions also come with a smaller zipper compartment along the bottom.
But, school’s about more than just lunch (apparently). To get all of those pesky books to school, you can use Fast Forward Inc.’s Supergirl or Batgirl Mini Backpacks or the Batman one which comes with a lunchkit.
Finally, dig these last few accessories. The Accutime Cape Watches featuring Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman will allow your kid to count down the minutes to recess all on their own. Meanwhile, the Batgirl Vaultz Locking Binder Pouches actually come with a combo lock to keep your phone, cash and other supplies from falling into the wrong hands and the Batman Vaultz Locking Pencil Box looks like it’ll keep your stuff secure while still looking like it came right out of the Batcave!
Real talk? I’m 32 and been out of school for about a decade, but I’ve got my eye on that Superman lunchbox, the Wonder Woman watch and the Batman box. Head on to your local school supply retailers or online to get while the getting is good.
Hey, Kids Comics! – The Batman Adventures & Adventures Of Superman
I’ve loved comic books since I was 9 years old. Since then I’ve been lucky enough to turn that affection into a career. As the parent of two kiddos, I want to have samplings of my hobby I can pass them when and if they show interest. Hey, Kids Comics! will chronicle my experience going through these offerings and not only evaluating my kids’ potential interest but also passing along any potential trouble spots for children and parents. As always, I encourage you to read these books first to see if you think your kid will enjoy them.
Over on my pop culture blog UnitedMonkee I reviewed a pair of trades collecting comics I thought might be good for kids to check out, but probably aren’t solid for younger kids. Like I said when I reviewed Batman ’66 Volume 1, I’m always looking for versions of these characters I love that I can pass along to my 3-year-old, but I’ve got to say that The Batman Adventures Vol. 1
As you can see in the review I wrote over on UM, I do actually love both of those collections, but I did want to point out to this audience that they might not be the best introductions to these characters for little kids. Even though The Batman Adventures is based on a cartoon — the amazing 90s ‘toon Batman: The Animated Series — it’s still aimed at kids a bit older than my daughter’s age.
Sometime in the past year I was watching Batman: TAS and she came in the room and it freaked her out. Also, when I showed her the covers to this and the Batman ’66 book, she quickly went to the cartoonier book. I think the inherent darkness of TAS — both in visual style and tone — is just a bit too intense for her. The nice thing about a comic like this that’s based on a show, though, is that you can easily sit your kid down in front of an example and if they dig it, then you’re good to jump into the series. I’ll probably wait until Lu’s a few years older before going down this particular route with her, but I’m always looking for more kid friendly Bat books.
I was also curious to see if the digital-first, but printed Adventures Of Superman anthology series would be a good place for our kiddo to start experiencing the superhero that changed my life. This series has a variety of stories by all kinds of amazing writers and artists that run the gamut from Superman figuring out a good mission for his backwards clone Bizarro to Superman’s mom wishing he’d come home for dinner. Much like with the Batman book, I think this is a wonderful batch of comic books, great for a new reader, just not a super young one because the Man of Steel is still dealing with a variety of people trying to kill him on a regular basis.
There are definitely stories in here that are cool for kids, but have you ever tried to flip past one story to get to another with a pre-schooler looking on? It can lead to more than a few problems. However, a good way to get around that might be to go back to these stories’ digital roots which can be found on Comixology. In that format, each “issue” is broken up into different downloadable chapters that cost $0.99 each. This would allow you to show them just the ones that you think they’d be into without the hassle of them seeing you skip past the ones that aren’t.
Hey, Kids Comics! – Batman ’66 Volume 1
I’ve loved comic books since I was 9 years old. Since then I’ve been lucky enough to turn that affection into a career. As the parent of two kiddos, I want to have samplings of my hobby I can pass them when and if they show interest. Hey, Kids Comics! will chronicle my experience going through these offerings and not only evaluating my kids’ potential interest but also passing along any potential trouble spots for children and parents. As always, I encourage you to read these books first to see if you think your kid will enjoy them.
As a kid, my first real exposure to Batman came from the Adam West TV show. Even though I was growing up in the 80s, a few decades after the series first aired its impressive 120 episode run, I was lucky enough to catch them on reruns. At the time, I just took the campy antics at face value, but still fully enjoyed watching the exploits of Batman, Robin and Batgirl as they took on The Joker, Riddler, Catwoman (or Catwomen, more accurately), Egghead and the rest. For years, the only way you could see these episodes was if they happened to be on TV as the home video rights were a tangled mess. In the past few years, though, those rights have been detangled and simplified to the point where we now have Batman: The Complete Television Series
Continue reading
Hey, Kids Comics! – Tiny Titans: Welcome To The Treehouse
I’ve loved comic books since I was 9 years old. Since then I’ve been lucky enough to turn that affection into a career. As the parent of two kiddos, I want to have samplings of my hobby I can pass them when and if they show interest. Hey, Kids Comics! will chronicle my experience going through these offerings and not only evaluating my kids’ potential interest but also passing along any potential trouble spots for children and parents. As always, I encourage you to read these books first to see if you think your kid will enjoy them.
The very first comic I ever tried to read with my daughter was Art Baltazar and Franco’s Johnny DC title Tiny Titans. I was a huge fan when the book launched in 2008 thanks to its mix of inside DC fan humor and ridiculously adorable artwork. It was like a classic comedy comic, but tailor made for DC Comics fans like myself. However, she was probably two years old at that point and wasn’t interested in reading comics of any kind.
More recently, when I got the idea to start looking at various kids comics, I pulled Tiny Titans: Welcome To The Treehouse off my shelf. I got through the first issue of six collected in this volume and set it aside to do that whole parenting thing. Later that day we caught an episode of the excellent Teen Titans Go! on Cartoon Network. When that was over and I saw that my daughter had enjoyed herself, I showed her Tiny Titans and started reading to her, pointing out the characters as we went. She loved it and it has since become a mainstay in her reading rotation. Continue reading
The Pop Poppa Nap Cast Episode 80
The Pop Poppa Nap Cast Episode 80 was recorded two weeks ago, but covers the lead up to New York Comic Con, the longest parenting day so far and Wonder Woman teaming up with the Scooby Gang!
I loved seeing Velma and Daphne take center stage with Wonder Woman in Scooby-Doo Team-Up #5. Such a fun comic! The Scooby-Doo books I mentioned having a problem with were talked about on PPNC #73.
I accidentally referred to The Berenstain Bears Halloween Family Fun as Fall Family Fun, please forgive me.
For more of me check out UnitedMonkee.com, MonkeyingAroundTheKitchen.com, Comic Book Resources and @PoppaDietsch on Twitter.
The Pop Poppa Nap Cast Episode 73
The Pop Poppa Nap Cast Episode 73 gives a few house updates and gets into important subjects like Plastic Man cartoons, the state of Scooby-Doo and how I turned a laundry basket into a baby bathtub.
Princess & The Frog
The Plastic Man: The Complete Collection
Scooby-Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost
Here you can see my makeshift kitchen sink baby bath. It’s just a smaller laundry basket with an inflatable, waterproof back rest. It won’t work once he’s a bit taller, but for now, it’s just the ticket. Also if you check out the Photo Diary from April 6th, 2011 you can see the pool noodle tub solution I mentioned.
For more of me check out UnitedMonkee.com, MonkeyingAroundTheKitchen.com, Comic Book Resources and @PoppaDietsch on Twitter.
