Me, My Daughter and the Comic Book Shop

Recently I stumbled across an article online entitled "What taking my daughter to the comic book store taught me".  I have a daughter, and I read comics - so upon seeing this title, I thought I'd give it a go (I'd suggest you onlookers read it as well before you continue - http://bit.ly/1Cau5yb).  

For those of you who do not feel the need to check out said article - the premise is simple.  Parent A took Child B to the Comic Shop - Child B professed a need for "real comics" with "real women" in them - Parent A didn't know how to respond and realized that Comics that would proficiently represent women are none existent.  

Firstly - I get it.  A LOT of comics have scantily clad women with large breasts, or "accentuated feminine features". This may not be the picture of what you want to express to your daughter and I agree (in a way) that this can be a difficult hurtle to deal with. 

Having a daughter brings relativity to things that ordinarily would have been outside a man's purview. I have a princess of a little girl that deserves all the cupcakes and rainbows in the world.  I would argue she deserves more than any other little girl on the planet.  In this respect I am admittedly biased.  

It's my theory however that this experience as it was portrayed by the author does not apply to all situations nor does it have to apply to ANY.  

I tested this theory first on my wife.  I asked her to read the article - a good candidate for testing because she is an avid comic book reader.  Her response was one of disappointment, responding "why would you take all that dominance and control away from a woman to put a little girls expectation in a box?"  

She makes a good point.  Considering female team leaders such as Storm and Wonder Woman, and all-girl super groups like the Birds of Prey, the comic book industry has diversified its view on the sexes and has presented women just as heroically and three dimensional as the men. 

Over the past few years, the females of the comic book world have been getting a bigger share of the spotlight, much to the delight of fans everywhere (men and women).  

If you subjugate these characters based on the clothing they wear you take away the power they are projecting.  For instance Hercules doesn't wear a shirt - but most of his readers wouldn't dare take theirs off (including me) - so should an overweight boy be deterred or should he read the book and get inspired?

My second test of this theory was with my 7 year old daughter.  I took a trip with her to the comic book store.  Our dealer is a great guy and has a wonderful assortment of age appropriate comics for all my kids (this is key but I'll get back to it).  

My daughter proclaimed on the way to the comic dealer that she wanted a Spider-man comic - to which I said "Really?"  Her reply was simply "Yes, and you won't stop me Daddy".  

**For those detractors without kids that do not feel kids speak this way - sorry I've got 5 kids (ages 1-12) and they all have attitudes of their own, vocabularies above what they understand and ears that can hear a potato chip bag opening at 50 yards.  

We got to the Comic Shop and she went straight to the kids comics, promptly found her Spider-man Comic and brought it to me for approval.  She then pointed at all the other comics proclaiming "Daddy I can read that when I'm older and that one and that one..."  On and on and on.  

As per usual she asked for a second comic (my little pony) which she knew I would allow. I then asked her the all important question.  "Why do you want the Spider-man Comic?"  Her reply was as amazing as Spider-man.  

She said.  "He's a nerd Daddy." As though I'm supposed to know what that means.  After prying she explained that he's a nerd that uses his powers for good.  In other words she thinks NERDS are super heroes because they're smart (or so she explained with A LOT more words).  I think that's pretty awesome.

I asked her, "Why do you want the My little Pony comic?"

She said "Because they're pretty."

She admires Spider-man - because he's a nerd, and ponies because they're pretty.  

So this brings up a good question - why does a girl have to read a "girl comic"?  I have plenty of comics with Female leads - my wife reads comics with Male Leads...I guess the obvious answer here is "equality" but isn't the goal here is to ensure something besides the sex of the hero?  Which brings me to the age appropriate thing I mentioned before.

AGE APPROPRIATE COMICS FROM A GOOD DEALER

I have a great "comic book guy".  He runs a clean shop, that is kid friendly and he provides outstanding customer service.  He even has a play area full of superhero toys for the younger kids.  

This past trip we were checking out and I purchased a Comic for myself (Man-Thing) featuring R.L. Stine.  He promptly informed me that it was rated T+ and that even though it says R.L. Stine collaborated

 I might want to preview it before I let the kids read it.  I explained it was for me, we laughed.  You had to be there but it was funny trust me.  

Point is - those scantily clad women, those aren't age appropriate for a 7 year old, and neither is Deadpool (as many folks found out at the movies), Wolverine, X-Men, or Batman. You have to check the rating.  Saying that there is a problem in the comic book industry simply because the rack you shop at doesn't have something for your daughter is like saying R-rated movies should be removed from the video store (do we have those anymore?) because there isn't anything in the isle for your kid.  

So in essence it boils down to your comic dealer and the selection they provide.  You can not begrudge a comic shop if their clientele typically do not have kids - they buy what sells at their shop - it's that simple.  If they invest in a lot of kids books and they don't sell they have to eat that cost (basic economics).  

I would recommend to a parent in this predicament that they special order books for their kids through the stores subscription service, or find another comic dealer.    

So to the author - I get it - but I disagree that this is a problem in the industry - per the results of my super unbiased test.  I understand that your article was more about as a guy kinda sorta having a better understanding without fully understanding the plight of women...but I focused on something I could test - not "kinda sortas".  

I recommend you try the subscription service or maybe find a new dealer but don't count comics out as a medium to teach a good moral to your daughter.  She may surprise you.  

Here is a link to some of our bags (pictured above) - Save the planet and take your own bag to the comic shop!  

http://bit.ly/2mNfKqq