The Great Escape

By Mike Pellerito

Why read comics, they are just a mindless escape?

Originally, being September this week’s column was to be about a great program that will help schools and students. Back-to-School season and all that. But while getting all the information checked and double-checked the date stopped everything in it’s track and writing a column about the future seemed silly since so much of the week will be dedicated to remembrance. The personal debate was should this column go on as planned or talk about the day from a personal opinion and the events of the day and how they unfolded at the Archie Comic office. Maybe just going along as if it was a week the same as any other

However, the idea of escapism has been coming up, and the value of escaping the world on good days or bad days and how comics has been creating some of the best ways to escape even for just a few pages at a time for decades.

So many great comics are available, and especially for kids of all ages. There are the books in the DC Johnny line, The Archie titles and so many other publishers big and small that cover everything from fun, to action adventure, to romance and ever other topic under the sun to help entertain and help escape for a little while.

While reading some new comics and trades a particular title really stood out as something that would be good to read under any circumstance but especially for some of the kids growing up in today world and growing up with fear.

Lions, Tigers and Bears Volume 1 Fear and Pride deals with so many of the emotions that a child to day is growing up with, maybe more so that other children in at least a generation. Creator and writer Mike Bullock along with Jack Lawrence doing the complete art chores of pencils to colors, with lettering by Dave Lanphear and edited by the accomplished Ron Marz work together to create not only a beautifully told story for adults and kids but something of importance for the comic industry. It proved the industry would support comics for kids that were new and original as well as the licensed comics and perennial favorites that have lasted to entertain kids for decades. Loins, Tigers and Bears also managed to do this with Image comics a company not known for its children’s comics despite producing several excellent All Ages comics in it’s history.

The themes deal with family and friendship and dealing with good over evil. You can see why this new trade paper back collecting the first four issues would come to mind during a week likes this. Young Joey moves with his mother to a new town and will no longer see his grandmother on a daily basis. Joey’s grandmother give him a set of stuffed animals called The Night Pride which will look over him now that she is so far away. These stuffed animals are more than mere toys and the things Joey hears at night are much more sinister than his imagination would lead him to believe. What takes place thought the pages of the story are as good as comics get. Action, adventure, humor, and some of the most evil villains comics has seen in decades. It is hard to describe these stories since they are woven so tightly and so well. To give away any of the stories might ruin some of the great-unexpected twists and turns.

Another added feature of the trade are over a dozen new pages of material. A ten-page feature, which ran in, an Arizona Sunday newspaper and a six-page story from a tsunami relief comic funds project round out the collection. All in all this is really something any comic fan would love and something that just can’t be any more recommended especially when a little bravery

Please, check out Lions, Tigers and Bears, it is well worth the effort.

LIONS, TIGERS AND BEARS: FEAR AND PRIDE, VOLUME #1
DIAMOND ITEM CODE - JUL061683
ISBN - 1-58240-657-X
GRADE - A
PRICE - $12.99
WEBSITE - RuneMasterStudios.com

So, again next Tuesday we will feature a column about something great for kids, parents and teachers, I promise.

As always thanks for reading, and feel free to send your comments and recommendations to: MikeP@SilverBulletComicbooks.com

In the meantime here are some new All Ages reads on sale this week:

JUN062868 ARCHIE #569 $2.25
JUN062878 ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #173 $3.69
JUN062891 VERONICA #174 $.25
JUL060203 BATMAN STRIKES #25 $2.25
JUL060205 CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK #5 $2.25
JUL062026 FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN VOL 1 DERAILED TP $14.99
JUL061972 MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR #16 $2.99
JUL062021 MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN VOL 4 CONCRETE JUNGLE DIGEST TP $6.99