MIKE PELLERITO, was recently named the new Managing Editor of Archie Comics. In addition to looking over the Archie universe he also editÃs some of Archie Comics most popular titles,
This column came about after having very few avenues to promote and find out about All Ages and Younger Reader Comics and Graphic Novels. Most knowledge seems to be passed along by word of mouth, so this is in the sprit the column is written. Now, sit back and join in the conversation!
To learn more about any of the above-mentioned projects please visit Archie Comics.com
Aren't All Ages Supposed To Be For Kids?
Aren’t All Ages supposed to be for kids?
The rules for All Ages comics seem a bit upside down sometimes. What you may find in one title you would never find in another All Ages title. Considering that All Ages or Younger Readers really cover a wide scope of age groups we might need to consider some sort of universal rating system like the movies and video games have in place. Because to be honest content marked for All Ages and Younger readers is quite surprising, even more so when it is nominated for one of the highest honors in comics, the Eisner awards.
Expectations come up a lot in this column, but a lot of what reactions are based on are expectations. When Bugs Bunny drops an anvil on Elmer Fudd’s head, it never seemed offensive, it always seemed fake. The style of artwork helped people to understand that this was just imaginary. In Ratatouille the recent Pixar CGI animated movies some of the violence seemed a bit too real. The look of the film is so amazingly real that when guns are shot, poison gas sprayed, knives and various sharp items are thrown at the lead character, a rat, well it seemed more real. This isn’t to criticize or say the quality was poor, not the case. Thousands upon thousands of people love both. Sometimes an adult’s perspective can be off. Based on the crying kids in the audience, maybe there is something to knowing your audience and more importantly knowing your medium.
Recently a classic of the All Ages genre, Tintin was pulled from the bookstore chain Borders for racist material. The news was so big it made most of the big news outlets far outside the realm of comics. You can read about it here: Yahoo News 
Whatever you believe on either side of he argument you have to come to one conclusion, if you blow it, you blow it for everyone. You can feel fairly certain some one at the top at Borders released an in house memo to better keep an eye on content of their graphic Novel section. The memo probably went far beyond the shores of Europe and deals with material including all Graphic Novels, not just Tintin. And one day when the hassle of patrolling the aisles for inappropriate material or material that COULD be considered in appropriate becomes too great the book stores will no longer shelve Graphic novels.
It isn’t a matter of artistic license it is a matter of informing your audience of what to expect. It seems only fair. Which brings us to our problem of the week.
This years Eisner award nominees for best Publication for a Younger Audience pick from a wide variety of very good material out there. Unfortunately, one award is not really enough to go over the all depth and real variety. Someone like Stan Goldberg doing an ARCHIE cover compared to Pat Spaziante’ SONIC X cover is as far removed from one another as you can get. Never mind both are form the same company Archie Comics. Say a funny SIMPSON story had to be compared to the TWILIGHT KINGDOM manga. How do you compare the two?
Aaron Williams’ P.S. 238, or Jane Smith-Fisher’s WJHC ON THE AIR, John Gallagher’s BUZZBOY Stan Sakai’s YOSOGI YOJIMBO, AMELIA RULES!, BONE, SCOOBY DOO and the list goes on. How do you compare those? How do you place them all under the same banner of Younger readers?
The list below is for this years nominees for best publication for a younger audience.
Best Publication for a Younger Audience
* Chickenhare, by Chris Grine (Dark Horse)
* Drawing Comics Is Easy (Except When It’s Hard), by Alexa Kitchen (Denis Kitchen Publishing)
* Gumby, by Bob Burden and Rick Geary (Wildcard)
* Moomin, by Tove Jansson (Drawn & Quarterly)
* To Dance: A Ballerina’s Graphic Novel, by Sienna Cherson and Mark Siegel (Simon & Schuster)
To be honest a few of these were passed on by this column earlier in the year. Some seemed a bit too mature, and maybe shocking for younger readers. Again this is not a negative comment on the material; it all was well done as evident by the Eisner nods, just seems a bit beyond the younger reader.
So for the next week it seems it would be a good time to reevaluate what could be acceptable for All Ages/Younger Readers. Any concerns will be pointed out, and it will be up to you to decide. And away we go…
CHICKENHARE THE HOUSE OF KLAUS
Chris Grine with a style all his own has crafted a project visually familiar of the All Ages juggernaut BONE. Part chicken, part hare, Chickenhare and his friend Abe (all turtle) are in the unenviable position of being captured and sold to the Santa-esque cruel taxidermist Klaus. Along with Banjo a krumpus, the mysterious Meg and Buttons the ghost inhabiting it’s decaying goat body. Yeah, it gets pretty weird. It certainly does not have the feel of a typical All Age/Younger Reader project, so be warned. With language that would get most kids in big trouble (crap was certainly a favorite expression) it was a bit hard to find the targeted age group. But the story’s told well and you do begin to care about the characters as the story goes on and their ever difficult journey to freedom. This was intended to be the first in a series of stories and it certainly had that feel of a beginning of a journey. As of this writing the next chapter has been “green lit” and should be on sale spring of 08’.
CHICKENHARE THE HOUSE OF KLAUS
Price: $9.95
Format: 160 pages, B&W
ISBN-10: 1-59307-574-X
ISBN-13: 978-1-59307-574-3
Diamond Item Code: JUN060040
Age Level: High School and up
CONCERNS: Strong language and questionable imagery.
Next Tuesday more reviews!
Thanks for the opportunity to talk about comics! See you next Tuesday!
If you have a great All Ages project, let us know!
Get in touch: mikep(at)silverbulletcomicbooks(dot)com
Check out some new All Ages comic reads on sale this week:
APR070168 BATMAN HARLEY AND IVY TP $14.99
APR070221 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COMICBOOK HEROES VOL 2 WONDER WOMAN $19.99
MAY070192 LEGION OF SUPER HEROES IN THE 31ST CENTURY #4 $2.25
MAY070196 SCOOBY DOO #122 $2.25
APR070210 SHAZAM THE MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL #4 (OF 4) $5.99
APR070214 SHOWCASE PRESENTS MARTIAN MANHUNTER VOL 1 TP $16.99
MAY072096 FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #22 $2.99
MAY072136 MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR #26 $2.99
MAY072132 MARVEL ADVENTURES HULK #1 $2.99
MAY073196 ARCHIE & FRIENDS #111 $2.25
MAY073197 ARCHIE DIGEST #236 $2.49
MAY073201 BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #153 $3.69
MAY073202 JUGHEAD #183 $2.25
MAY073280 SIMPSONS COMICS #132 $2.99
MAY073207 SONIC X #22 $2.25
MAY073208 TALES FROM RIVERDALE DIGEST #22 $2.49
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