Note: This book is rated as recommended for kids.

So I'm really not sure what would possess a child less than 12 years of age to wake up one morning and say, "I'm looking for a comic book geared towards my age demographic with little violence and excellent displays of teamwork and trust." I think most kids under 12 are swearing at me at 2:30 in the morning while playing Call of Duty 4 on XBox Live. So, with that in mind, I’ll throw this review at the parents curious about picking up comics for their kids. DC Super Friends is based off of the line of toys from Mattel of the same name, which really gears the story entirely to children. Justice League Unlimited was for kids about halfway. The cartoon had fairly complex plots and was most definitely geared towards adults and for a while the comic did as well. The “Marvel Adventures” imprint is really geared more towards the younger teens, between ages 12 and 17, and is also a great place for long time readers to get “classic” versions of the characters. But then there was Tiny Titans. I am in love with Tiny Titans. It’s fun, entertaining and honestly, when reading through my stack of comics, I’ll deliberately put it in the middle because it’s a fun break. With that in mind I couldn’t pass up checking out DC Super Friends.

Of course, I’m not going to go into the ins and outs and plot intricacies of this story. But what I am going to tell you is why you should pick this book up for your young son or daughter who hates to read “real” books and needs a little visual stimulus along the way. With that in mind, I’ll keep this fairly short and sweet.

If I had kids, which I hope doesn’t happen for a few more years, and one was under six and the other was older than seven, I would give Tiny Titans to the younger one and DC Super Friends to the older one. DC Super Friends is different than Tiny Titans in that the heroes are just that, they are super-heroes fighting against a clear bad guy whereas the bad guys in Tiny Titans are more or less bullies. However, the violence level in DC Super Friends is low, if there at all. A punch is not thrown nor is there really a scary situation that may give a kid nightmares. In this story, the bad guy is Amazo and Professor Ivo. Amazo is the perfect villain to start with because he can emulate all the Super Friends’ powers, that immediately creates that sense of trouble and suspense that will hopefully rope a young reader into the story.

The dialogue is quick and easy to follow, directly relates to the plot and helps the team overcome whatever situation they face. All of their powers are displayed perfectly in this issue and there is really nothing overly complicated to follow. DC even throws in a few activities for kids to do during the story that give a bit of background behind the characters. All in all, a good read for your kids.

I can’t really complain about the artwork, the Mattel toyline is very distinct, I own one or two of them, and Dario Brizuela does a great job capturing the look of the toys. My only thing about it is that I squirm whenever I see Batman smile.

Overall, this is an excellent place for you kids to start reading about DC Superheroes. It’s easy to follow, everything is clearly laid out and there’s no need for tie-ins.

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