... just wouldn't want to read the kind of comics we used to get when we middle-aged folk were children. I've heard this stated many, many times. I've always argued that, given the opportunity, they would. And here's the proof:
Simply put, they aren't given the opportunity because everyone
knows that kids won't sit down and read comics. They
know what kids want. Well, this particular kid had the run of my office today, was allowed to choose what she wanted to read and chose... 1959 vintage
Harold Hare's Own Paper. No prompting, no "would you like to read this?" from me, just "have a look and let me know what you pick." (I have to say that because some of the comics are fragile and some aren't mine and some aren't suitable for little kids.)
OK, maybe my straw-poll of one child is not enough to persuade anyone to risk hundreds of thousands of pounds on launching an "old-fashioned" comic. But, please, don't tell me kids today just wouldn't want to read the kind of comics we used to get when we middle-aged folk were children. Because, given the choice and the opportunity, one did.
Simply put, they aren't given the opportunity because everyone knows that kids won't sit down and read comics. They know what kids want. Well, this particular kid had the run of my office today, was allowed to choose what she wanted to read and chose... 1959 vintage Harold Hare's Own Paper. No prompting, no "would you like to read this?" from me, just "have a look and let me know what you pick." (I have to say that because some of the comics are fragile and some aren't mine and some aren't suitable for little kids.)
OK, maybe my straw-poll of one child is not enough to persuade anyone to risk hundreds of thousands of pounds on launching an "old-fashioned" comic. But, please, don't tell me kids today just wouldn't want to read the kind of comics we used to get when we middle-aged folk were children. Because, given the choice and the opportunity, one did.
Using the jargon of today...I TOTALLY agree. My kids were quite happy to browse my comics of yesteryear. My eldest loved the Marvel Classic Comics so much she has a set herself!
ReplyDeleteObviously, nothing new here to the readers of Bear Alley. It's just the powers-that-be in marketing who think otherwise and have for years.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1960s, kids happily read Armada paperbacks about Billy Bunter, though Magnet and its like were long gone.
In the 1980s, my eldest son read hundreds of Rovers, Wizards and Hotspurs -- text story papers published in the 1950s. That he "lived in a different time now", let alone in different country (New Zealand), didn't put him off one jot.
When I was 10 years old I got into Batman by reading a reprint of Detective Comics #27. This was in 1996.
ReplyDeleteI have a large collection of old comics and annuals in my house (I live in the American midwest). Every kid who comes into our basement ends up pouring over an old Beano annual or Whizzer and Chips, or the like, usually for hours. And they have no point of contact with the culture. SO you're right.
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