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Youth Comics


Lurch77

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My kids are elementary school age and they can devour some comics. Their favorites so far have been the Tiny Titans and Mini Marvels but wanted to see if you guys have any other suggestions for good youth age comics (elementary to middle school age).

So far they've read: Tiny Titans, Mini Marvels, My Little Pony, G-Man, Itty Bitty Hellboy, Franklin Richards, Li'l Gotham, Sonic/Mega Man, Power Pack, Sentinel, Mary Jane Loves Spider-Man, Superman Family

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If you can score back issues or trade paperbacks collecting the Batman animated series comics, those are fantastic. They're among my favorite Batman titles ever and are consistently well drawn and well written. Very entertaining and appropriate for kids and adults.

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This is perfect. I was going to start my own similar thread asking for advice!

I've recently started working with a UK charity called 'Reading Partners'. One of the boroughs near where I work is one of the poorest in the UK. I visit one of the schools, once a week, to read with a 7 year old boy.

He is behind the rest of his group in terms of reading level, so the idea of the partnership is that I will help him get his reading level up, whilst also increasing his enthusiasm for reading.

Part of the problem is that he doesn't have the support network at home that encourages him to read, and most of his books are likely to be things he HAS to read for school. So I was going to grab him some comics, so that he can read them at home, and then we can spend part of our sessions discussing what he read, and what he liked/disliked etc.

Will look into getting some of the above, Sentinel has been recommended to me before.

If anyone can think of any books that would suit please let me know. Doesn't have to be comics, I just want him to have some fun with reading.

Thanks!

Edited by UK Collector
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As one of the librarians around here, and the parent of a young child, I can definitely provide some advice and recommendations. My go-to recommendation is ALWAYS Carl Barks' Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge stuff, which is being reprinted by Fantagraphics in very handsome, sturdy hardcover editions. There are five out now, and a new one is due soon. Bone is also a classic, as is Mouse Guard. These are all adventure books, a little spirited at times, but among the best the medium has to offer (for any age).

As PL said, DC has done a pretty nice job in making comics based of their Animated Series. In addition to Batman Adventures, they have some good comics based on the Superman and Justice League cartoons, plus the newer Green Lantern and Brave and the Bold shows. Marvel's all-ages stuff isn't quite as good, but there's stuff out there. Most Marvel all-ages stuff these days is published in digest formats.

That's off the top of my head; there's a ton of other stuff out there, as lots of other publishers and cartoonists have really embraced all ages comics of late. I'll try and think of some other good ones and post more here.

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I've heard Mouseguard is good! Will add it to the list.

Does anyone know if there are any Marvel young reader books that cover Spidey and some/one of Carnage, Doc Ock, Sandman or Lizard?

I am planning on getting Luke's Box Set for all of the kids I know for Xmas, so would be great if I could give them a book to go with it to inspire their own stories with the 'mates.

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My daughter is 4 and not quite at reading age yet, but I have been reading with her. Her favorites are Tiny Titans, Teen Titans Go, and Adventure Time. She also likes the graphic novel, Monkey vs. Robot, but honestly it's a bit dark and it's mostly pictures and sound effects with not a lot to really read.

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Jeffrey Brown's two Star Wars gag books, Vader and Son and Vader's Little Princess, are also great. They're a series of one-panel strips featuring Vader in various traditional parenting situations with his twins. Really funny.

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If you can score back issues or trade paperbacks collecting the Batman animated series comics, those are fantastic. They're among my favorite Batman titles ever and are consistently well drawn and well written. Very entertaining and appropriate for kids and adults.

I have a few of the B:TAS trades that came out while the series was still on tv (Mask of the Phantasm, Holiday Special & Mad Love) but my daughter likes to dog ear as she reads; not sure if I could watch her do that to those comics pinch.gif Does the comic series mirror the show with the same stories or do they have their own different storyline? The ones I have are pretty much same as the show/movie.

We found a few of the Marvel Digest Power Pack books at one of the used books stores here in Raleigh about a month ago and they really like those (Thor, Iron Man, Wolverine, X-Men, F4) so I've been trying to track down the rest of them (Hulk, Avengers, Skrulls, Spider-Man) but none of the LCS around here have them.

The Pet Avengers look promising, there's even one with Squirrel Girl yes.gif

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Pet Avengers is quite good. I forgot about Power Pack; those are good as well. The original series from the '80s has some material that might be upsetting to a really young reader, but the more recent stuff (which is what you are talking about) is great. My little girl loves 'em.

Right now, she's on a big Calvin and Hobbes kick, but I figured you didn't need that recommended. biggrin.png

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Right now, she's on a big Calvin and Hobbes kick, but I figured you didn't need that recommended. biggrin.png

Yep, I have that covered thumbsup.gif Actually, Franklin Richards Son of a Genius reminds me a lot of Calvin & Hobbes

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Right now, she's on a big Calvin and Hobbes kick, but I figured you didn't need that recommended. biggrin.png

Yep, I have that covered thumbsup.gif Actually, Franklin Richards Son of a Genius reminds me a lot of Calvin & Hobbes

:lol: that's great! Edited by UK Collector
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If you can score back issues or trade paperbacks collecting the Batman animated series comics, those are fantastic. They're among my favorite Batman titles ever and are consistently well drawn and well written. Very entertaining and appropriate for kids and adults.

I have a few of the B:TAS trades that came out while the series was still on tv (Mask of the Phantasm, Holiday Special & Mad Love) but my daughter likes to dog ear as she reads; not sure if I could watch her do that to those comics pinch.gif Does the comic series mirror the show with the same stories or do they have their own different storyline? The ones I have are pretty much same as the show/movie.

They don't adapt the stories from the cartoons but they certainly complement them. As I recall they had a lot of the same writers and artists so they were like getting more episodes. If anyone misses those shows and wishes there was more, I recommend finding those comics. Just good, solid, self-contained stories like back in the day.

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I don't think they had writers and artists from the shows; Kelly Puckett was the first Batman Adventures writer, with the late great Mike Parobeck the primary artist. You might be thinking of the Mad Love special that Paul Dini and Bruce Timm did, which was later adapted into an episode of the show (and is one of the best Batman stories ever, bar none). For Superman, Mark Millar of all people was one of the main writers, as was Scott Mccloud. Lots of talent on those comics. I think they are still in print and available from Amazon. The Batman comic in particular was great; as I remember, it was legitimately the best Batman comic DC was publishing at the time.

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My daughters (tween/teen) really liked Love & Capes.

I agree on the DCU animated based comics.

Calvin and Hobbes collections are worth every penny!

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm now a few sessions in with my reading partner (Ismail) so I have a better understanding of our goals and his level etc.

Remarkably, when he joined the school last September he couldn't speak a word of English. You'd honestly never be able to tell speaking to him, but now it's understandable why he is behind the rest of his class with reading.

One of the goals I have been given is to help him make guesses as to what might happen in a story e.g. stop him reading when someone gets in a race car and ask him what he expects to happen. Will they crash, will they win, will a badger run onto the track? It's remarkable how difficult this is for him sometimes, and he will sometimes say 'I don't know' and just want to read so that the story will TELL him what happens rather than be creative for himself.

I've been thinking about getting some Adventure Time comic book pages and blanking out the speech bubbles, so that we can either sit together, and fill in what he thinks people would say to each other, or even give them to him for 'homework'. Has anyone done something like this before? Or can recommend a source for comic pages I can manipulate? Doesn't have to be Adventure Time, just something fun and colourful.

His reading level is probably at about age 6, he turns 8 soon. So if anyone can recommend books specifically for that age, that would be awesome. The kids break up for summer holidays soon, and I want to give him a present to read during the break.

I was also wondering if there are any Miles Morales young person comics? He's a fan of Scooby Doo too if that helps.

Thanks!

Edited by UK Collector
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  • 4 weeks later...

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