Actual Chicago news that got us excited: continuing to serve audiences largely abandoned by current comics, DC is launching actual kids comics that aren’t directly based on cartoons. The three new books are Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam, Tiny Titans, and Super Friends. Editor Jann Jones blabs at Newsarama:
When I moved into the role of Coordinating Editor and started doing the sign off on the kids’ books of the Johnny DC line, I saw that they were really good, solid books, but I didn’t feel like I could give them to a four year old or a five year old, or just any kid in general. Despite their connection to the animated projects, they were still dealing with the more serious issues – cases where if the heroes don’t save the day, it’s implied, or shown that people will die. I think that’s kind of heavy to put on a younger audience.
Some of them were very serious in tone as well. They were good reads, don’t get me wrong, and we had great creators working on them, but they weren’t making me laugh. Likewise, I have a very religious sister, and when she would go through my bundle of comics, there was very little that I would feel comfortable with handing her to give to my nephews to read. I wanted to make sure that there was a place for that in the DC Universe.
Also, I’ve been on the convention circuit since 1999 with DC, and I’ve met a bunch of really great people over the years that do material that is what I was looking for. So when the pieces started coming together, the first person who came to my mind was Art Baltazar, who does Patrick the Wolf Boy. His stuff is so sweet and cute, while also being fresh and funny. It’s something that you could give to a kid, and any child will pick that up and be totally amused by it, but I can read it and laugh too. That’s the kind of humor and that’s the kind of storytelling that I’m really going for here.
Art Baltazar! His stuff is hilarious!
Go Art go!
Yeah, of all the usual types of announcements, this was one of the few that held any interest for me. About time DC and Marvel started getting serious about capturing the kid market. It’s also great to see some great cartoonists get the “Big Stage” they deserve.
We should have a short interview with Art and Franco up at the Wizard site a bit later today if anyone’s interested.
This is great news. I hope DC will now consider reviving Sugar and Spike (and take another look at Dodo and the Frog).
Looks sweet! :)
When this was being discussed in Chicago over the weekend, it was asked what Tiny Titans would be like. (Paraphrased) “It’s all the Teen Titans characters as you know them from the DC Universe, only they’re tiny.” The audience laughed.
We should all support this title.
Excellent news! With any luck, these will hit the stands at exactly the point my son Sam (6) decides that he wants to read things for himself.
Yay Art and Franco! The Tiny Titans look great!
If there is half-a-chance to salvage the kids comics market, this is it. Great talent on a fun book and it looks a heckuva lot better than Spidey Super Stories.
“I hope DC will now consider reviving Sugar and Spike…”
They dare not risk the wrath of Sheldon Mayer’s ghost.
AW! YEAH MAN!
That’s great for Art. Considering the shitty news we got today, this is great to hear.
The Shazam and Titans books look fun but the format doesn’t seem like a good idea for that age.
If you’re looking to give a comic to a four year old then maybe it would be better to just do these stories in children’s book form. They’re just going to be looking at the pictures for the most part (good on your kid if they can read at four) and if you’re reading to them it’d be easier to do with a book and there’s a chance it might survive a couple of months.
I’m sorry JLU is going away. I buy that for my friend’s 8 and 10 year old daughters because the all ages DC books just got too adult and violent. They wouldn’t be interested in the younger looking books.
“I hope DC will now consider reviving Sugar and Spike…”
If DC revived Sugar and Spike today, a B-list supervillain would rape Sugar with a power drill before shoving her corpse into a dishwasher.
“If DC revived Sugar and Spike today, a B-list supervillain would rape Sugar with a power drill before shoving her corpse into a dishwasher.”
…and then the blogosphere would erupt in a fit of mass outrage and DC would listen and change their editorial approach and the world would see how true and righteous this was and peace would reign on earth and little flowers would spring up in the driest deserts!
FINALLY! Great to see DC putting a solid effort into young kid comics. Looking forward to seeing the final results.
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