by Rich Johnson
For generations, kids were introduced to superheroes through reading comic books. Those staple-bound “floppies” that were sold on newsstands. It’s how I first learned of these heroes. In fact, comics were a way my mother encouraged me to read.
My mother was divorced and as a single mom she moved us in with her mother, my grandmother. We didn’t have a lot of money, but my mother gave me a weekly allowance. I would use my weekly cash to buy comics and candy.
There was a mom-and-pop grocery store across from the grade school I attended. The store had an enormous magazine rack and on the bottom ledge they stacked the comic books, right at kid level. Comics were cheap when I was growing up – twelve cents. Yes, I am old. But that meant that I could get nine comics for one dollar. Eighteen comics for two dollars. It was quite the haul!
I don’t exactly remember what my allowance was, but I do remember walking out of that grocery store with a stack of comics every week and sometimes candy. I would happily walk home with Batman, Superman, the Justice League, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, the Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, Archie and more in my greedy mitts. When I got home, I would grab a bottle of pop (or soda as I now call it) and some rod pretzels and take my snacks and comics out to our porch to escape into the colorful pages. I would bite off the end of the pretzel and pretend it was Sgt. Fury’s cigar. It was heaven.
That world is long gone. Comics are no longer on the newsstand, and they cost a lot more than twelve cents. It makes me wonder, how are kids being introduced to superhero comics?
Over the years comics have become more and more adult. Superhero comic book publishers, with the rise of the direct market focused their publishing programs on an adult audience. Some like DC still published kids’ comics. Marvel not as much.
However, over the past twenty years there has been an explosion of kid’s comics in book form from trade book publishers. In 2005 children’s book publisher Scholastic launched Graphix, a graphic novel imprint for kids. For their debut release Graphix colored and released the previously black and white comics Bone by Jeff Smith. Five years later they released Smile by Raina Telgemeier. Telgemeier has since sold millions of graphic novels worldwide. Jeff Kinney (Diary of A Wimpy Kid) and Dav Pilkey (Dog Man) are also in the multimillion copies sold club.
Other publishers like First Second, Papercutz, Harper Alley and Random House Graphic also publish graphic novels for kids. These trade publishers now dominate the kids’ comics market. When I go to Google and type in “comics for kids” I get images of graphic novels for kids, not a bunch of floppies. And definitely not superhero comics.
Believe me, I am happy kids are finding comics they want to read, but again, it makes me wonder where kids are discovering superheroes? Most likely it’s movies or animation. DC did publish Batman: The Adventure Continues based on the 1990s tv show. These comics are priced at $3.99, and DC has released three collected editions trade paperbacks at $19.99 each. They are not shelved in the kids’ graphic novel section like those from a trade publisher; they are in the adult graphic novel section.
Yes, I understand that there are many adults, including myself, who read Batman comics based on the animated TV show. Originally, they were a part of a line of comics for kids that DC published. The line of comics included, The Batman Adventures, The Batman and Robin Adventures, Superman Adventures, Batman: Gotham Adventures, Adventures in the DC Universe, Batman Beyond, Teen Titans Go! and several Cartoon Network shows, Power Puff Girls, Johnny Bravo, Samurai Jack, Scooby Doo, Looney Tunes, and others. All based on animated shows for kids. Again, I understand adults also watch many of these shows, but they are targeted at kids.
With the growing book market, during my time working at DC I wanted to get these titles published as digest sized books for kids. DC and Mad Magazine had a history of shrinking their comics down and publishing them in a book format. Starting in the 1950s, MAD teamed up with Ballantine books to release pocketbooks of MAD Magazine content. Signet publishers took over for a few releases. In the early 1970s Warner Books stepped up and published over ninety MAD paperbacks.
I too wanted to shrink MAD down again.
At the time there was a series of popular books called Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader. A big chunky book designed to help fill the time while you were in the bathroom. They printed the kinds of stories you now will find as you scroll through on your phone. These books were 6” x 9”, the perfect size to hold while you did your business. I thought MAD would make for the perfect bathroom reader.
A few years earlier DC Comics launched MAD Books. Under the imprint we published quite a few MAD books, MAD About the 90s, MAD Gross Book, MAD About TV, MAD About the Movies and others. Management and the MAD editors liked the idea of shrinking the books down, and we published The MAD Bathroom Companion. It sold extremely well and so we released three volumes in total. I then sold the reprint right to Barnes and Noble Publishing and they brought out a hardcover version of all three books joined together for $9.99. They sold tens of thousands of this edition.
I also wanted to shrink the Big Books series, which included The Big Book of Urban Legends, The Big Book of Criminals, The Big Book of Weirdoes, and others. The legendary DC editor Andy Helfer created the Big Books series which are short pieces about unusual topics printed in black and white. As I remember there were some who were worried that the dialogue in the word balloons when shrunk down would be too small, so the books never happened.
DC too has a history of getting comics published in a smaller format. In the 1960s and 70’s DC licensed out a few black and white pocketbooks. In the 1960s Signet published a few Batman and Joker collections. Paperback Library published two pocketbooks of the landmark series by Neal Adams/Dennis O’Neil, Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Travelin’ Heroes.
With the success of shrinking MAD books down and DC’s history with smaller versions of their comics, why not try it for our kids’ line? I first sold two titles in digest size to Scholastic Book Fairs, a Scooby Doo collection, and a Sgt. Rock collection. I remember we had to edit the Scooby Doo book a little. There was a line that Shaggy said, “Let’s split, like Rosanne’s pants.” Part of me thought the edit was silly, but the TV show Rosanne had ended years before and kids who would buy this probably had no idea who the comedian was. It dated the book. The line that replaced it was “Let’s split like a banana.” It worked.
Based on all this and that I was constantly being asked by librarians what we had for kids, I pitched to the powers that be a line of kids digest sized books collecting comics from the kids’ comics line. In January 2004 we published Batman Adventures: Shadows & Masks, a 112-page book, with a trim size of 5” x7.25” with a $6.99 cover price. This started a line of books based on the kids’ comics I mentioned earlier.
The sales were modest, but we had several hurdles that may have contributed to this. There was no kids graphic novel section at the time in bookstores. As a result, these books were shelved with the middle grade prose titles. Very often they would sit next to a middle grade novel about a DC Comics title. The books were thin, so the spine was thin. These were merchandised spine out and they just get lost on the shelf.
I had a meeting with the B&N kids’ book buyer at the time Brian Monahan and his boss Jocelyn Moran, the VP of Merchandising Kids’ Books about our digest books. I knew Jocelyn from my days at Scholastic when she ran the book clubs. I was a sales rep for Scholastic at the time she ran the clubs. Jocelyn wanted us to double the page count and charge just a few more dollars for the books and she said she would take ten thousand each of a handful of titles.
I was thrilled! I brought this back to DC and for a variety of reasons the economics of that didn’t work. I had to tell B&N that we couldn’t honor their request. This was a missed opportunity. We continued the line for a while, but ultimately, it had to end.
Now, twenty years later DC is publishing a line of what they call Compact Comics Editions. These are previously published titles in a smaller trim size paperback – they are 5.49” x 8.49.” The paper quality is lower than the original collected editions of these titles and to be honest, some books look a little dark. But they are readable, and they can be enjoyed. These are almost 400 pages, and the cover price is just $9.99! Batman: The Long Halloween is 376 pages! Many of these titles have been out for years, some decades, and have been in multiple formats over the years. Hard cover editions, trade paperbacks, deluxe hardcover editions, anniversary editions, Absolute Editions, paperback omnibus editions. DC long ago they made back their money on these titles.
I applaud DC for this program. A standing ovation in fact. Whoever thought of it should be given a pat on the back, a raise, and a paid vacation. The fact that DC is taking big titles and making them affordable in an effort to get new readers is admirable.
But why are there are no kids’ titles in the series? Because those books are still being targeted to adults. When I go to Amazon and key in Batman Adventures books, at the top of the list is the hardcover The Batman Adventures Omnibus that retails for $150. A kid needs a pretty hefty allowance for that one. Also is Batman Beyond: The Animated Series Classics Compendium – 25th Anniversary Edition comes in at $59.99. Additionally, the Batman and Robin Adventures Omnibus goes for $75.00.
So, I have a request. Can some of the kids’ books be put into the DC Compact Comics Editions? I think retailers and libraries would jump on a big, chunky Batman Animated or Scooby Doo trade paperback priced at $9.99. Maybe mass-market accounts like Target and Walmart would bring them in. Could they have a shot at Scholastic Book Clubs and Book Fairs? I think so.
After all these years why do I care? I still love superheroes. Those days spent on the porch made me a forever fan. Superhero comics were an escape for me as a child. They gave me hope and they gave me the idea that if you have power that you should use that power for good. Stan Lee said it best though, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
DC Comics let’s get kids reading superhero comics. Maybe they will get to my age and still read them, go to the movies, amass a collection of graphic novels, buy action figures, and still dream of flying.
Rich Johnson has worked for Waldenbooks, Scholastic, DC Comics, Lion Forge, and Diamond Book Distributors and was the co-founder of Yen Press. He is currently the founder of the publishing and media consulting company Brick Road Media, LLC. He has been an adjunct professor at both Drexel University and Pace University and is the author of four art books about Marvel Comics for Universe/Rizzoli and has a forthcoming book from Inside Editions.
English (US) · 