These are the
comics that I always loved as a kid. These and the other “costumed hero” comics
that rose from these early works. Many of the characters such as Donald Duck,
Popeye, Little Lou Lou and Bugs Bunny I am more familiar with through cartoons
rather than the comics but they were still a major part of my childhood. I
absolutely adored super hero comics when I was a kid and would read whatever I
could find on them. Of course growing up in a small town with no comic book
stores within a hundred miles, it was a little difficult but it didn’t hinder
my fascination with them.
Some of my favorites were the “Tales
from the Crypt” comics; of course I only read those when I was a little older.
I loved anything having to do with monsters and mystery back then, as that was
also my favorite movie genre. The grotesque and off-kilter fascinated me as a
kid so those comics were right up my alley. When I got older and started
becoming interested in comics from an artist/writer standpoint, it really upset
me to learn that people had such a vendetta against comics of that sort back
then. I know it all extends from fear and lack of understanding as most biases
do, but it still upset me that so many people bought into that, and even more
so that the government got involved in inhibiting creative freedom.
It also stemmed
from the belief that comics were only for children and that any adult content
that they might have would corrupt the youth. This is much like how animation
is seen today, in the U.S. anyway. Most people are ignorant of what a vast
genre it is and that just because it is animated does not mean that it is for
children as any anime fan is well aware of.
I really have a
great appreciation for these comics as they paved the way for some of the most
long-lasting comics that still exist today. This was the medium that shaped my
childhood and I’m glad that it is thriving today and being recognized for the
great art form that it is.
Thank you for bringing up topics related to Childhood and adults perspective of comics/cartoons. I can't agree more with your phrase 'This was the medium that shaped my childhood' and it was rather difficult to express such appreciation to older generations, especially those who are unfamiliar with the medium and came from cultures that aren't big in producing it. The very reason those cartoons and anime during my childhood has always been a big influence to me is because of it's mature contents. I'm not talking about sexual-theme even though they appeared occasionally but I'm talking about mature ideas such as life, death, transformation and struggles that you'd not expect in generic kid's programs that satisfy many adults ideal about media for kids. I remember the first 'Land Before Time' very well and that is thanks to 'Spoiler alerts' the death of the main character(Little foot)'s Mother. Early exposure(I was 10-11) to such deep and true idea about life actually enhanced me as a person and nowadays most shows I appreciate tend to be the one that compose the idea of life and death beautifully. This make me believe that something we labelled as mature contents nowadays are actually quite appropriate for children. Sex may not be appropriate for underage but healthy interaction between genders is something I found quite educational.
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