I saw this news report posted online yesterday and decided to share it with the faithful readers at Champion City Comics. Fox 5 News from Washington DC decided to run a story about excessive sex and violence featured in various titles from DC Comics. I would like for you to watch the video below first and you can read my brief thoughts on the report.
I believe we can all agree that it is amusing that the news would run a story on young people being exposed to sex and violence. Turn on the evening news and take a count of how many stories deal with murder, sexual assault, and all other criminal acts. Are you the pot or kettle, Fox 5 News?
Are comic books to blame for warping the minds of our children? My opinion is "no" because as a long-time reader I have watched the industry move their focus from children to adults. Video games, comic books, rock music, and hip-hop are easy targets for the media, but any parent with a brain does what they can to monitor what their kids read, listen to, and watch. As a parent, it is not always easy but you do your best to teach your kids right from wrong.
OK, let's go into some tricky territory. I'm not here to defend Fox 5, but I do agree with them on one item. As an adult who reads comics, I find it strange that a comic book, which is mainly targeted to men between the ages of 18 and 45, would have advertisements for LEGO products and milk. I have seen advertisements for video games, cars, and motorcycles in comic books which is perfectly fine so perhaps the marketing departments could do a better job of placing advertisements in their comics that correctly targets their audience. Yes, money talks, and I've seen young kids wearing Insane Clown Posse and Stone Cold Steve Austin t-shirts, so we can't put the blame entirely upon the company.
One question I have for the readers is, "Are companies like DC Comics doing a good job of developing comics for their adult readers or are they lowering their standards to sell comics in an industry that has been plagued by dismal sales figures?" If you care to respond, then leave your comment below.
TonyDoug Wright is the owner and editor of Champion City Comics.
Comic books have been an easy target for decades, just like music. The more graphic comics have been around for years and DC is attempting to grab back some $hare. Almost all comic shops will direct kids and parents to the "right" shelves.
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