ACCESS ALL AGES: June 2013

In the past six months that I have been writing Access All Ages, there are a few things I have noticed. I have seen a much greater focus on all-ages titles by a lot of the mid-range publishers, which is fantastic. The highest selling books that many of these publishers put out are of the all-ages variety, and I think that really speaks to both the dedication of the publisher, and the quality of the work. I am also seeing a real push towards serialized stories in many of the all-ages books, where many are either short stories compiled (Spongebob), or single story issues (Scooby-Doo). It doesn’t mean there isn’t room for both, but new collectors are often developed by the desire to read the next issue to help complete the storyline. Finally, even though property based comics have been around since the beginning, there has been a spike in their sales recently. Certainly there has been no shortage of cartoons that pop up in the comic world, but what I am really impressed with, is that so many of these property titles are no longer shuffled off to the side and forgotten by their respective publishers, but they are now flagships of all-ages lines that help drive new readers, and capture current readers with their quality. It’s an exciting time for all-ages comics, and I look forward to seeing where we are in another six months.

The News

IndestructibleHulk_14_LegoVariantMarvel to release variant Lego versions of classic covers: In conjunction with the release of the Marvel Super Heroes Lego game, Marvel will be putting out 21 variant covers to their titles. I love the concept of Lego covers, and I love even more that they will be re-imagining classic covers. You can count me in for some of these.

Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel premiering this summer: I love Phineas and Ferb, it is one of my favorite children’s shows. This is the kind of thing I was hoping for when I heard that Disney was buying Marvel. It is a natural crossover, and one that should be a ton of fun.

Archie Comics teams up with Warner Bros. for a live action Archie movie: A live action Archie movie sounds like fun, a live action Archie movie with zombies? I don’t know. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t, but as long as the cast is good then we could have a winner. Archie certainly has a wide-ranging fan base.

Teen Titans Go! renewed for second season: I loved the original Teen Titans series, and I am really enjoying Teen Titans Go! Very happy to see it renewed for a second season. And really, any chance I get to keep saying “Galufnog” is worth it.

The Sales

Top 5

Regular-Show_1-655x10241-300x4691. Regular Show #1 (kaboom!) – 56 – 38,466
2. My Little Pony Friendship is Magic #7 (IDW) – 68 – 32,188
3. Sesame Street #1 (Ape) – 91 – 23,338
4. My Little Pony Micro Series #4 (IDW) – 103 – 22,489
5. Adventure Time #16 (kaboom!) – 106 – 21,659

Regular Show jumps to the top of the list this month, which was totally expected. Sesame Street finally hits the top 5 (it seems like I waited forever for this one), and everything else is pretty typical. Batman Lil’ Gotham is outside the top 5 this month, but it didn’t suffer a massive drop. It would be interesting to see how much of the drop can be attributed to the fact that these stories have already been released digitally. I think they are great, but I can’t really imagine buying them in print for myself.

The Gateway

Transformers: Monstrosity #1 (IDW) The print version of this book is a compilation of the 8 page digital exclusive stories that started in March of 2013. Even though it is a sequel (to Autocracy), I think it is a great tie-in to the Transformers: Prime series that is currently running. I have watched some of the Prime episodes, and I can’t help but get drawn into the mythology they have created. If the same thing can exist in comic book form, then maybe Monstrosity is the way to do it. There have been many iterations of the Transformers universe, but the current one seems very interesting. Even though there is a large volume of Transformers comics currently being published, if you can get into them, then it seems a short leap to get into comics on the whole.

The Story

Children are all at once interesting, wonderful, and almost super-humanly strange. At this point in my son’s life, he doesn’t really understand the difference between DC and Marvel, he just thinks that super-heroes are super-heroes. While we as fans constantly debate what would happen if this DC character fought this Marvel character, our children are fighting these battles every day. It doesn’t matter to them if Spider-Man and Batman are teaming up to take on Sinestro. I’m sure those same super-heroes may soon be teaming up to combat the threat of the evil Decepticons. At some point, I’m sure that my son will learn the difference, and perhaps that will change the way he plays, maybe it won’t, who knows. One thing I find interesting is the combination of so many different influences. He loves it when I call out character names and he will rush into the room and perform his version of their powers. He calls it his videos, which I can only assume he got from watching YouTube. His current super hero knowledge is pretty good, but sometimes the characters will act awfully similar… though I do love it when he does Wolverine (snikt).

The Reviews

bv266-0v1. Betty and Veronica #266 (Archie Comics) Betty and Veronica are going off the beaten path with this Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs takeoff. Veronica is a little more homicidal than usual (very little), but this is a fun romp through a classic story. I appreciate Archie Comics for trying to mix it up with their titles, and this one fits the bill as a great read.

2. Spongebob Super-Giant Swimtacular Annual #1 (United Plankton Pictures) This annual focuses on super hero style stories in the Spongebob universe. Like the regular series, it is made up of many short stories, the difference here is that you can see the golden age comic references throughout, and provides a nice thread running through the stories. The comic is fun, and I enjoy the super-heroes that patrol Bikini Bottom.

3. Herobear and the Kid Special #1 (BOOM!) I love the storyline for this book, it is very cute, and very heartwarming. The art is excellent and very child friendly. My only issue with it is that it feels overwritten to me, but that might just be me. It is getting almost universal praise, so who am I to rain on its parade. I would absolutely buy this for my son.

4. Aw Yeah! Comics #3 (AW YEAH!) The return of the female Action Cat! Despite telling multiple stories per issue, Aw Yeah is doing a great job of having continuity storylines pop up here and there within them. It is really interesting to see the different people that come out to work on these comics, and I am enjoying many of the characters they are introducing. A fun addition to the world of all-ages. Thanks to all the Kickstarter supporters for this one.

5. Masters of the Universe – The Origin of Hordak #1 (DC) The Masters of the Universe toy line was originally introduced when I was a kid. I find myself more interested in them now than I did when I was a child. I have tried reading He-Man comics before and they didn’t really grab me, but Keith Giffen’s work on the series seems interesting, and even though this is a tougher origin to pick up in 20 pages there is still some neat stuff here. If nothing else, it may make you want to read the regular series.

It gets harder and harder to try and find all-ages books to talk about that I haven’t really talked about before. I am looking forward to the new series that are getting released to help keep things fresh. But certainly a major part of reading so many comics is finding things that would never have crossed my path normally. I can certainly say that I am a fan of My Little Pony, and I never would have said that before. I am watching more animated series, and when I read comics that fit in with those, it is a nice moment, and helps keep me interested. I can’t help but feel engaged with series that I have been supporting since they came out, and it’s great to see those titles experience success. You also don’t have to be a kid to read an all-ages book as many of these titles are not just for kids. I just like being open to everything, because you really don’t know where you are going to find the next great comic. But if things keep going the way they are, then there is an excellent chance that the next great comic will be an all-ages book.

Thanks for reading, and until next time, happy Blorthog and keep collecting!

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