Do you think comics
are a children's or adult genre/media?
“The comic book was originally conceived of and executed as
entertainment for children” (Wolk, D.)
A comic book, is a publication that consists of comic’s art
in the form of sequential panels that represent individual scenes. They are
attention grabbing and cater to both children and adults.
A book titled ‘Seduction
of the Innocent: The influence on Today’s Youth’ caused a moral panic to
arise over the idea that comics were leading to feral teenagers running wild on
the streets. This panic triggered the U.S. Senate to hold a series of hearings
in 1954, about comic books and juvenile delinquency. So at this point in time
the target audience was now aimed at teenagers, not children. To save itself,
the comic business created its own censoring agency, the Comics Code Authority.
Cops and judges had to be represented positively and other clauses banned
vampires and werewolves, "suggestive posture," unusually concealed
weapons, the words "horror" and "terror" in titles, and
"depravity" in general. Where was the excitement and interest in
comics if no one of those aspects where no longer allowed? If comics were
published that way then, they would only be presented to children. Although comics
are now back to presenting their rightful aspects they had in the first place,
this ‘drama’ that happened in 1954 is proving the media that comics in those
days were for a teenage
genre.
Even after reading over the research I have found, I am
still in some belief that comics are for the target audience of children and teens.
Now though, the audience of comic genre has seemed to expand to all ages. Growing
up I’d only ever seen children purchase and read comic books, but today I see
adults doing the same. The first thing that seems to pop into my mind when I
think of Comics; is the Big Bang Theory, (which I’m sure most people are
familiar with) how in some episodes Sheldon and Leonards passion revolves
around comics, that there is a prime example of how adults enjoy comic books
too.
I found that during a survey carried out by the Comic Book
Resources website in 2013, 60 percent of respondents stated they started
reading comic books before they turned ten. Whereas there was only 13 percent
of comic book readers in the age ranging from 15-29. Although I haven’t found a
recent survey like this been taken I definitely think that the adult age range
has increased.
The different genres of comics cover many different
subjects. There is genres such as dark dramas, light superhero stories, dark
superhero stories, there are comics about normal people dealing with real life
problems, fantasies and any other genre you can't think of. There's something
out there for everyone.
In relation to the Adventures of Tintin Comics; I have found
that the comics are generally recommended for children aged nine and up in
terms of reading comprehension. So 9 years and above, above as in age range of
15-29? Most likely so. So the Tintin comic is for all ages? Which means it is
both children and adult media.
In conclusion I believe comics are both a children and adult
genre/media.
Statista,. (2015). Age at which readers start reading comic
books 2013 | Statistic. Retrieved 4 August 2015, from http://www.statista.com/statistics/299862/comic-book-reading-age/
Wolk, D. (2011). How Comics Became Literature for Adults.
The Huffington Post. Retrieved 5 August 2015, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/douglas-wolk/how-comics-became-literat_b_884238.html
Thanks Laine. Great post. I agree with your example from Big Bang Theory - very appropriate. The stats are also interesting but, as you mention, are a little out of date. You need to include in-text A.P.A referencing in your answers as well as the reference list. But otherwise, an excellent rrsponse.
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