Monday 27 April 2009

Seduction of the Innocent

My missus says she's worried that my comics are corrupting our toddler's mind. He likes to pull my graphic novels off the shelves and look at the pictures. I see no harm in this, and enjoy the fact that he seems to find them so fadscinating. She sees things differently though, and had a bit of a go when she caught him staring intently at this cover...


...which she feels is unsuitable for a 20-month-old to feast his innocent eyes upon. 

Bah! She doesn't bat an eyelid when he's pootling around the floor of museums merrily cooing over scenes of ancient warfare or mummified corpses. Truth is she just hates comics, well most comics. She's fairly happy for me to show him my old Asterix and Tintin stuff, but she's really anti-superhero. Hates the art (she thinks it's ALL dreadful, simplistic nonsense), hates the violence and sees American comics in general as an evil influence on the minds of young children. 

Clearly then, I've shacked up with the reincarnation of Frederic Wertham!

To be fair to her, she's got a point with some of it. He's very fond of Hack/Slash Volume #1 for example. Thinking on it, that's really not very suitable, so I will move it to a higher shelf. But I really don't see what damage Godland or John Byrne's Captain America could do to him. 

I suppose in 20 years time when he's running around the streets of London dressed in spandex beating up criminals, I'll be the one to blame.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I checked this out with my wife and she agrees with your wife. I however, agree with you.

Anonymous said...

I have never yet met a woman who likes comics or cage fighting...
When I do, I will take her as my second wife.

Big D

Dom Sutton said...

Bruce: Well, she's right about some of it. But a lot of it's harmless, especially the old silver and bronze age stuff.

Dave: Very caveman!