Topic: Comic Books are for kids

[DocSavage]

I keep hearing how they used to be for children, until they all grew up.

Wasn't mad magazine started in the 1950's?  That sure isn't for kids.

Cracked, that's another one.

Mainstream wise, Superman had anti war social commentary in the 1940's.  No kids going to really see that.

Sure, there are comics marketed to a younger audience, but as a whole, isn't the "they're for kids" line a myth?


Edit:

Relevent:

http://www.theouthousers.com/index.php/news/123645-paul-pope-clarifies-dc-we-make-comics-for-45-year-olds-comment.html


I'm not sure this is a recent thing, nor should it be a surprise.  Even discounting "mature" lines like Vertigo and such, a lot of comics have content that requires some degree of social awareness.

[Zandrax]

In short, there was a controversy in the 1940s or 50s about violence and horror in comic books. This lead to the creation of the comics code. It was similar to a rating system that there wouldn'e be explicit violence or sexual themes in the issue. I think that's when superhero comics became "kid-friendly", but I could be wrong.

[BobbyR]

That's also when Mad became a magazine