The Lansing State Journal talks to comic writer Dan Mishkin (Amethyst, Blue Devil) about his upcoming illustrated book for Actionopolis and why he’s writing children’s books now:
Mishkin said comic books are being written for older readers today, and younger children are being left out.
“Superhero comics were traditionally very much for children, both the kinds of adventure stories and the themes of how you find the moral compass for using power in your life,” he said. “For me, superhero stories are really all about not just fantasy wish fulfillment about lording it over everybody, but about realizing that you’re a kid now, but one day you’ll have adult power and you have to figure out what the right way is to use it. That’s a message that is now lost in comic books.
“There are superhero comics that have material that’s — if not mature — in my opinion, it’s adult and not for children. Unlike comics, the book industry understands the kid market. They understand there are readers there, they understand there are parents and grandparents who want to buy books for young readers.”
The Forest King: Woodlark’s Shadow by Mishkin and his Creeps co-creator Tom Mandrake is one of six illustrated novels coming out this summer from Actionopolis. The company is also publishing books by Adam Beechen, Rob Worley and Bruce Zick, and is a division of online webcomics publisher Komikwerks.
