Got a question for those of you who have older children old enough who really like comics (probably because you made it ridiculously easy for them to find things they’d really want to read): Has your son or daughter turned the tables, introducing you to a comic they thought you’d like? It hasn’t happened to me yet, but it did to Austin Chronicle writer Wayne Alan Brenner, in an insightful column with the appropriate subhead, Why do I love ‘Naruto’? Because I love my daughter.

This essay hit home with me because Brenner and I were exposed to many of the very same influences — Lee-Kirby Fantastic Four and Steve Ditko’s Spider-Man — during the 60s, and had transitioned to indy comics later on when the super-folks of his youth and mine had fallen into a creative sinkhole. That is, until Brenner brought his daughter, Angelica, to the awesome Austin Books and Comics, and found a more recent reboot of the FF, as scripted by Mark Waid back in 2002. He liked the books enough, but his daughter really loved them.

Not so long later, his daughter’s love for comics expanded to Runaways, Young Avengers and soon to manga which is where Naruto comes into the picture. “She handed me a collection of manga. ‘This is Naruto, Dad,’ Angelica tells me. ‘I think you’ll like it.’ By the time I’d finished the third volume, I was hooked.”

Couldn’t help but smile after reading Brenner’s essay, or the one that previews the one-time showing of Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow at 162 theaters nationwide Wednesday night.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 4th, 2007 at 7:59 am and is filed under Comic Books, Manga, Marvel, News & Views, Pop Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.