Stephanie Mangold looks at DC’s all-ages line, with a heavy focus on the new Shazam and Tiny Titans books:
Mike Kunkel’s Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam was released in early July. The book focuses on Billy Batson as a child, and his experiences with the magical word “Shazam.” Kunkel, who already has received two Eisner Awards for his all-ages book Herobear and the Kid, says he has loved Captain Marvel since he was a child, and admits to being blown away when Editor Jann Jones approached him about the book last spring.
“I really want to play with that idea of what you would do as a kid with this gift. A lot of what I want to offer the fans is a connection to Billy Batson as a fun kid with a spontaneous outlook on the world,” said Kunkel. “I want people to think about What if you had been given this magic word?”
I have to say, I wish Mangold had provided a bit more hard evidence regarding the line’s popularity. She says the line has “done well,” but she doesn’t say how well, and in comparison to what, and with which particular age group and if it’s sold well outside of comic stores.
She does mention that there’s Supergirl titile in the works, though, which sounds promising.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:41 am
I would say that it’s somewhat working. I started buying Tiny Titans for my 6 and 8 year old girls, and they really enjoy it. Although I suppose it’s similar in humor to Franklin Richards, I like that it’s priced at $2.25 instead of $2.99, so Tiny Titans wins. I may also pick up Supergirl for them when it starts and see if they like that.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:11 am
My three year old is really enjoying Tiny Titans… which on some level is odd, because there’s really a firm layer of humor-arising-from-Titans-background that she’s unaware of. But what’s there amuses her, and there’s something for old Wolfman-Perez-Titans-reading Daddy as well.
August 20th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
AW YEAH, TITANS!
Jann Jones has yet to miss with her new titles. Even Super Friends has proven more entertaining than a book based on a toddler’s toy line has any right to be.
They desperately need to be gotten into the hands of more kids. I really hope there are some plans to bring these books out of the comic shops in some majoy way.
August 20th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
My 4-year-old daughter is a fiend for these books. She especially loves Tiny Titans. That is just the perfect book for parents to read to their kids, because there’s a high level of innocent joy and bright, funny hijinks for the kids, but long-time comic fans get all the in-jokes.
I agree that they need to find a way for more kids to get these books. I order my comics through DCBS and I’ve started adding Tiny Titans, Super Friends and Billy Batson every month. I’ll be getting the Supergirl book, too. My daughter even asked me for a Scooby Doo comic, so I added the first digest collection in my last order.
See, it works! Kids want to read comics. You just have to get them where they can see them and make them worth the money.
Another aspect is that you have to foster a love of reading in general in kids. My daughter has books around her all the time and always has, she sees my wife and me reading all the time and she is almost desperate in her need to learn to read herself.
Turn off the TV, video games and computers every once in a while (I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with any of those things, in moderation. My daughter loves them, too. Balance is everything) and crack open a book, comic, activity book, coloring book, etc., anything, just read!
August 20th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Super Friends is very good, but I absolutely LOVE Tiny Titans.
My LCS can’t keep Tiny Titans or Shazam in stock.
SALES LEVEL FOR SHAZAM—
Shazam came in at 113th place with estimated sales of 20,340!!!!!
Which is more sales than Last Defenders #5, Two-Face: Year One #1, Patsy Walker, Hellcat #1, Black Panther #8, Spawn #180…
UNBELIEVABLE sales for this type of book.
August 21st, 2008 at 6:09 am
If DC could put these books out to reach their intended audience, they may be able to substantially increase their market appeal (both for the now and the future), especially if they could get these things sold in supermarkets and the like.
They’d probably need to advertise more heavily, get comics back into the mainstream, like I hear it was.
Might need to add more advertisements to their books, though, to supplement the cost of the books to make the idea of purchasing such a short term medium of entertainment enticing.
October 30th, 2010 at 10:24 am
we have 2 toddlers at home and the toddler toys that we got on online are perfect for them “