Children's comics

Children's comics are comics intended primarily for children.

Contents

Unlike adult comics, children's comics generally don't contain material that could be considered thematically inappropriate for children, including vulgarity, morally questionable actions, disturbing imagery, and sexually explicit material.^[1]: 7 In some places, this can be enforced through legal or industry bodies, such as the Comics Code Authority in the second half of the 20th century in the United States.^[1]: 7

Charles Hatfield claims that one of the common characteristics of children's comics is "cuteness".^[2]: 127

Traditionally, comics were often intended for children, and are still often considered less "serious" than books, but this perception, and their target audience, has been gradually shifting, leading to the growing popularity of the adult comics.^[3]

Audience

The focus on children makes them part of the children's literature, and distinguishes them from general audience comics, known as adult comics.^[4]: 15 In between those two, the term young adult comics (also adolescent comics^[4]: 15) is sometimes used.^[1][5] Those terms are somewhat arbitrary, with Roger Sabin defining children's comics as those for readers aged 16 or less, and within that group distinguishing nursery comics for those aged 8 or below, and adolescent comics for the group of 12-16 years old).^[4]: 15 Some comics have also been described as "all ages" (ex. Little Lit).^[6][7]

By country

United States

Among the most popular children's comics in the United States are Disney's comics such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, which have also been widely translated around the world.^{[8][9][10]: 155}

Poland

In Poland, classic children's comics include titles such as Pan Kleks, Tytus, Romek i A'Tomek and Kajko i Kokosz .^[11]

References

1. Tarbox, Gwen Athene (2020-04-16). Children's and Young Adult Comics. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-350-00922-6.
2. Hatfield, Charles; Beaty, Bart (2020-08-14). Comics Studies: A Guidebook. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-9143-8.
3. Hatfield, Charles (2006). "Comic Art, Children's Literature, and the New Comic Studies". The Lion and the Unicorn. 30 (3): 360–382. doi:10.1353/uni.2006.0031. ISSN 1080-6563. S2CID 143201073.
4. Sabin, Roger (2013-08-16). Adult Comics. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315888880. ISBN 978-1-315-88888-0.
5. Tarbox, Gwen Athene (2017). "Young Adult Comics and the Critics: A Call for New Modes of Interdisciplinary Close Reading". Children's Literature Association Quarterly. 42 (2): 231–243. doi:10.1353/chq.2017.0019. ISSN 1553-1201. S2CID 148778499.
6. Hatfield, Charles (2006). "Comic Art, Children's Literature, and the New Comic Studies". The Lion and the Unicorn. 30 (3): 360–382. doi:10.1353/uni.2006.0031. ISSN 1080-6563. S2CID 143201073.
7. Saguisag, Lara (2021-10-01). Chapter Seven. RAW and Little Lit: Resisting and Redefining Children's Comics. University of Texas Press. pp. 128–147. doi:10.7560/311615-010. ISBN 978-1-4773-1163-9.
8. Nel, Philip (2020-08-14), Hatfield, Charles; Beaty, Bart (eds.), "9. Children and Comics", Comics Studies, Rutgers University Press, pp. 126–137, doi:10.36019/9780813591452-010, ISBN 978-0-8135-9145-2, S2CID 234643651, retrieved 2022-05-03
9. Wolschke-Bulmahn, Joachim; Gröning, Gert (1994). "Children's Comics: An Opportunity for Education to Know and to Care for Nature?". Children's Environments. 11 (3): 232–242. ISSN 2051-0780. JSTOR 41515265.
10. Zanettin, Federico (2015-12-22). Comics in Translation. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-63991-6.
11. "The 20 Best Polish Comics for Kids". Culture.pl. Retrieved 2022-05-03.