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Review by Etta Wilson
Okay, come on, 'fess up -- which page of the daily paper do you read first? In a recent (and very informal) survey, seven out of ten adults readily admitted that they turn first to the comics. No matter what kind of character and storyline we like, most of us soon find our favorites among the strips and gobble up the daily ration.
The keen-eyed among us may have noticed comics in unusual places: on detergent boxes, on the cover of U.S. New & World Report, on billboards, as well as in the daily paper where they have been a standard since 1895 when The Yellow Kid, the first regular newspaper strip, appeared. Comics are sure-fire attention-getters, and as interest in reading has declined among young readers, more book publishers have turned to panels of pictures and a few words to tell stories -- and to teach reading.
In Keeping Kids Reading Mary Leonhardt quotes a topnotch high-school English student: "I loved comic books. Before I could read, my dad used to read comic books to me and show me the pictures. Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, The Adventurers, Daredevil, everything. I probably really started reading them myself in the first grade. . . . Comics got me reading." Leonhardt describes that student today as having a real love for poetry, and she credits comics with expanding his imagination with metaphor and images.
Kids today have great choices in books with comic format. Mercer Mayer's LC & the Critter Kids series (Golden Books, $3.25 each) and The Berenstain Bear Scouts series (Scholastic, $2.99 each) are very popular with the young chapter-book set.
Most recently comic books have appeared in the classic 32-page picture book in Brian Pinkney's The Adventures of Sparrowboy. Pinkney says he wants readers to "feel like they are reading a book that turns into a comic strip." The story, about a paperboy named Henry who encounters a mysterious sparrow and is transformed into Sparrowboy with the power to fly, works well with this approach.
As the book opens, Henry is reading the paper himself -- first the front page with its depressing headlines and then the comic strip "Falconman" about a sparrow that zaps a motorcycle trooper, enabling him to fly and counteract danger. As Henry resumes his paper route, the sparrow suddenly appears and zaps Henry himself for a flight of daring rescues all over the neighborhood -- and finally to discover why the sparrow can't fly.
The comic book feel of the book is heightened by little quips in boxes at the top of frames, as though a narrator were commenting on the action taking place. These asides keep the story from being too serious, although it's not a "funny" comic book by any means. Readers know Pinkney for his easily identified scratchboard art style. (He was awarded a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Honor for The Faithful Friend by Robert D. San Souci.) For The Adventures of Sparrowboy, he added lots more color to the scratchboard, so the story has a lighter, brighter feel. It fairly flies, as it should, off the page with the colors and action.
Sometimes children are more interested in copying the illustrations and learning the drawing techniques than in the content of the strip. (I could draw a pretty good Brenda Starr and Rex Morgan, M.D., at one time myself.) If your children love drawing -- watch for this interest about the time they're in fifth grade -- you will want to give them a copy of Jon Buller's Draw Your Own Superheroes Now, packaged with the accompanying Superhero Sketchbook. In comic book size, this step-by-step guide takes kids through the basics of drawing comic characters from stick figures to filling in the body's musculature and defining character with heads and hands. No dry drawing lesson, Buller then presents several comic characters and shows how to depict their major traits -- CyberSaber, Volaris, Panzer, etc. A special sticker at the end has a place for the new "illustrator" to sign his or her name.
Comics can even turn math into fun. Brighter Child Interactive has teamed up with Marvel Comics to create the Amazing Math CD-ROM. Featuring four Marvel comic characters -- Spider Man, She-Hulk, Wolverine, and Iron Man, Amazing Math teaches quantity perception, addition and subtraction skills up to three digits, multiples, and angle identification. Players may choose from three levels of difficulty with each hero, and the heroes reinforce correct answers with visual signs of approval. Simple easy-to-use instructions are provided for each hero's activity in the enclosed Manual.
Available on both Windows and Macintosh platforms, the sound quality is fairly good, not frenetic or harsh. The animation is occasionally slow, but it appeals to a younger set (ages 6-9) than pinball machine users. This is a great way to help kids learn math skills which often require a lot of repetition. Watch for Brighter Child's second title with Marvel focusing on geography.
Excuse me, I've gotta go help Iron Man battle the isosceles triangles before Modok takes control of the satellite.
©1997, ProMotion, inc.
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