It’s been three years since I first rambled on about comic books and kids. Since then, my wife has given birth to another child and I’ve picked up a tablet. The former means that I get to read even more comics than before. The latter means I now have access to hundreds of free comics.
I did a lot of thinking about gender roles in comics when our daughter was born. Superhero comics are pretty sexist (though they are slowly getting better), and I spent a lot of time looking for stories with strong female protagonists.
The end result? My son’s favorite superhero is Wonder Woman. My daughter’s is the Hulk. I’m going to go ahead and chalk up my gender politics worries as overthinking things. If you pick out good stories, the rest will follow and kids will pick out the stuff they love the most.
Charlie Brooks 