What Taking My Daughter to a Comic Book Store Taught MeMy son had no problems whatsoever. Superman. Batman. Wolverine. The Flash. The other Batman. That third Batman. Still yet another Batman. Holy hell, why are there like nineteen different Batman comic series all out at once these days? And wait… it’s not just Batman… there’s five different Superman series, three Wolverine comics, and…
“Breathe,” I had to tell him. “No, we’re not buying all of them…but pick out, oh, three each that you want and we’ll get those.”
He was set. He went to staring at the covers of the different books and figuring out which ones he wanted.
My daughter had an extremely puzzled look on her face.
“What’s up, kiddo?” I asked.
“Dad… where are the real comics?”
“These are the comics, honey. What do you mean ‘real’ ones? What are you looking for?”
“Dad,” she said as she rolled her eyes at me (I mentioned that she acts like she’s twenty seven sometimes, yes? I could tell this was about to be one of those times) and said “these can’t be the real comics. That’s not Harley Quinn. That’s not Wonder Woman. That’s not… where are the real ones?”
I had no clue what she was talking about.
“Hon… these are the real comics. What do you mean?”
“All their…” …and her voice dropped to a whisper… “boobies are hanging out, Dad. These can’t be for kids, and comic books are for kids, and kids aren’t supposed to see that. That Wonder Woman looks like she’s in a video, and I don’t know who that is, but it’s not Harley Quinn. Harley Quinn wears clothes.”
And just like that… I got it. Something clicked. Something that had never really clicked with me before, but through her eyes, I got it – where were the superheros for girls that weren’t quite so overdeveloped and under-dressed? When the guy behind the counter was asked, he smiled at me knowingly, and said “Your daughter’s…seven?” I said yes. “Same here,” he continued. “I always bring her home these.”
Hello Kitty and Monster High.
That’s what the man who runs a comic book store with a seven year old daughter had to offer… Hello Kitty… and Monster High. Literally thousands of comics lining the shelves… and Hello Kitty… and Monster High.
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