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I gave up collecting years ago but I still have enough
boxes of comic books to clog up a good chunk of the closet in my
office. I can’t remember how old I was when I bought my first,
though at 12 cents a copy the habit consumed the largest chunk of my
50 cent allowance. If there had been such a thing as comic book
conventions, they would’ve taken the rest.
“Collector” can be a polite word for packrat, which was
closer to the mark when I started stockpiling. As an adult I became
serious, as grownups are prone to do with children’s pastimes,
scouring yard sales and comic stores, following the prices for back
issues and classics, and buying first issues of new titles by the
ream. I became more of a speculator than a true aficionado.
My interest faded altogether in my late 20s; I’d like to
say I outgrew it but my wife reads this and would rat me out in a
minute. Still, one of my life’s greatest regrets was my decision in
the late 1970s to pass up a near-mint condition copy of the debut of
Spiderman, which I could have bought for $100. I have no idea what
the tag is now but by the early 90s it had topped $1,000, a return
that pretty much stomps every mutual fund I’ve ever owned.
It was fairly innocent stuff. The female characters ran
to the unnaturally buxom side and there was a heaping helping of
violence, mostly of the Whap! Pow! Zowie! variety. Yet all in all
it was a relatively harmless escape.
You have to be more careful now, but comics remain a big
draw for the young in this age of gazillion-channel cable TV and
home video games packed with more computer oomph than the Apollo
lunar lander. Where parents once tried to tempt kids away from
comics with “Robinson Crusoe” and “Tom Sawyer,” many today are glad
to encourage anything that involves reading.
Well maybe not anything.
World Net Daily reports that mixed with the comic book
illustrators, science fiction writers, and characters from “Star
Wars,” comic book conventions are increasingly beginning to dabble
in pornography.
I checked the website for the
Motor City Comics Convention, a major event held this month in a
suburb of Detroit. Scattered among the mainstream comic artists, B
movie actors, and a genuine United States astronaut, were a half
dozen or so Playboy models and a smattering of hard core porn
stars. Among these was Traci Lords, who was discovered to have been
underage during much of her porn career. The website lists her
profession as “Actress, musician, celebrity.”
Yes, and I have a Pulitzer Prize for a doorstop. The
Detroit convention reportedly gave discounts for children and
admitted those under 5 without charge. Call me a prude, but I
submit that whoever dreamed up the notion of free admission for
toddlers at an event that caters to porn enthusiasts needs to find a
new line of work.
The Muscular Dystrophy Association seems to agree. The
charity, which was to receive the proceeds of an art auction at the
show, pulled out of the event and directed its name be yanked from
all promotional materials.
The Detroit show isn’t a fluke. World Net Daily reports
a recent Philadelphia convention had advertisements for displays
sponsored by porn magazines located behind booths for Marvel and DC
Comics. Discount bins of conventional comics were polluted with a
sludge of so-called “adult” comics.
My guess is that these aren’t the only comic
conventions that are no place for kids. I am as sold on capitalism
as a person can get, and the First Amendment for that matter.
However there is a higher law that obliges a little respect for
others, including children – and childhood.
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