The Search for Kids' Comics at NYCC

New York Comic Con is an increasingly popular event, and kids day sold out faster than anyone could believe this year. But what happens when you take an 8-year-old voracious reader to her third consecutive NYCC? Comics are hard to find.

GeekMom Nicole showed us awesome cosplaying kids, and GeekMom Jackie talked about all the great toys, costumes, and clothes to be found for the young ones, but I went with wallet open ready to take home kid-friendly comics. And lots of them. Much of what was available for kids was in the form of graphic novels from reliable sources. We already owned everything my daughter wanted in the Abrams booth, including Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett, the latest in the Origami Yoda series.

Our biggest stop every year is First Second books. This year we grabbed the handful of their books that we didn’t already have. In particular we were seeking Hades: Lord of the Dead and Poseidon: Earth Shaker, the two books in the Olympians series that we don’t have, and were delighted to happen upon George O’Connor signing them. We also bought Zack Giallongo’s Broxo, which has a princess and a young warrior battling the walking dead. I also grabbed Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant, thinking it was good for my daughter. It was a little racy and complicated for her, but older kids may enjoy this badass heroine as I did.

But what of straight-up comic books for kids? I’ll admit that my daughter isn’t so interested in the traditional superhero stuff, so booths like Marvel held no interest for her. We did pick up the first few Adventure Time comics because she’s just started getting into the show. Beyond that, though, there wasn’t much for kids on the main floor. We headed to what is usually the promised land for finding stuff for kids—Artist Alley.

Yehudi Mercado was there with his new Pantalones, TX, but alas we have that one already. Vendors we saw last year didn’t have much that was new for kids, but I was able to pick up a few vintage copies of Rocko’s Modern Life signed by Gary Fields himself.

My plea to comic creators is to look at these adorable faces of kids at NYCC and think about making things for them. They’re a hungry, enthusiastic audience. And my plea to NYCC is to court more kids’ content. We hope to come home richer in new comics next year.