Like many kids, I was a big fan of the adventures of Archie and the gang from Riverdale. As such, I was definitely in the target audience for advertising that featured those wacky teenagers, even if it promoted something made with “real fruit juices and lots of vitamin C,” as in this 1988 ad for FruitSlush frozen fruit cups:
I definitely remember having my fruit cup phase when I was a kid, I wonder if this ad had anything to do with it?
(via The Ephemerist)
Remember when Radio Shack was a place where you could go to buy radio parts? Yeah, I know it’s hard to believe when you look at all the cell phones, digital cameras, and DISH Network subscriptions on display in your local store, but there once was a time when they were serious about ham radio operators and other hobbyists. They were also pretty serious about outreach—get kids interested in electronics today, and tomorrow you have a customer.
In this vein, Radio Shack published educational comics to extol the virtues of electronic goods to kids, especially Radio Shack-branded goods. Whiz Kids took the fiction route, using original characters Alec and Shanna to tell stories that extolled community values with a (sometimes heavy-handed) dose of product placement nestled into the narrative.
On the more nonfiction side of things there are the Science Fair Story of Electronics and History of Electronics series, which are more geared toward providing as much information to students as possible, though later issues of History of Electronics featured comic industry stalwarts Superman and Archie and Friends.
There’s a lot of interesting retro kitsch to be found in these old comics, watching the characters ooh-and-aah over things we take for granted. There’s even a bit of presumption in there, such as in a section on space travel:
Inaccurate future speculation aside, the historical bits are still accurate, providing a thorough, though brusque, overview of the electronics industry’s development.
The Whiz Kids comics have proven to be somewhat popular, and can be viewed at various places throughout the web, though the presentation here is probably the best, despite the use of Flash.
(thanks to Alex)
Reading, writing, math, history, science—of all the things kids learn in school, one of the things we usually don’t teach them is how to deal with being arrested. It can be a pretty daunting situation for a juvenile, with no concept of how the system works and no control over the situation; in the criminal justice system, they’re largely at the mercy of adults.
The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) seeks to return some power to kids who get arrested by creating a special comic to walk them through each step of the process, laying out what’s expected of them, and most importantly, letting them know that getting arrested won’t ruin their lives. With that thought in mind, it will probably make everything else—from the initial arrest to family court—go much smoother.
I Got Arrested! Now What? is one of a number of fold-out posters from Making Policy Public (part of CUP) that help explain public policy to ordinary people, but the only one presented as a comic. The art is by Danica Novgorodoff, and the issue was produced through a collaboration among with the Center for Court Innovation and the Youth Justice Board.
(via Doodles and Dailies)
Even though it seems like you don’t see them in comic stores much anymore, kids do love comics—just check the graphic novel section of your local library, you’re bound to see dozens of volumes torn up from being read so much, and there might even be a child there, flipping through a manga or trade paperback collection.
Many educators recognize the power of comics to get kids reading, and nowhere it is more apparent in the goals of The Comic Book Project (a flagship program of the Center of Educational Pathways). According to their “about” page,
The Comic Book Project engages children in a creative process leading to literacy reinforcement, social awareness, and character development, then publishes and distributes their work for other children in the community to use as learning and motivational tools.
The children are walked through the comic creation process step-by-step, from brainstorming ideas (on a chosen socially-relevant theme) to writing a script and creating the artwork. All of the completed projects receive a spot in the online art gallery, while some work will be selected to appear in a district- or city-specific comic book to be printed and distributed nationwide by Dark Horse Comics.
Some of these comics are available on the website, and the themes are meant to reflect the concerns of today’s youth. Most of these deal with social situations, teaching about leadership, conflict resolution, and teamwork; another tackles environmental concerns, which is usually a hot-button topic with kids (it certainly was when I was young). Especially relevant to today’s world is the comic dealing with financial responsibility, funded by the New York State Banking Department and written and drawn by various groups of kids from New York City.
Then there is the more general topic of “I am a Superhero,” where it seems the kids were largely left to interpret what this meant for themselves. Some chose to create superheroes along more traditional lines, while others chose to think of ways one could be super without superpowers. Some of these comics were collected into city and statewide publications, and eight are available to download on the official site.
The founder of the program, Michael Bitz Ed.D, has written two books about The Comic Book Project—Manga High:
Literacy, Identity, and Coming of Age in an Urban High School (published by Harvard Education Press) and When Commas Meet Kryptonite: Classroom Lessons from the Comic Book Project (published by Teachers College Press).
It’s no secret that we live in a media-rich environment, much richer than the world twenty, forty, or seventy years ago. We live in a world where people can store entire libraries in their pocket and have television programs sent to their cell phones. But it doesn’t feel like we’ve done much to teach kids how to deal with this onslaught of information. Oh, we advise them to keep their personal info private and not put anything embarrassing on the Internet lest it come back to haunt them, but in terms of sorting through sources and looking at things with a critical eye… it seems the only difference between then and now is that instead of copying information out of a printed encyclopedia, they’re copying it from Wikipedia.
Media Meltdown by Liam O’Donnell and Mike Deas seeks to change that by introducing the concept of media literacy to kids by putting it in an easy-to-digest form: a graphic novel. For most, the concepts in this book are things they’ll never hear about until college, and that’s only if they major in the right subjects, like communications. But with media forming such an integral and increasing part in our lives, it’s important to have the tools to sort through it all, as this book both illustrates and educates.
The story revolves around a group of kids in a small town—Bounce, Pema, and Jagroop—the latter of which lives on a farm in danger of being sold to a developer. After the barn on Jagroop’s parent’s property nearly burns down, the kids suspect the developer is behind the crime, but can’t find a way to get their message through to anyone who can help them. Via Pema’s older sister Nima’s internship at the local TV station, they learn about all the pitfalls that await any message attempting to be broadcast—especially when a major advertiser is the aforementioned developer.
The narrative flows from topic to topic seamlessly, talking about the general concept of media literacy, behind the scenes at a TV station, filters, advertising, media consolidation, social media, the components of a film script, and even the types of shots used in a film and how they’re used. The kids are likable, smart but flawed. The book is reminiscent of lots of kids’ chapter book series, though less Hardy Boys and more Baby-Sitters Club, at least in plot structure and characterization. Despite my description though, it should be noted that this is a gender-neutral story, to be enjoyed by both girls and boys. It’s also somewhat age neutral too—even if the protagonists are a bunch of kids, the lessons imparted are made for anyone navigating today’s complicated media landscape, and this would be a welcome addition to any college media studies class.
Part of the book’s plot revolves around the Media Meltdown website, which exists in our world, but mostly as a tool to promote the book and media literacy education. The site includes tools for educators, suggestions for activities, and some online games, including a comic maker that allows visitors to make four-panel strips featuring characters and backgrounds from the book.
Media Meltdown
written by Liam O’Donnell
illustrated by Mike Deas
published by Orca Book Publishers (Victoria, 2009)
ISBN 978-1-55469-065-7
Media Meltdown is the fourth book in the Graphic Guide Adventure series; other installments include:
Howtoons is a place where kids can be kids. The web site reminds me a lot of the Scholastic Magazines I used to get in the mail as a kid. There was actually a issue with the New Kids on the Block animated series on the cover. But I digress.
Howtoons provides activities and projects for kids to do that are fun, creative, and can easily be enjoyed by adults as well. A perfect example of this is their recent Express Yourself strip, which focused on how to create custom T-shirts nice and easy. The strip focuses on how girls can have fun with the process, but I imagine boys could dig making their own shirts too. The instructions are clear, as are the pictures, and it doesn’t hurt that the art is very pretty. Vibrantly colored with simple design, it gets the point across while being easy on the eyes.
Each comic is downloadable as a .pdf for easy home access, and you could always download the jpg images if you so desire. Along with the comics, the site has a blog with more fun reads, trivia, and art for the kiddies to the enjoy. Next rainy day, you’ve got things to do. And please, do try the Trash Bag Raincoat. The Sin City-esque art is a fun art shift, and made me smile upon viewing. Do you think Marv did that when he was a tot? I would certainly like to think so, because I am silly like that.