Tails of the Pet Avengers

When Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers was first released, I praised it for it’s ability to be a truly All Ages comic. Very few comics can be enjoyed by weird twenty-five year olds like me as well as my 9 year old little sister, the exceptions really being Bone and maybe that's it. I spent a lot of time here in Hoth, Maryland snowed in with my little sister enjoying shows like Nickelodeon’s action and continuity heavy Avatar: The Last Airbender and weird as hell Spongebob Squarepants and it became clear to me, how similarly children digest the stuff they read and watch.

It’s important for kids and their parents to be able to enjoy the same things, to enjoy things together. Kids know when they are being spoken down to--it’s why when I was young I refused to order off the kids menu, even at 6 I wasn’t going to degrade myself by ordering a “Buckaroo Burger”. You want to be treated grown up and respected. My experience back in my mom's house, back as kinda sorta "the parent", would do a lot of comics writers, artists, and business types a lot of good.

Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers did a great job of being something I could share with my younger sibling, not only because it was ageless, but it was genderless and therefore could actually be for everyone. Things being so un-gender neutral in the world of children’s entertainment lead to her saying “This is a boy show” when talking about Star Wars. She constantly reminds me of this while watching shows like the above mentioned Avatar as well, even with one of the main characters being a strong female lead. Action and bad guys="Boy show". Buying her Pet Avengers and talking to her about the characters, seeing her draw them and be interested in where they came from was awesome, I’m glad I could share something like that with her.

What made Pet Avengers so special was that it was like this strange comic you'd find only the third issue of in a quarter bin: Animals with super powers collecting the most powerful items in the universe to keep their master's safe. Relationships and characters were defined on a single page, the usual over complication of origins is ignored to make room for the story. Take Blackbolt, the Inhuman's dog Lockjaw can't speak. Naturally, Thor Frog--the only non-sidekick of the bunch-- communicates for him. They search out each of the four infinity gems, fighting Devil Dinosaur, Giganto and even Thanos, and even meet the president, all in four issues. It's simple, fun and perfect. You didn't need to know or understand anything to enjoy it.

Then, Tails of the Pet Avengers came out, and I will not be buying it for my sister. What the first volume of stories achieved in all ages comics, the second fails miserably. Instead of a single story with the group of animals fighting together, each Pet Avenger has been given it’s own “tail”. Not all the stories are bad, but one in particular, one that I’ll assume was geared towards little girls who read comics, upset me knowing that I wouldn’t feel right giving it to my younger sister.

Drawn by Chris Eliopoulos and written by Buddy Scalera, Prom Queen is the Lockheed story, about not a little girl, but a senior in high school who is obsessed with dragons. Her obsession has caused her to be an outcast amongst her peers, and has earned her the name “Dragon Girl”. Eventually Lockheed flies in and oh boy, she learns that Dragons are real! With Lockheed now at her side, she’s proud to be called Dragon Girl, moral of the story is that it’s okay to be different kids!!

Unfortunately the strength a real "Dragon Girl" would need couldn't be given by a dragon because they aren't real. The very real problems--her only friend in school is a teacher, being an outsider, etc.--aren't solved at the end of the story, she just has a dragon now. The ridicule she has been receiving presumably her whole high school career will continue, kids just aren't nice.

The artist, who's well-known for this work on Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius, draws overweight Dragon Girl surrounded by thin "pretty" girls who are decorating the prom she doesn't have a date for, suggesting further insecurities on Dragon Girl's part and more underlying problems with the story itself. This girl is given no redeeming factors, nothing to make you care about her, and you are left not understanding why you were supposed to care in the first place.

It's important to teach kids that it in fact is okay to be different, it's also important, like I said, to respect them. The depth given in a story like Bone or even Disney and Tokyopop's Kilala Princess is important to them. For a $4 comic the lack of actual content in a comic like this is appalling, and I know what you're thinking "Sammy, dude, it's a kid's comic, give it a break", but kids don't want that, they accept it. Children don't have the options and resources adults have and so, all too often, they have to "settle" for what entertains them. They'll read bad comics and see Beverly Hills Chihuahua because it's all they got, but when something smart and complex comes along they flock to it. This is whyHarry Potter is so big. Surprise, surprise, adults love Potter too. Kids are starving for stories with depth, something that they can return to in a week and still enjoy.

A disposable, forgettable story like Prom Queen doesn't stick with kids, they don't feel the intended impact of the message, and will just move on. Nerdz can talk shit all they want about novel series like Twilight, but the positions those characters are placed in are what kids want, things that give them a sense of adulthood or escapism and reality.

Pet Avengers could, and should be stories that while tackling "issues" kids care about can also be fun and weird. It's why Goonies and Labyrinth are popular--they are stories about loners and outcasts that don't take shortcuts, that don't write in too much shorthand, that let the stories play out. Tails of the Pet Avengers could have been a continuation of the first series, something I could be proud to give to my sister, but is instead something I won't buy her. There are enough pieces of mindless entertainment for her to enjoy already.

Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers

Out of continuity and out of step, Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers is half Marvel Comics nerd jerk-off and half one of the best kid’s comics ever. More like a premise created by five awesome 8 year olds with their favorite animal toys or a story in Marvel’s upcoming Strange Tales MAX series than a real comic, Reed Richards visits Black Bolt to discuss collecting all of the Infinity Gems, while a drooling Lockjaw overhears and decides to gather the best of the best from the animal kingdom (and one regular, cross dressing dog), entrusting each gem to a different heroic beast.
Until I walked into my local comic shop and saw Lockjaw on the “Kid’s” side of the store, I didn’t even think of the comic was made for children. The Marvel Adventures header of most “all age” comics published by the comics giant is absent here, giving it a chance to actually be an all-ages book. Without the spandex clad muscle dudes and super-titties busting out of oh-so-small costumes, Lockjaw also has the opportunity to truly be for everyone of all ages, breaking down the gender biases inherent in stuff for kids too.

The teleporting dog, kinetic cat, alien dragon, proud falcon, confused puppy and lightning god powered frog are unlikely teammates, the group is diverse not only in species but in Marvel history. Featuring animal/non-human villains, the bad guys are also from the far reaches of the MU, including Giganto (the underwater one, not Mole Man’s pet), and recent fan favorite Devil Dinosaur, complete with classic Kirby finger count variations.
I’m a pretty easy sell on whacky Marvel shit, “cameo” comics and things like Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.-- silliness mixed with characters only for us in the know. While Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers is one of those books in it’s own way, it’s also just a fun comic that if were sitting stapled together at your local indie “graphic novel” store, fresh from Kinko’s, you’d buy it. Animals with super powers fighting monsters, isn’t this what comics are all about?

Mini Marvels: Rock, Paper, Scissor By Chris Giarruso

For a few years now in the back of Marvel comics we've been getting short, one-page cartoon strips called "Mini Marvels" that parallel what's going on in the Marvel universe, or just have these shrunken Marvel heroes going on silly little adventures. The digest trade of Rock, Paper, Scissor is getting a second printing available this Wednesday, and for ten bucks it's worth getting.


Even the cover of the first printing has a few gags, like Daredevil running backwards (cause he's blind, duh) and don't even get me started on the fact that each hero's hand is in a rock, paper, or scissor shape. I've gone CRAZY trying to figure out if it's just for fun or if it's implying who could beat who.


Some of the stories are completely brand new and others are continuity based. Unlike Tiny Titans it's less obvious what age the Mini Marvels are because they don't do child like things, but are simply immature people. The comic feels really pure to me in a way that something like Peanuts does, where the humor doesn't rely on fart jokes (not that fart jokes aren't hilarious) but gags and pranks, silly jokes for nerds like me who have been reading Marvel comics since they were five. It's also printed in "digest" format, which really means "manga size" so more kids will buy it, but I think it's awesome that way because kids like little shit for some reason. Like, you give them a toy car that's WAY smaller than a hot wheels and they are all over it.


Chris Giarruso's website gives you the sense that he really cares about these characters (especially Hawkeye, for some reason) and his site has a lot more on it than Marvel heroes and villains. The sketchbook area has a ton of crayon drawings of DC, Image, and Dark Horse characters. It also has a lot of characters he's created in comics you can purchase on the site. Giarruso does a really good job of giving you the characters you know, in his own way, without taking away from the personalities that we are familiar with. He also randomly throws in real moments, but not the sad kind, just the real kind.

The Kid's Comic Book Reviews

Today I stumbled upon this kid Liam's blog, that him and his dad do together. Obviously Laim's fresh and honest taste in comics makes his short reviews interesting, but what he's picking up every week is what really draws me in. After Robert Kirkman's manifesto and what he thinks kids should be reading, it's refreshing to see Liam's dad letting him buy books outside of the "Marvel Adventures" line. When I was younger, I shopped for comics the same way Liam does now, and what looked cool was not always within my age group. Growing up, I didn't buy only comics made for my age group, but whatever looked awesome.

Reading the same comics as everyone else made me feel adult and talking to my Uncle and his friends about comics helped me understand them better. It made us grow close as we talked about the "grown up" themes that at the time, I only related to the comic. I realize now, as an adult, that I understand some things better because of these strange moral conversations.

Now, introducing my sister to comics I see the same things, she understands the separate fantasy worlds but needs help comprehending why the X-Men are hated when they help people. I talk to her about things like this and wish my imagination allowed me to become as immersed as she is. Liam's blog gives you a fresh perspective on things, and hopefully he'll even show you something new.