Focus Education
As Asterix tours Europe and Tintin hits the big
screen, cartoons and their showcasing vehicle the comic are hitting the headlines. But while commercialism sprays their covers with plastic, the
comic should not be underestimated for its educational value. Journalist Victoria Lambert, Bruern Abbey’s Head of Special
Needs, Glynis Weston and cartoonist and founder of the Cartoon Museum, Oliver Preston, sketch out the arguments
Marvel-lous! For
Comics may be commercial and throwaway but separate The Dandy from the dross and you’ll fi nd they have a real learning benefi t, says Victoria Lambert
most parents newsagents and supermarkets, indeed anywhere with a stand full of papers and
magazines, have become heart-sink shops. For that’s how it feels when your child rushes over, and eschewing First News or National Geographic For Kids, picks up another multi-coloured clash of pages calling itself a comic. They barely register the contents in their boundless enthusiasm for whatever piece of plastic land-fi ll has been attached to the front as a covermount. Modern comics seem to bear little resemblance
to those much-loved mini-magazines of our youth. Then, we were drawn to lose ourselves in the latest adventures – usually hilarious, but sometimes frightening or sporty or sci-fi – of favourite characters. Now, 21st-century children seem concerned with nothing more than what piece of tat – mostly a practical joke or “jewellery”- is being given away, not caring that the new toy is Sellotaped so hard to the comic that the pages usually disintegrate as it is prised from the front cover. It’s not just fi nancially depressing (although given that each edition costs about £3, pocket money soon gets swallowed up), nor is it the frustration that yet another pointless item of rubbish has somehow sneaked into the home
where it will be found painfully under your bare feet every day until it can be sneaked into the bin. But this miserable money-centred horde of titles seems to crush all the joy of comics that many of us remember so well. From Bunty to The Beano, the Dandy to Tiger,
most of us had a favourite comic often arriving with the grown-ups’ newspaper on subscription through the letter box, a treat to be savoured after school or shared with a best friend. Pages were pored over, back issues treated with reverence, and jokes rehearsed and repeated. For just a few pence a week, our parents bought our silence, and we revelled in the grown-up sensation of having something of our own to read. Yet, what does today’s child often get? “Quite a
lot of disappointment,” says cartoonist and author Jasper Bark. “These modern commercial comics are just cobbled together, with a covermount stuck to the front, and no content inside. I gave one to my youngest daughter and she “read” it in fi ve minutes fl at. Children don’t even choose them by name; it’s all about the giveaway product.” Jasper is talking about the reprint-led licensed
titles, which sell in quite large quantities. The quarterly Simpsons Comics, for example, sell more than 70,000 copies (ABC registered fi gures), which
is an awful lot of whoopee cushions. The Simpsons’ content is well written, says Jasper, the real off enders are likely to be from the numerous publishers who churn out magazines trading on the brand name only, while doing nothing to back it up, content-wise. But that doesn’t mean parents should give up
in their fi ght against commercialism. Newer titles, which try to marry new strips with older material such as Ben 10 are equally popular, suggesting it doesn’t have to always be about the free gift. Furthermore, there are other “older-style”
comics such as 2000AD still in existence which are now promoting themselves as having a valuable educational benefi t. Their format is being used to produce scholastic books aimed at teenagers who may be slow readers, perhaps dyslexic or who need help with comprehension – or simply just to
www.fi rstelevenmagazine.co.uk Michaelmas 2011 FirstEleven 41
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© Marvel Comics
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