Consider the uses and abuses of comics
When Shakespeare wrote of the ‘Seven Ages of Man’ in ‘As you like it’, his view was that towards he end our intellect collapses, and we become senile. Today, we might apply the idea to comic-readers. The mature comic-reader gives them up in his (or her) middle teens — and if he or she goes on reading the comics written for the older age-groups, senility has already set in. And yet i is, nothing to see a grown-up man or woman surreptitiously buying a comic from a street bookstall. What a pathetic commentary on an adult’s brains this action is!
Yet we must not sweepingly condemn comics out of hand. They very definitely have their uses for children and young people. Of them all, perhaps the most attractive and appealing are those produced to young children. There is nothing more pleasant to see than the happy absorption of a child in his favorite comic or to hear his occasional chuckle as he sees a funny illustration or reads a good joke. young children, of course, love comics with an innocent devotion, so at the very least they have the merit of giving real, widespread pleasure. But they do rather more than this. The child or a rabbit or some other such character with the name printed beneath in large letters, being involved in some rudimentary adventure help the child to spell as well as to read. And thirdly, such comics are always completely moral, and therefore help the parents to instill the right ideas about life into the child from a very early age, and in a very pleasant way. The boastful person is made to look ridiculous, the thief gets caught by the policeman, the miser is made to give a way his money, and so on. Vicariously and at no personal hazard, the child begins to learn the lessons of life, and in a way which will not be forgotten. A few pence or cents spent on a weekly comic is generally money well-spent.
The second category of comics is aimed at the age-group 7-13, and again is largely beneficial in its effects. By this time, children should be reading quite easily, and so the emphasis is on the story rather than on the picture, although big, colorful illustrations and strip cartoons are always popular. The worst type of comic for this age-group is that consisting entirely of the strip cartoon. It appeals to the dull and lazy child who cannot be bothered to read, and often has rather doubtful standards of morality. But the good-class comic for this age-group, whether British or American does no harm but may do good. At school, work is being taken more seriously, and examinations are becoming important, so comic-reading must be strictly rationed by parents and teachers, because from this point of view it is a time-waster. But as a harmless means of relaxation, the good comic has a real value. It may also stimulate an interest in general knowledge and travel. sometimes it contains competitions and ‘brain-teasers’ which sharpen the wits of the reader. It always contains a due element of humor. But best of all, the comic contains stories of school-life, adventure, space-fiction, sometimes religion– a real diversion for the child.
The real dangers lie in prolonging comic-reading into late teenage and adult life, and there is nothing good to be said for the kind of comics aimed at the older age-groups. From the age of 15 onwards the young person should be too busy with work, decent novels, newspapers and magazines to bother with them at all. So the promoters aim at the basic side of human nature. In the case of girls, cheap, highly-colored sentimental novelties are very popular among the unintelligent. They present a false view of the proper relationship between the sexes and a debased view of marriage. As far as male consumption is concerned, the three instincts catered for are sex, bogus glory and violence. Some are near-pornography, others glorify war and make it out to be a ‘heroes’ paradise’, while others, the ‘Westerns’ adulate the same kind of stupid glamorous ‘hero’, but dressed in the clothes of a cowboy and fighting the Red Indians, instead of the Germans. There is nothing whatsoever to be said in favor of these, as from every possible point of view they are quite worthless, and reflect badly on the intelligence of the person found reading them. To read them is a sign of premature senility !
