# Comic books and early reading



## Camper6 (Oct 28, 2020)

Do you remember comic books in your youth?  I was a voracious reader.  Comic books were derided as evil or corrupting or something but I found them fascinating and they developed a desire to read more.  I also became a really good speller.
And you traded with others who had comic books.
When I was in grade two they would let me compete in the Grade three spelling bees.
A teacher nearly had a conniption fit when I told her I learned to read and spell in comic books.
Well think about it.  You didn't get to read books until you got to school and got your first primer. John and Jane I believe. Baby stuff.
I was reading long before that with words well beyond the first grade.
The writers of comic books had a very vivid imagination and also were swayed toward science fiction.
I see Spider Man is still popular.


----------



## Gary O' (Oct 28, 2020)

Camper6 said:


> Well think about it. You didn't get to read books until you got to school and got your first primer. John and Jane I believe. Baby stuff.


Yup
*Dick and Jane*
Didn't really care about seeing Spot run




Camper6 said:


> I was reading long before that with words well beyond the first grade.



Oh yeah
Men's magazines
From Dad's dresser drawer (under the socks)





Now, *THAT! *was some reading

Sophia Loren, and my dad’s *Police Gazette *stash 
Oh those dames in those magazines.
They were in trouble.
They were trouble.
Black rectangle bars covering their eyes, their obviously troubled sultry eyes.

Greta, on page 27 of issue 351 was my main squeeze.
The barroom was dimly lit.
Causing the shadows to plunge deep into her heaving cleavage.
She wanted outta there.
But couldn’t. 
Those goddamn eye bars.
So there she was, undulating.
Boobs poppin’ outta her blouse like two loaves of rising yeast bread.
I just had to read and find out what happened

And the the sagas of WWII Pacific Island prison sluts

Oh yeah, good reading


----------



## peramangkelder (Oct 28, 2020)

Bit different to the comics my sister and I used to read 50+ years ago
'The Phantom' comics were always a favourite


----------



## Camper6 (Jan 29, 2021)

And the radio programs reinforced the comic books.

The Shadow knows what evil lurks in the heart of man.


----------



## Camper6 (Jan 29, 2021)

Gary O' said:


> Yup
> *Dick and Jane*
> Didn't really care about seeing Spot run
> 
> ...


Looks like you learned your lessons early.


----------



## Aunt Bea (Jan 29, 2021)

I don't remember any comic books.

We started with a tattered collection of Little Golden Books at home.







When we got a little older we read my grandmother's collection of Big Little Books that had belonged to my father and his brothers.


----------



## Pinky (Jan 29, 2021)

My very religious young aunt gave me my first books - Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories. She also gave me a Christmas book that had a peppermint candy stuck on one of the pages. The first thing I did, was tear it off and eat it.


----------



## asp3 (Jan 29, 2021)

I wasn't really into comics that much.  I recall enjoying the Archie and Richie Rich comics from time to time but wasn't really into any of the superhero comics.

My early reading were books from the library.  I remember a book on killer whales "Orcas" or "Orca" that I enjoyed a lot.  Later I loved the Danny Dunn series and Herbert series.


----------



## Gaer (Jan 29, 2021)

I liked the Archie comics with Betty and Veronica.


----------



## Chet (Jan 29, 2021)

Don't forget Mad magazine. Some of the best humor. I still remember a hunting story where 2 hunters, 7 seven game wardens and a cow were bagged.


----------



## RubyK (Jan 30, 2021)

I remember Alfred E. Newman, "What me worry?" of Mad Magazine. My older brother brought them home when I was young. I was already in elementary school and could read. I didn't catch all the humor in Mad Magazine.


----------



## Ken N Tx (Jan 30, 2021)

RubyK said:


> I remember Alfred E. Newman, "What me worry?" of Mad Magazine. My older brother brought them home when I was young. I was already in elementary school and could read. I didn't catch all the humor in Mad Magazine.


----------



## Pecos (Jan 30, 2021)

Gaer said:


> I liked the Archie comics with Betty and Veronica.


I had a crush on Veronica.


----------



## Chet (Jan 30, 2021)

Gaer said:


> I liked the Archie comics with Betty and Veronica.


They mirrored our lives at that age.


----------



## OneEyedDiva (Jan 30, 2021)

Not only did I read comic books, when I was still in grade school, I used to sit at my desk and draw romantic comic, complete in "frames". I believe I got caught once.  I was a fan of those romantic comics and Archie.


----------



## 1955er (Feb 5, 2021)

Herbie.


----------



## MarciKS (Feb 5, 2021)

I read a few Archie comics in my time.


----------



## Fyrefox (Feb 16, 2021)

Comics are a springboard that can fuel a child's love for reading.  My father would often bring home a "Superman" or "Green Lantern" comic for me when he went out to buy the weekly Sunday paper.  That was back when comics cost ten cents, and Mad Magazine a quarter!

What's also wonderful are these parodies of the "Little Golden Books!"


----------



## Lewkat (Feb 16, 2021)

We had great comic books when I was a kid.  Marvel was the most popular with all the super heroes.  Also, Nancy, Archie, Popeye, et al were favorites.  No one of the  adults ever  thought them as evil at all.  Just entertainment and got us reading more and more.  Later MAD was the comic to read.


----------



## Gaer (Feb 16, 2021)

Oh yes, MAD MAGAZINE!


----------

