I mentioned ElfQuest in passing to my cousin last week, and she noted that her ten-year-old son is a huge ElfQuest fan. I knew my other cousin (the boy's uncle) had been helping to promote an appreciation of comics, but I think most of what came from that were DC's various all-ages books. But what my cousin said was that she had brought home Lumberjanes one day, and the boy absolutely loved it. So much so that he asked her to bring home more "feminist comics." (His words!)
She did some basic Googling and came up with a number of other comics written by women. Nimona, Raina Telgemeier's various books, and ElfQuest among others. Those three in particular are considered "hits" in the house.
Can I just say how frickin' awesome this is?! A ten-year-old boy who's been raised in such a way that he's actively looking for "feminist" comics!
Now, granted, he's probably too young to get into 'traditional' feminist comic creators like Phoebe Gloeckner, Carol Tyler, Alison Bechdel, and Erika Moen but that has more to do with the more cerebral nature of their comics, not so much the content itself. He's interested in reading about voices that aren't reflective of his own experiences. As a blonde haired, blue eyed male, he sees his reflection in characters all over the place and wants to explore what else is out there.
There's hope for humanity yet!
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