Comics recs?

[holli]

Taking the girls I babysit to the comic shop on Thursday. They love the Marvel movieverse (the 11-year-old adores Loki), the 13-year-old likes the volume of Runaways she's read. If the John Rogers Blue Beetle run wasn't out of print I'd have already gotten it for them. Suggestions? Stuff they can't find in trade I am willing to hunt down in digital format, but if there's anything we can easily pick up in a comic book shop right now I'd love recs.

Should note: they have read Smile and Drama, they have read Bone, they REALLY like superheroes. All the comics I would like to recommend are older than they are, out of print, or both-- Young Justice, 90s Superboy, Impulse-- and I don't really have my finger on the pulse of current comics anymore.

Comments

[newredshoes]

Hmm. I started Sandman at 12 or 13, but that's pretty heavy stuff. Are they too old for something like Asterix, which I grew up adoring?

[sansets]

Oh man, they should TOTALLY pick up the current run of Ms. Marvel. It's only two issues in, but it is showing some GREAT promise tackling really relevant stuff for teens. And I don't think that either of them is too young for Kelly Sue DeConnick's run on Captain Marvel (which just rebooted at issue one, but it has three trades really easily available) although that one isn't quite aimed at teens in the same way as Ms. Marvel is.

ETA: Now that I've had a chance to look over my bookcase, I think I'd probably rec all of Bryan Miller's (Steph Brown) and Kelly Pluckett's (Cass Cain) runs on Batgirl for the 13 year old for sure (and honestly, they're probably fine for the 11 year old, but it's been a while since I've had a chance to reread it) although they both seem to be out of print, so it might take a little more digging to find them, GOD DC WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?! And Nomad: Girl Without a World is SUPER great, to continue on the superhero theme.

Also, I am kind of on a quest to make EVERYONE IN THE WORLD read Delilah Dirk, which should be age appropriate for both of them. \0/

[likeadeuce]

Thor: the Mighty Avenger by Roger Landridge and Chris Samnee is about Thor & Jane and has cameos by a lot of other Marvel Universe heroes.

X-Men First Class (unrelated to the movie) or Wolverine First Class (which is Wolverine and Kitty)

The Avatar: the Last Airbender comics by Gene Yang & Gurihuru are phenomenal if they're seen the show (idk if it will make sense if they haven't, because it's a direct sequel)

Takio by Bendis & Oeming might even be on the young side for them but it's a superhero story with female protagonists.

I definitely second the rec for Ms. Marvel. I also have really enjoyed the Ultimate Comics Spider-Man series starring Miles Morales (also by Bendis) which is not a kids' series but is geared at somewhat younger readers than the typical 40-year-old Fanboy stuff.

And a few smaller recent series if you can find them 'She-Hulks' by Harrison Wilcox/Ryan Stegman & 'Her-Oes' by Grace Randolph.

[jjhunter]

Captain Marvel? The Carol Corps seem like such a fantastic group of people that I suspect the canon is consistently hitting it out of the park.

What else? Oooooo, Lumberjanes is coming out in April — the author of Nimona, aka the fantabulous gingerhaze, is one of the authors. After that, hm, I may have to think on this a bit — I know a lot more about graphic novels than current awesome comic books.

[crantz]

I've heard people swear by the new Carol Danvers Ms. Marvel (and the newest one too, but she hasn't come out in tpb yet I think)

[hannah]

PS 238.

[greyeyes]

SECONDED! I'm behind, but I own 8 volumes of PS 238 and it is glorious! It's about a school for the kids of superheroes and villains with former superheroes as the teachers. It has some really obvious parallels to DC & Marvel characters, but it's great even if you don't get all the references. I think the storyline was getting a bit dark around volume 8, but the first several books should be fine for both girls.

[grey_bard]

Thirded! Blah blah school for superpeople, I know, but in this case they're elementary schoolers and they act like it. It is hilarious and sometimes sweet, but never cutesy-poo.

[kate_nepveu]

I do not have personal experience of these, but I hear good things about the Kid Loki arc (which I believe is _Journey into Mystery_) and the relaunched _Young Avengers_, which I believe is a closed run. But please consult with someone with actual experience of these things first, I'm just going by general fannish osmosis (which also agrees with the recs for _Captain Marvel_ and _Ms. Marvel_).

[musesfool]

Princeless!

I agree about Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel, the kid!Loki arc in Journey Into Mystery, which leads into Young Avengers vol 2 (which is complete). I would also suggest Young Avengers volume 1 (skip Children's Crusade, though). The Miles Morales Spider-Man is pretty awesome - I think there are 28 issues before Cataclysm happens (Peter Parker's Ultimate Spider-man is also awesome but very sad and it ends with his death so...)

I also recommend Steph's Batgirl run - it's out in three trades. And I haven't read it but I have heard excellent things about Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade.

Also, if you can't get the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle digitally, I can help out with that. *cough*

[coyotegestalt]

Have they tried Castle Waiting?