I took my son, Decker, to the comic book shop for his first visit a few months back. He loved every bit of it — he stacks, the color covers, the collectibles, the posters, the manga, and even the colorful characters working there! I’m fortunate that I have a great comic book shop nearby that is kid-friendly, too. They have an entire section for a younger audience, with carefully selected titles that are both kid-approved and parent-approved. As an Avengers fan, my son loves The Hulk. He’ll have me rewind and play over and over again a scene where Hulk shares his wisdom with such winners as Hulk Smash! and Hulk Fight Now! He giggles and just can’t seem to get enough of the one-liners.
I was pleased to be able to get him a handful of comic books during his first visit that were kid-friendly tales of various Marvel heroes. We’ve sat together as I read the text and tried my best to make suitable sound effects for him. He seems to like my narration, and I absolutely love reading a good superhero story with him.
All of this brings me to a new Kickstarter project that I’m hoping many of you geek dads and moms will find interesting and worthy of possible support. This project is to raise funds for Tom Stillwell’s Honor Brigade: Space Fight. It’s an all-ages comic book in the style of the Silver Age of comic books. Up to now, I was completely unfamiliar with the Honor Brigade… but not any longer. This is a really cool superhero group for the modern day kids, and my son is already asking for issue #2 (we’ve only read issue #1) and wondering what happens next. My son wanting more of the story was my second clue that Stillwell was on to something here. My first clue was simply the well-drawn and written story that grabbed me, the adult.
You can check out much more of the artwork for the new title by visiting its official Kickstarter page. The project is attempting to raise $2,000, and with 11 days left, it’s just a little over halfway to its goal. I cannot wait for my signed copy of #1 to arrive in the mail for Decker. And issue #2 will have his name listed in it on the Thank You page. Not a bad way to start his collection!
If you’re a geek parent with young kids… or not-so-young kids… or no kids… it doesn’t matter. It’s a well-done comic book that all readers will enjoy. (I especially like the end of issue #1 where a summary of a few key superhero groups are summarized along with their powers and a group shot.)
Tom Stillwell is one of us… a true geek dad. [Editor’s note: Stillwell is also a former GeekDad contributor, so he’s truly “one of us.”] He’s got some valid reasons explained on his Kickstarter page for wanting to make Honor Brigade: Space Fight a reality. As the dad of a young comic book fan, I’m happy to throw my support at the project… and maybe you will, too. Let’s see if the GeekDad readership can crowdsource the backing Tom needs to get this project funded. $5 gets you a PDF copy of issue #1 and #2 along with your name on the Thank You page in issue #2. $10 gets you a signed copy of issue #1! When the Honor Brigade: Space Fight movie gets the green-light, you could be holding a signed copy of the issue that started it all! And if the movie never gets made, you’ll at least end up with a cool 2-issue story arc that you can share with young readers and maybe help add another comic book fan to the world.
