Kid-Friendly Graphic Novels On My Shelf

We’ve recently been cleaning the house. My wife is now 8 months pregnant and we’re expecting a baby boy soon. According to her doctor, she’ll be giving birth anytime within the last week of July or the first week of August. So the need to buy some baby stuff and prepare the house is increasing.

While looking at my collection, I realized I had more than a few titles I wanted to share with our future child. I personally believe comics is an effective way to motivate a kid to read. I’m actually speaking from experience because my mom started buying me Man of Steel, Real Ghost Busters, and Funny Komiks when i was young. I loved staring at the artworks so much that I wanted to understand the story behind the pictures. As a result, I learned to read even before I started schooling.

I’m hoping to pass that same experience to our future son - if he’ll be interested!

Here are a few books I think I’ll share with my kid once he’s old enough too appreciate them and not to tear the pages apart:

TOMO: Volumes 1 to 8

Published by Zondervan and locally distributed by OMF Literature, Tomo is an 8-part graphic novel series about a girl named Hana. It’s a nice fantasy story that tells how the lead character gains confidence, develops faith, and discovers her inner strength.

Initially, I started buying the books just because of the artist. I’ve always admired Ariel Padilla and so I picked it up without much idea what it was all about. Also, I thought book 1’s title was pretty interesting – “I Was An Eight-Grade Ninja.”

To my surprise, I found the story very likeable - and my then-girlfriend (my wife now) also loved it. We instantly became fans of the series! As future parents, I’m guessing this can be a great tool for us as we try to teach good values.

All 8 volumes are now available because book 8 (“The Battle of Argon Falls”) has been released last March. I got most of my copies from National Book Store and Philippines Christian Book Store. Special thanks, though, to Team OMF for the free copies of volumes 6-8!

BONE: OUT FROM BONEVILLE

I saw this on BookSale one time and I got it for only P140.00 (that’s roughly $3). My main purpose was to learn cartoony antomy and various poses from these cute characters.  Little did I know that Bone is actually a critically-acclaimed series I will love reading over and over again.

It’s a riveting tale that takes us to different places and introduces us to a lot of interesting characters. There’s action, suspense, drama, and romance too.  Comedy is also spot-on! I know “genius” is an overrated word but Jeff Smith is definitely that.

There are 9 volumes so far and I only have the first one. Hope I can stumble upon a few cheap copies on the same store haha!

 TEEN TITANS GO!

Okay, I’m cheating on this one because I actually don’t have the TPB version but I have more than a few singles to make at least 4 compilations. So I’ll go ahead and include this on my list because this is a title that promises awesome adventures - complete with games, fun facts, knock-knock jokes, and all. This definitely does a good job at keeping kids entertained on every page.

Pinoy-Canadian writer J. Torres the writing chores and gets back up from top notch artists like Todd Nauck, Sean “Cheeks” Galloway, and others.

SPIDER-MAN J: JAPANESE KNIGHTS VOL. 1

This digest-sized book chronicles the tale of everyone’s favorite wall crawler - but with a twist! The story is set in Japan and our hero looks much younger than the version we’re all familiar with. This one was originally released in Japan as a Manga and was later translated into English to reach wider audiences. this first book compiles 7 stories and its absolutely a fun all-ages read. Also, Aunt May has never been cuter!

ALSO: A FEW OTHER TITLES ON MY WISH LIST!

SUPERMAN FAMILY ADVENTURES

Art Baltazar is my new inspiration! I love how he can create dynamic images just by using a few, simple lines. That’s a skill I’m really trying hard to acquire as a wannabe artist myself and.. Oh, wait! I’m picking the TPB up for my future kid… Got a bit off-track in there, sorry haha!

BOINK

Of course, I’ll also make a conscious effort to introduce my boy to local comics. This comics digest promises 22 creators, 23 stories and more than a hundred pages. That’s enough to excite me. Looking at the list of names convinces me further to get this. There’s Manix Abrera, Freely Abrigo, Aileen Casis, Hazel Manzano, and Hannah Buena, among others.

THE MARVELOUS ADVENTURES OF THE AMAZING DOCTOR RIZAL

Speaking of homegrown talent, this one is a title I’ve been dying to get since I the first time I heard about it. Gerry Alanguilan is remaining tight-lipped about this book’s release but he assures us he’s “still working on it” (during a Tres Komikeros interview). This steampunk take on our National Hero’s story is simply too interesting for anyone to ignore. It’s not everyday that you get to see Jose Rizal flying on a jetpack!