Adam Rogers on the importance of kids getting to know stories, and specifically comic books:
I have no idea what lesson the death of Bwana Beast [a D-list superhero whose powers enable him to combine two animals into one: a mosquito gets crossed with a buffalo into a flying, stinging, ramming monster] taught him. Maybe something simple, like, “Don’t watch Batman.” But I hope it was something else. I hope he turns out to be a geek, but more than that, I want him to wish he was a superhero. No matter what he ends up as in real life, I want him to have a secret identity that always fights for justice. And I don’t know any better way to imbue him with those powers and abilities than comic books.
And then:
I have plenty of insecurity about the quality of my parenting, but Bwana Beast did not die in vain. He reminded me, at least, that with great parenthood comes great responsibility.
Whether you have a kindergartner or not, the idea of parenthood here extends well beyond just having children. In fact, this very construct seems to extend beyond this idea to be something like, with great X comes great Y. A snowclone candidate if I every saw one.
