Macy's Game
I have two kids: Mac, who has been a constant at my gaming table the last several years; and Macy, who made her first appearance with my Marvel Heroic Roleplaying game with "Ghost Raven," and then "Bubblegum." Macy is taking a pass on the Mass Effect game going on right now.
Mac and Macy went off to camp this week, and yesterday I went to go buy a couple of comic books to send to them in a care package. I went to the "store that isn't the comic book store" because the comic book store isn't open on Mondays. And I found nothing for Macy. Seriously. Marvel and DC have both gone off in some pretty mature directions with gritty storylines. Have you read the Avengers lately? Apparently Iron Man and Doctor Strange are altering Captain America's memories so he doesn't know that they are planning on destroying alternative Earths to save their own. Yeah, my eleven-year-old would love that, what with her being a fan of the movies and all. There's a gap in the market between "My Little Pony" and "The Walking Dead," right now. It was briefly filled by "The New Crusaders" by Red Circle Comics (the same publisher as "Archie") or Marvel's attempt to do a kid-friendly line with Power Pack and a few other Marvel characters with their "All Ages" line.
Last weekend she came to me asking me to run a game again. She's been pushing for a fantasy game, but has now switched it up to wanting a superhero again. She's got a character idea--Alexandra Grave, a government-trained superspy trying to enter the world of superheroes and villains. Macy loves the "distinctions" mechanic of MHR as a way of understanding characters. But she also missed Ghost Raven, the tragic orphan millionaire philanthropist-turned-superhero and Bubblegum, the wacky-powered babysitting teenager. The fact that those two resembled the Superfriends-era Batman or the classic Spiderman, or that Alexandra Graves is a PG-rated version of Black Widow doesn't bother me one bit, because those of the heroes I grew up loving as well. Namely semi-normal people doing something heroic over evil.
I don't know if Macy can convince her friends to play with her, or if I'll just run something for her (and maybe Mac will show up, although Macy would really like to be the team leader). I'm also not 100% sure what genre I'd use, but I'm definitely an "all ages" kind of GM. There's a place, I guess, for the Legends of the Flame Princesses or Carcosas out there in the gaming world, but I'm fine with my kid-friendly storylines. I can still do a compelling villain, a complicated plot, and a great campaign without all the rest of it. And if I can't find the comic book I want, Macy and I can just make up our own.
Mac and Macy went off to camp this week, and yesterday I went to go buy a couple of comic books to send to them in a care package. I went to the "store that isn't the comic book store" because the comic book store isn't open on Mondays. And I found nothing for Macy. Seriously. Marvel and DC have both gone off in some pretty mature directions with gritty storylines. Have you read the Avengers lately? Apparently Iron Man and Doctor Strange are altering Captain America's memories so he doesn't know that they are planning on destroying alternative Earths to save their own. Yeah, my eleven-year-old would love that, what with her being a fan of the movies and all. There's a gap in the market between "My Little Pony" and "The Walking Dead," right now. It was briefly filled by "The New Crusaders" by Red Circle Comics (the same publisher as "Archie") or Marvel's attempt to do a kid-friendly line with Power Pack and a few other Marvel characters with their "All Ages" line.
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| Not a bad line-up, right? Although I wish they had Hawkeye and dropped Wolverine. |
I don't know if Macy can convince her friends to play with her, or if I'll just run something for her (and maybe Mac will show up, although Macy would really like to be the team leader). I'm also not 100% sure what genre I'd use, but I'm definitely an "all ages" kind of GM. There's a place, I guess, for the Legends of the Flame Princesses or Carcosas out there in the gaming world, but I'm fine with my kid-friendly storylines. I can still do a compelling villain, a complicated plot, and a great campaign without all the rest of it. And if I can't find the comic book I want, Macy and I can just make up our own.
I have the same problem trying to find something for my youngest to read. He is really into super heroes due to the combination of movies and animated series, but trying to find something age appropriate is nearly impossible. Of the older books you've read, what would you recommend for kids?
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic! I am really happy to hear about this.
ReplyDeleteFinding something for the kids to read these days is very hard. DC isn't happy unless each issue of each book they put out is more controversial than the last one, and none of them are particularly good.
Marvel is not quite as tough and I'd actually recommend the new Ms. Marvel comic. It is very clever and different and great for female readers, with it's non-so-typical-but-still-relatable protagonist. I would love to recommend Nova too (as I am loving it) but that one, well, I guess it's pretty much all ages. (Sometimes it gets a bit close to PG-13 but never all the way really).