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What are family-friendly comics?

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I did an internet search, finding for some, but I was mostly disappointed. Top hits that showed up included links containing dark, evil-looking characters; in fact corny stuff that, while family-friendly, is, well, corny. Is there whatever left besides me whose definition of "family-friendly" does not contain dark, sinister figures; females in tight, skimpy clothing; horrific monsters; or, at the other end of the spectrum, stuff so corny that you can slap some butter on it and nibble the kernels off?

I grew up reading lots of Peanuts, so I'm of an older vintage. However, my kids also enjoy all the Peanuts comics, so I'm thinking that the Peanuts gang is standing the test of time. Call me old-fashioned, maybe, but when I think of "family-friendly," I get images of Charlie Brown and Snoopy, Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, and the like. Even though there are mean characters (such as Lucy) and mischief in these, I reconsider them family friendly. I'll by comparison this in Part 2 of this article. I know some Christian parents think that Calvin and Hobbes is unacceptable because Calvin can be such a brat. But, hey, let's get real about children's behavior. And while some of it isn't uplifting, some of it is hilarious. This is also addressed in Part 2.

The newest comic that I think fits the bill is the comic strip, "Carl and Ben...and Beeky," a strip about a typical 11-year-old boy, a naive yet entrepreneurial bear who owns his own coffee stand, and a very clever, inventive bird who builds things like a flying nest. Yes, there's some mischief and slapstick, but it's also just good, clean, funny stuff.

What's the definition of family friendly?

After doing an internet hunt for family-friendly comics and finding comics with ghoulish-looking figures, characters dressed in tight, revealing clothes, profanity, slapstick, mischief, insulting humor, I decided to come up with what I think is a pretty good family-friendly test:

• Does it scare a child? (While not a comic, I'll use the following as an example of "scary." When I used to watch the Wizard of Oz as a kid, the close-up shots of the wicked witch and her evil laugh scared me to death. Even the monkey-like guards were creepy to me. I had to close my eyes and could never watch the entire movie.)
• Does it go against biblical teachings (for example, about modesty)?
• Does it contain crude language or profanity?
• Does it contain dark themes?
• Is there evil intent?
• Are there sexual themes? (Yes, sex is part of life, but not when you're a kid.)
• Does it embarrass you and/or your child when you read it together?

If the riposte is yes to any of these, then it may not be family friendly.

What about slapstick and mischief?

Read about this topic in Part 2, which addresses slapstick and mischief in family-friendly comics.

Family-Friendly Comics From a Christian Perspective - Part 1