Brian, that last post of yours was an interesting read, but also depressing!

Can't think of any mainstream book from the "Big Two" in the last 25 years that have been all ages. As in strickly all ages. 

Lee and Kirby's Fantastic Four run is a perfect example of an all ages comic. Also put The Avengers into this category. As stated above 80's comics did have plenty for older and younger readers. However I wouldn't want to explain the Captain Marvel/Marcus relationship (Avengers 200) to a young kid who asked questions about it.

It's almost as if shock value has to increase. The death of Qwen Stacey and the Goblin would have been shocking on publication. However, the Lizard killing his son, Billy seemed way over the top to me. Stephen King level horror (which IMO the Lizard killing Billy was) really doesn't have a place in Spider-Man. But on a scale was Qwens death as shocking back in 1973?

When it comes to modern comics. The licenced titles seem to be the most kid friendly. Some extreme scenes at times. However nothing that would be too out of place in a Star Wars film. All depends on the maturity of the child reading the comic.

1986 seemed to be when the box was opened. Batman Year One, Watchmen, Dark Knight, Daredevil Born Again etc when comics did take a leap into the mature readers area. And while this was good for current readers at the time, and I didn't complain. It did start the ball rolling in a game of upsmanship, what story can be more 'mature' than the last. This storytelling is fine for Watchmen, Marshall Law, Alien Legion etc. Self contained stories. But then the companies appeared to want it with Batman, Spider-Man, Daredevil each and every month.

Perhaps it harder to write all ages material than it appears. Stan Lee didn't have too much trouble. It may well be that each incoming generation of writers wanted comics to grow up with them. There by giving us the 'mature' stories.

It does concern me that a 10 year old or younger, can't walk into a store and buy a Spider-Man or Batman comic. And I'm not sure how much longer the artform will survive in such an environment.

Over in the new comics thread, we've been talking about Batman. I've personally enjoyed it up until the recent Joker storyline. I was apprehensive but I try not to make too many knee jerk reactions based on what I think is going to happen in a comic.

As the story has progressed, I've dropped Batgirl, Nightwing, and I'm considering dropping Batman and Detective. I'd already dropped Batman and Robin with the Zero issue because I just felt like there is just way too much twisted, dark stuff going on in Gotham. Scott Snyder does a nice job making the bad guys creepy and scary but I just feel like he's pushed it over the edge with this storyline. Outside of the fact that he's had his face peeled off, the Joker now just seems almost too powerful. The carnage he's created in this storyline is just too over the top. Numerous police, Arkham Asylum guards, and innocent people has to be pushing this Joker killing spree to close to a hundred people easily. While that makes for great horror, it doesn't make for a great Batman comic to me.

Nightwing and Batgirl shouldn't be as dark as they are and with whatever ramifications coming to Dick Grayson after the storyline, I chose to just drop Nightwing. Batgirl should be better. Gail Simone is good but ever since Secret Six, she seems to know only dark characters and storylines. Barbara's brother coming back is only going to make things worse. Yet, two years ago we had a very fun Batgirl title written by Brian Q. Miller. This thread discussion has really made me reassess my DC purchases to the point that I may not give Batman time to finish the storyline.

I can't help but think the comicbook industry today would be a whole lot healthier if fans and pros alike adopted that as a mantra.