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| Image copyright DC COMICS |
I've had the above comic for a good many years now. I'd first seen it back in the late '60s in my primary school playground, clutched in the hands of one of my classmates, who acquiesced when I asked him for a closer look. So, I recall the cover, but don't think I ever got to read the contents, which is why I probably bought it at a comic mart over 20 years later - to satisfy my curiosity.
Consider that cover for a moment though. It actually represents the SUPERGIRL back-up tale rather than the main SUPERMAN story, and involves the BIZARROS - so I'm sure you can imagine how - er, 'bizarre' it is. When one considers what MARVEL produced at the time, it's perhaps surprising that DC are still with us today. NATIONAL PERIODICALS (as DC Comics were called back then) wrote mainly for children (wrote down to children would perhaps be a more accurate assessment), while Marvel set their sights on a wider readership.
Nowadays, the products of both companies are virtually indistinguishable, featuring murky art, tedious, seemingly never-ending storylines, and aimed at a much older audience. Considering that the concept of superheroes is basically one of adolescent wish-fulfilment, it sometimes occurs to me that there's something unseemly about such fables being pitched exclusively at an older audience and dealing with 'adult' themes.
I'm not saying that grown ups shouldn't be reading comics, but I feel that they should be prepared to appreciate and accept them for what they are (or were, and should be again): Simple morality tales rooted in fantasy which children and teenagers can enjoy - and also adults who retain the ability to enjoy things from a more innocent and youthful perspective, without expecting everything they read to cater to their 'grown up' tastes.
So perhaps the idea of a superpowered horse is going too far the other way, but comics as they were in the '60s and '70s (as produced by Marvel) is perhaps the way to go when it comes to making comicbooks more attractive to a wider age-range - as opposed to just a bunch of ageing 'fanboys' who can't let go of the things of their youth, but demand that they reflect more 'mature' sensibilities in order to deflect any hint of criticism that they never grew up.
Observations reflecting different shades of opinion on the subject will be greatly appreciated.