^{Originally posted on BabyCenter.com March 1, 2013}

I’m not going to lie: part of the reason I was excited for the chance to read to my son was because I wanted a chance to share my favorite comics.

Talking about comics with adults is usually an exercise in futility. There are those adults who are way more into comics than I am, and conversations with them usually turn into gripe-fests about how the most recent issue of the Hulk failed to note the title character’s ability to adapt to underwater conditions, which was clearly indicated in The Incredible Hulk, volume 3, issue #77. Other adults tend to give me a wide-eyed stare when I mention that I read comics and start to back away slowly lest I bombard them with the minutiae about the different types of kryptonite introduced in Superman mythos (incidentally, there are 18, and this year marks the 70^th anniversary of kryptonite’s introduction in comics). If I want to geek out about comics without getting too nitpicky about the details or having somebody call security on me, then kids are the way to go. And that means that I need to get my son up to speed.

As with any media, though, you need to consider carefully what comics you introduce your child to. Just as you wouldn’t want your two-year old watching an R-rated movie, you don’t want to introduce your child to something like Watchmen. Through trial and error, I have come up with a few guidelines when it comes to picking comics for kids.