But if you think that modern superhero comics are at fault for always taking themselves so seriously, couldn't the reverse be true that these kid comics can't take themselves seriously period? We're not talking about individual stories anymore, but overall trends, and too often that leads to generalizations against good comics.

If only the mainstream comics were still doing stories like that

It's that the kids titles don't take themselves so seriously. That's different. Mainstream super-hero comics are so busy being "realistic" that there's no sense of joy or wonder in them anymore, just "With great power comes great responsibility." Modern super-hero comics are all about moral judgments and ramifications. And sometimes, all you want is a little "Biff! Pow!" with your lunch.

Alas, Cosmic Adventures is over & done. It was only a limited. (Unless that's changed & I missed it. Which would be great.)

There used to be a time where there was a balance in the comics, not too silly but not too dark, either. That really started to change in the 90's, but it wasn't until the "DiDio Era" began that I no longer felt safe reading DC's comic, since dismemberments and other such stuff started showing anywhere without warning. I don't mind it if DC publishes comics for those who like such things, but they should limit it to specific titles so those of us turned off by it won't run into them in places like Teen Titans and such. Really, is that too much to ask? Marvel's not doing it and they seem to be selling OK. So it's definitely a DC editorial thing. And they wonder why some fans are mad at them.

I agree; there's no reason that mature comics can't be fun. Dan Slott espoused this very well by discussing how Watchmen is something people have enjoyed even more than they've studied.

Your examples of Bendis' Avengers are also accurate; I mean, he and Finch took a full page to show Luke Cage waiting on the elevator to get back to the skyscraper Ninja fight, complete with elevator music sound effects in the background.

Yes, there is a lot of crisis-sized world changing drama going on, but there's a lot of funny stuff, too. One reason why Bendis takes so long to tell a story is that his style is packed with dialogue scenes , and for my money it's often very funny and in character. I grant you, there's not been so many (if any) stories set on the Avengers's day off, but the idea seems to be that Bendis mixes up the banter that made those stories fun alongside the Universe-shattering stuff that apparently makes people buy comics. See also the vast majority of Brand New Day, which is light and fun and action-packed where JMS's spidey was gritty and action-packed.

'Dark Reign' may involve a lot of killing, but it's also pretty funny. I mean, we're not supposed to take it seriously, surely??

Which is not to diss the younger line - all credit to those comics for being excellent.
Alex F

Why are the uniforms for the MA Fantastic Four exponentially more awesome than the ones for the mainstream FF? I've been waiting for the mainstream FF to adopt the more sleek costumes of the MA FF for years.

And honestly, I loved it too. I'm sure to pick up the more of this title (Tiny Titans is already on my pull list) for my daughter. As for the Marvel Adventure books, they seem to be aimed just slightly older, and don't draw my daughter's interest to the same degree, but maybe I'll give an issue or two a try anyway.

Nice touch how "The Unknoiwn" is pretty obviously dressed up as The Phantasm, though.

If I want something dark, complex, serious - I'll read Fables, 100 Bullets, Queen & Country, Madame Xanadu. Closest thing to blend of the two is Jeff Parker's Agents of Atlas.

I guess everything old is new again: Sue Dibny gave one of those to her husband in a nice little story over thirty years ago!

Actually that same is true for Spider-Man. The “real” Spider-Man comics did a huge sweeping reboot to “fix” things and they STILL aren’t able to tell stories as well as MA Spidey.

All I ask is that you tell me a story- dammit! Complete in one issue- Is that so much to ask?