Tintin and the blue Lotus

Do you think comics are a children's or adult genre/media?

I think comics appeal to children because of their visual nature, where most children prefer pictures to words. I feel most comics are a children's genre but at the same time they can also have underlying themes and messages that are for adults. In doing this, comics are probably successful with both children and adults, for example Tintin and The Blue Lotus. If a child was to read the comic they would probably be oblivious to the fact that there are elements of racism and politics involved. To a child, the way they see Tintin is the way he is portrayed 'the hero who saves the day from bad guys'. In an adults perspective however, we are more prone to picking up subtle messages within the text, like Mitsuhirato Japanese with the pig noses.

Subtext is the main difference in differentiating the genre from child to adult. As adults we are more likely to perceive things through what we already know, while children are innocent. In Herge's comic what is been depicted is based on his view of China and politics; issues that extend beyond the text. Farr (1991) states in his analysis that 'The perfectionism of detail of the Tintin stories, the real or fictitious but thoroughly convincing settings, mirrored the world as seen by Herge and his public.' This is what appeals to adults in comic stories; the fact that there is some sort of realism to them.

So in conclusion I think that comics appeal to both adults and children as the context is relevant to each age group.

Source:

Farr, Michael. (1991). Tintin: the complete companion. pp. 2. London: John Murray.