Superheroes have a certain aspect of happiness that they bring to the reader, whether it’s a kid or an adult. The bright heroes like Superman, Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman are vibrant and cheerful, and even Batman can bring a spirit of lightheartedness to the kids sometimes. Comic Books For Kids! is a nonprofit organization based in Chicago that aims to bring joy to kids in children’s hospitals by giving them comic books. They seek to take these positive feelings that can be brought out by seeing a grand hero save the day, and share them with children who are struggling with times of hardship.
In addition to the regular rounds of child-friendly comic books provided by CBFK, a special cover is made every year just for them. Each year, CBFK teams up with an artist to create a variant cover of DC’s Superman #39, which involves Superman going to a children’s hospital to have fun with the kids, and even taking them on adventures and flying them around. This issue was of course chosen because of the relatability of the children to those in the comic, and it gives them the imagination to think of what it would be like if Superman did come to see them (and the charity does also do costumed superhero visits like many organizations do with children’s hospitals). 2025’s covers (pictured) include both the classic DC heroes and villains coming to visit children in the hospital. I purchased the Villains cover at the Illinois Comic Book Convention (Where I learned about Comic Books For Kids! for the first time), and I particularly enjoy the idea that the villains would set aside their usual cartoonish evil to comfort a struggling child. The cover includes such features as Captain Cold cooling off the boy’s drink and Poison Ivy making him flowers, which I especially love.
Comic books are such an amazing way to bring joy to children, because the imagination of the kids can absolutely make the heroes jump off of the pages and bring you along for the adventure. That’s what the art is designed to do, and part of what makes it so appealing to youngsters. For many people, especially kids, the best comfort in times of hurt is distraction, or finding happiness from somewhere else. That’s precisely the point of CBFK! It’s telling the kids, “hey, I know things are tough right now, but you can always count on the right things to happen, because the good guys always save the day.” There is a reason why Superman stands for Hope, Wonder Woman stands for Peace, Captain America stands for Honor, and Batman stands for Justice. These attributes can be sought out by the reader, and genuinely apply in their lives. These kids can be filled with Superman’s hope when things look rough. They can trust in the principles of Batman’s Justice when parts go wrong. Superheroes are an amazing thing, and Comic Books For Kids! knows how much they can help these children.
Despite their clear focus on children’s hospitals, the organization also has a branch called Comic Books For Troops! where they provide all kinds of comic books to active soldiers in all branches of the US Military. While heroes the ones mentioned before can provide hope and joy for kids, they can also outline honor, justice, truth, and respect for individuals in the military. In addition, the base level of simple entertainment for free time is also enjoyable for the soldiers as well.
All of this information as well as further details and more in-depth info about the charity, you can visit www.comicbooksforkids.org. Their website has all the information needed from their mission statement to hospital networks to their partner publishers. Alongside the information is many pictures of kids (and troops, on their respective section) holding up their comics with wonderful big smiles. And in the end, those smiles are exactly what the entire organization is for.
