Holding on to childhood (and a joystick)

Macleans has an odd little story about adults who are determined to hang on to their childhood, focusing on a movie-inspired dodge ball tournament, video games and, yes, comic books:

... Boys and girls grow up on superheroes, and many continue to have a fondness for these characters later in life -- watching TV shows like Lois & Clark and Smallville, or checking out the latest Batman or Spider-Man flicks. But while most older generations have left comic book collecting behind, 20- and 30-year-olds today are still buying, more so than kids. That's led to darker storylines. A recent issue of Spider-Man is all about Aunt May talking to her therapist. And in a Hulk plot line, the rage-oholic could be construed as a rapist. "The problem," says Brian McLachlan, 30, who writes comics for kids (in owl magazine) and the adult-themed No Dead Time, "is that it's easier for comic writers to move with their audience than to try and bring in new, younger readers. In the same way that Rolling Stone is now for old people."