Superhero Stories Starring Kids With Superpowers

Superpowered People Come in All Ages in These Children’s Books

May 18, 2009

Move over Spider-Man! Hang up your cape Superman! There's a new superhero generation coming up - and these heroes are starting out young!

Fans of the Harry Potter books or the superhero cartoon Ben 10 know how fun stories about superpowered kids can be. Aside from the thrill of reading about kids their own age with superpowers, there’s the added bonus of seeing kids save the day for adults.

Here then, are two kids’ graphic novels that show what happens when you mix kid power with superpowers.

Years ago, siblings Alex, Julie, Jack, and Katie Power met Aelfyre “Whitey” Whitemane, a friendly extraterrestrial who gave the kids his superpowers of gravity control, super speed, density mastery, and energy manipulation to help them stop an alien invasion. Today, the kids are Marvel Comics’ youngest superhero team Power Pack – and often team up with popular superheroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man, and even the Incredible Hulk.

In The Power of X, the kids find themselves fighting alongside Marvel Comics’ famous mutant team – the X-Men! Each chapter of this digest collection teams the kids up with a different mutant member – from the kids’ Halloween adventure with everyone’s favorite X-Man Wolverine to Power Pack’s high-flying battle with the teleporting Nightcrawler.

Each story also focuses on a relatable problem felt by each kid – including fifteen-year-old Alex’s doubts about his leadership (something he must face when the leader of the X-Men, Cyclops, needs his help) and eight-year-old Katie’s fear of clowns (something she’ll have to get over to fight the Circus of Crime).

Drawn with appealing manga-style art by the Japanese team Gurihiru, The Power of X offers fast and fun stories for superhero fans by seasoned comic book writer Marc Sumerak. Readers should also check out the team’s other digests, including Avengers/Power Pack: Assemble, Spider-Man/Power Pack: Big City Superheroes, Hulk/Power Pack: Pack Smash!, Fantastic Four/Power Pack: Favorite Son, Iron Man/Power Pack: Armored and Dangerous, and Wolverine/Power Pack.

When squabbling siblings Mona and Joey discover their mailman was once the superhero the Mighty Mojo, they’re thrilled when he gives them his superhero costume but angry when they have to share the costume – so much so they end up tearing it in half.

Thankfully, their mother sews the rags into two superhero costumes – but now each kid only has one of the Mighty Mojo’s superpowers! Can they combine their powers and stop fighting long enough to save their town from the supervillain Saw-Jaw?

Intended for early elementary school readers, Mo and Jo Fighting Forever is part of the new TOON Books line that uses comic books to introduce kids to reading. While simple in execution, young readers will enjoy the kids’ superpowers – from Mona’s ability to stretch her arms like Elasti Girl of The Incredibles to Joey’s Spider-Man like ability to cling to objects with his magnetic boots. Drawn with classic Silver Age comic book style artwork, this relatable story of sibling rivalry is certain to interest younger fans.

Sumerak, Marc and Gurihiru. X-Men/Power Pack: The Power of X. New York: Marvel Publishing, Inc. 2006. ISBN: 0-7851-1955-8

Haspiel, Dean and Jay Lynch. Mo and Jo Fighting Together Forever. New York: TOON Books. 2008. ISBN: 978-0-9799238-5-2

The copyright of the article Superhero Stories Starring Kids With Superpowers in Graphic Novels/Comics is owned by Michael Jung. Permission to republish Superhero Stories Starring Kids With Superpowers in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.