'Tiny Titans: The Treehouse and Beyond!' Trade Paperback Review

Being a father of a 13-year-old and 5-year-old, I often walk through the comic book store wondering where all the kid-friendly comics are. There are walls and walls of comics for young adults and up. Over in the corner of the store you'll find one small rack of children's comics. It's proof that the comic book world truly isn't for kids anymore. I understand that there's not enough money in kid-friendly comics to fuel a publishing machine like DC, Marvel, or other companies. DC does what it can to give parents something to satisfy their children and proves it once again with "Tiny Titans: The Treehouse and Beyond!"

First off, for the uneducated, the Eisner Award-winning series "Tiny Titans" is the children's version of "Teen Titans." The main characters are Robin, Beast Boy, Terra, Psimon, Wonder Girl, Blue Beetle, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Kid Devil, and others. They have many adventures that take them from the center of the Earth to the classrooms and playground of Sidekick Elementary. There they must do battle with their principal, Deathstroke, and Lunch Lady Darkseid.

Kids will love what writers Art Baltazar and Franco do with "Tiny Titans: The Treehouse and Beyond!" It's like "Muppet Babies" for comic book geeks. Parents will find some of the geek culture references quite humorous. Robin uses the statue head with the switch from the 1960's "Batman" TV series to gain access to the Batpoles. He also uses the red Batphone and Batmobile from the show. Superboy visits Uncle Jor-El at the Fortress of Solitude which looks like the one from the 1970s and 1980s "Superman" movies. The Man of Steel's father is wearing the white suit from the movies and looks a lot like Marlon Brando with a beard. There's also a reference to the three Kryptonian criminals from "Superman II." One character even says "Shazbot," using the famous phrase from "Mork and Mindy."

The illustrating by Baltazar is perfect for children. Everything is simple and colorful. The characters resemble a mix between the Peanuts characters and Powerpuff Girls. That's the only way I can think to describe them.

My only concern with "Tiny Titans: The Treehouse and Beyond!" is one that I'm sure many parents might have. I have an issue with the use of Kid Devil knowing what I know about the character. In regular DC canon, he gains his powers by giving up his soul to a demon. Of course, they don't discuss this in "Tiny Titans," but I don't really see why he needed to be included in a children's comic. It can give mixed signals to kids once they start reading into the characters as they get older.

Also, the Titans go to the center of the Earth and run into the Demon Etrigan and Trigon, who are smiling and helping the kids. I know I probably sound like a crazy conservative, but I think this is sending children the wrong message. As a parent, I believe children need a clear line between good and evil. The comic book really doesn't gain anything from featuring these characters and does nothing but give reason for some parents to have an issue with the series.

"Tiny Titans: The Treehouse and Beyond!" will no doubt entertain the children of comic book geeks everywhere. Out of the six issues included in this trade paperback, only one of them really features the characters of Kid Devil, Etrigan, and Trigon. This book collects issues #33 through #38 in the monthly series. The rest focus on a visit from the Shazam family, visitors from parrallel Earths, an underwater pet club, and more.

For more articles by Eric Shirey, check out:

'The Annotated Sandman' Will Thrill Fans of Neil Gaiman
'The Ray' Writers Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti Discuss the New Version
Expert Editor Leslie Klinger Talks About 'The Annotated Sandman'

Eric Shirey is the founder and editor of Rondo Award nominated movie and comic book news websites MovieGeekFeed.com and TheSpectralRealm.com. His work has been featured on Yahoo!, DC Comics, StarWars.com, and other national entertainment websites. Besides his three decades long obsession with everything sci-fi, horror, and fantasy related in TV and movies, Eric has what some would call an unhealthy love for comic books. This has led him to interviewing and covering legendary writers and artists in the medium like Geoff Johns, Scott Snyder, Steve Niles, Bernie Wrightson, and Howard Chaykin.