Popular Culture Review
characters. Rather than put her in the “girl” category or create an “insect”
category, the researchers put her in the “animal” category. The comic book
writers refer to all monsters as “he.” If one included monsters in the “boy”
category, it would skew the ratio of boys to girls even further towards the boys.
Blue Beetle joined the “boys” because he looks and acts like the other boys. In
one story, he brings his collection of bugs to the Pet Club. It was impractical,
inaccurate and exhausting to count hundreds of tiny insects and put them in
a separate category. As far as Blue Beetle’s backpack that speaks in glyphs,
well, it is in a category all its own.
Themes – welcome to a child’s world
Analysis of Welcome to the Treehouse revealed compelling themes
and a signature pattern of transitions between frames. While action comics
reality of a child’s milieu in focusing on the themes that dominate their world.
Investigation of the total number of frames (N-470) revealed that the seven
themes were: relationships (24%), jokes (15%), adults (15%), competition
(15%), school (15%), mischief (6%), and pets (3%) (See Appendix D). None
of the themes revolve around violence or sexist situations.
The stories in Welcome to the Treehouse center on the experiences
of primary school students: likes and dislikes, gossip, teasing, and clothes.
The character Terra is a good example. Baltazar and Franco modeled her
on a DC super hero who has the power of geo-kinesis. Terra throws rocks at
Beast Boy, who interprets her actions as a sign that she likes him (The feeling
on Will Eisner, George Herriman’s early 20th century newspaper comic strip,
Krazy Kat. Herriman’s long-running plot revolved around the action of Ignatz,
a mouse that “behurdils” (throws) bricks at Krazy Kat who misinterprets this
Every story involves a joke. The humor revolves around knock-knock
jokes, running gags, word play, unexpected outcomes, or adults who are slow
to grasp a situation. Robin (as Nightwing), Batgirl, and a penguin stand on
each others' shoulders, don a Batman mask and cowl, and fool Commissioner
Gordon into thinking they are Batman with a cold.
One frame in Welcome to the Treehouse
his shoulders down, the view as seen by a small child (5). The name of the
character is not revealed. One must know the DC backstory to get this joke.
Competition takes the form of a game of tag over who gets to use a swing set, a
continuing foot race, and dealing with pesky birds. In the latter two contests, a
girl wins by outwitting the boys. Several stories are set in Sidekick Elementary
School. Beast Boy fools the science teacher by morphing into different
animals. Rose’s little brother Jericho hypnotizes Mr. Slade, the principal. The
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