BURRILLVILLE – It’s Halloween and there are safety concerns related to this popular holiday, especially with children.
The Itty Bitty Super Dupers cartoon characters have been reaching out to kids and families with Halloween safety tips and coloring cartoons since 2009. In fact, their very first publication titled, “Itty Bitty Super Dupers vs. Scary Monsters,” was extremely successful as a Coloromic book for kids and teenagers, available at comic book stores across the region that Halloween, and many Halloween seasons for years after the original 2009 launch. The combination coloring and comic book format was a new publication concept that was well received by comic book store owners and their customers. Comic book magazine publishers and professional comic book critics gave this publication rave reviews nationwide in 2009 and 2010.
Normally, independent comic book creators and publishers were placed in these nationally distributed comic book magazines separate from mainstream publishers. DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Blackhorse Comics, Image Comics and others had their own reviews sections featured in these magazines. Itty Bitty Super Dupers vs. Scary Monsters was so creative and funny to read, the magazine publishers and professional comic book critics put this publication with mainstream comic books – and not with the independent publications. Everyone compared the characters, artwork and storyline to that of Warner Bros.
“Jim’s characters are adorable, the artwork is quality and the story is so funny it could be read to a child over and over again,” noted one critic. “He puts the word ‘Fun’ back in ‘Funny.'”
The month after its release, the only comic book that was doing better sales at comic book stores was a Superman comic book, putting it in the second spot, with X-Men and Batman comic books coming in third and fourth spots on their Top 10 comic books ranking list. The important safety tips are included in this Sunday Feature coloring cartoon for kids.
There are many Halloween events taking place this weekend, and of course, on Halloween night too. If lights are out, walk by. Respect other’s privacy. Be very careful – and no tricks, please. Treats are fine. If you are driving on Halloween night, please drive slowly and cautiously while watching for costumed kids on streets and roadways in your neighborhood. Check all of your children’s treats before allowing them to eat anything, and monitor intake to avoid anyone getting tummy aches.
Be safe and have a happy Halloween!
Jim Weicherding is a Burrillville resident, and the founder and creator of an award-winning traffic safety effort Seasons of Safety. Weicherding contributes kids’ coloring cartoons, which can be printed and used to help parents discuss safety issues with their children. He has a long list of police officers and firefighters in his family and has worked with law enforcement and firefighters in a creative public safety capacity for more than two decades.
