There is some hillariously fabricated controversy now about the new printing of "Marvel Zombies" collection that has a parody cover of one of the Mary Jane covers.
The funniest arguement is that it is horrible to use a cover of a comic from a kid or teen friendly comic book as a gory zombie image parody.
Excuse me? Hasn't every "Marvel Zombies" cover been from a kid/teen friendly book?
My own childhood makes the case. Here is a parody of a comic from when I was 8.
X-Men 141 becomes Army of Darkness Vs Marvel Zombies.
Just in case your personal continuity has been retconned into believeing that me reading this at 8 was not appropriate.
More examples.
From when I was 11. Secret Wars #1 redone as Marvel Zombies. OMG NOOOOO! KID FRIENDLY COMIC!!
my last example, from the early 60's, well before I was born. But I read the story inside from one of those Stan Lee books when I was about 9 or 10.
Avengers #4 ala Marvel Zombies.
So, do adult geeks think that all these old comics I read as a child were not for children too? Maybe it is slightly Marvel's fault for marketing most of its line to the select sliver of grown up fanpeoples now.
But I suspect the whole line of thinking is pure geek ego, thinking that somehow the literature of their childhood was more contemporary and sophisticated than children's literature of today. Just because they still buy comics, they think that comics belong to them. It is like that sad 40 year old everyone knows, that never grew out of a adolescent mentality. You know, the one that uses age as the only gage by which they have authority. Still stuck on those High School glory days. Comic fandom is that guy.
(Come to think of it, the only people I know who read those Mary Jane books.... are grown ups too.)
