GeeBee said:
Don't forget about Harvey Comics. Richie Rich, Casper, Hot Stuff, Little Dot, Little Lotta, Little Audrey, Jackie Jokers, Sad Sack, etc. Unfortunately, they don't publish them anymore, but luckily the old issues are not that difficult to find.
If it weren't for these comics (plus a ton of Archies) I never would have started collecting comics. Not a single family trip could go by without me purchasing large quantities of these books to keep me sedated during the long trek to wherever. There was an attempt to revive the Harvey Comics line
in the 90s, but it pretty much came to nothing. These books prepared me for more diverse comicbook reading experiences later on.
And don't forget the old Star Comics line from the mid 80s. It was an offshoot of Marvel, in an attempt to have some kid-friendly comic books. I was a huge fan of Spider-Ham, an animal parody of Spider-Man and one of Star's few original books.
Though I can't recall his name, the cartoonist who basically established the "look" for Harvey's stable of characters came over to Star at this time and drew several of their books, such as Wally the Wizard, Top Dog and Droids (which was a licensed product from Lucasfilm).
Archie is still around, but he's getting blander by the day. The closest thing I've found to modern kid friendly comics these days is "Hero Bear." It's basically about a little boy who's teddy bear turns into a superhero. I know it probably sounds like Calvin and Hobbes, but the twist is that the adventures are real. It's written and drawn by a former Disney animator and it really is a good book. Check it out if you get a chance.