Crabgrass, 8/23/2024 - past or present?

Yes, I already know the comic takes place pre-1990 or so.
https://www.gocomics.com/crabgrass/2024/08/23
What I wonder is, since both Kevin and Miles are supposed to be nine
years old, was Kevin's attitude TYPICAL in the 1980s - or is that just a
nod to TODAY'S attitudes among kids that age?
After all, I seem to remember that there WAS a time when kids of a
certain age took pride in reading books WITHOUT pictures, much in the
same way that the same kids tended to avoid, say, Beginner Books,
whether by Dr. Seuss or not.
Even the Harry Potter books (originally) had only one small illustration
at the beginning of each chapter, and no one complained!
True story, IIRC: The Washington Post interviewed the creators of "Zits"
in 2013, and Jerry Scott complained about having to read "Ivanhoe" at 14
- AND he said one reason he didn't like it is that there were no
pictures! (He would have been 14 in 1969, FWIW.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2013/12/31/the-trial-balloon/
 (I can't access it right now)
Apparently, that became the fodder for this strip:
https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/comic-strip-art/jim-borgman-and-jerry-scott-zits-daily-comic-strip-and-preliminary-version-original-art-dated-2-19-98-king/a/322319-47019.s
As a commentator said about "Ivanhoe," in effect: "Yes, the prose style
is grueling, but once you get accustomed, there's a helluva story."
I also remember that in the 1977 fantasy "In the Keep of Time," there's
a five-year-old who's an advanced reader to the point of reading books
without pictures.