The Business of Superheroes

Can you save me the comics? This familiar question was often spoken in my household on Sunday mornings. A picture of fatherhood, my dad who had awakened early was holding his second cup of morning coffee with the Cleveland Plain Dealer spread across his chest and small ink marks on his hands proving that he had indeed been reading. After saying our good mornings, my elder sister and I would focus our gaze on the perfectly folded unopened newspaper sections stationed on the small table beside him. We would ask for articles about the arts, books, movies and, of course, the comics. Those first sections containing current news and the front pages would never do.  Later in the morning, when dad had reached the desired sections he would share them with us. I remember reading the comics and enjoying the small illustrations of characters who spoke in word bubbles. But I know more than anything my favorite part was doing something grown up— reading the newspaper. For those of you fellow comic book fans, here are a few titles which may cause you to marvel at the longevity of our favorite two dimensional heroes.   Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman (Nobleman & Macdonald) Juvenile Nonfiction   This is the true story of two teen boys, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster who created Superman in their hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.   Marvel Comics: The Untold Story (Sean Howe) Nonfiction   In the early 1960's Marvel Comics was a small struggling company who armed with their cast of brightly costumed characters including Spider-Man, Captain America, and the Fantastic Four created a multimillion dollar enterprise and changed the world of comic books. “A superpowered must-read for anyone hooked on comics, as well as a gripping story for someone merely enlightened by a genre that’s always had to fight for respect. It’s much more about ordinary, flawed humans than super men and women, and therein lies its excellence.” – USA Today   The Boy Who Loved Batman (Michael Uslan) Nonfiction   Uslan's memoir chronicles his childhood obsession with Batman and later his passion turned business which led him to purchase the film rights to Batman and produce every modern Batman film to date. He created one of the most successful pop culture franchises of all time.   Renee Lienhard is a Collection Development Analyst with OverDrive

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