Today, many teachers in schools across the country recommend comic books as reading material for students because comic books grab the attention of children and encourages them to read.
But comic books are not just entertainment for children. They are also some of the most fascinating and truly enjoyable products that are bought, sold, and traded in the world of antiques and collectibles.
Printed and published since the early 1800s, comic books have grown at a steady pace in popularity over the years and comic books and comic book characters have become a multi-billion dollar industry, and the industry is still growing with no signs of letting up.
Like children, many adults, of all age groups, still read and collect comic books and have a real fondness for them. Many of the same comic book heroes of today were fighting super criminals and bad guys when your parents were children.
Ask almost any adult, and they will tell you who their favorite comic book characters were back when they were young and if you get them into a conversation, they will gladly discuss the superhero of their choice and who they thought was the best.
Like many kids of today, they loved to read comics so they bought and traded comic books, similar to buying and trading baseball and football cards. Those who were smart enough to understand the real value of a good comic book collection, kept them in mint condition.
Comic book characters live their lives in books and short stories that may continue for years like soap opera's with characters coming and going and getting killed, and then miraculously coming back to life. When you read comic books and keep up with the storylines, it is like living the story yourself, and you can get hooked.
Today, comic books are being passed on to another generation of children, especially since many of the movies today are based on comic book characters that were created way back then.
You can find comic book characters, and storylines, in regular comic magazines, hard and soft cover books, commercials, on television, in movies, and in video and computer games.
Like everything else, the price of comic books have skyrocketed so there is a lot of selling and trading going on. As collectibles, comic books can be bought and sold individually, or in sets.
Comic books are graded by the condition that they are in, the year of publication, and the number that were circulated. The big selling comic books are those that are old and in mint condition. Some of the rarer books can cost a fortune.