American comic book writer/publisher/actor and former president/chairman of Marvel Comics (think Spider-Man, X-Men, etc.) Stan Lee, 91, is reminding devoted fans that free comic book day is approaching. The event is taking place this year on Saturday, May 3, 2014, at participating comic book shops across the country and even worldwide in a continued attempt to keep alive the genre.

Titles such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Spongebob, DCs The New 52: Futures End, Teen Titans Go, Transformers vs. GI Joe, Power Rangers, Hello Kitty and more are being offered for the asking based upon local participation and rules.

A uniquely American art form, soft cover comic books were published first in the 1930s as a compilation of what was published in newspapers. The Golden Age of comics is considered to have begun in 1938 with the first edition of Superman and origination of the archetype superhero.

In the U.S. the rise of comic book specialty stores paralleled a market for "independent" or "alternative comics." The headshops or mail order outlets of the '60's and '70s promoted the sale of independently published underground comics that glorified the youth counterculture and drug culture of the time.

This American form of entertainment eventually spread around the globe with Japanese businessmen reading manga to French artists reinterpreting cultural perceptions. Today there are comic books for every taste including adventures of superheroes to science fiction or intense drama.

Participating comic book stores in the Joplin area are: Book Barn/Vintage Stock in the Northpark Mall, Joplin; Hurley's Heroes Comics & Games, 824 S. Main St., Joplin and Hastings Entertainment, 2806 N. Broadway, Pittsburg, KS.

For past comic book reviews published by the JOPLIN INDEPENDENT put "Suspended Animation" in the search box on the homepage or for current reviews go here.

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