Drawn to comics

All movies that came out in the first three months of this year. All debuted at No. 1 at the box office.

All were based on comic books.

It's not just movies that are taking their cues from comic books. Walk into Target or Wal-Mart and you'll see scores of merchandise based on Spider-Man, Batman and other comic book icons — action figures, video games, toothbrushes.

Comics are everywhere. Except for, you know, the actual comic books themselves.

When was the last time you actually read a comic book? Have you ever? Aren't they just for kids, anyway? Or nerds living in their mom's basement?

Well, sure. But they're for everyone else, too. All sorts of comic books — for all sorts of tastes — are out there. Some are being produced in Tucson.

Take it from University of Arizona student Andy Austin, 24.

"I used to read (comic books) when I was young," he said. "I made a deal with myself that if I still wanted to read them in 10 years, I'd read them again."

And?

"I've been back reading them for two years," he said. "I like them now more than before. It's a legitimate form of storytelling. A lot of people don't see that."

At the time he stopped following comic books he was reading strictly superhero fare like "X-Men." He still likes that stuff but says he's broadened his horizons.

He's not alone. Read on to find out more about comics, the people making them and where you can find them around town.

Hey, maybe you'll even want to read some. You've got a month before "Spider-Man 3" comes out to become an expert.

Tucson supported 14 comic-book stores in the early 1990s, according to Heroes and Villains owner Mike Camp. That number's been trimmed to four, but they all offer something different for both hardcore fans and casual consumers.

Fantasy Comics

2595 N. First Ave.

670-0100 or myspace.com/fantasycomics

Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Tuesdays and Thursdays-Saturdays; 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesdays; noon-5 p.m. Sundays.

First appearance: The grand dame of Tucson comic-book stores, this place marked its 30th-year anniversary in March.

What makes your store different: "Of all the places around, I think we are probably more specifically comics than anything else," said owner Tom Struck. "We don't really do a lot of the pop culture stuff, the action figures and Star Wars stuff, and things like that. We really concentrate on our strong point, which is comics. We've always been really comic-book oriented, where everything else is secondary."

What makes comic books cool: "Part of it is because, even with computer graphics and things, there's a lot you can just do with a pen and paper that's more difficult to do in any other medium. The combination of words and pictures and static pictures is a totally separate medium.

"I think there's also an element, especially over the last 20 or 30 years, just a month-to-month continuation of everything," Struck says, referring to the ability of fans to follow the trials and tribulations of a character like Superman for years. "You do get to watch a lot of evolution and change."

What would you recommend to someone who's never read comics? "We usually ask them what they read in books, what they watch in movies. Currently, with the adaptations of Stephen King and Anita Blake and again with the return of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' all of them are things that people come in and recognize from another source." (Marvel Comics is releasing "The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born," based on King's "Dark Tower" series, and comics based on Laurell K. Hamilton's "Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter" novels. Dark Horse Comics is publishing a new "Buffy" comic by series creator Joss Whedon that picks up where the show ended in 2003.)

R-Galaxy

2420 N. Campbell Ave.

322-0422 or r-galaxy.com

Open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays-Mondays.

First appearance: 1993.

What makes your store different: "One of the things is, we're sensitive to our customers," said owner Rick Keefe. "We really try and put ourselves in the customer's position, and give them the kind of service we'd hope to find when we went into a business. We try and cater to a very diverse clientele, who have very different and expansive tastes. It requires that we have a very broad selection and a broad range of product lines." As such, the store carries a lot of Animé (Japanese animation) DVDs, even offering them for rent. The store also buys and sells used CDs.

Why are comics cool: "Comics are about art. If you don't have an appreciation of graphic art, you're probably not going to have an appreciation for comics," said Keefe.

"Comics don't work without a very strong story. Comic books have a lot to compete with these days. They have to compete with the Internet, video games — a large variety of entertainment distractions. So the only thing that can keep the comic industry thriving is the combination of very well-written stories and engaging, stylistic art. When those two work together, you have a very powerful medium.

"We have a lot of teachers coming in buying comics. It helps to promote literacy in the classroom. Sometimes just seeing text doesn't do it for a child that's learning how to read. Some kids really benefit from the visual stimulation, and that allows them to keep practicing their literacy skills, and if they develop greater and greater literacy skills with comics, they'll naturally gravitate towards text-only literature as well."

What would you recommend to someone who's never read comics before: "I'd find out what appeals to that individual. Every person deserves respect, and should not be force-fed the latest, most popular craze. If a person came into our store, we'd find out what they wanted to read, what they've read in the past and guide them into something of a similar nature and maybe make a suggestion of what we personally would vouch for," he said.

"There's a huge variety of comics to choose from. There are enough different styles that we should as a comic-book industry be able to satisfy anyone who walks through those doors."

Charlie's Comics

5445 E. 22nd St.

320-0279 or charliescomics.com

Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays and 1-5 p.m. Sundays.

First appearance: Jan. 1, 2002.

What makes your store different: "I read every comic book on the rack," said owner Charlie Harris.

Harris is also the sole employee of his store, so if you shop there, you're going to see him.

"I think that helps a lot, that people are always going to see the same face."

Harris also has a robust mail-order business for out-of-town customers, and doesn't put a "quota" on his subscription service (i.e., he'll hold comics for his regular customers without a minimum number of titles).

Why are comics cool: "I think historically, poetry was the way to go for a long time, and if you read a novel it was considered junk literature — back in the day of the 5-cent pulps. It came around, it became respectable to read novels, and now it's becoming respectable to read comics. I think it's the next step in entertainment. Hollywood seems to agree with me."

What would you recommend to someone who's never read comics before: "It would totally depend on the individual. It would depend on what they read in the past. For fans of historical fiction, I would recommend "Maus," which is a first-person story about the holocaust. If it was nonfiction, I would point to nonfiction comics. It all depends on what they're interested in. People think it's all superheroes, but there's a lot of crime, mystery, soap opera and a lot along that line," said Harris.

Heroes and Villains

4533 E. Broadway

321-4376

Open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Mondays-Tuesdays and Thursdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesdays and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays

First appearance: November 2003.

What makes your store different: "We try to be a modern-style comic-book store, where the emphasis is less on the collecting of comics and it's much more focused on reading of comics and the entertainment, literary and educational value in comics. That's the magic we see in comics," said owner Mike Camp.

Unlike other stores, which keep back issues of older comics, Camp only keeps the last month or so of a comic in stock, and focuses heavily on graphic novels (comics originally published in a book, rather than periodical, format) and bound, collected editions of comics.

Why are comics cool: "Comics do something that very few mediums do in that they stimulate multiple learning disciplines. You have the reading component, you have the artistic component. There's an element of comprehension that occurs by blending the two mediums together. You see the action, you read the action. You see what's in his mind, you see what he's doing. If you look at modern television and movies, the comic book format of telling stories has become the norm."

What would you recommend to someone who's never read comics before: "The first question we always ask for someone brand new to comics is what kind of movies do you like, what TV shows do you watch, what books do you read. We don't always start with a superhero comic, even though the perception is that comic books are all about superheroes."

Camp says that it's rare that someone comes into his store with no exposure to comics whatsoever.

"Pop culture has too much comics in it today for people not to have exposure," he said. Usually, people come in after seeing a movie like "V for Vendetta" or "300" and want to know more about the source material, said Camp.