Zap...Biff...Pow...

Who would defy superheroes?


One of the stops I made this weekend while visiting in Chicago was a comic book store where I purchased two trade paperbacks featuring my boyhood idol: Doc Savage. It also happened to be "Free Comic Book Day" so I scooped up a handful of issues to present to my grandson who is a voracious reader at age 9 because I don't want him to narrow his perspective to sports books and the Magic Tree House and Boxcar Kids series. The proprietor of the store was somewhat attired to resemble The Flash, and the person running the cash register appeared to be a Jedi knight, though there was no humming audible and no light sabre in view, and he spoke complete sentences with the words in the correct order. All in all, it was a pleasant experience, totally lacking the kind of excitement to be found in Australia, it appears.
I guess it was also "International Free Comic Book Day" as well, because I can think of no other reason for what happened there. Someone must have been confused at the concept because he slipped a very expensive (97 pounds--British money, not weight) X-Men Omnibus into a bag and tried to slip out the door.
Not so fast! Spiderman to the rescue...well, OK, it was Michael Baulderstone, the store owner dressed as the superhero. Aided by Jedi knights who blocked the door and The Flash who stood by ready to assist, Spidey apprehended the would-be thief (probably enveloping the guy in webs for good measure) and held him for the police who arrived to find 30 comic book characters hanging onto an overmatched individual, threatening all sorts of superhero vigilante justice.
Wow! And my day was so tame.
Maybe there will be excitement next month when I hear "Free Comic Book Day" will be repeated.