Comic Books

MARVEL: FIVE FABULOUS DECADES OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST COMICS.Les Daniels.Abrams.287 pages. $45.Comic books, Les Daniels writes, have "always attracted the most intelligent kids: the introverted readers and dreamers who have fantasies of acquiring brawn to match their brains."Knew it all along, didn't you?Mr. Daniels, a Rhode Island-based film reviewer, fiction writer and historian of popular culture, offers readers more than just such scholarly sounding balm for their long-guilty consciences.

London -- Pow! Zap! Zowee! Take that Batman!!!Superman creamed Batman yesterday in a clash of superheroes at the first-ever sale of comic books in the auction rooms at Christie's here."

You've seen the movie, now read the book - for free! The movie is Spider-Man 2, which opened Wednesday and pulled in a record-breaking $40.5 million, meaning plenty of you were there. And if that's not enough Spidey to satisfy you, simply truck on over to your friendly neighborhood comic-book store today and take advantage of the third annual Free Comic Book Day. If the store is one of thousands participating in the nationwide promotion, you can walk away with a comic book - Spider-Man is one of about 30 titles being offered - without plunking down a cent.

For Essex comic book collector Joseph A. Cramer, terminally ill with cystic fibrosis, owning a comic book kiosk for several weeks was a dream come true.With help from the Grant-A-Wish Foundation and Steve Geppi, president of Diamond Comic Distributors, and the Rouse Co., young Cramer opened Comic Copia at a kiosk in the Mall in Columbia for several weeks in December 1995.Joey Cramer died Tuesday at his Essex home. He was 17."He was recommended to us by Joy Goldberger, a child life specialist at Johns Hopkins Hospital," said Linda Krach, program director for the Grant-A-Wish Foundation.

Walter Hill's The Warriors, the last great American art-and-exploitation film, celebrates its 25th anniversary with a midnight show tonight at the Charles Theatre. To beat out several rivals, including Phil Kaufman's ebullient The Wanderers, Paramount Pictures rushed The Warriors into theaters in early 1979, with advertising that highlighted its incendiary gangs-of-New-York plot: "These are the Armies of the Night. They are 100,000 strong. They outnumber cops five to one. They could run New York ... " (Paramount offered theaters extra security after pundits linked teenage killings to screenings of the movie.

Superman may be dead (temporarily) but the struggle for truth, justice and the American way continues with Icon, Hardware and Static.Who?Icon, Hardware and Static, along with the Blood Syndicate, are a new group of heroes jointly launched yesterday by Milestone Comics and DC Comics, home of Batman, Superman and company. The difference is Milestone is actively trying to represent all Americans by creating books with minority characters created and owned by minority writers.Minority comic book characters have been around a long time but they're often bland and generic.

Mike "Toodie" Geppi likes to tell the story of how his kid brother once passed up a chance to buy a Superman No. 1 comic -- now worth at least $65,000 in mint condition -- from the proprietor of a store near their home in Little Italy."

"Neil Gaiman had a good point," says Alice Cooper of the writer who helped him create "The Last Temptation," Cooper's new album and rock comic. "His opening line, when we did the first press interview, was 'My motto is: Who says rock comics have to be bad?' "Who, indeed?If anything, the two would seem to be natural allies. Both have long, deep ties to youth culture, from the days when rock singles and comic books were blamed for rising juvenile delinquency in the '50s, to the recent boom in alternative rock and underground comics in Seattle.

The big boys of comic books like Batman and The Hulk all have movies on the way this summer. But a slew of films based on lesser-known superheroes (ever heard of Ant-Man?) are also in the works. The runaway success of Iron Man, which grossed $200 million worldwide its opening weekend and has already spawned plans for a sequel, proved that an able cast and solid storytelling can turn a second-tier superhero into box-office gold. "A good story, good filmmaking and a talented cast can make all the difference in the world," said Tom Ortenberg, president of theatrical films for Lionsgate Films.

"Spawn" has soul, even if it is firmly ensconced in the depths of hell.A live-action adaptation of Todd McFarlane's incredibly popular comic book, "Spawn" rocks with the sort of style, creativity and exuberance other top-heavy, lumbering comic-book adaptations -- are you listening, "Batman and Robin"? -- can only dream of.Spawn, the title character, was once CIA operative Al Simmons, who went along merrily destroying people and governments (thus earning his place in hell) until a bad thing happened: Al developed a conscience.