BAM! BOOM! KAPOW! 

Fighting villains at night, a normal high schooler by day. Saving the damsel in distress, kidnapped by the supervillain arch-nemesis. 

Comic books have become part of the common culture of the 2000s. Even though they have made waves in culture, some don’t think of it that way.

“They’re not really (important), but they are fun to read,” freshman Kristan Grimm said.

Today Marvel makes multi-million dollar movies that have amassed an intense and dedicated fan base.

According to ign.com, Marvel made over $1.4 billion  in 2021 and superhero movies have carved a way into the cultural zeitgeist.

In a recent poll with 203 students, 83% of respondents said they had read comic books before, 73% watch superhero movies.

“I watch the Marvel movies. I think that infinity war is the best one,” sophomore Cole Gnapp said. 

“It depends on what comic book you read and what genre but yeah some are better than others,” Grimm said.

Many superheroes are well-known and an inspiration to many even to some who don’t read comic books.

“My favorite is either Batman or Spiderman, it depends on the day, today it’s batman,” Gnapp said. 

While Marvel and DC are the most popular publishers of comic books, there are many other ways to get a comic published.

“I read Heavy Metal, which is a magazine, it a collection of a bunch of smaller stories,” senior Hayden Winters said. 

To many, comic books are small issues with a short story, but many read collections of comic books. 

“I read the compendiums of comic books, instead of buying all of the issues,” Winters said.