Teenagers have always been fascinated by superheroes. Before the advent of multimedia communication channels such as television, movies, and the Internet; teenagers used to derive immense satisfaction from comic books that portrayed their favorite superheroes. Comic books were more than just story books. They portrayed the immense turbulence of the times, offering a peek into the minds of society and how it perceived the prevalent economic, political, and crime scenarios. Ever since their debut, Marvel comic books have stood at the helm of the world of comic books. Marvel is still the biggest comic book publishing company.

The history of Marvel dates back to October 1939, when Martin Goodman commissioned Lloyd Jacquet's business for publication of the first Marvel comic book. The book happened to be called Marvel Comics #1. Marvel sold over 80,000 copies of this first issue. With so much success in its experiment in comics, particularly the first superhero, Human Torch, Marvel brought out a second superhero in 1941: Captain America.

The Golden Age of Comic Books came to an end after World War II ended, and the superhero comic books' popularity dropped sharply. Reduced sales of comic books focusing on Wheezer, Captain America, Angel, and Miss America forced Marvel Comics to invent more humorous characters like Super Rabbit and Powerhouse Pepper.

But the start of the war in Vietnam rekindled interest in comic superheroes. This made Marvel design four new such heroes who teamed up as "The Fantastic Four" in the Marvel comic books of the same name. Marvel followed this with additional characters, like X-Men, Ant-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, and the immortal Spider-Man. These figures are permanently etched in the brains of many teens and keep forming the basis for a number of Hollywood blockbusters.

Marvel comics went beyond plain entertainment. If you look closely, you will see how the creators of Marvel comic books, have intertwined the burning issues such as drug abuse into the storyline of their comic books. As such, comic book reading was encouraged by many educationalists.

Collectors will dish out large amounts for old comic books, especially for those really rare issues that are excellent condition, these can fetch millions of dollars. Talk to your parents or grandparents to find out if they just might be holding a fortune somewhere in a drawer full of items from their childhood. Today, even the government is recognizing the influence of superhero comics on society, as evidenced by the fact that commemorative stamps were released in 2007 featuring comic book characters.

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