Let's be honest, people do not like to read. Well actually, a small majority of people enjoy reading stories. Most people chalk this up to the younger generation not having the patience to sit down and read. And while I begrudgingly agree to this notion, there is one underrated form of literature that hooks thousands of young children every year; comic books.

For the last eightyish years, the world has been blessed with these comic magazines. At first glance, these books get a negative generalization as being just for kids. While in actuality there are a lot of adult comic books being written right now. The purpose of this article is not to persuade a non-reader to start reading comics. Instead, I am going to make the argument that if you are a fan of comic book films then you should attempt to read more about these characters.

Marvel Studios is making billions of dollars every year. Especially with their recent successes of "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018) and "Avengers: Endgame" (2019). For the last ten years, people around the world have learned the names of iconic Marvel heroes like Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor. Mention their name to any seven-year-old and they immediately know who they are; trust me I tested this at work. But surprisingly this wasn't always the case.

I remember back when I was five or six when someone mentioned Marvel I instantly thought the following: Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, and The X-Men. These were Marvel's most popular characters back in the day. Their popularity is the reason why in the late 90s/early 2000s Marvel Entertainment sold the movie rights of these characters to different studios. And of course, this has led to films like "Spider-Man" (2002) or "X-Men" (2000). These films obviously reignited the superhero genre in Hollywood after the bombshell that was "Batman and Robin" (1997). The selling off of these films has led to years of legal negotiations for Disney and Marvel Studios to get the film rights back to these characters. So, in the meantime back in 2007 when Marvel wanted to make their own film studios, they had to get creative. And thus, the first Iron Man film was produced and became a success.

Iron Man and Rescue "Avengers: Endgame" (2019)tumblr.com/felicytsmoak

Over the last decade, we've gotten over twenty Marvel films. We've gotten ensemble films like "Marvel's Avengers" (2012) and "Captain America: Civil War" (2016), to films about a tree and a talking raccoon with "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014). With each successful film, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has managed to wrangle in more and more fans. People who once didn't care about superheroes were now discussing them in public.

When "Avengers: Endgame" (2019) came out a few months ago I remember walking into the Alden library during finals week and hearing two or three conversations about the film. These movies are popular and have also caused other movie studios to start developing their own superhero cinematic universes. Warner Bros. and DC Comics attempted to create an interconnected universe with "Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016) being the jumping off point. While the DC Extended Universe has had a few bumps in the road, their recent successes of "Wonder Woman" (2017), "Aquaman" (2018) and "Shazam!" (2019) has garnered a reinvention of the stereotypical superhero formula Marvel has done with their films.

Jason Mamoa as Arthur Curry in "Aquaman" (2018) tumblr.com/dcmultiverse

So, after that large tangent, you are probably asking yourself why I am bringing all this up? Like I mentioned earlier these films bring in a lot of new fans to the cinema, but they don't bring them to the comics. Every Wednesday new comic books are released across the country and world. Comic writers and artist spend months on each issue in their series and only around a couple hundred thousand a week.

There is this myth out there that comic books are dying which is total nonsense (Was going to use a much harsher word). According to Heidi McDonald from comicsbeat.com, Comic sales in total rounded to around 1.095 Billion Dollars. That's a very strong sales figure and only seems to be going up from there. However, more people should at least attempt to go to their local comic book shops and pick up a new issue. A lot of the time people complain there is no true jumping on point with comics. Which is true but also not true.

Take the current Batman (2016-) run by Tom King. We all know the origins of Batman. Billionaire Bruce Wayne witnessed his parents murdered when he was a small boy and then spent the next decade or so training to one day avenge their death and make sure no child goes through the same fate as he once did. The movies serve as a good introduction to the base character and branching out to the comics can hook a fan even more.

Now, this isn't without its flaws. For example, Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy is vastly different from his comic book counterpart pre-2014. Any comic featuring the character now is going to be modeled around Chris Pratt. Sometimes these changes are for the better other times they are not. Not everyone who likes films is going to like the comic version of their character and that's okay. However, I ask people to at least pick up a few issues from your local comic book shop. Help support their small businesses and take up a new interest. Remember comics are not just words- they have pictures too. When I give my friends, who aren't superhero experts, a comic a lot of the times the first thing they say to me is: "I don't know how to read it." If you are one of these people I am linking a wikihow article on how to read comics, which is basically like reading a book.

So I highly encourage you to pick up a comic and if it's not for you then that's okay. But at least you attempted to read one. Sometimes people come in and complain about how they know everything about a character but haven't read the comics. While you don't have to be a fan of comics to be a fan of the movies, it's wrong to claim to know something about a topic you have never put the research in. And that's with any topic, not just with superheroes. So strap on your superhero cape and pick up that new issue of Captain Marvel. And attempt to be transported to a world filled with tales of suspense.