After making monthly pilgrimages to the comic book store under the guise of expanding Camille’s library, I’ve begun picking up a few titles for myself. Big surprise, I know.

By far, Justice Society of America has become my favorite read. The JSA is the original super-hero team – a unification of the greatest costumes of the World War II era like Green Lantern, The Flash and Hawkman. In current DC Comics continuity, the JSA is the B-list, behind the Justice League roster of Superman, Batman and the modern age GL and Flash. The ongoing JSA series takes its aging original-universe characters and teams them up with new heroes, expanding the roster and creating quite a bit of culture clash.

The always-amazing Alex Ross is on the creative team behind the book and has been weaving the JSA’s storyline with Ross’ previous epic mini-series Kingdom Come – a tale of a future super-hero arms race between the old guard and young heroes looking to control humanity as much as save it.

Ross’ painted covers are always welcome and they set the tone for the stories within. Always reverential of the characters, their back stories and their limitations, JSA’s conflicts range from close personal tensions to full-scale battles with a ten story tall god. Highly recommended if you’re into dudes in tights, or just good story-telling. It’s a nice reprieve from the superhero darkness of the Dark Knight and its ilk.

Camille had her two-year checkup and passed with flying colors – our perfect 50th percentile in just about everything. She’s already meeting 3 year old milestones and the doctor was very impressed with her vocabulary and physical development. While that was good news, it was all things that we knew. It was after the doctor’s appointment where the surprise came in.

I dropped Ginger off at a meeting and took Cami to a post-checkup treat: Her first trip to a comic book store. We stood in the parking lot and she looked up at the building, filled with colorful posters and neon and she said “What’s this?” She repeated after me: “Comic book store.” We went inside, the bell rang and for the next 15 minutes it was a steady stream of head-turnings and “oohs” and “whoas.”

She was transfixed. The comics ran from floor to 7 feet high, neatly arranged in stacks just waiting to be ruffled by two-year-old fingers. Above the comics were shelves of toys, sculptures and cardboard cutouts. She ran from shelf to shelf, naming the heroes she plays with every day: Bat-man, Super-man, Spiya-man, Aqua-man (hey, the kid loves Aquaman, alright?). When she found a character she didn’t recognize, she said “Who’s that?” and I’d tell her the names and she’d quickly repeat. Starman, Supergirl, Captain America… I couldn’t get the names out fast enough.

After some searching, we found the small section of “for kids” comics. For an unknSuper Friends #3own reason, they were nestled right next to a very adult display of statues and DVDs. It was hard to keep her away from the not-toddler appropriate shelving, and harder to explain when she pointed to them and asked “What’s this?” to which I replied “For grown-ups.” She pointed again and said “Grown ups.”

We sorted through the kids books and settled on two cute issues: DC Comics Super Friends #3 and Tiny Titans #6. The Super Friends book is based on the line of action figures which she currently plays with, so she recognized the familiar faces. The Titans book is a very fun, very kid friendly title with even younger versions of the Teen Titans (Robin, Raven, Beast Boy, Cyborg, etc) and an expanded youth DC stable (Batgirl, a young Blue Beetle and other surprises). We also may have picked up two books for dad.

While we waited for Ginger’s meeting to end, I put Camille in my lap and read her two comics, back to back and she was riveted. Even though these were kiddie books, they were dialog heavy for a two year old. She loved them, and as I finished Tiny Titans, she asked for more. I was amazed.

I don’t expect Camille to be a comic book geek. It’s probably not the best label to slap on such a cute little girl. But I hope every now and then she’ll continue to indulge me – and we can bond over funny books for a long time to come.

The latest breed of Super Hero films has been a revelation. Going back to 1990’s Batman, the comic book movie has seen a renaissance through better scripts, larger budgets and better acting talent. There have, of course, been stumbling blocks (especially in the Batman franchise) but by and large these films have been enjoyable, if not world-class cinema.  The relaunch of the Batman franchise, Batman Begins, raised the bar even higher and with Marvel’s latest – Iron Man – a new standard has been established.

I enjoyed Iron Man from start to finish. It was a fast, fun movie that didn’t disservice the original material. While it was a cleverly updated version of the character, it bent over backwards to pay homage to the decades of pulp comics that preceded the new vision. The effects were all top-notch and didn’t distract from the (admittedly light) plot and complemented the overall tone of the film. But it was the acting that made Iron Man so different. There were no weak links (although why did director Jon Favreau cast himself as Stark’s driver?) and the A-list talent was able to flirt with camp without crossing the line into parody. I never would have thought of Robert Downey Jr as hero material – but with Iron Man, it’s all suit and attitude. Who knew that Gwyneth Paltrow could so easily play a supporting role without overshadowing the leads? It was one pleasant surprise after another. The relative meekness of Terrance Howard’s character was the only odd portrayal – but not a deal breaker by any stretch.

As a general rule, I consider Marvel’s pantheon of heroes to be strictly B-list. Maybe that’s part of the reason I enjoyed this film so much. I could care less about Iron Man. They could have completely rewritten the character, changed the suit and made him half-zebra and I wouldn’t have gotten upset about it. So I didn’t have anything to lose from a childhood-touchstone standpoint. Instead, Marvel made a fun summer action movie that didn’t leave die-hard comic fans disgusted or scratching their heads. And, it’s gotten me excited about their upcoming slate of films including a Hulk revamp in a few weeks as well as Captain America, The Avengers and (the inevitable) Iron Man 2. It’s time for DC to pick up their game.