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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (217385)	2/9/2007 10:14:30 PM
From: jttmab	Respond to of 281500

Or are they all just a bunch of doofusses? I know the line well..."They are our best and brightest." Comic book heroes supporting the troops By Eric E. Garcia, McClatchy-Tribune News U.S. troops are getting a holiday treat from Captain America and his pals at Marvel Comics. Copies of a free, special-edition issue of Marvel Comics' "The New Avengers" will be available to U.S. servicemen, retirees and their families beginning this week at worldwide military PX and BX facilities. It's the fourth time that Dallas-based Army and Air Force Exchange Service has teamed up with Marvel to produce an exclusive military-only comic. "The New Avengers: Letters Home," a 36-page comic, features patriotic hero Captain America working with the Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider and the Punisher when his regular teammates are away for the holidays. The superheroes band together to stop the evil Hydra organization when it takes over a military communications satellite and threatens to stop troops' e-mail messages from reaching their loved ones. "Due to their limited availability, collectors have historically shown great interest in these special AAFES/Marvel Comics editions," AAFES Chief of Staff Col. Max Baker said in a written statement. "If the past is any indicator, 'The New Avengers: Letters Home' issue should go quickly." Jim Skibo, AAFES director of trade promotion management, said about 1 million copies of the special comic are hitting military PXs and BXs in Iraq, Afghanistan, Europe and the Pacific, as well as those in the United States and other worldwide locations. Distribution began last week. Most copies will be handed out within the next two weeks, he said. "We wanted it to be a bit of a surprise," Skibo said. "We were looking for ways to say to our customers, thank you." The exchange service first teamed up with Marvel in 2005 and has produced three other limited-edition comics, including one that was distributed in March. It's one way to help market products and services that the AAFES provides, Skibo said. Bob Sabouni, vice president of custom publishing/cover concepts at New York-based Marvel Entertainment Inc., said the comic includes a self-contained story by Marvel artists and writers and is similar to special educational comics the company produces. "This project started because we were getting a great deal of requests from soldiers in the Middle East asking for comics," Sabouni wrote in an e-mail. "Sending a few hundred here and there did not feel like enough, so we started looking for a way to do it on a larger and more regular basis." Collectors have had a natural interest in the special-edition comics, Skibo said, noting that some of the editions distributed by AAFES have sold on eBay for about $5 to $10 each. southernillinoisan.com