Marvel and Target to the rescue: Marvel, through its Cover Concepts educational-resource division, has joined with Target to launch "Ready. Sit. Read!," an initiative to promote childhood reading. The companies will produce and distribute comics featuring Marvel heroes to nearly one million students in third- and fourth-grade classrooms nationwide.

The first custom comic, titled "Reading to the Rescue," features Spider-Man, Mary Jane, Captain America, Jean Grey and Thor. However, the press release insists, "the real heroes of the comic are the kids that save the day by using their reading skills to outsmart the evil trickster, Loki."

A second comic, "Reading to the Rescue #2: Assignment Impossible," will be distributed in the spring to more than 2 million school-age children.