A Moment of Silence tells the events of 9/11 through a fictional victim's point of view. This was Marvel's third and final tribute book and includes a special foreword by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

For the Children
Yet despite the comic book industry’s adamant insistence that the medium is not tailored toward children, the bedrock of the industry’s audience for the last century has been children and teenagers. Moreover, in the last fifty years, comic books have been both an exciting collectible serial and a monthly emotional outlet. Within the confines of a comic book, good always triumphs over evil; heroes are ever-present to protect the innocent from havoc. Consequently, the comic book industry had the responsibility to the children, to their fanbase, to produce material that would tackle the grave emotional issues of September 11.

In the days following the attacks, as an intense fear diffused throughout our nation, there was at least a remote solace in the mettle of our country’s emergency workers, the heroes of New York City. Ideas quickly spawned at Marvel Comics to produce something to help New Yorkers and Americans. “The problem quickly arose that comic books generally have a lead time of about three to six months,” says Quesada. “We knew we wouldn’t raise as much money if we brought something out in six months. Someone in the office came up with the idea of a poster book. As soon as I heard ‘poster book’ my ears perked up. We could tell a story with just pictures. It would be a tribute to the heroes.” Thus, the brainchild for Heroes was created.

Because many of its characters reside in Manhattan, Marvel's editor-in-chief Joe Quesada felt there was a moral responsibility for its publication to respond to the attacks.

Heroes and Beyond
Heroes was Marvel’s response to September 11. It was a 64-page poster book that was released five weeks after the attacks. The comic is also a Who’s Who of Marvel’s artists, who united to depict Marvel’s superheroes mourning for our nation’s great loss and honoring the real-life heroes who saved so many lives that day, while risking their own. Nearly all proceeds from the book’s sales went to the Twin Towers Fund. Its first printing, in excess of 100,000 copies, sold out almost as quickly as issues hit the shelves of America’s comic and hobby stores. Marvel seldom publishes second printings of its comics, but the public’s and the media’s penchant toward Heroes propelled Marvel to return to the printing press to help raise more money.

The next tribute book Marvel released was The Amazing Spider-man #36. This comic is extra special because Heroes and A Moment of Silence were one-shots while the continuity of Spider-man’s storyline was interrupted to reveal the introspection of Marvel’s flagship superhero, one who’s very superhero status is habitually marred by the curse that his own gifts cast upon his loved ones. The comic featured a special all-black cover, and the break in the story’s continuity was a first for Marvel.

Deciding that no image was appropriate, The Amazing Spider-man #36 went into mourning with an all black cover.

Nevertheless, the regular creative team of J. Michael Straczynski, formerly of Babylon 5, and John Romita, Jr. guided readers through a cataclysm that even Spider-man could not prevent within the confines of the Marvel Universe. The Amazing Spider-man #36 allowed adults and children to witness the devastation through the eyes of everyone’s favorite neighborhood Spider-man. Its script is succinct, yet as is the case with many great works of poetry and prose, less is often more. The opening pages read: “Some things are beyond words. Beyond comprehension. Beyond forgiveness.” Straczynski’s language pervades a scholarly psychological wisdom that is often erroneously unassociated with comic books. In the weeks following the attacks in which The Amazing Spider-man #36 was written, I still marvel at Straczynski’s acumen to verbalize such atrocities. Page 7 reads: “The sane world will always be vulnerable to madmen, because we cannot go to where they go to conceive of such things.” If anyone has ever questioned the power of comic books as a medium to derive meaning, to convey emotion, and to move us like the greatest of Shakespearean iambs, The Amazing Spider-man #36 is a testament to the puissance of colorful pictures and text.