When I head to the theater to see a comedy, I usually judge the value of my ticket price by how many laughs I get. I figure if I have four good laughs it’s a pretty good deal. That means I paid about $1.75 a laugh and since everyone says laughter is the best medicine I think those are some pretty cheap meds.

Yesterday while I was perusing books in Powells I came across the book Does This Cape Make Me Look Fat?: Pop Psychology for Superheroes the latest book by local authors Chelsea Cain and Marc Mohan. (Chelsea is the Oregonian’s Calendar Girl and Marc reviews movies for the Oregonian and is also a D&D aficionado.) After reading the first page I was laughing out loud. By the time I got to page four my cheeks were hurting. Every page I turned to had me either giggling or out and out guffawing.

If you’ve ever felt the urge to don a mask and fight the forces of evil, this is a must read and don’t worry if you’re one of the not too bright but well meaning kind of heroes like The Tick, the book is illustrated. Or if you’re like me and enjoy comics or superhero movies and may have even collected an action figure or two, go get this book. It’s only $12.95, and using my laugh to money-spent ratio you pay about .000005 cents a laugh.

Thank you Chelsea and Marc, this is unquestionably some of the best medicine I’ve had in years.