Lima Ohio -
The last installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy premieres at midnight. The Dark Knight Rises is expected to bring in big money at the box office, but the movies are already boosting sales for one local comic book store.
The recent Batman movies has gotten David Ames excited about batman comic books once again.
"The Nolan stuff really got me into it because it's a more realistic batman," said Ames.
Alter Ego Comics owner Mark Bowker says the movies made fans out of people who never picked up a comic book in their whole entire life.
"We've definitely seen an up tick in sales. Every time a Batman movie comes out we see new fans coming in and looking for batman comic books, wanting to try something new," said Bowker.
Bowker says the comic book industry is up 18 percent over the last year, thanks in part to movies like The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises.
"It started with The Avengers. Avengers was so huge and popular with the general public that it drove people into comic book stores to check out the source material," said Bowker.
Bowker expects the Dark Knight Rises to have the same effect as the Avengers movie. Meaning customers will head to comic book stores to see where the inspiration for the beloved Batman movies comes from.
