Comic book drive for vets extended

Suffolk Legis. Wayne Horsley’s office resembled the stock room of a comic book store Tuesday, part of a unique benefit for wounded U.S. military servicemen and women.

Horsley (D-Babylon) and the Lindenhurst Chamber of Commerce have extended the deadline for donations to their “Super Heroes for Our Heroes” comic-book drive. The effort — which began earlier this month and has already netted more than 10,000 comic books — will now continue through March 19.

On March 22, Horsley, local firefighters and Rep. Steve Israel (D-Dix Hills) are scheduled to deliver the colorful reading material to patients at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Horsley said the comic books could provide a welcome diversion for service members being treated at the hospital.

“They’ve got so many toiletries — they’ve probably got warehouses that are full,” Horsley said. “We thought, ‘What could we do that’s different?’”

Donations, by the hundreds, have already come from comic book stores and individual collectors around Long Island. The original deadline for donations was to be Wednesday, but with the extension, anyone interested in contributing to the drive may visit Horsley’s office at 123 N. Wellwood Ave., Lindenhurst.

File photo caption: Comic books line the shelves at Grasshoppers, one of the largest stores on Long Island specializing in comic books and graphic novels. (Mar. 2, 2011)