At Comic-Con, comic books and their heroes leap from pages into film, videogames, television

SAN DIEGO – There’s no such thing as just a comic book hero anymore.

From big-screen films to small-screen animation to books, clothes and makeup, the hero business is big business. Two decades ago, the only place to find the X-Men was in the pages of comics and on Saturday morning cartoons.

Now, they, and others, like Superman, Batman and the zombies from “The Walking Dead” are cultural juggernauts, crossing over into everything.

And nowhere is that more evident than at Comic-Con International.

Attendees can wear Avengers perfume while walking in Converse high-tops that have the Joker or Batman on the sides. They can buy glass tumblers with Marvel superheroes on them and hats with The Flash lightning bolt on the front.