This won’t surprise most of you, but I’d never picked up an X-Men comic before two weeks ago. I know. Feel free to shame me.

It didn’t happen for various reasons including lack of time, the fact that I have at least 1,138 other things to read, and the huge amount of history intimidated me. Something I’m learning (among many things) about superhero comics with decades of backstory is that there’s a way to present stories so that a newbie like me can jump in without feeling completely lost. It can’t be an easy task for storytellers to create issues that are welcoming enough for us new folks but still meaty enough for long time fans. The difficulty in doing so is evident in the number of issues I’ve read that lacked this, and it’s discouraging. Comics have to nail the right balance of providing the basics, hinting at the past, and not leaving too much out and not going too overboard including all the facts.

The Dark Phoenix Saga by Chris Claremont and John Byrne delivered on all counts.

When I was handed my stack of “research,” the Dark Phoenix Saga immediately caught my eye. Partially because I’ve seen the X-Men movies and liked Jean Grey, but mostly because a friend of mine has talked about Dark Phoenix and Jean Grey and Scott Summers and I couldn’t wait to read more. I was nervous about not starting from the beginning, but my impatience won out (it usually does) and I was rewarded. I fell in love with the story of Jean Grey’s fall from grace and sacrifice, and I was crazy impressed with the presentation. I was even more impressed after I put the book aside and learned that not only did the saga traverse an intense, emotional character arc, it also introduced new heroes and villains while doing so.

At no point in the Dark Phoenix Saga did I feel lost. I was familiar with some of the characters from the films or other comics (I may have cheered when the Beast showed up), but I know nothing about the history of the X-Men nor do I know origin stories or who made up the original team. It didn’t matter. I walked right into this group of mutants and it was easy to keep pace. It might seem like a little thing to those of you who have read All. The. Comics. but to someone like me diving into this vast superhero world, it’s a relief. I can usually tell early on if it’s going to be one of those stories, and I knew Dark Phoenix was different.

This part is key: Claremont doesn’t shy away about referencing the past. You can’t do that without doing a disservice to the book and characters, but it’s easy to take it to a point of too much backstory. He doesn’t emphasize the entire history so much though that newcomers feel like outsiders. For example, it was apparent that Xavier and Lilandra of the Shi’ar shared a past and they both had unresolved feelings for each other. Their connection was told with just a few lines, and that’s all I needed. Banshee is with Moira MacTaggert and obviously used to be part of the team but lost his powers. They were relevant to the story, and I grasped the basics of Banshee’s history without a flashback. All the important information is conveyed without overload and without making me feel dumb. Again, it’s simple but it doesn’t always happen.

Now, combine all that delicate weaving with new character introductions: Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, and Dazzler. It also formally presents the Hellfire Club.

Finally, add in an incredibly powerful story of love and loss and sacrifice and power. Granted, I only know Jean Grey from this one book, but I can see the drastic changes and the hell she goes through. I get some of that directly from her, but I get most of it from the reactions to her behavior from Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and even Wolverine. They are noticing her transformation and though they comment on it, they don’t beat you over the head with it. I know the progression towards Dark Phoenix started many issues before this final chapter, but even so, it wasn’t rushed. Her dark ending didn’t come out of nowhere. And I can’t discuss that or her and Scott Summers more without crying.

I think Dark Phoenix Saga is comics storytelling at its absolute finest. It will be a book I recommend to new readers to comics and specifically new readers of superhero comics. I’ll also be reading it again and again.

There’s only one day each year that I look forward to more than Christmas and it comes the first Saturday of every May: Free Comic Book Day. The idea originated from Joe Field of Flying Colors Comics, a comic-book store located in Concord, Ca. Free Comic Book Day was to encourage the awareness of graphic novels and comic books to readers outside of the regular fanbase, while calling back former readers and to thank current comic book readers for their continued support. This year marks its 10^th anniversary and nerds around the world couldn’t be happier.

FCBD has been linked to related comic-book movies coming out around the same time, the most current of which is The Avengers, which helped to promote FCBD. I don’t know about you, but I rushed out bright and early to several of my local comic-book retailers to celebrate this day that I’ve drawn a red circle around on my calendar since May of last year.

Collector’s Paradise, located in Pasadena, CA, had a great turnout from people of all ages. They promoted a “buy three get one free” deal for other merchandise, which was met with great zeal from their customers. I was extremely delighted as I overheard a young girl ask her mother for “Hello Kitty comics.” Granted, there was none in the store and her mother ended up buying her three Toy Story comics, nonetheless I was ecstatic to know FCBD wasn’t just reaching out to only current readers. One of my biggest concerns is that although FCBD gets massive press coverage, it is only on the radar of those who already read and collect comics. I have several friends who buy the occasional graphic novel and to my horror, can recite the exact date and time on their Avengers movie ticket but have no clue as to what a “Free Comic Book Day” is. When many years have passed and wonderful people like Mark Waid, Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns and those two adults down my street who collect comics have passed away, I would want a whole new generation to take over for us old folks. So it was gratifying to see that it was a cute little girl who will grow up to join the many other geek girls around the globe. After years of worry, I see that FCBD is finally achieving one of its main goals.

Comics Factory, also located in Pasadena, California, had a line going OUT THE DOOR AND SPILLING INTO THE MCDONALD’S PARKING LOT. I squealed in delight and quickly parked my car to join my fellow nerd buddies. It was a madhouse in there with folks wide-eyed to the great selection of free comics this year.

House of Secrets in Burbank, California, had two cute female comic-book clerks helping out at the register and introducing new titles to readers. They even let a little girl be their “special helper of the day” by letting her stamp the free comic books with their store address and logo. It was an ingenious way of making kids feel important and wanted, while insuring that she will never forget that day and grow up to be a lifelong comic book reader. Outside of their store were cosplayers that helped attract curious people driving by to make a U-turn and stop by the store.

Emerald Knights (located in the same city), gave out lollipops to children and I could tell this year was the year for kids. Even our own Blastoff Comics event at NE1 Skate in North Hollywood was a success with kids and teenagers.

FCBD was a success to me this year, not because I factored in good weather and I knew that I’d be watching The Avengers soon, but because I am finally witnessing a larger and larger turnout of children and women. After 10 years of success among those that already are current readers, FCBD has now begun to break out of that bubble.

It’s Christmas in May!

Now that Free Comic Book Day has come and gone, what did you look forward to grabbing at your local comic book store? Every year, on Free Comic Book Day Eve, I go online and print out their list of what publishers will be promoting.

Here is that magical page I’m talking about:

http://www.freecomicbookday.com/Home/1/1/27/981

Note: Some books are not shown on the site but are part of a flip book.

Like everyone on the planet, we always have a few things that we look forward to more than others in any given event. In no particular order, I made sure that I grabbed these first and read them with the detail of a lawyer reading the fine print of a contract.

HOLY COW!!! And yes, this book from Archaia is deserving of three exclamation points. Not only is Mouse Guard an Eisner award-winning series but also it is the first hardcover comic ever given away for free on FCBD. It is 48 pages of full-color and glory. The stories included are Mouse Guard, Labyrinth, Return of the Dapper Men, Rust, Cursed Pirate Girl and Cow Boy.

For those who love David Peterson’s Mouse Guard, the short story in this anthology will give you a brief look into the life Saxon. Labyrinth is beautifully drawn and Return of the Dapper Men bring us more of Jim McCann and Janet K. Lee’s brilliance. Rust and Cow Boy introduce us to a unique look behind the scenes of two very different boys. I cannot emphasize enough how much one must get a hold of this anthology and devour it.

Top Shelf Kidsclub free comic is also another must.

Many forget that comic books are not limited to only panels that include dialogue. Comic books are a form of sequential art, and can be depicted without text. Owly by Andy Runton never fails to tug at the heartstrings of the reader and Korgi by Christian Slade is also no stranger to that reaction. Owly finds a silver lining to the great day planned for his little friends after rain unexpectedly befalls them. Our ever-courageous corgi friend reminds us why it’s important for us to never lose our head. Dragon Punch, Pirate Penguin vs. Ninja Chicken, also accompanies Owly and Korgi Upside Down and Okie Dokie Donuts to complete their FCBD issue.

Drawn and Quarterly is a Canadian periodical that focuses on graphic novels and underground or alternative comics. Since its first issue, it is no stranger in the United States among sequential art lovers. FCBD allowed Drawn and Quarterly to give us Moomin by Tove and Lars Jansson’s famous comic strip and Anna & Froga by Anouk Ricard in flipbook format.

Anna & Froga is whimsical and completely unique. There are moments where it catches you off guard and may go over the head of some kids even though it is labeled a children comic.  If an adult can be left both humored and disturbed, I cannot imagine what a child would think.

Th3rd World Studios’ Stuff of Legend is described as an adult (as in content not sexual circumstances) Toy Story. It puzzles me why this isn’t a film yet. The main plot centers around a boy taken by the Boogeyman, and his faithful toys, along with his dog, who journey into a dark forest in the style of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, in order to rescue him. Previous volumes have been highly regarded by Brian K. Vaughn, Mark Waid, Gail Simone, Frank Quitely and John Layman. FCBD gave us a preview of Volume 4’s “The Toy Collector” and I cannot wait any longer for the entire book.

I noticed that focusing on children is only one of the major themes this year. 2012 was also hit with the intrigue of giant reptiles and dinosaurs. Children and puppies may soften us but it’s the dinosaurs and robots that make us spend our hard-earned money at movie theaters.  Jurassic Park and the Godzilla franchise knew what they were doing to us!

Dinosaurs vs. Aliens by Grant Morrison says it all. Any of the three nouns will send a nerd running to their local retailer to find out more. The preview doesn’t give much away, but we should look forward to more of the gorgeous art by Mukesh Singh. Dinosaurs vs. Aliens is published by Liquid Comics and created by Barry Sonnenfeld, the director of the Men in Black films. I am anticipating a summer blockbuster hit in the very palm of my hands soon.

Silver Dragon Books debuted their comic Jurassic StrikeForce 5. Jurassic StrikeForce 5 is a concoction that I suspect was Silver Dragon Books successfully reading fanboys’ minds: dinosaurs in enhanced robotic suits. With the tagline on the cover being: Earth’s Original Heroes, a cheer involuntarily rises from my throat. Like a Michael Bay film, I am excited but have no idea why other than I just experienced something cool. The FCBD comic itself gave only the tip of the iceberg for what the series will be about. We read about a velociraptor in his full armor fighting androids with what I can only describe as a lightsaber. The preview ends with a cliffhanger and I immediately felt impatient. The next thing I knew, I was on the internet to find out the release date of issue one.

Red 5 Comics is best known to many for their Atomic Robo series. Atomic Robo is a robot built by Nikola Tesla in the 1920s and now leads Tesladyne, an organization that saves the day using a combination of science and Atomic Robo himself. The FCBD story involved Atomic Robo making an uneasy truce with his arch nemesis Dr. Dinosaur. What drew me into Atomic Robo is the idea of a modern vs. archaic conflict. It is a concept we are all too familiar with when digital cameras started to become popular. I imagine this is what Steve Rogers felt like after he was thawed out.  Atomic Robo will forever be at odds with Dr. Dinosaur. but how they hash it out is always unique. Filled with humor, science and impressive character development, Atomic Robo is a greatly underrated title.

Seeing My Favorite Martian on the list of free comic books caught me completely by surprise. A popular 1960s TV show on CBS, the series also spawned Gold Key’s comic book tie-in. Hermes Press now reprints many of classic comic book titles, including The Phantom and Brenda Starr Reporter.  The My Favorite Martian free comic book also included publicity photos and supplementary essays. I am a fan of the show and although it has been long off the air (one might catch it on TV Land), I am glad to still be able to experience it digitally remastered in another medium. Fans of sci-fi, cult classics or of an older generation will enjoy Hermes Press books.

As much as I love DC and Marvel, I am glad to see so many indie publishers to mix up the overwhelming majority that is superhero comics. What are some genres you guys would like to see more of?

Free Comic Book Day is always fun and I look forward to it every year. Now, go and circle next year’s date!

Now you can own this landmark issue yourself! Click here for all the details!

But one of the things that I dislike most about no longer being a young punk is that it means I have to watch the heroes of my childhood leave us. I still find it difficult to believe I’m living in a world without Maurice Sendak in it. How can that even be so?

Which brings us to tonight, and the news that just now crossed my desk of the death of comic-book artist Ernie Chan at the age of 71.

Chan (who began his career under the name of “Ernie Chua”) had a lengthy career in comics, working steadily throughout the 1970s and ’80s for both DC Comics and Marvel Comics, on titles like Power Man and Iron Fist, Doctor Strange, The Incredible Hulk, Adventure Comics and the work he was probably best known for, Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan, often inking the work of John Buscema.

But for me, when I think of Ernie Chan, I think of Batman. Ernie Chan’s Batman was the Batman of my childhood, with the first two Batman comics I ever bought both having sprung from his pencil. Chan’s Batman combined the angularity and tension of Jim Aparo with the illustrative style of Wally Wood, and an eye for complex, inventive page layouts that wouldn’t be rivaled until the coming of George Perez.

If you’ll indulge me, in the way of tribute, I’d like to re-present a couple of pieces I wrote a few years ago about those first two Batman comics I ever purchased, took home, and devoured repeatedly over the years. My condolences to Ernie Chan’s family and all who knew him.  I never met the man, and only knew his work, but for that alone I’m grateful. Thanks, Ernie.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF COMICS IS FIVE

(originally published December 14, 2005)

Frequent readers of this column will recognize the quote that makes up this week’s entry, one that I believe I first heard Roy Thomas use in an introduction to one of DC’s hardcover collections: “The Golden Age of Comics is five.” In other words, the comics you read as a kid are always the best comics ever, no matter if you were reading them in the ‘40s, the ‘70s or the ‘90s. Well, today we’ll be putting that theory to the test with the inaugural edition of our new IN FOCUS feature, in which we take a comprehensive look at a single issue; in this case, the first comic book I remember buying for myself, DETECTIVE COMICS #462 (August 1976).

Just from looking at the cover, it’s clear why five-year-old Li’l Scott was drawn to it on the spinner rack. First off was that great 1970s DETECTIVE COMICS logo, with Batman’s head and extended cape billowing out to reveal the title in giant dropshadowed block letters. Once again, the best logos are the ones that can be read from across the street, and this certainly qualifies. Then you have the central image, of a cutlass-wielding Batman half-frozen in a block of ice, while some pirate dude whacks away at his frozen lower extremities. And as if all that wasn’t enough, in the background two additional Batmen can be seen chained to the wall, struggling against their bonds.

Just what was going on here? This was certainly worth the thirty-cent investment to find out.

The mystery was kept going with the story’s splash page, which showed the same pirate, now described as “Captain Stingaree, Batman’s newest foe” gloating before the three captive Batmen, all under the foreboding title “Kill Batman – in Triplicate.”

The story, by the way, was the work of writers Bob Rozakis and Michael Uslan (years before he would eventually produce the landmark BATMAN movie) and artists Ernie Chua and frank McLaughlin.

Switching gears, the story opens with a scene of Robin tracking down rumored drug dealers at Hudson University, and in a genius move, he’s carrying out a stakeout in the dead of a snowy winter in his usual green Speedos.

I’m sure it’s important to stay in costume and all, but there surely must have been a version he could have cobbled together that involved pants. It’s not like the superhero union is gonna fine him or anything. Regardless, as it turns out, the then-Teen Wonder quickly discovers that it was a trap, and finds himself buried beneath an avalanche of snow.

The next morning, when Robin is dropped off in a solid block of ice in front of Gotham’s Police Department, rather than rushing him to the hospital, Commissioner Gordon places a rather casual call to the Caped Crusader, who stumbles out of bed and heads on down to check it out, just in time to thwart a couple of goons intent on stealing the Robinsicle, since Gordon was apparently too busy to send anyone down to guard it.

It was also a nice stroke of luck on the goons’ part that they just happened to bring along their own ice hooks…

So after Batman punks out the Robin-nappers, he takes his frozen sidekick back to his lab, where his efforts to thaw Robin are met with much resistance, in the form of a mysterious layer of ice forming on his own body. When he realizes the trap, Batman calls in “Jerome,” to replace him in the trap, and allow himself to be frozen. I hope Batman’s paying him well…

Who’s Jerome, you ask? It turns out that Batman had hired three identical-triplet private detectives, Jerome, Michael and Robert Courtney (and where do you even find triplet private eyes, anyway? I never seem to see that section in the Yellow Pages…) to take his place as Batman during three kidnap attempts by Captain Stingaree. Sure enough, once Jerome is frozen solid, just like Robin before him, Stingaree shows up and hauls “Batman” away to his lair, where he plans to behead all three Batmen at once.

Before he can start lopping off heads, though, he’s shocked to discover that, although his deduction that there were three Batmen was correct, he seemingly captured the wrong three Batmen:

Now faced with a half-dozen Batmen, Stingaree is shocked to see them begin to vanish before his very eyes. Left facing the one real Batman, Stingaree quickly falls to the Caped Crusader’s superior hand-to-hand combat skills.

Shortly thereafter, reinforcements arrive, in the form of the now-thawed Robin and Batman’s Justice League teammate the Flash, who not only uses his super-speed to thaw out fake Batman #3 (the same way he earlier freed Robin, we’re told), but was also responsible for the illusion of three additional Batmen attacking Stingaree, by moving Batman around the room at near-invisible super-speed. Flash also reveals where Stingaree got his cold-generating technology: knowhow learned from an ex-cellmate, Flash’s enemy Captain Cold.

Here’s my favorite thing about the whole setup: much of this overly complicated subterfuge on Batman’s part was to find Stingaree’s hidden lair, right? So where was he hiding? In the hold of his pirate ship-shaped theme restaurant, as it happens. The name of the restaurant? “STINGAREES.”

Unbelievable. Next time a new villain hits Gotham, Batman had better remember to check the Zagat’s Guide first.

Wrapping up the details of the case back at Commissioner Stand-Around’s office, we learn that the Caped Crusader had overheard Stingaree’s theory that the Courtney triplets were secretly Batman, and hatched up this giant, overinvolved circuitous scheme to teach him a lesson, and hopefully round up Stingaree’s whole gang, which as it turned out, was non-existent, as Stingaree apparently preferred to work alone. Stingaree’s plan was even shakier than his theories, as he had schemed to replace the Courtneys as Batman after their untimely demise, working on both sides of the law to haul in the dough.

And why did Stingaree suspect the Courtney brothers of being Batman? Here’s the kicker: the Courtneys weren’t really triplets, they were quadruplets, with Stingaree himself being the black sheep of the family, their evil brother Karl.

Wow. Their evil brother Karl.

Goofiness aside, there’s some great stuff here, particularly in the artwork by Chua and McLaughlin, which combines a Neal Adams-like realism with some of Jim Aparo’s angularity. I also like Chua’s innovative panel layouts, which utilize bat shapes in a way I’ve never really seen another artist do.

Chua’s layout here for this full-page fight scene, in which the characters move in and out of the frames, is at once both complex and easy to follow.

So, to sum up: a few goofy situations, some real stretches in the plot department, and some appealing art. Looking at it now, is it the best comic ever? Of course not.

But when I was five, it was magic.

BATMAN’S DEATH KISS!

(originally published August 27, 2008)

One of my favorite things about the San Diego Comic-Con is the “accidental discovery.” Sure, there are always plenty of things I’m looking for at the show, but oftentimes even better than that is the stuff I stumble across by accident, through sheer blind stinking luck.

Such was the case with one of this year’s finds, DETECTIVE COMICS #456 (February 1976), “Death Kiss!” by writer Elliott S! Maggin and artist Ernie Chua (looking for all the world like he’s doing his best Jim Aparo impression. Here, take a look:

Another one of those comic books that fall vaguely into the category of “First comic book I ever read,” this may have been the first Batman comic I ever read, as I remember this comic book being around the house virtually my entire life, and in progressively worse shape over the years from the re-readings. In fact, for most of my childhood it looked more like this: with the cover torn away and lost at some point:

Now that’s a splash page. Batman cowering in fear from hundreds of pairs of giant floating lips. Comic-book gold.

The story here opens with millionaire Bruce Wayne in full smoothie mode, macking on his new ladyfriend Angie, before rushing off to his night job.

Soon Batman is out in patrol, and before long suffering from flashbacks and hallucinations, as rendered in this snappy bat-shaped interlude:

The Dark Knight shakes it off, though, and gets back to work, apprehending a band of building-climbing drug thieves:

In the midst of the fight, Batman suffers another hallucination, this time mistaking one of the thugs for Robin:

Curious thing about this panel — I don’t know if it was the hallucination aspect, or the weird all-blue coloring, but when I read this as a kid, I somehow translated it to mean that Robin had died somehow. Even when I started reading as lot more comics and saw that Robin was still out there and running around, still, every time I would read that comic, I’d think,”So I wonder how Robin died, anyway”? Weird.

Speaking of weird, here’s my nomination for the two worst sound effects in a comic ever — when Batman kicks two of the drug thieves, it makes this noise:

“Tuck”? “Pluck”? Really? I’m gonna just chalk that up to whatever drugs Batman is on…

Batman returns the stolen drugs to the doctor’s office, than promptly passes out. Not long after, he comes to in the grips of another hallucination:

This was another one that creeped me out as a kid, for some reason. It’s not even that scary, but just the sight of Batman seeing his dead parents always gave me the chills. Of course, Batman recovers quickly, thanks to the good doctor’s excellent bedside manner:

After slapping the Batman around, the doctor gives him the four-one-one: he’s been poisoned with an industrial material called “amory,” a sweet-smelling cream used to lubricate machinery, and eliminate one’s enemies. How versatile. The creation of an antidote would require more time than Batman has left, so his only hope so to track down the killer and hope they have the antidote, and to do so within the time he has left before the poison kills him: one hour.

After interrogating a single informant with a poolcue and extrapolating from that that no one must be out to kill Batman (which seems like a bit of a deductive stretch to me), Batman reflects on the sweet-smelling poison he’s been dosed with and has a bit of an epiphany:

Heading out to Angie’s place, the Batman once more leads with his feet, kicking two criminal goons there apparently just shooting the breeze with Bruce Wayne’s new squeeze.

Those don’t exactly look like the most powerful kicks, but again, I’ll chalk it up to the drugs…

Batman learns that Bruce Wayne was the target, a scheme by one of his business rivals, who forced Angie to dose Wayne with the poison lipstick. After Batman kayos the last of the thugs, Angie hands over the antidote, which he gulps down, and there’s your story.

It’s an odd little Batman tale. It’s hard to really get anything going in only 12 pages, and any sort of suspense is rendered pretty much moot by the fact that the critical twist of the whodunit, that it was Angie who poisoned Batman, is given away both on the cover and on the splash page.

But it sure looks pretty.

The X-Men first appeared in September 1963, in their first issue, X-MEN #1. Yet another creation of Marvel’s Silver-Age team supreme, writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/storyteller Jack Kirby, the X-Men started off with a deceptively simple premise, and one that still holds much significance to this day. Professor Charles Xavier, the most powerful mutant telepath on the planet, has founded Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, a haven for children who were born just a little different: mutants.

Later defined as homo superior, mutants are those born with extra powers or abilities that normal humans lack. At Xavier’s School, these children can learn to use their powers safely, without fear of persecution from a world that is growing increasingly fearful of mutants. Professor Xavier’s students, having sufficiently mastered their powers, often continue to serve their mentor as members of the “X-Men,” protecting the world against the machinations of other mutants who do not share Xavier’s more enlightened philosophy. Rather than co-existing peacefully with normal humans, these “evil” mutants seek conquest.

Lee’s premise is ingenious on a number of levels. The central theme of the series, young people being ostracized for being different, is a perfect metaphor for the isolation and sense of removal most teens feel going through adolescence. Further, the series’ continuing message of tolerance translates to readers of all races, faiths and orientations. Ironically, the concept of mutants came about because writer Stan Lee was tired of coming up with new origins. In his book SON OF ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS, Stan relates how, when he was dreaming up his newest team book, he was having trouble coming up with new and exciting ways for his heroes to gain their superpowers. Utilizing the idea of mutation seemed a great, easy way to get a series going without devoting a lot of time to an origin, and as Lee put it, “whatever power we conceived of could be justified on the basis of its being a mutated trait.” In fact, Stan wanted to title his new book THE MUTANTS, but Marvel’s then-publisher, Martin Goodman, ixnayed the idea, feeling that little kids wouldn’t understand the title. Sent back to the drawing board, Lee reasoned that since mutants are people with something “extra,” these “extra-people” could be dubbed the X-Men.

The original team was close to what moviegoers have seen; Professor Xavier was of course present, as was Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops, and Jean Grey, who was then referred to as Marvel Girl. The other members included Bobby Drake, whose ability to generate and control snow and ice earned him the nickname Iceman, Henry McCoy, referred to as the Beast due to his apelike build and oversized hands and feet, and trust-fund rich boy Warren Worthington III, better known as the Angel, thanks to his enormous feathered wings. Joining the team later were Cyclops’ brother Alex, who could generate concussive bolts of energy as Havok, and his girlfriend Lorna Dane (also known as Polaris), who was able to control the forces of magnetism.

The series wasn’t really a big hit like Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. The book suffered through some lackluster art by Werner Roth after Kirby left the book, and although writer Roy Thomas and artist Neal Adams did some outstanding work starting in 1969, it wasn’t enough to save the series, and X-MEN was cancelled with issue #66 in 1970, with reprints continuing to be published for another 25 issues. The characters did remain a presence, appearing here and there as guest-stars in other Marvel books.

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Five days and two hundred million dollars later, THE AVENGERS holds the record for the most profitable opening weekend of all time, and director Joss Whedon is unquestionably Hollywood’s newest 800-pound gorilla, the man whose next career move is as close to “anything he wants” as any director has ever had it. (And next will come the inevitable backlash that will put forth the ridiculous notion that AVENGERS was a can’t-miss proposition that had little to do with Whedon’s efforts, that it would have succeeded regardless on the strength of its concept. Don’t you believe it. There were a million ways this project could have gone wrong, countless pitfalls that could have prevented this kind of runaway success, and Whedon expertly avoided all of them. Think a movie like this is a guaranteed success? Just ask the guys who made last year’s GREEN LANTERN.)

And for me, all of this industry talk is secondary to the fact that THE AVENGERS is a really, really good movie. Like, insanely good. Is it the best comic-book movie ever made? I’m not prepared to say “no.”

What Whedon did here is nothing short of remarkable, building on plot threads from five previous films and carefully balancing nine main characters in such a way that none of them feel short-changed, each has several spotlight moments that show them at their best, and has a real character arc that informs their actions. And all of this at a breakneck pace over the course of a two-and-a-half-hour movie that doesn’t feel bloated or padded in the least.

There’s just so much to like here, I don’t even know where to start. It’s hard to even imagine that we get both an Iron Man/Thor fight and a Thor/Hulk fight in a single film, not to mention that the biggest-grossing-opener of all time has Hawkeye the Marksman in it. First off, the Hulk practically steals the movie, which came as a delightful surprise. This is by far the best cinematic vision of the Hulk, a much more Kirby-inspired design that blends seamlessly into scenes with his flesh-and-blood counterparts. Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner is without a doubt the definitive interpretation of the character, over Eric Bana’s lifeless lump and Edward Norton’s tense repressive. Ruffalo plays Banner as sardonic and resigned, with a self-deprecating sense of humor and flashes of a truly dangerous rage.

Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark is wisely held back, instead of being allowed to steal the movie as lesser filmmakers would have been tempted to do. The relationship between Stark and Banner is one of the movie’s highlights; I highly recommend reading this essay about the way Whedon develops the Stark/Banner dynamic; it says it better than I could.

Whedon picks up where all the previous characterizations leave off, fleshing them out and bringing them to new places with their interactions with each other. Scarlett Johannsen’s Black Widow is much improved over IRON MAN 2 in both acting and action; making the distinctly non-super Widow and Hawkeye seem valuable and formidable alongside powerhouses like Thor and the Hulk was no easy trick, but it feels totally plausible. Tom Hiddleston’s Loki worked just fine for me in last year’s THOR, but he’s much more threatening and watchable here, surprisingly a strong enough antagonist for a roomful of superheroes. And rather than push Captain America into the lead right away, we see him slowly find his place and his confidence in this new world until by film’s end he’s naturally recognized by all as the Avengers’ leader.

Even though this feels like a Marvel movie first and foremost, it still has many of the trademarks of a Joss Whedon production: the crackling dialogue and biting banter, the willingness to shock the audience and hit them where they live. There’s one sequence in particular between Loki and Black Widow in which Loki is warning the Widow of why the Avengers will ultimately fail, and under his voiceover Whedon cuts back to Cap in one scene and Stark and Banner in another, each making disturbing discoveries about what’s really at stake, and the way the images and the narration play together is vintage Whedon.

Sure, the action scenes are amazing and the effects are first-rate. Practically the entire third act is one prolonged action sequence featuring the Avengers in team combat against an innumerable alien army, and it’s like nothing I’ve seen in a superhero movie, ever. There’s one prolonged tracking shot that zooms between and around the concrete canyons of Manhattan, showing all six Avengers locked in battle with their alien foes at various places in the city, and it’s mind-blowing. But that’s not why this movie is getting the incredible audience reaction it’s getting. It all comes down to one thing: the words on the page. THE AVENGERS is really funny with a lot of heart, written by a guy who loves the characters and understands what makes them tick.

Funny how that works.

Scott Tipton is going back to the theatre this weekend. If you have questions about the Avengers or comics in general, send them here.

It’s our favorite time of the month here at Blastoff, when we unveil our newest banner by our Artist-in-Residence Elena Casagrande!

Click the image for a closer look at Elena’s vision of the X-Men!