Computers: When Good Artists Get Lazy

Seriously.  It was terrible when computers started doing all of the lettering and soon billboards, soda cans, posters, and signs in comic books, rather than being hand drawn, were left blank and filled in later with extremely poorly done computer fonts that often exceeded the space allotted or failed to fit the perspective of the drawing.  It was just terrible.  But then artists started to avail themselves of the capabilities of computer assisted drawing.  Sometimes, the results were amazing.  Sometimes the results were subtle and you would never know a computer had a digital hand in the art.  And then there are times when the computer was abused to a point where an otherwise truly amazing artist just got so lazy they became an embarrassment to their body of work. That might seem a bit harsh, but just keep reading and you'll see what I mean.

Salvador Larroca is a Spanish comic book artist who came into prominence in the early 2000's and made a big splash with his semi-comical, yet at times edgy style.  He was hot property for a good 8-10 years and in that time he really made his mark on the industry.  For my money he redefined the look of Marvel's First Family when he relaunched the Fantastic Four during the Heroes Return retcon.  Just take a look at this awesome cover from that run

Great stuff, yes.  So imagine my dismay when he would later have his turn at the Invincible Iron Man during the big, boring, yearly Marvel Crossover event "Fear Itself."  Dismay, you say?  Yes, dismay. Because somewhere between 1999 and 2011, the computer took control of Salvador Larroca and poisoned his work.  See, the computer allows you to easily do things that were once difficult and usually resulted in messy work.  Now, the same messy results can be achieved, but with significantly less effort. And when you are on a deadline and your editor is pushing you for pages, it can be all too seductive to just let the computer do the work for you.  This, in turn, can make a good artist lazy.  (All of the following images are taken from Sal's run on Iron Man circa 2011)

The most glaring evidence of this kind of unfortunate sloth is the repetitive image.  Why draw panel after panel of characters talking and doing things, when you can just draw one image and then copy and paste it into several panels?  That's the hallmark of good, sequential storytelling, right?

It's easiest to do this when one character is standing still, talking.

Ok.  To be fair, he added a couple of forehead lines in the second panel to show that he's determined, or something.

But what if people are talking and I need to add in a character?  Won't I have to redraw then whole scene?  Not necessarily...

With a little photoshop level magic you can just add in the new character and keep going.

Ok, so I can do that, but suppose I need that character later, not just in the next panel.  Surely the computer cannot help me with that?
Not so fast.  Just because you won't see the character until several panels later, or heck even the next page, doesn't mean you can't just copy and paste.  Take a look:

See!  Even though Pepper, drawn to look exactly like Nicole Kidman (indubitably the result
more computer help), appears here in panel three of the first page and won't reappear until panel 1 of the next page (with about 6 panels of action in between), doesn't mean we have to redraw her.  Oh no, we can just cut and paste and have the colorist adjust the lighting.  Then we can add the Sandman in the background and viola! a whole new panel!  What?  Are you saying it is highly unlikely that Pepper would be in the exact same position, particularly that hand, after several seconds, or maybe minutes, of action?  Pshaw!

Ok, ok.  So that's all well and good for talking heads, but the same thing cannot be applied to action scenes.  Those have to be drawn panel-for-panel every time.  You can't cut corners there.
But wait!  Yes you can!

In Sal's defense here, he is kind of going for a thing where Iron Man elbows Doc Ock in the head, and then we pull into the shot and are then shown an X-ray to demonstrate the damage caused by the impact.  But that's only a partial defense, because the copied panel is really unnecessary to pull off the device.  So, the copied panel is either filler to pad the issue, or it's just sloppy storytelling.  Either way, it's just lazy not to redraw the panel.  Pulling in closer to the action could reveal greater detail, if you redrew it.  Cut and paste just makes it a throw away.

So if you can cut and paste panel after panel with the help of a computer, you might only have to draw 8 or 10 pages of a 22 page comic, and then cut and paste the images wherever you need them. And if you are only going to draw 8 or 10 pages, you will be able to really knock those pages out of the park and make them amazing, right?  With all that time the computer is saving you, you can pour everything you've got into those pages and really wow the reader.  Right?  Well...

I'm not saying Pepper's legs, the pizza boxes, the bottles, and the entire background, are phoned in this panel (along with almost every background in every panel of the comic)...oh wait, that's exactly what I'm saying.  Come on.  That's just pathetic.

And then there's this:

Can anyone explain Tony's upper anatomy in this panel?  Maybe if he's Animal Man and he's channeling a dog of some kind, this makes a modicum of sense, but otherwise, what in the holy hell is going on here?

This is the same super start artist who did this X-men cover:

and these pages

and you are asking me to accept that this is the same level of work?  Not even close.  Not even remotely close.  And, it honestly looks like the computer is to blame.  While it can be a valuable tool, it can also be sorely abused and can result in really great artists coming across as extremely sloppy.  I still love Sal and I love his work, but whatever happened on Iron Man is not representative of his capabilities and I believe reliance on the computer is at least partly to blame.

John Romita Jr.'s Iron Man

Iron Man #259, August 1990 was my very first Iron Man comic book.  I was a Spider-Man fan.  I had never really paid any attention to the golden Avenger, but I got this issue in one of those comic grab bag lots you could get from the Sears catalog back in the day.  My family knew I liked comic books, but had no idea how to shop for such a hobby, so every year at Christmas I would get this assortment of comics that I assume Marvel over-produced and undersold.  (It wasn't all bad, these mixed lots are where I got my first appearance of Gambit, and my first Jim Lee art on Uncanny X-men).  In that lot, among the issues of Groo and Double Dragon, was Iron Man #259.

The story takes place fairly early during the Armor Wars II event.  Maybe not the best place for a new reader to jump in, but this was back in the good ol' days of comics where every issue was treated like someone's first and editors were not afraid to reference back issues so you can go catch up.  John Byrne was the writer and while this outing wasn't as strong as his legendary run on Fantastic Four, it was still pretty good and contained a solid story with bigger picture storylines that built interest in future issues.  Sadly, that wouldn't be in the cards for me as the gas station where I bought my comics didn't carry Iron Man...

But it wasn't the story that stood out to me.  It was the art.  I was familiar with John Romita Jr. from his work on Spider-Man in the 80's.  At that time his style was still heavily influenced by his father's iconic work, but his work on Iron Man was very much unlike his earlier stuff.  He was starting to really come into his own. Look at the incredible composition of this splash page.  It echoes the action of the cover, but trades some of the spectacle and ramps up the drama.  Iron Man is trapped.  The Titanium Man (or his ghost) looms over him, dominating the panel and crushing our hero in the bottom left corner of the panel, the most submissive placement in the panel.  In what little room is left behind T-Man, darkness threatens to close in on both characters.  This single panel does an incredible job of setting up the next several pages of the comic.
While the hatching that would become his signature is at work here, it is put to good use predominately on the villain and the background and contrasted with the sleeker "shine" lines on Iron Man's armor.  It's striking work and it is clear that JRJR is at home drawing big guys in metal suits.

Here's another page from later in the issue.  Iron Man has escaped the Titanium Man's ghost and has lost track of him.  However, he has also woken up three days later in San Francisco with no idea how he got there.  This particular page is nothing new.  It's the classic "putting on the armor" page that is almost required in an Iron Man comic and one that Romita Jr. would do nearly once per issue during his run.  But look at how well he does it.  He loves it.  He takes one of the most chiche pages in comic book history and just takes it to the next level.  The key is the simplicity.  Something that gets very lost in his later and current work.  He doesn't complicate the backgrounds, he keeps them clean, only adding motion lines to the final panel as Iron Man takes off. The close-ups in the first four panels are smartly done.  It's understood that he is putting on the suit, so JRJR pulls us in close so that we only get snippits of the armor building to the reveal in panel 5. Again, not much new here, but it's so well done that it deserves mention.  There are scant few straight lines and virtually no hatching.  Instead, Romita Jr. uses blotches of black to indicate the shine as the light plays off the armor.  Without a lot of line work, the colors are bolder and more striking and the overall impact of the full suit in the last panel is as good as any splash page.  Most importantly, Romita Jr. is able to take something that Iron Man does every issue, sometimes more than once, and still make it an exciting and awesome moment.

The final page of the issue is another splash page. It wasn't uncommon at this time to open and close with splash pages, particularly when there was a big reveal.  It wasn't abused like it was in the early aughts when artists were almost required to load a comic with splash pages to fill out an issue that was extremely light on story.  This splash page reveals the true identity of the Titanium Man's ghost to be the Living Laser.  The scene just before this takes place in a massive room filled with mirrors, where the Laser blinds Iron Man with a barrage of light.  When the glow recedes, there stands the Laser in his moment of triumph.  I like this page, again, because of its simplicity.  Due the very nature of the Living Laser's physical manifestation, you cannot shadow him.  He is pure light, so Romita Jr. is required to reduce his line use to the absolute minimum.  The Laser's pose is dynamic and JRJR takes liberty with his anatomy to make him just a little more bendy than an actual human might be.  The use of Kirby Crackle as the only background helps put all of the focus on the reveal and keep the page clean and simple.

Unfortunately, I only have one other issue of JRJR's run on Iron Man, issue #265, but it's a winner too.  Another striking cover with interiors to match.  Hopefully, I can fill out this gap in my collection and one day marvel in the full glory of what I feel is the height of John Romita Jr.'s work.

Later in his career, JRJR began to rely much too heavily on his hatching work and pretty soon everything looked like it was made out of spaghetti or coils of rope.  His style also began to skew more blocky and this human anatomy began to look like "gooey cubes."  (imagine a perfect cube, then round off all of the edges).  His work on books like Uncanny X-men, Avengers, and later the Amazing Spider-Man exemplify this unfortunate evolution in his style.  Gone is the economic line use, the blotchy black shadow work, and the simple panel layout.  Even something as simple as a hooded sweatshirt features more lines and folds than seem reasonable.  At this point, JRJR's work is nearly a parody of itself and a sorry departure from his absolutely incredible work on Iron Man.  I used to get very excited to find that he was going to be working on a comic I was reading, but now I almost dread it.  I've seen the heights to which he can soar, so it's hard to hard to look at something that is less than his best.

Marvel Movie Project #4: Iron Man

This was #1 on the list for a very, very long time.  Robert Downey Jr. so perfectly captured the essence of Tony Stark that it can be hard to see the flaws in this film.  I was never a fan of Iron Man, the character.  I never read Iron Man comics and as far as an Avenger goes, I could have easily swapped him with Tigra and never known the difference, excepting that Tigra is a super-hot catwoman.

MEOW

But I digress.  The point is, I do not much care for Iron Man.  At least that was true until the movie came out.  I was super skeptical.  I thought there was no way they could make an interesting Iron Man movie.  I knew the special effects would be dumb and way too computer generated to be believed.  This movie was going to tank hard.

It is so nice to be wrong.  And it all starts with the stellar performance by Robert Downey Jr.  The man literally makes the film.  He breathes life into an otherwise boorish and obnoxious character and makes you really, really like him.  A lot.  Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark is a perfect synthesis of the right actor with the right script in the right movie.  No one else could have pulled this off with the level of arrogant charm that RDJ manages.  Forget the super-heroics, I could watch a two hour movie based on Tony Stark buying a hot dog from a hot dog cart.

Paltrow does a great job of bringing Pepper Pots to life as well, and she plays expertly against Stark's nonchalance.  Likewise, Jeff Bridges creates a wonderfully complex villain in Obediah Stane.  If you didn't know the characters well, you might not even see the reversal coming.  And when it does, what a great moment it is, thanks to Bridges playing the character to close to the vest.  The comics could use this level of subtlety at times!

As we have seen previously, it is very hard to tell an origin story and not over-complicate it.  (see Spider-Man)  Iron Man manages to not only tell an origin story, but it manages to make the origin story incredibly compelling.  The story of Tony Stark being captured and forced to work for terrorists, then turning that work on his captors makes for a great story, again with or without the Iron Man suit.  Taking that ball and running with it by tying in the Stane master plot creates a tight tale that does justice to both classic and modern interpretations of the core Iron Man character.

And on top of all of that, they go and make the damn suit.  Oh sure, Iron Man features some amazing CG, but because they wanted to make sure they made the film right, they went and made the suit.  And that, my friends, much like the path less taken, has made all the difference.  It looks real because it IS real!  Go figure.  And when you have something real to ground your CG in, it makes the CG that much more convincing and organic.  (Memo to George Lucas)  Iron Man features perhaps some of the most fluid and natural CG work since Lord of the Rings (which is holding up rather well, honestly).  The Iron Man suit looks great and the flying scenes are totally realistic.  There is great attention to detail in the effects that elevate them above the usual gimmick level that happens all too often in big Hollywood movies (see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, what the fork?)

So, great story, great acting, great casting, smart scripting, incredible special effects that serve the story and not just the spectacle, what is there not to like about Iron Man?  Aimee will tell you (and for the record, I agree with her.  She makes a very convincing argument).

Aimee's Take:

I'm not going to retread what Stan has already articulated, because we agree entirely. This movie rocks like crazy and there's no stopping it. BUT

Here's the thing. This movie came out the same summer as Incredible Hulk. And in many, many ways, this movie follows the same general pattern as Incredible Hulk. People lost their very minds for THIS movie, but Incredible Hulk has been subject to heaps of critical shit and nonsense about how boring/stupid/awful it is. How do I feel about this?

Girl, please.

Now, listen. I loved Iron Man and I have gone years and years without EVER touching a comic that even mentions the character. Of Iron Man, I literally only knew that his "real" name was Tony Stark, he has an alcohol problem, and he wears a suit. I also know about the unrelated song of the same name. And it made me love the character.

However, Iron Man fails to convince me that it's the opus of modern comic book movies, and here's why I actually FOUGHT with my husband about its rank.

The Big Hollywood Ending.

If you recall, this is the same thing that troubles The Incredible Hulk. There's a crucial difference. As implausible as it is to have Emil Blonsky turn into that ridiculous version of the Abomination at the end of the movie, it makes sense. They spend a lot of time painting him as the kind of man whose hunger for power and strength makes him hate and envy the Hulk's power. I can totally buy that he begins basically "juicing" just to get the edge over this powerful being. I think the ending is still kind of stupid, but whatever. It does follow what's been set up in the film. I don't like where they go with it, but it works.

This post is about Iron Man, I swear.

In Iron Man, there is a similar "two big superhero things battle it out in a big place with collateral damage" scene. Only in this one, it's Obadiah Stane who climbs into that super suit and slugs it out like a cornered pugilist. His thirst for physical power and mega-strength has led him to this... wait. What?

No. Obadiah in this movie is absolutely NOT the man who climbs in the big stupid suit and launches zingers at Pepper while he fights zippy little Tony. Why on earth would he do that? This man is behind the scenes. And the only reason that Tony knows he's truly bad is because Obadiah told him he was. As he killed him in a way that left his hands clean. He deprived him of a life-saving device, he didn't strangle him with his bare hands. That's not the kind of man Obadiah has been presented to be. He's white collar, crafty, manipulative and powerful. He doesn't need to get in the suit. It will give him nothing.

I'm going to spin this one, but next time I'll probably just wear a big metal suit to solve my problems. 

Getting in the suit really seriously tips Obadiah's hand, too, something he goes to extraordinary lengths to avoid. The man who gets in the suit to slug it out with Tony is not the same man who hires terrorists to kidnap Tony in another country, and kill him without anyone ever knowing that it was his idea all along. This is not a man who is obsessed with being a physical juggernaut who can kill Tony himself. Twice he tries to kill Tony without getting his hands dirty.

I'LL GET YOU NEXT TIME, IRON MAN!

I know what you're thinking. This third time is where he snaps and goes, "Forget it, I'll kill him myself!" Ooookay. Who is he? Skeletor? This is not what he's going to do, and if it is, we are not seeing the break properly. He's not being built into a character that has a break or is lead to this conclusion. I firmly believe that the man I saw in this film would slink into the shadows, hidden behind a vast network of legal and illegal organizations, ready to strike again. He's not going to risk his public reputation. He'd be pissed that Tony turned up alive, but not so pissed he wouldn't try to spin it before he climbs in the big stupid suit and rides it all the way to the Big Hollywood Ending.

Because Blonsky's transformation is clearly motivated and illustrated very well throughout his story, I think that makes his ending BETTER, and thus, I think it makes the movie BETTER. I don't love what was done, but I understand where it comes from.

Because Stane's transformation is not clearly motivated and not illustrated at all through his story, I think that makes his ending STUPID, and thus, I think it makes Iron Man the slightly less good movie. But because the entire movie has higher production values and slicker execution (and a much more charismatic protagonist), it's only on that note that it gets the nod and the higher ranking.

Believe me when I tell you, I agonize over this. I try getting people on the street to see my view and join my cult. I usually fail, and although Stan agrees with me he still doesn't totally agree, even though everyone can see I'm clearly right about this.

I love both movies. I seriously do. I promise. This is hair splitting that we aren't going to see again until we hit the top two. It burns me that Incredible Hulk isn't in the top 5 but I can accept it. Iron Man is better. But only slightly.

Marvel Movie Project #13: Iron Man 2

Aimee's Take:

Iron Man 2 was a very highly anticipated release, due to the success of Iron Man and the general asshole-ish likeability of Robert Downey, Jr as Tony Stark. We all filed in to see it, expecting more of the same fast-paced, tightly maneuvered fun we had enjoyed before. We were... disappointed.

Not to say that the movie is all bad. It's not. It's decently watchable. The problem is... it's too much. 

It's as though the filmmakers took everything we loved about Iron Man and hooked it up to an amplifier. Unfortunately, that amplifier has been dropped a few times and has a tendency to make very annoying noises at very inopportune times. Pepper Potts has had her neurotic stress level turned to 11; SHIELD and Nick Fury involvement has been turned to 11; and Justin Hammer has been introduced and doesn't need additional volume to be incredibly annoying and terribly unfunny. Rhodes as War Machine is unnecessary and ill-used.

At the same time, we're given a surprisingly toned-down version of Tony Stark, who is struggling with a life-threatening problem and dealing with daddy issues. 

When you plug all this into a flimsy plot that is frankly all over the damn place, you don't have much opportunity for fun and excitement.

Remove the SHIELD subplot--now we're getting somewhere. There's almost no reason for it; Tony could have dug into his father's past alone. Let's not make the "new element" subplot so convoluted, ok? It's too tidy for all of the wild factors; I guess we should all be happy to find that Pepper was throwing away that giant city model right at the best possible time for Tony to find it--like something that huge was maybe in the coat closet? Why was it not in archives? You want me to believe that Stark Industries doesn't have archives? 

Whiplash is fairly compelling, why not create an escalating hostility between him and Tony, ultimately culminating in a showdown? Why is Justin Hammer in this?

This is another film that is shamed by the masterful execution of The Avengers. It had too much going on and not enough "meat" to hold things together. Sure, the characters are (mostly) fun to watch. Yes, there's eye candy. Yes, I get it, everyone loves Sam Jackson. But this effort is solidly sophomoric and deserves its low spot.

What Stan Says:

Sequels are tricky things.  When the first film is great, a follow-up must extend the glory of the original, introduce something new, and maintain the status quo that has been established.  When done well, you get Godfather Part II, when done poorly you get Iron Man 2.

As Aimee says, Iron Man was incredible.  It blew every possible expectation I had for it out of the water.  Honestly, I don't care for Iron Man.  I have always found the character to be a bit unrelatable and boorish.  But Robert Downey Jr's portrayal of Tony Stark made me like Iron Man, and what's more, made me care about the character...(for the rest of this paragraph see the upcoming Iron Man entry in the Marvel Movie Project.)  Iron Man 2 managed to undo a lot of the good work Iron Man worked so hard to accomplish.

Oh my dear lord.

The first film was simple, straightforward, and pure.  Iron Man 2 is none of those things.  The story wanders all over the place from Whiplash's origin to a car race to the introduction of Black Widow (I am IN LOVE with Scarlett Johansson's Widow, too bad there is no reason for her to be in this film) to Justin Hammer's ridiculous factory to Tony Stark's birthday party to a giant park and on and on.  Pick a story and go with it.

How about a simple one where a rival developer is stealing Stark designs and turning them into weapons contracts?  That story is in there somewhere and it would be great, but instead we clutter it up with an uncharacteristic (and considering the source that's saying something) drunken birthday brawl, some kind of SHIELD subplot, the Black Widow and War Machine.  None of which are things we need.  This could be so easy.  Justin  We also get a secret film of Howard Stark who just happened to invent the very element Tony needs to save the day.  All Tony has to do is find a treasure map with an X on it in the form of ridiculously giant model, the build a thingy to create the element.  You can see the slippery slope that leads us to doom, can't you.  I could have been so easy.  Try this on for size:  Hammer steals Stark designs, sells them, hires Whiplash to work for him and keep Iron Man off his back and then he uses his power to leverage whatever his bigger agenda is. Theisre are plenty of big fights between Iron Man and Whiplash, and Iron Man and Hammer's Iron Men. We don't need the rest of it.  Well, maybe Scarlett...

But worse that all of that, is that I don't really like any of the characters I came to love in the first film.  Pepper is just freaked out all of the time and her hysterical anger and whining is old 5 minutes into the film.  Her bizarre rivalry with Black Widow is forced and feels like it.  Stark is Stark, but he's also being a douche and not in the good way like in the first film.  Cheadle is a fine substitute Rhodey, but he is given the worst possible things to do, so he's not as likeable as Terrence Howard.  Plus, despite the set-up in Iron Man, I do not believe for a second that he ever gets in that War Machine suit, not until the very end anyway.  Black Widow too is wasted here and would have been much better had we waited to introduce the character in The Avengers where she is dyno-mite. 
So a dismally convoluted plot, unlikeable characters, and way too much unneeded clutter, what is there to like in this movie?  Must be Spectacle.

The film is big and action-packed.  It is a thrill ride, but the ride is without any of the substance that made the original Iron Man such an unexpected treat.  It's a blockbuster type film but it lack the heart to be more than a flash and is ultimately unforgettable.  It is only on the back of  Robert Downey Jr, and the incredibly high production values (the suit still looks amazing!) that Iron Man 2 makes it this high on the count up.  For my money, IM2 is the "Best of the Worst" on our list.

Marvel Movie Project SPECIAL EVENT: The Avengers

That's right.  Nerds that we are, the Lovely Wife and I made the midnight showing of The Avengers last night.  Chances are good if you are a reader of this blog, then you did as well.  However, in the event you are on the fence about seeing it, haven't had a good chance, or just want to see if you share the sentiments of your favorite bloggers, we are going to give you our take on Marvel's most ambitious movie project ever!  We will try very hard not to spoil too much along the way, but if you are sensitive to knowing too much, proceed with caution.

What Stan says:

This movie defines and then redefines the term blockbuster.  Grandiose in every way, The Avengers is truly the culmination of a body of work that began with Iron Man in 2008.  And yet despite all of the explosions, alien invasions, and super-hero squabbles, the film manages to have some heart and take loving care of its characters.

When you have a film like The Avengers, you have a rare opportunity.  Just like Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Back the Future III, or other films of the sort, we already know the characters, we already know their back story and we already like them (at least for the most part), so we can dispense with all of the exposition and get straight to the meat of the beast.  The Avengers does this exceptionally well.  While I think you could still see this movie cold and get enough to figure out what is what, your experience is definitely enhanced by seeing the previous 4 movies leading up to this (I discount Iron Man 2 with good reason, and you'll find out more about that in the coming weeks).  So instead of boring us to death with a lot of needs explanations, the movie puts us into the action very quickly.  SPOILERS AHEAD! Loki is up to no good again and this time means to enslave the Earth under his rule, not only to pump up his own ego, but to rub it in his brother's face.  This is set up right away when he steal the Tesseract (read Cosmic Cube), last seen at the end of the Captain America movie.  This theft puts SHEILD on full alert and they call in all of the super-heroes they have contacted in order to combat the threat.  Despite some personality conflicts, the team bands together to combat Loki and his extra-terrestrial invasion force. SPOILERS OVER.

It is a simple Avengers story and that is exactly what this film needs to be: simple.  With so many characters and personalities in play, if you attempt too ambitious of a tale, you are going to lose everyone in the process and end up with a mess (I call this the Iron Man 2 problem).  Keeping the story simple gives some great characters a chance to play off one another and really shine in the process.  I would love to give one example, but I think pretty much every character is at their very best in this film.  Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark is in full form, snarky and irreverent and NOT a team player.  Evan's Captain America (although I like him better as Johnny Storm) is a duty driven and true soldier and plays the "man out of time" smartly without over doing it.  While Ed Norton should have returned as Bruce Banner, Mark Ruffalo's portrayal is as good with plenty of nuance and substance. Ruffalo manages to continue the character work Norton had so brilliantly began in Incredible Hulk. Thor is freaking Thor.  Just as awesome here as he was in his own film, his entrance into this movie was for me the "shit's about to get real moment" that turned the intensity of the film up a notch.  "Minor" characters like Black Widow (far better here than in IM2), Nick Fury, Hawkeye, and Agent Colson get plenty of attention and development as well.  With the tendency for Sam Jackson to steal every second of screen time he gets, it was nice to see him playing a less overt character and being more of a member of the ensemble than the show stopper that we have become accustomed to.  I don't mean to downplay the importance of these four characters, they are every bit as instrumental in the success of the film as any of the heavy hitters, but without major motion pictures to support them it would be all too easy to over or under emphasize their part in the film.  There is a real tendency for any given character here to steal the show, but thankfully it never happens.

And that is another reason why this film works so well.  Joss Whedon knows character chemistry.  He knows it well and his credentials on Buffy: the Vampire Slayer and Astonishing X-men more than speak for his talents.  The Avengers only succeeds if the character chemistry is just right.  To see this fail spectacularly, got watch either Fantastic Four movie.  This doesn't mean that the characters have to get along, as a matter of fact it is better if they don't from time to time, but it does mean that their interactions have to feel organic and real.  They have to feel like real people in real situations acting and reacting based on what the other characters are giving them to work with.  This is quite literally Acting 101.  Whedon seems to have a natural affinity for this and gets the absolute best work out of his actors.  To put it plainly, it is fun to watch these characters hanging out with each other, fighting with and against each other, and you get the feeling they are having fun too.

Of course, this isn't The Breakfast Club, so character chemistry alone isn't going to fill our action-hungry stomachs.  Thankfully, The Avengers fills our plate with giant chunks of sweet delicious action as well.  I honestly think at some point every super person in this movie fights every other super person at least once even if only briefly.  You want action, you are going to get it and thanks to the strong character foundation the action has meaning, it is not just gratuitous fighting for fighting sake. (like in Iron Man 2...)  SPOILERS AHEAD! The battles between Iron Man and Thor, Hulk and Loki, Hulk and Thor, Hawkeye and Black Widow are particularly incredible.  And when Hulk and Thor team up to take down the alien space whale (you tell me its not) you cannot help but cheer!  The final, climactic battle between the Avengers and Loki's army is huge, intense and surprisingly complex, keeping all of the characters in play, both in the air and on the ground.  It also manages to keep from being too over the top and does not lose itself in its own intensity  There isn't a terrible sense of dread, you know the Avengers are going to win the day, but that doesn't take away from the fun of watching them square off against the invading aliens, each in their own unique way.  There is one particularly compelling shot in the heat of the battle, where we look in on each Avenger as they battle the invaders.  For me, that shot, plus the very final scene at the end of the credits, sums of the greatness of this movie. SPOILERS OVER!

Finally, speaking of the end,  DO NOT LEAVE just because the end credits roll.  As you probably well know by now with these films, there is a little tidbit awaiting those whose bladders can hold their 32 oz. soda for a few more minutes.  This film has two such tidbits and the first one is a reveal that comic book fans absolutely cannot miss.  The second tidbit is pretty much a thank you to both the audience and the characters.  Both are great and worth the brief wait.

To sum up, The Avengers movie is superb!  A perfect summer action blockbuster in every possible connotation of the term.  Top shelf action, fun characters with strong chemistry, a simple plot knitted together with smart dialogue; this film has it all.  I won't say it is the ultimate super-hero film, but I will say that it delivers on every promise it makes and I cannot imagine anyone not having fun with this movie.  Go see The Avengers already!

What Aimee says:

I was very nervous about this movie. I'm not a card-carrying member of the Joss Whedon fan cult, and I'm not a particularly big Avengers fan, although I do enjoy many of the characters individually. I wasn't exactly in love with all of the movies leading up to this one, and the trailers looked silly and pandering. Like, Transformers 4 level stuff, seriously. Don't get me wrong, that can work fine--I like a mindless blockbuster--but this movie was being heralded as the second coming of Jesus.

I'm happy to say, my nervousness was completely unfounded! Avengers is a very nicely constructed homage to all the characters we love and some we didn't (Iron Man 2's Black Widow, I am looking at you!) and manages to make them all interesting. It's a lot of juggling to keep all these big names in the air but the pace never dulls and the fun never stops. You feel pretty satisfied that every character has enough weight to carry their part, and no one is slighted.

That being said, Thor is my favorite. Still swaggering and still a powerhouse, he shows up and lays down the law. Hulk is also a loveable addition to this film. You'll find out later how much I appreciated Ed Norton's portrayal of the big green guy, but I have to give credit where credit is due: Mark Ruffalo knocks it out.

The movie is light and funny and still manages to be fairly intense. My one problem is one that I have with a lot of modern movies. POSSIBLE SPOILER Loki is a compelling villain and I love every minute he's in. But the "alien/robot" army is faceless, cardboard and has NO weight whatsoever. I get aggravated when I see compelling heroes fighting bands of video game spawn--I never think there's going to be a real issue, because, clearly, only the "real" enemies would pose any danger. This is redeemed in the first "extra" scene after the credits roll. You will understand why. But within the confines of the main film...? Reads a little "Episode 1 droid army" to me. It gets better, though, I just wish I hadn't had to feel bad before I felt good. I can deal. END SPOILER.

Bottom line, if you love Marvel, you want to see this. If you don't love Marvel--the characters are easy enough to engage even without having seen the previous movies. That said, seeing at LEAST Captain America and Thor will help you understand finer plot points.

I'm not afraid to eat crow when I have to--and this movie is fantastic and belongs in the upper echelon of comic book movies. Is it the best? I don't know. I really don't believe so--too much happens and the character studies can't compete with the very top--but it is very, very good. The end-credit scenes managed to ratchet its standing up a few places... with me at least.