Reel Low: The Avengers [2012]

"The Avengers" by Mondo (variant)

Oh, my god, that was fun!

I got out of the theater a few hours ago, and I'm absolutely going bonkers over how much I enjoyed The Avengers right now. So much better than I'd let myself believe it could be. If you've watched the five prequel movies to The Avengers, you will very likely love it every bit as much as I did.

The Marvel movieverse has taken an interesting path to bring their comics world to a mass audience, mixing plot and character points from various storylines and universes that worked best with their casting decisions, today's CGI and the best possible costume design for the screen. Personally, I've enjoyed all of the films from Marvel Studios that have served as precursors to The Avengers to varying degrees -- loved most of Iron Man and Captain America but both failed to deliver outstanding villains, thought they spent too much time on Earth in Thor, forgot to add in the heroic side of the big green machine in The Incredible Hulk, and with its abundance of characters Iron Man 2 now looks like little more than a two-hour reminder that The Avengers was coming in a couple of years (despite its good parts). But even those missteps were worth it to make sure similar pitfalls didn't strike for the grand reveal of this superhero team.

All the best elements from these five movies were woven together masterfully by writer/director Joss Whedon, and then enhanced at nearly every conceivable opportunity. For any fan of Buffy The Vampire Slayer out there (the TV show, not that abomination of a movie), it'll come as no surprise that he was able to bring an engaging and exciting story to the screen, brimming with intelligence and humor while this collection of misfits toys save the world. And with all that he still manages to tug at your heartstrings at times. Essentially this is a "get the band back together" flick with a bevy of characters, but Whedon brought the perfect balance of screentime to all of our main six protagonists and the big bad, while still leaving some choice moments for Nick Fury, Agent Coulson, Maria Hill and even Pepper Potts. While I would certainly have loved to have seen more of certain characters (Hulk!!!), I also don't think a single one of them was shortchanged. And that balance extends to the battle sequences, the quiet moments and the absolutely laugh-out-loud banter. Perhaps most impressive was how he enabled the (relative) newbies of Mark Ruffalo's Hulk, Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow and Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye to fully realize their characters in an action ensemble film, and more-so with Chris Evans, who in my opinion came to embody Steve Rogers with even greater command than in his own movie! And any fanboy who doubted Whedon's ability to direct action before watching this film should find some crow to chow down on, because I think it's pretty safe to say The Avengers is filled with the most exciting string of one-on-one action sequences ever assembled.

Look, there are things to nitpick here -- I really think they should have been forced Johansson to use at least a hint of a Russian accent, for example -- but these are little more than the extreme grumblings of a uber Marvel fanboy. These are things I think even the most hardcore Marvel zombie can let slide.

On the plus side, there are so many wonderful moments for us True Believers, and not just the now-standard Stan Lee appearance. While not at the frequency of past movies, there were still plenty of Easter eggs for the comic fan to appreciate, from Dr. Banner wearing a purple shirt beneath his suit to a reference to life-model decoys to the guy that shows up in the first post-credit scene (and there is a second one, so keep your butt in the seat until the end!).

The Avengers was so good, Iron Man 2 may have just become better because of its obnoxious prequel shoehorning. Well, probably not, but I at least want to re-watch it for the first time since leaving the multiplex in 2010 to make sure. Jokes aside, it triumphs as the best pure superhero film to date, finally showing all those normal folk out there these comic book stories and characters are smart, addictive, inventive, enthralling, heart-breaking, poignant, and -- above all else -- fun. In other words, they're just as great as any other fantastic work of fiction. Assemble your friends to the theater. You'll have blast.

The Longbox

S.H.I.E.L.D.

issue: 1

writer: Jonathan Hickman

artist: Dustin Weaver

publisher: Marvel

I’ve been a fan of Jonathan Hickman’s work since I was introduced to Pax Romana a few years back by fellow LBM contributor Jon.  He has a way of working together text heavy segments with visual storytelling to produce a dense piece of graphic literature.  S.H.I.E.L.D. is another departure from that style, one that he started moving away from with Marvel in the pages of Secret Warriors.

S.H.I.E.L.D. opens with the enlistment of an ordinary yet strange young man named Leonid by a pair of agents we are led to assume are Howard Stark and Nathaniel Richards in 1953.  Leonid is led to The Immortal City, an ancient city buried beyond deep underneath Rome.  Here Leonid is brought before the High Council of the Shield where he learns a secret history of the world and its secret protectors.

Leonid is told that it all started with Imhotep at the dawn of civilization when he repelled a Brood invasion that threatened to take the Earth.  He was the first and from him the organization and its eagle crest are taken from his shield.  It is then that the council reveals to Leonid that he, like other great minds before him, will stand in the gap to defend humanity.  However, Leonid’s father, the Night Machine, intervenes and sets Leonid on the path of finding his own destiny.  A destiny that seems to be tied to that of Leonardo Da Vinci: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

While I love Hickman for his wordy books, this one does not suffer for the shift away from text heavy pages.  This book does benefit greatly from what seems to be a fascination Hickman has for secret societies, history, and Rome.  He skillfully puts together an issue that teases and satisfies at the same time.  Questions are answered that only open up larger questions that you need to know the answers to.  Who is this Leonid?  Agents Stark and Richards? Night Machine?  How is it then that the world ends?

Hickman’s story is deftly illustrated by Dustin Weaver whose lines and sense of pacing and action are spot on.  He creates iconic panels and splash pages that punctuate and resonate with Hickman’s words.  The image of Galileo preparing to divert a certain devourer of worlds is just fantastic.

While this is supposed to be an ongoing series, I sadly don’t see this going beyond five issues like other well done series of late (Doctor Voodoo, I’m looking in your direction).  I can only hope to be proven wrong and that this title will at least see a year with this creative team.  This book works in so many ways for me.