The Art of Marvel's The Avengers: Book Review

Rating: ★★★★★/★★★★★

Marvel Studio's The Avengers is one of summer's hottest blockbuster movies currently screening worldwide. There are numerous things that I enjoyed watching this marvellously produced movie that I wish to extend this experience and learn the process of producing this wonderful film. The answers and more can be found in The Art of Marvel's The Avengers.

Kicking off the 272-page hardcover art book encase in a slipcase cover is a brilliant introduction by Marvel Visual Development supervisors and concept artists Ryan Meinerding and Charlie Wen. This is followed by a prologue detailing the journey that begun with the release of Iron Man in 2008 and subsequent four other Marvel-produced films namely The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) culminating the four main superheroes sharing equal responsibilities and screen time in this film. As someone who have not watch all five movies prior to The Avengers, I find the summary really helpful in understanding the gist of the story.

Another point in its favour is the mention of how each of these five movies are connected through the appearance of major characters and plotlines which neatly ties the story. For example, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury is in the post-credits of Iron Man and Tony Stark/Iron Man made a cameo appearance in the screen credits of The Incredible Hulk. In Iron Man 2, we get a brief glimpse of Captain America's iconic shield in the background while Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow and Nick Fury play a major part in the same film. Meanwhile Agent Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Agent Phil Coulson and Loki (Thor's adopted brother) are featured in Thor and the ending showed scientist Erik Selvig taking a look at the Tesseract which will play a vital role in the next film. Finally at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, Nick Fury is there to welcome Steve Rogers/Captain America to our modern world. A timeline of the events occurring before The Avengers began are also included to give an overview of what the superheroes are doing in the history of Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The main contents of the book are divided into three separate chapters and arranged in chronological order corresponding to the events in the film. Littered throughout these chapters are numerous quotes by director Joss Whedon, producers, production designer James Chinlund, concept artists and actors that give a sense of what it feels like to make a successful movie. The first chapter focus on the incident in the dessert where Project: P.E.G.A.S.U.S is carried out to study and harness the power of the Tesseract. Did you know that the filmmakers use three separate locations to depict the S.H.I.E.L.D. research facility? The artwork and set designs are very striking and I was drawn by how realistic it look. There are detailed write-ups of Nick Fury, Hawkeye, Agents Phil Coulson and Maria Hill and Loki which inform readers the background and their actions with differences referenced from the comic book series. Character designs produced by respective artists show the first conceptual idea before evolving to the final artwork as depicted in the film. One interesting tidbit I learn is the abbreviation of S.H.I.E.L.D. which is Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistic Division.

Act Two: Avengers Assemble takes readers to a warehouse in Russia where Black Widow is called back to active duty following the catastrophic disaster. Next a riot of colours beckons in Calcutta, India where Bruce Banner currently resides and the shack where Black Widow persuades him to help S.H.I.E.L.D. was actually built on stage in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Nick Fury's meeting at the World Security Council seem formidable whereas the warmth of Cap's gym and apartment drew me back to the nostalgic years of the 1940's. We get to see his new suit where it incorporated S.H.I.E.L.D.'s latest technology such as stretchable materials not found in his time. The location setting of Stark Tower in Manhattan looks imposing against the stark contrast of the city below and the attention to details can be seen in the breakdown of the technology that suit him or unsuit him into Iron Man in addition to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s transport carrier, the quinjet. Rounding up the character list is Thor, the Asgardian God of Thunder who vows to protect earth from Loki's destructive agenda. I particularly enjoyed Bryan Andrews's storyboard drawing portraying the three-way confrontation between Thor, Iron Man and Cap as the frame-by-frame fight sequence is displayed. The impressive helicarrier open my eyes to a futuristic world where a super large aircraft carrier can function as a ship and fly in the air.

The third chapter has the least number of pages compared to the first two chapters. A Common Threat covers the designs of Iron Man's new armour and takes you through a sequence of Tony Stark suiting up into Mark VII in mid-air. However I did not like the design of the evil alien Chitauri and flying leviathans probably because very little information is provided. The visuals presenting the epic battle where our superheroes unite to form Earth's Mightiest Heroes and defeat Loki and his alien allies are stunning and some of the best I have witness in the book and it more than made up. Credit goes to Charlie Wen, Ryan Meinerding and their team of artists and designers including storyboard artists Bryan Andrews and Jim Mitchell for putting in a concerted effort. An additional chapter titled Some Assembly Required is about the various aspects of marketing for promoting the six Marvel films. From the awe-inspiring poster designs to t-shirts, the fortunate few who attended Comic Con in San Diego and New York is so lucky to be able to keep and collect the items as souvenirs.

All in all, fans of the movie should purchase this highly recommended The Art of Marvel's The Avengers as keepsake. This excellent movie tie-in companion will certainly be most useful when you need to read it while waiting for the sequel to The Avengers.