If you’re a regular reader of this blog it will come as no surprise to you that I love the current spate of superhero movies and television shows. Comic book fans live in a golden age of media where this stuff just seems to get better and better, and something new and exciting waits around each new turn of the calendar–I’m looking at you, Suicide Squad! In the meantime, if you like this stuff too, and you’re anything like me, you want to interact with it beyond the movie itself. This might include playing a tabletop or video game based on a particular superhero movie, chatting about it in online forums or on social media, or maybe reading a book about it! Yes, most big superhero movies generate a number of interesting, printed products that ride along with the film and add further details and insight.
My current favorite of this crop of books is The Art Of Guardians Of The Galaxy. Yes, I know I mention the movie a lot. No, Guardians director James Gunn does not pay me $25 every time I mention it in one of these posts. Anyway, books like this one provide insight into the design process behind these amazing movies, and they give us an inkling into how much energy and work went into making them great. Check out this scan from the book:
It’s amazing to track the development of a character like Rocket from the comic books, to the graphic artist board of the movie illustrators, to the actual screen.
Here’s a short list of a few other “Art Of…” titles from various superhero franchises:
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Art Of Marvel: The Avengers
The Art And Making Of The Dark Knight Trilogy
A lot of behind-the-scenes work goes into these amazing films, and these books provide us a window into that complex world of concepts and pre-production we might otherwise never see.
–Scott P.
Eleventh Stack 