Spoiler-free thoughts:

1. Goddamn, that was good.

2. GodDAMN, that was good. A really fun movie, with a ton of cool stuff to make up for whatever slow points existed. My buddy Glenn will probably find something to pick on, because he’s a better movie critic than I’ll ever be, so go look to him for that sort of thing. But I was damn happy for my $10.

3. Seriously, when did movies in Central Jersey go to $10?

4. So that’s where Stephen Platt got to! (He’s a storyboard artist for the movie.) I remember those few weeks when Platt was the next superhot comics artist back in the mid-90s when all it took to get that designation was the backing of Wizard and the ability to spill ink on the page. Good times.

5. There was an “Adam Austin” listed in the credits. At one point in the sixties, legendary comics artist Gene Colan worked for Marvel under that name. And what did he draw?

Well yeah, Daredevil and Tomb of Dracula. But also, Iron Man! Neat.

6. Nice to see the Jack Kirby credit at the end. Wonder if that makes up for the fact that Marvel doesn’t pay the Kirby estate any royalties on the reprints of the comics that led up to all of that stuff, including the new $100 Iron Man Omnibus? (Yeah, I didn’t think so either.)

7. Stay past the credits. TRUST ME.

8. Wonder how much it bothered Joe Quesada, Marvel Editor-In-Chief, to see a primary villain in the movie smoking a cigarette in a prominent scene? Quesada has banned depictions of all Marvel characters smoking cigars or cigarettes in the comics because of the death of his dad and grandfather, among others, from smoking-related illnesses. I’m sure we’ll hear from him on that at some point.

Edit: Huh. I screwed up the image link. It’s now fixed.

Congratulations to Joe Quesada, Marvel’s Editor-In-Chief. The mayor of Orange County declared March 8, 2008, as Joe Quesada Day, recognizing his accomplishments in comics.

We can argue about the individual stories that Marvel’s put out over the years, but Quesada has been the most open high-ranking comics exec over the last decade. And I’ve found out first-hand that he’s a genuinely nice guy. Last year, when I was suffering with my hip problem, I commented about it on a Newsarama thread. I received a personal message from Quesada wishing me well. It was a bright spot during a lousy day.

Congratulations to a classy guy!