Review # 3: "Iron Man: Extremis"

"Iron Man 3" comes out on Friday which, bar none, has to be considered the biggest surprise megahit franchise for a superhero this century. Before Robert Downey Jr., Tony Stark was a "B"-list superhero at best who would compete for status with the likes of Captain America or Thor, but had nothing on "A"-grade Marvel properties like Spider-Man, Wolverine or the X-Men.

Review # 2: "The Trial of Yellowjacket"

Up until last year, my collection of comic trades and hardcovers was almost exclusively X-Men. Yeah, there was some Batman in there, "Watchmen," and a lot of company crossovers but outside of Marvel's mutants I hadn't really dabbled in very much else.

Review # 1: "Avengers vs. Thanos"

"Who's that guy?"

Last spring, that turn of phrase may have been the most-heard at the end of any film being shown at a movie theatre. After earning a reputation for effective teases at the end of the credits, Marvel inserting the shadowy figure of a purple titan with a crooked chin into the production list for "The Avengers" had a lot of people who stuck around wondering who had just graced the screen. A few got as far as getting the answer "Thanos," but that just led to another question:

"Who the hell is Thanos?"