trike's review
3.0
Some of the concept art is, as you might imagine, spectacular. My problems with the book have nothing to do with the art but rather the text. There is almost no content here, no "value added" commentary. In fact, near the end of the book, production stills simply stop appearing next to the fabulous art, which indicates this book was sent to the publisher before those parts of the movie were finalized.
They give the made-up German names for Hydra's wunderwaffen, but they never translate them. These little tidbits are exactly the kinds of things geeks geek out about, so they really ought to be included. ("Wunderwaffen" means "wonder weapons", what the Nazis called their cutting-edge war machines. See? It's cool to know that.) It's as if the author had no curiosity about this stuff. And that's terrible. (To borrow a meme from a different superhero.)
In one section they mention that once one of the artists finalized the design for the Hydra pilot, the other designers were able to base their concepts for the rest of Hydra on that look. But the book never singles out which design is the final one. I could pop in my disc of the movie or do an Internet search, but I shouldn't have to while reading the book. It's little things like that which detract from the overall experience.
I don't feel ripped off buying this book because some of the art really is amazing... and I bought at a deep discount. I just hope the inevitable Avengers volume holds off until the end of production and adds a substantial amount of content beyond the pretty pictures. The process is just as interesting.
They give the made-up German names for Hydra's wunderwaffen, but they never translate them. These little tidbits are exactly the kinds of things geeks geek out about, so they really ought to be included. ("Wunderwaffen" means "wonder weapons", what the Nazis called their cutting-edge war machines. See? It's cool to know that.) It's as if the author had no curiosity about this stuff. And that's terrible. (To borrow a meme from a different superhero.)
In one section they mention that once one of the artists finalized the design for the Hydra pilot, the other designers were able to base their concepts for the rest of Hydra on that look. But the book never singles out which design is the final one. I could pop in my disc of the movie or do an Internet search, but I shouldn't have to while reading the book. It's little things like that which detract from the overall experience.
I don't feel ripped off buying this book because some of the art really is amazing... and I bought at a deep discount. I just hope the inevitable Avengers volume holds off until the end of production and adds a substantial amount of content beyond the pretty pictures. The process is just as interesting.
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