One of the biggest movies of the year has to be The Avengers: 
Age of Ultron. Even people who aren’t comic book fans know who the Avengers are and the list of fans just keeps growing. Everyone has their favorite hero. The patriotic crowd leans toward Captain America, those with control issues like the Hulk, those who are a bit self-absorbed like Iron Man and those into flowing golden locks love Thor. Personally I lean toward Iron Man myself (so what does that say about me?).
A perfect complement to the movie would be the new books from Insight Books, The World According to Iron Man and The World According to Thor. Insight has done a great job getting into the minds of these two very different heroes. Each book has inserts, stickers and tons of extras making the fantastic seem almost real.
The first book, The World According to Iron Man. The highly illustrated book gives an in depth look at the billionaire playboy with the heart of gold…well mini arc reactor. Written by Larry Hama and Marc Sumerak with illustrations by Mirco Pierfederici this larger hardcover book (9.4 x 9.4 x 0.6) packs quite a bit into 64 pages.
The text of the book seems to follow closer to events in the comic book than the 2 blockbuster Avenger’s 
movies or even the 3 Iron Man movies. The World According to Iron Man is written in the first person, making it sound like Stark is talking about his favorite person, himself. The text only goes as far back into the life of Tony Stark as the accident that made him Iron Man.
As previously stated there are some really cool inserts making Tony Stark/Iron Man seem like a real person. The list of removable inserts include:
- Tony Stark’s business card
- A copy of his diploma from M.I.T.
- A stock certificate for Stark Industries
- An emergency procedure card from Tony’s private jet
- An invitation to a New Year’s Eve party with the Avengers
- A blueprint for one of the Iron Man suits
- A letter from Bruce Banner, written on Banner’s own stationary
- An application to work at A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics)
- An autographed photo of Tony in his Iron Man armor
- A removable poster
Next up is the book about the Avenger who is really out of this 
world or realm for that matter, Thor .I don’t know if it the rippling muscles or flowing blonde hair but some of my female friends are really hooked on Thor. Much like The World According to Iron Man, this book, The World According to Thor focuses on the character from the comics more than the movie version.
Much like the other book, The World According to Iron Man, The World According to Thor is a slightly oversized 64 page hardcover with a ton of inserts. Those inserts include:
- Paper Mjoliner (and you don’t need to be worthy to pick it up)
- A sheet of 6 stickers/stamps featuring 6 characters from Asgard.
- A large fpld out poster of the rainbow bridge and Heimdall.
- A removable poster
- A “love letter” that Thor wrote to Amorra
- A newspaper clipping about the battle in Times Square. Interesting news for those screaming about where is Spider-Man; the newspaper clipping is from The Daily Bugle.
- A “to do” list written by Loki.
The World According to Thor gives readers a look into the inhabitants of Asgard, a look at the Nine-Realms and even a look into the animals of Asgard. Since Thor has never been one of my favorite characters and I only knew the bare minimum now I can say I did learn some things about the God of Thunder.
The book is filled with beautiful artwork courtesy of Freddie E. Williams. Comic book fans may know Freddie from his work in comic books. Freddie E. Williams II has written for Marvel, Dark Horse and DC. DC is where Williams has done most of his work. Williams has drawn The Green Arrow, Robin and The Flash to name a few.
The text that accompanies all of this fantastic artwork was written by Marc Sumerak who, incidentally also works in the comic book industry. Sumerak has written for the “big boys” Marvel and DC and written for some very popular characters such as The Avengers. Sumerak really knows his superheroes and it shows in the writing.
I enjoyed both books from Insight Editions, though I must say that I like The World According to Iron Man a bit more. I do recommend these books if you or a loved one enjoys comic books or movies that are adapted from comic books. These books could also take a non-reading youngster and make them a reader. This pair of books could be a gateway drug to larger books which would not be a bad thing.
Check out The World According to Iron Man and The World According to Thor from Insight Editions. Both books retail for $24.95 and can be found wherever fine books are sold (that sounds like a tag line for a late night infomercial), but seriously pick these up.
