Autumn 12 – Winter 13

Inside theaters around the world this past summer, costumed-crusaders and perfectly-chiseled muscle men dominated the big screen: The Avengers; The Amazing Spider-Man; and Batman: The Dark Knight Rises all proved to be big box-office, paving the way for more. This showcase of superhero stamina is the perfect primer for Heroes & Villains: The Comic Book Art of Alex Ross, opening November 10 at Norman Rockwell Museum. Long before Hollywood began regularly pumping super-sized budgets and over-the-top special effects into some of America’s most beloved characters, comic book artist Alex Ross was making a name for himself by making the unreal real. “It very much relates to the world we’re in now, where just about every fantastic concept that’s been applied to the worlds of fantasy characters over the past 75 years is being brought to life in vivid detail in movies, in video games, and with actors in complicated costumes,” says Ross, the preeminent painter of comics.