Exhibitions for your inner geek - DC, Marvel & Star Wars!

Crisis on Infinite Earths - A storyline from 1985, allowing writers to
reboot the DC universe, which over 50 years had become a mess of
continuity errors 

Paris has three offerings at the moment for the nerd inside all of us (you know you have one).

1.  Super-Héros: l’Art d’Alex Ross - This is the smallest of the exhibits on my list but well worth the visit. It follows the works of Alex Ross, who (for the nerds that are not yet nerdy enough) is one of the most recognised comic book artists of recent times. The exhibition spans from his scribbly childhood drawings through to his works for both DC Comics and Marvel. The overall focus is on the DC Comics universe; think Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash and all other things Justice League. 

••  Runs 5 Mar - 15 Jun at the Mona Bismarck American Center for art & culture (16e).

2.  L'Art des Super Héros Marvel - This one focuses on the Marvel universe. Think Ironman, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Spiderman, Avengers, X-Men and Silver Surfer. It explores the back catalogue of Marvel comic books, as well as the more recent movie adaptations. It provides a good overview of the various artists/writers that have contributed to the Marvel universe, and a healthy dosing of movie props, storyboards, character studies, etc etc.

••  Runs 22 Mar to 31 Aug at Art Ludique - Le Musée (Cité de la Mode et du Design, 13e).

3.  L'exposition Star Wars Identités: Découvrez les personnages - For the Star Wars fans I've saved the best till last. In true Lucas style, the exhibition pushes the use of technology to make the experience more captivating. When you enter you are given an electronic wristband and earpiece. This allows the younger participants to create a virtual character and shape it throughout the tour. The virtual character can be projected onto a big screen at the end of the tour, and also emailed to yourself. This is the theme of the exhibition, which is to demonstrate how characters can develop differently over their lifetime. A very clever educational component to the exhibit for the little ones.

For the big kids, the wristband activates an audio guide based on your proximity to displays. And there are more than enough displays to get a Star Wars fan salivating. You see lots and lots of movie props and costumes - including a life size pod-racer, droids, stop animation starship models, Chewbacca's costume, Han Solo in carbonite, and even the original eyes of the Jabba puppet. There are also some very interesting character studies - where you learn that Luke was originally a female character, and Yoda has eyes modelled on Einstein's.

••  Runs 15 Feb to 30 Jun at Cite du Cinema (just outside of Paris, accessible by Line 13)

I will leave it at that and let the pictures speak for themselves. I took quite a lot, because that's what we do now.