Matt Forbeck brings Captain America to Milwaukee, specifically Shorewood Public Library Tonight at 6:30 and Bay View Library tomorrow at 4:30

A lot of folks are excited about the new movie opening on Friday, Captain America: Civil War. Graeme McMillan wrote in Wired that you might want to consider reading five comics before you go to the film - not just the Civil War miniseries but several issues of Black Panther and Marvel Adventures: Spider Man.

Speaking of Black Panther, The Guardian reviewed the first issue of the just released run of the comic penned by acclaimed writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of Between the World and Me. Isaac Butler writes :"Coates may be a first-time comics writer whose entire published catalogue thus far is nonfiction, but he attacks the material with aplomb. The debut issue is the first in a yearlong, 12-chapter arc. It is a bit overburdened with exposition. But it moves fluidly, lighting the fuses of several plots that will clearly intersect before detonating in the finale."

One Wisconsite who knows a little something about comics, let alone the worlds of fantasy and gaming, is Matt Forbeck. Per his biographer, Forbeck is "an award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author and game designer. He has 27 novels and countless games published to date. His work includes the novel Halo: New Blood, the Magic: The Gathering comics, the 2014 edition of The Marvel Encyclopedia, the Monster Academy YA fantasy novels, and the upcoming Shotguns and Sorcery roleplaying game based on his novels.

His latest is Captain America: The Ultimate Guide to the First Avenger, a great new DK publication. The scoop: "Learn everything there is to know about Captain America in Marvel's Captain America: The Ultimate Guide to the First Avenger. Packed with information about friends, enemies, and storylines, this guide explores the exciting and rich history of the First Avenger.Follow Steve Rogers' journey from the sickly and small Army volunteer to the iconic leader of the Avengers as well as his biggest adventures, battles, allies, and foes. Captain America: The Ultimate Guide to the First Avenger focuses on some of the character's most famous comic book arcs, starting from the 1941 debut of Captain America Comics #1 to modern day."

Dave Banks writes in Geek Dad: "Pretend, for a moment, that your knowledge of Captain America was limited and tenuous in the same way that Steve Rogers was small and sickly. If you picked up and read the new Marvel’s Captain America: The Ultimate Guide to the First Avenger, you would be transformed in your knowledge (and coolness level) in the same way Rogers was altered into the pinnacle of physical perfection. There is so much information packed into this 200 page volume that you could very well become everyone’s go-to source for Cap info when Captain America: Civil War hits theaters in May."

We're cosponsoring two events with Forbeck to celebrate the release of the book. On Wednesday, May 4, 6:30 (that's tonight), Forbeck will be at the Shorewood Public Library, 3920 N Murray Ave. And on Thursday, May 5, 4:30 pm (that's tomorrow), he'll be at the Bay View branch of Milwaukee Public Library, 2566 S Kinnickinnic Ave, cosponsored by the Avalon Theater on May 6. We'll have books for sale at both events.

The film will be opening at the Avalon and other area theaters on Friday, May 6. Here's the official website.