It’s that special time of year again: the days grow longer, the nights grow shorter, and Hollywood brings out its latest cinematic adaptations of graphic novels, (aka “comic book movies” to the hoi polloi), hoping to score the next Dark Knight.

As a proud fangirl of the genre, I find it interesting that we have not one, not two, but three such movies out in theatres right now and took it upon myself to compare and contrast. In alphabetical order I give you my thoughts on The Green Lantern, Thor, and X-Men First Class.

The Green Lantern

The best that can be said about The Green Lantern is that the film is not the atrocity previewed in the trailers. I worried that I might not be able to sit through the whole feature just as Joel Schumacher’s hideous Batman & Robin drove me out after 20 minutes. Despite the over-abundance of computer-generated effects, a truly ridiculous costume, and an awful looking mask, The Green Lantern is watchable; there’s just no reason to sit through the whole thing.

The film’s dialogue produces moments that highlight the “fear vs. willpower” as weapons that come close to the allegorical beauty of its source material. Yet character development is nonexistent. You never care about protagonist Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) who has issues with Daddy and commitment, the main villain, Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard), who has issues with Daddy and inferiority, much less about Hal’s love interest, Carol Ferris (Blake Lively). Save your money.

Thor

This is the movie that The Green Lantern wanted to be. Like The Green Lantern, interstellar travel across the universe, a desert setting, a hero rising up to sacrifice himself, and Daddy issues are key to the whole enterprise. It’s just that Thor does it right.

Director Kenneth Branagh, above, was a fan of the source material as a child and his affection for Thor can be seen in every frame of the movie. In his expert hands, the movie doesn’t skimp on the fight sequences or special effects. Branagh’s vision of Asgard is breathtaking and his take on the “rainbow bridge” of the comics is gorgeous and convincing on screen. He balances these elements perfectly with the “fish out of water” humor and character development.

The whole cast is tremendous. Natalie Portman is charming as Jane Foster, Idris Elba brings gravitas to the role of Heimdall, the gatekeeper, and both Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgard help bring the humor. But the movie’s true secret weapons are the 3H’s—Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, and Tom Hiddleston—in the iconic roles of Thor, Odin, and Loki.

That Hopkins (above) is tremendous as the commanding All-Father is no surprise, but Hemsworth and Hiddleston as the competing divine brothers were both unknowns before this film. Chris Hemsworth as Thor is the very image we expected from the comics, a majestic young lion who’s entirely too full of himself in the first half of the movie, but showing real vulnerability in the second half.

But the true standout may be Tom Hiddleston, above, as the devious, sexy, brilliant, emotionally unstable Loki. It’s also worth noting that while the film’s female characters are not the focus of the film, they’re not cardboard cutouts either; this is the rare summer blockbuster to pass the Bechdel Test where at least two female characters talk to each other about something besides men.

On a more shallow note, both Hemsworth and Hiddleston make for some glorious female gazing experiences on screen. Thor’s no Superman or Dark Knight but it is potently good summer fun and gets you excited for 2012’s Avengers.

X-Men First Class

Let’s get it out of the way—the movie’s not perfect. January Jones as Emma Frost takes one of the most intriguing female characters in the Marvel universe and relegates her to a lingerie clad Barbie who happens to turn into a diamond from time to time. That the movie’s only African American character, Darwin, is the first to die, is especially egregious considering that the X-Men have always been a metaphor for the civil rights movement. And Moira McTaggert (Rose Byrne) as a American CIA agent rather than a Scottish scientist is just wrong.

Nevertheless, for all its flaws, X-Men First Class not only successfully reinvigorates the franchise but is arguably the best film yet of the series. Director Matthew Vaughn of Stardust and Kick-Ass has a devilishly good time going “retro.” Set in the 60’s and using an alternate history of the Cuban missile crisis for its main plot, X-Men First Class has the look and feel of classic Bond movies and AMC’s Mad Men. Jennifer Lawrence of Winter’s Bone turns in a winning performance as a young Mystique. But the movie rises and falls on its two main leads, James MacAvoy as the humane future Professor X/Charles Xavier, and Michael Fassbender as the tormented future Magneto. The sequence of Eric hunting down Nazis is simply electrifying; Fassbender would certainly be my choice for the next James Bond. His Magneto is sympathetic, ruthless, beautiful, damaged, sensitive, terrifying, and utterly fascinating.

As the young Xavier, MacAvoy’s part is less flashy than Fassbender’s but equally crucial; he conveys Charles’s intelligence and compassion, while displaying a youthful impetuousness that leads him astray. When we first meet him he’s enjoying a drink in a pub trying to pick up birds with talk about “groovy mutations,” but a series of tragic events in the film’s brilliant conclusion leave him a much more solemn figure. MacAvoy and Fassbender are both terrific in their scenes as individuals but it’s their moments together, from their chess games, to Xavier helping Eric master his powers, to their last heartbreaking conversation together on a beach that linger with you long after the credits have rolled.