You use smooth everywhere. Add the "EdgeSplit" modifier in your object, deselect the "From edge angle" button, select the "from marked as sharp" and mark the some edges as "sharp" by going in edge mode and selecting the "Mark sharp" option from the edge specials menu (Ctrl+E). Setting sharp edges is very easy with this…
Hey, it's good to be motivated. When I was a kid all I had was paper and pencil and a big idea...at least you are able to start your own wikki and start playing with the softwares and learning a bit about 3d. 3dbuzz.com has some pretty good tutorial videos you can download for free...I dunno if they have the ones you need…
I would say the top most human is the worst offender here, he has no curve to his spine, the face is awkward, the artist took the easy way out and left him bald, and theres no way you are animating this because of the way the edge loops are laid out, and to top it all off the sleeves to his shirt look like a bloated…