Roger Stern Avengers

Avengers 235-239

I have to believe that it’s due to the writing that I find these stories nothing more than adequate, because I’ve read excellent comics starring these characters before.  Off the top of my head: Captain America - Mark Waid; She-Hulk - Charles Soule; Spider-Man - Brian Michael Bendis; Vision - Tom King; Captain Marvel - Warren Ellis; Wasp - Jeremy Whitley; Scarlet Witch….Okay, I can’t think of one for that.  Or Eros, but I already mentioned that yesterday.

The point is, these can be compelling characters in the right hands, and I’m not feeling it here.  If the Stern run isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, perhaps I should dump it all?  That’d be a rough mental block to overcome.  I’d probably keep the Masters of Evil arc.  Unloading 40-plus issues just feels wrong, but if I’m not going want to read them again...Something for me to think about.  I’ve got---wait, 60 issues to go??  Ah, I kept collecting when Walt Simonson took over.  The fact that I’ve wanted to read none of these issues after their initial perusal should be telling.   

I think Stern didn’t do himself any favors by putting the Monica Rambeau Captain Marvel on the team.  With the ability to transform into any form of energy on the EM spectrum, her ability to travel at the speed of light alone makes me wonder how she’s not a one-stop win condition in just about every scenario the Avengers encounter.  

Stern’s Avengers aren’t perfect, which is fine by me - It’s no secret to anyone that flawed characters make for way better stories.  But I have a problem when everyone’s flaw seems to be stupidity.  No, I take that back.  The problem is that everyone’s flaw is amplified to the point of stupidity - Spider-Man’s joke-cracking, inability to be a team player, and avarice make him unbearable;  Wanda’s love for Vision approaches a single-minded obsession that gives her the resemblance of a mooning middle schooler; the problems caused by Vision’s merging with ISAAC are so transparent that his inevitable shift to “AI with too much power” induces nothing but yawns.  

Roger Stern Avengers

Avengers 229-234

The start of the Roger Stern run.  I’ll say right now that I’m not planning on cutting any of these issues, no matter how much they may suck.  Part of it’s because I don’t remember them sucking.  Part of it’s because it took a while for me to collect all the issues of Stern’s stint on this title, and I’m not going to break up the set.  Let’s see if it was worth the effort.

Stern starts his run…..Hmm.  It looks like I never got the first two issues of it.  I’m missing issues 227 and 228.  Ah well.  

Anyway, Stern starts his run cleaning up the Yellowjacket storyline before writing him off of the team.  It’s a fine redemption story with some nice emotional beats.  

Issue 232 adds Eros (aka Starfox) to the roster.  I remember him for one disturbing story over the next 40 issues, and absolutely nothing else.  The definition of a replacement player.  Just like issues 231-234.

Heh, Thor needs to empty his helmet.

Avengers

So my wife read 1602, and vetoed my decision to get rid of it.  And that’s the way it goes :)

The possibility that my state of wakefulness profoundly impacts my enjoyment of a comic greatly disturbs me.  Today’s issues were all decent, some considerably more.  Was it because I read them in the middle of the day?  (In between rounds of a Magic draft.  I went 1-2 with a red/white deck.  Some decent matches.)  Would I have been more bored late at night?  Not sure how to test for this, but it seems important as I continue this project.  

I also think I’m going to take a day each week to review the new comics that came out.  It’ll be a nice change of pace.  

Also, I’m typing this on my brand new Microsoft Surface laptop, where a left mouse button that works and enough memory that it won’t chug if I have more than 5 tabs open in my browser.  (My old one was ancient.  My wife, in her enduring wisdom, asked, “Hey, since it’s Black Friday, wouldn’t it be a good time to get a new laptop?”  Yes, sweetie, yes it would be.  She’s way smarter than me.)

Avengers 160

George Perez on pencils, still not resembling his DC work.  With all the artists who’ve come and gone on this title for the last 100 issues or so (many of whom would go on to do amazing and unique work), the style has remained faithfully homogeneous.  It’s the Marvel Way, I suppose.  

Avengers 166

John Byrne, looking decently Byrne-sy, draws an issue-long fight scene with Count Nefaria, and it’s a very well-done battle.  I enjoyed it thoroughly.  More on this later.

“Desperate need should preclude excess speech!”  Best Vision quote ever.  Though just twelve pages later, he manages to say the following in just six panels of battle: “How odd!  In his madness he desires that great masses precede him thru the portal of death...to better mark in history his passing?  Human foibles should not be new to me, and yet--It is as if I have forgotten them in my hiatus from life!  Still, is it not a human experience to awaken after a brush with death and see everything as if for the first time?  No time to ponder!  I must solidify--Plunge earthward with the fragments of this tower and reduce them to dust with the obliterating force-beam from my solar jewel, lest Nefaria’s quest for fellow victims finds quick success.  I have one clear advantage over Nefaria!  By altering my density I can fly, whereas he can only take prodigious leaps!  Thus if I strike him in the air, he must fall!”

He squeezes all that into less than one page of action.  

I'm going to be yelling this at the page a lot in the future, I suspect.

Avengers 185, 193

193’s Inferno was a cookie-cutter monster of the week.  Which made me wonder what made the issue less successful than the Nefaria battle in 166.  I’d like to study this in more detail.  I’ll make a note.

Avengers 213, 217

213.  The Hank Pym/Wasp domestic abuse issue.  It’s an event that’s engrained in Avengers history.  Yellowjacket’s descent is well-told.  His desperation and sense of inadequacy leap off the page, and I was engrossed for the duration.

I love Wasp’s growth from that “dingaling Jan, the airhead heiress” (her words) to the confidant, kickass Avenger in this year’s Unstoppable Wasp.  It’s particularly gratifying considering how ill-served most of the Avenger women were by the writers of that era.  Janet Van Dyne was always portrayed as flighty, shallow, and unintelligent, and while that would be fine if it was part of an intentional story arc, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the case for her.  Especially disheartening is the way she viewed herself:

At least with the start of Wasp’s chairmanship of the Avengers, her writers begin to drop her ditziness and emphasize her strengths instead.  

Avengers

Avengers 93, 94

These two issues were collected in a “Special Edition” comic, issue one of the Kree-Skrull War.  I present here, without comment, snippets from the foreword written by Alan Zelenetz.  “It’s an epic so grand, only the comics could bring it to you...Even in this age of megabuck movie-making, the price tag for a production of this magnitude would probably trail its digits from the Milky Way...Special effects light years ahead of Skywalker and company...There’s not a studio that could touch this property - why, we’re talking maybe jillions here…”  

Neal Adams was way ahead of his time.  There’s a modernity to his work that blows my mind.  And it’s high quality modernity at that.  

I would never have thought that a close up of Vision's face could look so impressive.

Notes:

• Quicksilver’s pinball attack has not aged well.  I’m not sad that it’s not longer in his arsenal of moves.

Unfortunate.  Really unfortunate.

• Walt Simonson did the 7-page prologue to the issue.  It looks nothing like the classic signature style that he was employing over on Thor at around the same time.  I would never have guessed.
• There were no credits for the colorist, only Andy Yanchus as color coordinator.  Whoever it was, this panel of Vision stood out to me:

Avengers 135

Origin of the Vision.  One of the retconned stories in Avengers Forever.

Avengers 151

This was a pleasant treat.  One of the traditional membership selection issues that team books have from time to time.  It does a concise job of summarizing Avengers history.  George Perez does the art, and like Simonson, his pencils don’t look anything like the work we know and love.  

Regret buying?  No

Would buy again? No

Would read again?  No

Rating: Okay

Avengers Annuals, Avengers

Avengers Annual 15

Somehow I read this out of order.  It’s the first annual East/West Coast Avengers baseball game.  The depiction of baseball’s a little more accurate, at least.  Otherwise, it’s an extended Avengers/Freedom Force fight that’s fine, but not much more.  Nothing memorable, no need to keep it.

Regret buying?  No

Would buy again? No

Would read again?  No

Rating: Didn’t suck

Avengers Annual ‘99

Leonardo Manco art!  Another one of those “wish I saw more of his art” guys.  I know him mostly from his Blaze of Glory/Apache Skies work.  His art is so gritty, it’s like he pours sand over his pages.  I dig it.  

This is a nice issue about how Jarvis and Black Widow handled things post-Onslaught Avengers disappearance.  I’ve read it a couple of times since purchase, and I’m always entertained.  Solid.  

Regret buying?  No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again?  Yes

Rating: Fine

Avengers 66, 68, 71, 73, 75, 80

No idea how I have these issues.  They must have been in some bargain bin, back when anything old seemed worth buying.

That said, they didn’t suck.  More fun than the issues from the 80s.  They pop with energy that more than makes up for the crude dialogue.  The plots are fun and zip along at a brisk pace.  Still wouldn’t read them again, but happy to keep them around.

PS - Love the trippy splash page on p13 of issue 66.

Barry Windsor Smith by way of Alphonse Mucha?

Regret buying?  No

Would buy again? No

Would read again?  No

Rating: Okay

What If, Avengers Annuals

Didn’t write the day before, so long post today.  Was up late last night making zhong zi with the wife for Thanksgiving.  I managed to read the issues in bits and snatches throughout the evening, but it was a struggle to plod through them and stay awake.

What If #20 - What if the Avengers Fought the Kree-Skrull War WIthout Rick Jones?

What if I made it through a day without reading a What If story?  The original Kree-Skrull War is one of those classics that I barely remember reading.  I’ll be getting to it soon enough as I get into the actual Avengers run.  So reading a What If about it was really lost on me.  Alternate histories are less interesting when you don’t know the original one.  Or care about it.  Yank it.

Regret buying?  Yes

Would buy again? No

Would read again?  No

Rating: Boring

Avengers Annual 12

I’ve found the Inhumans interesting exactly twice in my life and this was not one of those times.  (Jae Lee’s run on Inhumans and Ellis’ Karnak)  Maximus tricks the Avengers into fighting the Inhumans and I don’t care.  At least Lockjaw was the one to save the day.  Purge it.

Regret buying?  Yes

Would buy again? No

Would read again?  No

Rating: Boring

West Coast Avengers Annual 2 and Avengers Annual 16

A two-parter where I already don’t remember the plot.  Something about the Grandmaster, Collector, and Death.  (The Marvel cosmic beings are not my cup of tea, unless you count Thanos.)  Some things worth bringing up:

• East Coast vs West Coast baseball game at the Astrodome to start the story!  Not a good as the classic X-Men games, but still amusing.  Though there are a few head-scratchers:
• Thor’s giving up a lot of reach by batting with Mjolnir.
• The score’s 417-413.  The time of game and box score must be mindblowing.
• Which makes me question Black Knight’s comment - “Three on, two out, bottom of the ninth.  You must have planned this, Wonder Man!”  I’m positive that Wonder Man planned to end the game before giving up 413 runs.  
• Are you telling me that Wonder Man couldn’t blow some 200 mph heat past that Avengers lineup?  There’s no way Dr Druid would be able to keep up with that.  
• Using a much-missed relic of a comic book trope, Tom DeFalco and Steve Englehart split the issues into mini-chapters, each one devoted to a matchup - Cap vs Mockingbird, Iron Man vs Captain Marvel, etc.  There’s something super old-fashioned and wonderful about that setup.

Regret buying?  No

Would buy again? No

Would read again?  No

Rating: Didn’t suck

I must admit that I was losing faith in this project after reading these issues.  The 80s writing style has not aged well at all - Tons of exposition, way too much showing instead of telling, and overly dramatic dialog.  The prospect of slogging through more of the same, as well as trying to find something to write about each day, was daunting.  

Luckily, Chris Claremont came to my rescue the very next day.

Avenger Annual 10

Sinking back into Chris Claremont is like meeting an old friend you haven’t seen in forever, but can talk with as if you haven’t missed a day.  There so much trust there.  His work from the 80s and 90s still hit all the things I complained about above, but his stories are so engaging, and his characters so compelling, that he makes it work.  More than that, he makes it shine.  

When I took this issue out of the long box, I thought, “Isn’t this the first appearance of Rogue?  I have this issue?”  Hidden treasures!

I have to believe that Tom Raney takes a lot of inspiration from Michael Golden.  Their faces are remarkably similar, and they draw the same sinewy, slightly distorted anatomy.  

Golden on top, Raney on the bottom.  The Prof X resemblance is uncanny.

Golden’s art is quite good, and there’s a stunning splash page of Scarlet Witch in action.  I honestly have no idea what I’m looking at, just that it’s amazing, and so it’s one of the few times where I’m happy to have a wordy explanation.

What is this?  I don't know but it's awesome!

Claremont is so good at throwing in little seeds of future stories into his scripts while mixing in elements of previous ones.  His use of continuity is stunning.  In this issue alone, he references Kitty’s Brood fight, Mystique’s relationship with Destiny, and the possible family connection between Mystique and Nightcrawler.  I stopped keeping track after that.  

Because then I started reading about one of the most f’d-up plots ever.  Referring to Avengers 197-200, Claremont summarizes the time where (as far as I can tell) Carol becomes pregnant and gives birth a day later to Marcus, who grows up to fall in love and impregnate her with himself in a thoroughly messed up time loop.  And somewhere in there, Carol runs off to Limbo with him to live happily ever after.  WHAT?????????

Chris Claremont then retcons this to something even more disturbing; Carol went off to Limbo against her will.  Unknown to the Avengers, she was influenced by Marcus’ tech, and only managed to escape after the tech broke down.  She’s justifiably pissed at the Avengers for not finding anything weird about the whole situation as it was happening.  

So messed up.  It’s also still terrifyingly relevant thirty six years later, as victims of sexual harassment and abuse are (too slowly) gaining more of a voice in a world that continues to turn a blind eye.  Carol’s anger is genuinely heartbreaking, and her feelings of betrayal ring true.

An excellent issue, and it reaffirms my commitment to this endeavor.

Quick notes:

• Maddie Pryor cameos as an 8 year old at the hospital.  What??
• How did I not notice the Carol Danvers/Kara Danvers Captain Marvel/Supergirl similarity before?
• I’ve never seen the “Kawa-Bonga” spelling before.

Regret buying?  No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again?  Yes

Rating: Really Good

Avengers Annual 13

Gotta head out to Thanksgiving dinner, and I’ve written for an hour.  Excellent timing.  And because I never need an excuse to use bulletpoints:

• Wow, Byrne drawing X-Men, Avengers, She-Hulk, FF...It’s like his greatest hits, all in one place.
• The Dazzler graphic novel “Mutie” ad.  I remember it from my issues of Transformers as a kid, and I've never forgotten it.

Chilling in its simplicity.

• p18 - Love that Hulk’s pants are lying there on the table.  A great touch, and one that brings up a ton of questions that I won’t get into.

How did they get them off?  I'm sure they made Hank Pym to it.

• Next page - Ah, the pants are an actual plot point?  Interesting.
• They’re fighting Hulk’s pants?  They’re fighting Hulk’s pants!!!  This is the best thing ever!

HULK'S PANTS!!!

• Steve Ditko’s credited in the art, but what did he do?  It looked like a Byrne production through and through.

Regret buying?  No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again?  Yes

Rating: Pretty Good

Avengers: First to Last

Avengers: First to Last

(Collects The Last Avengers Story 1-2, plus the backup stories from Avengers Classic 1-12)

I first read The Last Avengers Story in high school when I found it in my cousin’s collection.  It was published in the post-Alex Ross Marvels period, when publishers put out a flurry of painted comics in an attempt to capitalize on the phenomenon.  (Though Kingdom Come was really the only other series that reached the same level of fame.)

Ninth day in a row with an Elseworlds story.  At least this one’s as good as I remember, which is pretty darn good.  Peter David writes of a bleak future with some moments that have stayed with me for 20 years:

• Hotshot’s death.  “But at least it got his good side.”
• Ultron’s surprise.  “Didn’t they wonder what happened to the other forty?”
• The reason for Vision’s self-imposed exile is just as haunting today as when I first read it.

As a bonus, he tells it in an economical two issues.  

I picked it up in a hardcover collection with a bunch of backup of stories that covered the first 12 issues of the original Avengers.  Much like Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.  And there were a few pleasant surprises in the bunch:

• 

  You said it, big guy.

  I groaned when I saw that Stan Lee wrote the first story.  I love his creations and ideas, but his writing style is too flamboyant for my taste.  But there were some great lines in this one, and Kevin Maguire’s art made them even funnier.  All of Thor’s utterances were pitch perfect.
• Dwayne McDuffie writes a slightly more ribald, but no less hilarious Thor in the second issue.  “Thor stands ever ready to offer the stick.”  

• Michael Avon Oeming’s final panel in issue five is a sweet but melancholy shot of just-thawed Captain America relaxing in his bedroom, listening to the records of his past.

• Tom Beland wrote a story for this!  It’s nothing special, but it’s always good to see his work.  Cap and Spidey chatting on a rooftop reminded me of the Eisner-winning Hitman/Superman issue.
• Bonus art - The collection included the twelve covers that Art Adams did for Avengers Classic.  Art Adams doing Marvel makes me so happy.

Avengers Forever

Avengers Forever 9-12

Gah.  After issue 8’s issue-long retcon of Immortus’ history, issue 9 spends its entire duration doing the same for Kang.  Don’t caaaaare.

The last three issues cover the final fight to save humanity.  Blah blah fishcakes.  In the span of a week I’ve read 4 similar epic mini-series - 1602, Age of Ultron, JLA/Avengers, and Avengers Forever.  Three involved time travel.  All four involved a massive cast of characters.  Three had waay too much exposition, and the fourth only gets a pass because Bendis did the writing.  What a disappointment; Bendis, Gaiman, and Busiek - three of my favorite writers, and only Bendis came close to living up to the art.  With these guys, it’s usually the penciller that has to keep up.  

Regret buying?  No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again?  Yes

Rating: Pretty good

So this may seems like a short entry for half an hour of writing.  I’ve started running a separate journal of my daily interactions with my wife, recording the things that I’d like to remember in my old age.  I’m counting that time as well, but you don’t get to read them.  

Justice League Movie, Avengers Forever

Justice League

I saw the Justice League movie today.  I was surprised by how much I liked it.  I thought it would be a train wreck though, so it didn’t need to do that much much to surpass my expectations.  

Things I liked:

• Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman remains the best thing about the DC movie universe.  I’m not sure how good of an actress she actually is, but she is perfect for this role.  Her fight scenes are badass, she’s a great foil for the rest of the team, and there’s this one shot where she smiles at the camera that made me swoon inside.  I get a rush of joy whenever she’s on screen, and would be perfectly happy if DC did nothing but Wonder Woman movies for the next 10 years.  

Do not mess with her.

• The Amazon/Steppenwolf fight sequence.  The Amazon catching the arrow-with-Mother-Box was sweet.
• The scenes between Superman, Lois, and Ma Kent were surprisingly emotional.  
• The Flash in action.  In particular, the scene where he realizes Superman is as fast as he is.  Both funny and a well executed sequence.  
• The Flash/Superman race during the credits was cute.
• Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne is actually pretty decent.

Things that didn’t suck, at least.  

• Ben Affleck as Batman was awkward.  He doesn’t look comfortable in the suit.
• Aquaman.  Meh.
• The humor.  They tried so hard.  They succeeded once in a while.  Mostly with the Flash things.  Quippy Superman is really hit and miss.  

Things that sucked.

• Steppenwolf.  Even worse than Marvel’s cookie cutter villains.  So bland.  
• What’s keeping him from coming back?  All he did was teleport away.
• What happened to the Mother Boxes?
• Sigh, another hole in the sky combined with big blobby things as the main threat.
• Cyborg.  I don’t caaaarrrrreeeee.  He’s so boring.

I would actually watch this movie a second time.  It might even be more rewatchable than Wonder Woman, but that remains to be seen.  (As much as I liked WW, there are only three scenes that I need to see again: Amazon/German fight, Diana trying out outfits, and the trench/town fight.)

Regret watching?  No

Would buy on DVD? Maybe (Yes, I still buy movies.  Are you really surprised?  I clearly like collecting things.  And they’re not subject to the whims of Netflix or a strong internet connection)

Would watch again?  Yes

Rating: Fine

Avengers Forever 4-8

I’m spending less and less time paying attention to the words, and more and more time poring over the lovely art.  Continuing on what I wrote about yesterday, I’m developing more of an appreciation of Oliff’s colors.  It really makes the art pop in the right places.  He uses cool blue tones for the backgrounds, so that the characters in the foreground don’t get lost.  At the same time, all of the detail is still there to be enjoyed.  

New-found respect for the colors.

Look at the dynamism on Cap!

Iconic.

Day 2 of my Carlos Pacheco lovefest:

• His Old West looks so good.  I want him drawing a comic with the Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt, and all the rest.  
• After that, he needs to do more Captain America.  That cover to issue 6!  The way he draws Cap in action!  Looks like he did a run with Rick Remender.  I may need to check that out.  [I flipped through the Remender issues in the comic shop, and was not impressed. I blame the inkers. No one stomps over a penciller with his own style like Klaus Jansen.]  

Ready to buy this series.