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