7 posts tagged “avengers”
I began reading Marvel Comics’ X-MEN series during the highly acclaimed Byrne/Claremont run featuring the “All-New, All-Different” team, and so had no real knowledge of the original 1960’s team. But as my love of the “Uncanny” X-men grew, my curiosity of the Lee and Kirby team grew too, til I HAD to know more about them!
This was back in the pre-internet days when access to information of most comics was almost nil. The only real way to get info on any comic you liked was to talk to the local comic shop dealer or other collectors, and in that I was lucky because I had a couple of friends who were BIG collectors of Marvel Comics, and were always ready to educate me about any Marvel History I needed to know.
So one day after telling my friend I wanted to see what the “old” X-Men looked like, he came to class and handed me a comic. It was issue #46 of a Marvel reprint title called Marvel Triple Action, and it was here I got my very first glimpse of the original X-Men: Cyclops. Marvel Girl, Beast, Angel and Iceman, and right off the bat I was blown away- WOW! How colorful, dynamic and totally COOL they looked!
The comic also introduced me to the Avengers for the first time, and I IMMEDIATELY dived into the story, relishing the interesting dialog and powerful artwork, not knowing at the time that the tale was concocted by two GREATS of the Silver Age (Writer Roy Thomas and Artists Big John Buscema), only knowing that the story “In Battle Joined!” was the most KICK-ASS story I’d read in awhile! Begun in the pages of X-Men #45, this was a story of the Avengers and the X-Men united against mutual baddie Magneto. The X-Men have been captured by Magneto, and the Angel has escaped to get aid from the Avengers- but they arrive just in time to see Cyclops knocking out former Avenger Quicksilver…
Hawkeye, Goliath, Wasp and the Black Panther have come upon X-Man Cyclops standing over the fallen figure of Quicksilver. Not sure of the situation, they tell the youth to freeze. Cyclops, however, suspects they’re only robots created by Magneto, and isn’t taking any chances. He fires at Hawkeye, and when Black Panther jumps down to subdue him, a couple of blasts from his optic visor give Cyclops enough time to get away!
It seems that when the Angel escaped Magneto’s prison back in X-Men #45, he went directly to the Avengers mansion for assistance in rescuing his fellow X-Men. Since Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were last seem leaving with Magneto back in Avengers #49, the Avengers are happy to team up tackling the master of Magnetism.
On the Atlantic flight over to Magneto’s island, Janet discovers a miniature bugging device hidden among Angel’s wings. The Avengers now believe he’s in cahoots with Magneto, and is setting them up. While he swears he ‘s innocent, they tie him up and leave him behind when they investigate the fortress. Thus we return to our opening scene where the Avengers have just arrived to see Cyclops flee!
Magneto is watching the entire drama play out, delighted that his plans are coming to fruition. Of course, it was all part of his plans for Angel to escape and get caught with the monitor on his wings. “ Now they and the X-Men, who might otherwise been allies- will be at each other’s throats!”
Toad doesn’t like the idea of bringing in the Avengers…they should have been satisfied capturing the X-Men- their REAL enemies! Magneto electrocutes Toad for his doubt, and Toad questions why Magneto always abuses him when he alone out of ALL the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants has been loyal. “Because I don’t NEED your Loyalty!” snaps Magneto. He explains that he’s only kept Toad around because it amused him, and now Toad is just angering him. Wanda steps in and begs Magneto to leave Toad alone, and Toad says “One day soon, Magneto shall know who his true friends are.”
Meanwhile, The Avengers have become antsy sneaking around the hidden fortress, and as usual, Hawkeye and Goliath start to bicker and fight. Soon the Black Panther, who initially tries to STOP the fight, is involved, and it is up to Jan to step in and remind them that there is a task at hand.
This moment of discourse is just what Magneto has been hoping to hear, and he releases a machine that unleashes crackling electronic commands upon the unsuspecting X-Men. When the sensations vanish, we realize just what the machine has done to their minds when Cyclops states, “There was something we were going to do! Yes- We were going to find the Avengers…and DESTROY THEM!”
Any doubt that the X-Men are on the wrong side of the good guys is gone when the Avengers confront the angry teen mob and Cyclops orders: “Kill Them! Kill The Avengers!”
Beast strikes the first blow at Black Panther, and the others follow his lead. After fighting for a while, the Avengers they find they are having a hard time beating them. Then Black Panther realizes it is because they subconsciously think of the X-Men as heroes, not villains. With this change in attitude, the Avengers make quick work of the youths, much to the confusion of Magneto, who thought the X-Men would be the victors!
His confusion only increases when he turns and finds The Angel has infiltrated the control room! Soon, the Avengers smash in, as well! Goliath knows Magneto must be dying of curiosity to find out what went wrong with his plans, and elucidates. “We guessed the bug on Angel was a plant, and tied his hands loosely! Wasp whispered in his ear our plans, then pretended to quarrel to lure you into an ill-timed attack!”
Magneto knows the only option is escape, and brings down a wall of metal parts onto the Avengers, giving himself enough time to get away! He orders Toad to get the escape ship, hitting him to get a move on. “He orders me to save him - and strikes me as he does so! Thus has he EVER rewarded my unwavering Loyalty!” thinks the Toad.
With a quick move, the Toad sets the machine generators to overload- soon the entire island will be decimated by the huge explosion! He leads the Scarlet Witch and a still dazed Quicksilver to a waiting escape ship. As the ship takes off, Magneto reaches out with his magnetic powers to lift him to the jet, but finds that his powers have no effect! Toad reminds him that he once built an entire ship out of non-metals, just to prove he could do it. As Magneto tries to hold onto the ship, He says, “Toad…Stop!! I am Your Master!” to which the Toad solemnly replies, “No Magneto. The Toad calls no man master- ever again!!” He steps on Magneto’s fingers and sends him hurtling to the jagged rocks below!
Meanwhile the Avengers and X-Men (who seem to have recovered from the hypno-ray) have made it back to their ship in time to witness the Toad and his crew leaving. They quickly shove off themselves, and a few minutes later, the very horizon rocks as the entire island goes up in a fiery explosion! Soon, the ocean is littered with smoking debris and machinery from the fortress, and among the bits of twisted metal floats the remains of Magneto’s once mighty metal helmet!
What a STORY!! I loved and re-read this issue so darn much that not only did I eventually collect all the back-issues of Marvel Triple Action featuring The Avengers (as well as Triple Action successor Marvel Super Action) but immediately began subscribing to the current issues as well -and what do you know- John Byrne was the artist HERE, too When I got older, I made it a priority to get my hands on all the ORIGINAL Avengers issues, and I was simply beside myself the day I got my very own copy of AVENGERS #53, the issue where that X-Men/Avengers story originally ran and the very issue you see scanned here!
Besides the overwhelming “pride of ownership” that came with obtaining this piece of Marvel history, there are several other good reasons to own the actual copy, and not just that they got the COLORS of Beast, Angel and Goliath right(!) in the original comic-I was ECSTATIC when I read the original issue and found there were TWO EXTRA PAGES that Marvel Triple Action had cut out! HOLY TOLEDO! This was like the Modern-Day equivalent of a DVD bonus! If I thought I loved that story BEFORE…MAN! Now it was BEYOND LOVE!!! Ahahahaha!
To this day, those Avengers issues from around issue #46-60 are still some of my favorite stories ever; Roy Thomas is still one of my favorite writers, and John Buscema one of my very favorite artists… When you consider that back then I was simultaneously reading both Thomas/Buscema stories AND Byrne/Claremont stories, there’s no wonder I call this my own personal “Golden Age” of comic reading in my life!
Created by Henry Pym’s frankenstein creation Ultron, It was only natural that Ully would want his bride to be infused with the life-force of his "father's" wife, Ms.Janet Van Dyne-Pym,better known as the nimble WASP! Using advanced technology, a kidnapped Wasp, and a brainwashed Henry Pym, Ultron hoped to transfer Janet’s soul into the metallic shell of his mate!
Alerted by Hank’s trustworthy ants, the Avengers intervened just as Janet’s life-breath was almost completely absorbed by Jocasta, and the sudden separation resulted in two-two-two girls in one! And although she did start off with her hubby’s diabolical bad habits, Jocasta quickly saw Ultron as the crumb he really was, and crossed over to the side of the Angels!
George Perez really knew what he was doing when he created the visuals for this character. It was like he’d been studying just what was so attractive about Tina, the platinum kitten of the METAL MEN, and added MORE curves and general sexiness, and came up with Jocasta…Sexy? heck, he even got her a sexy-as-hell Metal GARTER BELT as part of the design, or at least that’s what I always thought it was!
But it was her portrayal in the later issues under the care of David Michelinie and John Byrne’s hands where I really felt she could branch off into a multi-dimensional character, as they depict her as a naive, curious girl very observant of the “human interplay” between her fellow Avengers. There’s this great scene where Tony Stark’s putting the moves on Ms. Marvel, and Jocasta is bored of the bland chatter. She tries to connect with the Vision, whose stand-offish attitude only made her look more warm and human in contrast!
But the best is perhaps when general fly-in-the-Avengers-ointment Government Official Henry Peter Gyrich realizes she’s “alive”, and demands to know if she’s cleared for security. She then shames him, asking him if the government is so paranoid now they’re screening the machines!
Jocasta
First Appearance: Avengers #162 by George Perez and Jim Shooter
I don’t really remember too much about The Enchantress growing up. She didn’t make too many appearances in the so-called “bronze age”, at least in the comics I was reading at the time.
The first time I actually took notice of her was in the Jackson Guice pencilled Dr. Strange, and man, after that I was constantly vigil about noting whenever she was in any issues I read!
As I slowly started building my back-issue library of the Marvel Comics Silver age, I was actually kind of surprised at how often she appeared in key issues. My first assumption of her was the sassy and sexy gal in Dr. Strange, so I had no idea she was such an established and respected villain in the Marvel Pantheon!
While I loved Jack Kirby and John Buscema’s depictions of Ms. Amora Incantare, it wasn’t until I finally completed my Avengers collection that I discovered the “golden era” of The Enchantress. I’m talking the Avengers run from about issue #9-30 or so.
In those early Avengers issues, the only “feminine touch” the group had was the Wasp. And not to knock on Jan too much, but she really never struck me as the sultry type. She was firmly set as the wife to Henry Pym, (yeah, yeah, I know, they weren’t married at that point, but you get my meaning) and that left a space to fill for an “alluring” female character.
Enter The Enchantress! As a member of Baron Zemo’s Masters of Evil, she was hands down the sexiest and most intriguing character in the strip, and would continue to dominate that role until Wanda joined the ranks in issue #16.
Back then, The Enchantress (and her right-hand man The Executioner) appeared in so many issues, it was almost like they were co-stars of the book! And hey, there were no complaints from me! If there was one thing illustrator Don Heck could do, it was draw exotic girls, and his interpretation of Amora just has to be the DEFINITIVE version in my book- In fact, the illustration above (the far right head shot) is probably my very favorite drawing of The Enchantress, ever! Don’s take infused shades of Veronica Lake into Jack Kirby’s creation, and to me it was the perfect amalgam.
Of course, once Wanda joined, there were TWO exotic chicks Don Heck had to draw, and those stories that featured both the Scarlet Witch AND the Enchantress were just as good as it gets!
The Enchantress
First Appearance: Journey into Mystery #103
By Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
Favorite Artists:
Don Heck
John Buscema
Jack Kirby
Jackson Guice (!)
A friend of mine turned me on to the whole Iron Man thing right as it was in the middle of what would become the famous “Demon In A Bottle” saga, dealing with Tony Stark’s alcoholism, and in our opinion, there has never been a more stellar run on the strip.
The Iron Man creative “Dream Team” behind this run started very precisely at Iron Man issue #114. This introduced John Romita, Jr. into the fold, and together with inker Bob Layton and the awesome writing of David Michelinie, they created some of my very favorite comic stories, not just in Iron Man, but in Marvel Comics, period! Although John Romita Jr. officially left the strip after #128, he would continue to appear sporadically in Iron Man for a good many stories after that. One of the tales that he came back for was the spectacular two-parter created to celebrate Iron Man hitting the landmark #150th issue, in a story called KNIGHTMARE!
Our story begins in Iron Man Issue #149. Stark International has just filled a huge and very profitable technological order for a distant foreign country. Unfortunately for them, they find out just a little bit late that the cargo is heading for LATVERIA, and the components have been ordered by none other than DOCTOR DOOM!
Iron Man is sent to retrieve the order and recompensate Latveria, stating that they cannot sell their goods to someone who might use it for World Threatening purposes.He manages to stop the ship enroute to make its delivery.
Predictably, Doctor Doom isn't too happy about having to return the goods, and sends mechanical robots to snatch back the cargo that he feels are already his. Knowing the property is just too dangerous to leave in Doom's hands, Tony Stark reluctantly makes a trip over to Latveria, where he must confront Doom and retrieve the cargo once more.
Meanwhile, Doctor Doom’s long-suffering assistant Hauptmann lurks in the shadows, eyeing the battle. He has been formulating a plan to get revenge on Doom for killing his brother years ago, and the opportunity to execute his plan seems to be coming to light- As Doom and Iron Man grapple each other, they unwittingly find themselves atop Doom’s time machine.
Before they know it, Hauptmann has thrown the switch and sent them spiralling into the past! As soon as the deed is done, Hauptmann smashes the Time Machine to bits – knowing that without the device, Doom and Iron Man are trapped in the past –FOREVER! This was the cliffhanger that led to issue #150!
Can you imagine the month that I had to wait to get the next issue?! I was in agony!
As the Time Machine hurtles the duelling armored men into the past, they merely perceive it as a huge explosion, and believe they have been expelled into Doom’s courtyard. Only after looking around does Iron Man stop the fight to realize they’ve come a lot farther that that- They are in CAMELOT!
Doctor Doom quickly deduces what has happened. His assistant has sent them into the past. It had been set to come to Camelot for Doom had planned on making the journey to consult with the great sorceress Morgana Le Fey. Thanks to the turn of events, he has arrived- only in a much more permanent state than he’d planned!
They haven’t been there for very long before they are confronted by Guards who attempt to take them prisoners and are taken to be judged by King Arthur.
Iron Man is quick to make peace with the king and demonstrates some of his armor’s abilities. Doom is not so forthcoming, and states that in his homeland HE is a king, and won’t lower himself to perform “parlour tricks”. They are kept as permanent guests for the time being.
I love this scene- Tony’s in a melancholy mood. He’s such a product of the technology age, of circuits and machines, he couldn’t be more hopelessly out of place than here in the past.
Doom is able to wring a girl’s mind for information on Morgana Le Fey’s whereabouts. Once the knowledge is obtained, he immediately leaves the castle, locates Morgana’s Castle and offers his services to the Dark Sorceress. (And GEEZ, LOOK AT HER…DAMN, IMHO No One has EVER portrayed her so sultry and beautiful- JUST GORGEOUS!)
Doom explains to the Sorceress how he has been visiting the great magicians through time using his timecube machine with one purpose: to free his mother from the prisons of hell. Morgana Le Fey listens and strikes a bargain with Doom- she will help him if he will lead her undead soldiers in the final battle with King Arthur. Doom readily agrees.
Meanwhile, back at the battlefield, once the undead soldiers become inanimate again, he knows that Le Fey has gone, and his chance of rescuing his tormented mother has once again slipped from his grasp! In a rage, he speeds over to the castle, and smashes in on a startled Iron Man.
The battle over, even Doom must concede that there is no reason for him to exist here anymore. He decides the time is right for his return to his own time. And here’s where the story just blew me away, as Doctor Doom reveals his plan to Iron Man:
It is just possible that they CAN return to the present, but only with their COMBINED GENIUSES and CANNIBALIZING BOTH OF THEIR ARMORED SUITS and using the intricate circuitry to create a device that might warp time around them and return them to the present day! Yes, they realize the only way they will get back home is to work TOGETHER!
The two minds work together all through the night, and by dawn have come up with an elaborate construction wired into both armored suits for power. They make a truce that if the device should happen to work, they will allow each other to go their own way.
When the final connection is made, the fabric of time rips around them, and the two find themselves back in the present time, the collaborative construct reduce to molten slag around their fried mechanical parts. Doom leaves with a remark: “We WILL Meet Again”, to which a weary Iron Man simply states, ”I’ll Be Waiting.”
Then the two turn around and go their separate ways.
At the time I read this story, I had already fallen in love with the character of Doctor Doom, having recently read the Fantastic Four story “The Coming Of Overmind”, where Doom finds himself allied with his arch enemies to overthrow an Alien Attack, and this new dimension to his persona just about sealed the deal for me. I mean, having Doom and Iron Man dismantle themselves together to build a time device was just ingenious!
The intricate artwork only made it more impressive, and a special point MUST be made here, about the incredible inking talent of Bob Layton. In my opinion, there is NO ONE out there who does “metal” like him. Everything he embellishes REALLY looks hard as steel, I remember him illustrating a cover of Captain America, and even then, Cap’s Sheild looked so tough!
After this there was only more to come, tales such WHAT IF DOCTOR DOOM WAS A HERO? and an excellent Red Skull battle in SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM UP, not to mention the incredible John Byrne Fantastic Four issues that were still to come!
And as a bonus side note, years later, when Iron Man hit its landmark 250th Issue,they celebrated by creating a SEQUEL to “Knightmare”, in a tale called “Recurring Knighmare”, this time sending Iron Man and Dr. Doom into the FUTURE!
Roger Stern and John Byrne pay respect to the Legacy of Marvel Comics' Golden Age featuring Captain America and the Invaders in this awesome story that appeared in the pages of Captain America 253 and 254.
His accusations fall upon deaf ears, however, because he is old and unwell, and everyone believes him to be getting senile. But Lord Crichton feels in his heart that he is correct, and calls upon the only person whom he knows will believe him: Captain America.
I love this scene where Captain America reunites with his former team mate Spitfire, Miss Jacqueline Crichton. During the war, she was the teenage girl who had a crush on Cap, but to her sad realization, she sees that because of his years in suspended animation, he has remained young, while she has aged many years.
I love this passage because the story reflects so much about time, how it steals strength and energy from people who were larger than life in their youth. More than this, though is the story’s underlying message of respect and friendship. It’s never clearer that when Cap has a chance to talk to Lord Crichton alone..…
Unlike everyone else in the house, Captain America is the only one who still gives Lord Crichton the respect and dignity the former leader of The Invaders deserves. Both men are true heroes here.
Lord Crichton tells Cap that his half brother is back from he dead and will be coming to take his life. He states that his brother will continue to return from the grave until he is killed the only way to properly kill a vampire: beheading.
All suspicions are laid to rest that night, however, when Baron Blood descends upon Falsworth Manor to take out meddling Captain America.
But The Vampire is in for a surprise, when he finds Captain America wide awake and waiting! Ouch! That’s gotta hurt!
The Vampire flees as morning breaks, and thus the manhunt begins to locate the body of Baron Blood before he can strike again. All paths come up dry, however, and the group is forced to change their tactics. They must bait Baron Blood and draw him to THEM!
They use the bait they know Baron Blood cannot resist: Having old Lord Crichton dress up again as his old foe Union Jack will be too much for the vampire to take.
When the Baron arrives as expected at sunset, however, it is Lord Crichton’s nephew’s friend who is waiting in the suit. Together with Captain America the two battle Baron Blood to a standstill! Time is running short for them though, because as the sun goes down, the Baron gets stronger. Quick action MUST be taken while they have the vampire against the ropes, and Cap remembers the advice Lord Crichton gave him a few days ago:
The story ends with the group destroying all the remains of Baron Blood. After the ceremony, they find that Lord Crichton has also passed on. They are satisfied though, knowing that Lord Crichton died with the knowledge that his evil half brother’s reign was over.
A terrific story full of history and respect for the legacy of the Golden Age of Marvel Comics.
I am part of the John Byrne / Chris Claremont era of the Uncanny X-Men, and so by 1980, I was collecting a whole smorgasboard of titles in the Marvel and DC canon. One of the titles I collected was THOR, and this issue really blew me away as a kid.
Really Nice story written by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Maccchio, with art by Keith Pollard (whatever happened to this guy? His Fantastic Four stuff was terrific!) and Chic Stone.
Former Herald to Galactus Gabriel the Air-Walker awakens in a farm out in the country, where the Machinesmith’s secret lab has once been hidden. Bursting out of the Barn, He is approached by a small boy named Kevin who thinks Gabriel is the coolest thing since Darth Vader. We find out Kevin has recently lost his father, and the lonely boy immediately identifies with Gabriel. The boy wants to tag along, and Gabriel, needing someone to help him along the way to find out what has happened since he last walked, allows him to.
They first go to the Fantastic Four, where Gabriel finds that Galactus has been defeated and is gone. Gabriel creates a blizzard that covers the city which alerts Thor and prompts him to take action. Thor manages to get the boy away from Gabriel, and is a little confused that the boy doesn’t seem to realize the danger Gabriel is- Everyone believes the boy to be Gabriel’s hostage, not knowing he is there on his own free will!
The two powerhouses battle, until Gabriel gets the upper hand and knocks Thor out cold.
Gabriel is ready to destroy Thor, But Kevin pleads for Gabriel not to kill him. “Only Bad Aliens kill people!” he reasons. A soft spot is touched in Gabriel, and he relents. “Very Well, Kevin…He shall Live”. He levitates Kevin back up to him and the two go off to further explore the city.
Meanwhile, Thor has regained consciousness, and is determined once and for all to stop Gabriel. Now realizing Gabriel is only a robot, he doesn’t hold back and slams his hammer right through the Herald’s chest, destroying him at once. The Robot and the child both plummet to earth, where Thor catches Kevin. He is quite surprised when the boy runs to the fallen Gabriel and bursts into tears. His newfound friend has been taken from him, just like his father. Thor realizes now that Gabriel had no intent to harm the boy, and quietly bows out.
I cannot tell you how much this story affected me. In fact, for a while there, Thor stories were quite humanitarian in nature. Issue #303 deals with a priest who is losing his faith, and #304 shows Thor saving an elderly woman from being struck by a car, only to see her get struck down later in a battle with The Wrecker and his Wrecking Crew.
All of these stories to this day remain close to my heart!
The first comics I read featuring Wanda was the David Michelinie / John Byrne run of THE AVENGERS, and also the "Marvel Triple Action" stories that reprinted the early Roy Thomas / John Buscema Avengers issues (I especially dug #47: "Mine Is The Power")...together, these two comics gave me a very complete picture of Wanda and Pietro, as in the Triple action stories we see them as young unsure characters, and jumping ahead to the #181-191 run, we see not only two very confident characters, but somewhere along the lines Wanda had married The Vision, and Quicksilver had married Crystal of the Inhumans!
So I fell in love with the Scarlet Witch. Yes. It's True. My favorite covers were the ones that prominently featured Wanda on them, and good old George Perez never failed to deliver! Issues #171 and #161 were among the first "back issues" I purchased, and I remember my friend James getting a big box of old comics from his relatives, and one night as I browsed through the stacks, I came across Avengers #113 with Wanda defiantly cursing the crowd for striking down The Vision, and I immediately went "OOH! I...I want this issue!" To which James dismissively said, "Yeah.. I figured you would..." Hahahaha
First Appearance: X-Men #4, By Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Favorite Artists for Wanda:
• John Buscema (Avengers 47-53, 76-92)
• George Perez, specifically the Avengers #160-172 era (especially the BRIDE OF ULTRON arc),
• John Byrne, Avengers #181-191 run, especially The Yesterday Quest, (issues #185-187)
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