The Heroes Return Era of the Avengers

[Zauriel]

Avengers Forever #1-12
Kang and Immortus are at war, with Immortus trying to stop humanity from threatening the galaxy and Kang figuring that this priority of his future self offends his honor. A team of Avengers are gathered from different time periods with Rick Jones, Wasp and Antman from the present, a despondent Captain America, a crazed Yellowjacket (from that time Hank Pym had a breakdown and believed that he killed Hank Pym) and cocky size-changing Hawkeye from the past and Songbird and Captain Marvel (Genis-Vel) from the future.

After an initial showdown in limbo, they’re sent on missions to the past and future as they uncover the secrets of Kang and his many variants. One group encounters the Avengers of the 1950s when their interest in a Skrull impersonator of Richard Nixon is misunderstood. Another group goes to the west, which makes former carny Hawkeye giddy. The third group goes to the future of Killraven when Black Panther and a pregnant Jocasta lead what is left of the Avengers.
There are a lot of major retcons, but in a story about time travel it feels natural. Examples include the exact relationship between Kang and Immortus, as well as the exact relationship between Vision and the original Human Torch. It might seem indulgent, especially with big moments that don’t involve the Avengers in this story, but it’s fine for a story that is so obviously a love letter to the whole franchise. It is the type of story that makes the other comics it references better. And they do their homework, so something that might contradict early Avengers issues turns out to be supported elsewhere (a twist with whether there can be more than Space Phantom connects to a What If? Issue, the Avengers forgetting a Silver Age story due to time travel shenanigans figures into the plot.)

Years ago, this story was in first place on a list of 40 best Avengers stories meant to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Avengers. I don’t know if I’d go that far (my personal favorite Avengers story was published at around the same time- I’ll cover it in about a week), but it’s fun and epic and says something about the characters and the purpose of humanity.
It seems to have an impact on the depiction of time travel and Kang in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, although part of this may be how expertly Busiek and co-plotter Roger Stern hang together all sorts of different elements of Marvel Comics.

Avengers Forever was a great book that I enjoyed reading. Carlos Pacheco's meticulous attention to detail is amazing. The 1950's Avengers are now called Agents of Atlas. I wish Kurt Busiek would write a new book about that team.

[shooshoomanjoe]

I never enjoyed him that much on his own. While reined in by Byrne, he was good. Outside of that collaboration... not much to highlight.

I guess it's just a preference. Everything from Giant Size X-Men to X-Men #3 (1990s) was a delight to read

[K7P5V]

I guess it's just a preference. Everything from Giant Size X-Men to X-Men #3 (1990s) was a delight to read

Same here. A definite classic, "Madripoor Knights" is still an All-Time Favorite (XD)

[Hypestyle]

Avengers Forever should be an animated mini-series. Like a whole season should be an adaptation of that.

[kcekada]

Avengers Forever was a great book that I enjoyed reading. Carlos Pacheco's meticulous attention to detail is amazing. The 1950's Avengers are now called Agents of Atlas. I wish Kurt Busiek would write a new book about that team.

Yeah, that was a great series, though I was disappointed that it did not initially include 3D Man! I would say that is Pacheco's masterpiece, RIP.

[Mister Mets]

Note- The MC2 series A-Next is published around this time. It doesn’t seem to be part of the line, so I’m not covering it. I’m also not going to cover United They Stand, a tie-in to the short-lived animated series.



Thor Annual ‘99
Thor is summoned to an unusual meeting which turns out to be a surprise party arranged by the Fantastic Four to thank him for saving Franklin from Doctor Doom back in Heroes Return. He doesn’t remember what happened when they crashed into another dimension. Flashbacks reveal that Thor was taken care of by a sorceress named Ceranda, while Doctor Doom sought to control the locals and gain access to Thor’s interdimensional hammer. Thor is unable to return to Asgard, because of some limits on Mjolnir, and Doctor Doom suggests someone else is to blame.

It makes sense to have a one-shot at this point resolving the mystery of Thor’s disappearance and what happened to Doctor Doom, which also makes his inevitable return feel earned. It’s a treat to see Jurgens on art since he’s a decent penciller in addition to his skills as a writer. The resolution here is satisfying. There’s a tragedy in the story Thor can’t remember, and it’s also an excuse for an epic showdown between him and one of the most dangerous villains in the Marvel Universe (which may be one of Jurgens’ major approaches with Thor; I know there’s an epic Thanos story coming in Year Two.)

B+



Antman’s Big Christmas
In this Marvel Knights one-shot by Bob Gale and Phil Winslade, Henry Pym and Janet Dan Vyne decide to spend Christmas helping a fan of Antman deal with annoying relatives. But when responding to his letter, they have to convince the kid that they are who they claim to be. And then they have to avoid going too far when helping an adolescence torture relatives. Even if the relatives deserve it.
At the time, Bob Gale was a Hollywood figure dipping his toes into the comic book waters. His work on Batman was acclaimed, but it made sense that he’d be recruited for a Marvel Knights project, since that’s meant to be accessible and quirky. And this doesn’t feel like a conventional superhero story, which is fine.

That’s been a big part of Marvel comics from at least the Silver Age, and something they took to the MCU.
The story’s inconsequential, but it’s charming. It’s just fun to have the Avengers hanging out at Christmas, and it’s a decent story for Hank Pym as a superhero who doesn’t always get respect, even if he lives a good life as a scientist with cool friends and a rich beautiful wife.
The story is just fun. Phil Winslade’s detailed style works for the mundane elements, and gets to the magic of someone like Antman seeing the marvels of the real world when you’re inside a Christmas tree. Just as importantly, Winslade has decent comic timing.
B+

[Mister Mets]

The Avengers #16-18
The Doomsday Man has broken the Wrecking Crew out of prison to go after Ms. Marvel, but they end up in a fight with Photon (Monica Rambeau, formerly known as Captain Marvel) in New Orleans. She goes to the Avengers for help, especially since she accidentally power-charged the bad guys. Scarlet Witch’s chaos magic sends the Wrecking Crew to the kingdom of Akron and Thundra, while guest Black Knight accidentally gets Justice seriously injured.

Jerry Ordway tackles the fill-in story. He’s obviously a world-class superhero artist, but he’s also effective at capturing the voices of the Avengers at this particular time. Justice is nervous when it’s his turn to call a meeting to order. Jarvis has seen it all. Danvers still thinks the Avengers went too far in kicking her out of the team, when all she’s done is “social drinking.” Black Knight and Photon work as guest-stars. Both have a history with the Avengers, but they’re also not involved in the ongoing stories. They’re likable enough that I don’t mind their role, which highlights the history of the Avengers. And it allows Ordway to explore new dynamics like Firstar instinctively not trusting Dane Whitman. The dialogue is a bit clunky at times.
Justice does have the most compelling arc of any Avenger here, but it kinda makes sense. Someone who really wants to be an Avenger is fun to write for, and the challenge is interesting. He has to stand for himself when his colleagues in the Avengers think it would be best for him to take it easy, and the story does feature some serious drama from that conflict. There’s a sense that the Avengers take care of their own since they’ve got their own concussion protocols, and Jane Foster from Thor and Iron Man is brought over.

The Doomsday Man is a bit bland, but it is an Avengers-worthy challenge. The Wrecking Crew are B-listers, but they have personality and there are good narrative reasons for them to pose a challenge. And I like that the Avengers are confident they'll have another misunderstanding with Arkon and Thundra in the future.
B

[Mister Mets]

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #8-9
In an untold tale from when the Falcon was Captain America’s sidekick, and Steve Rogers had a secret identity as a police officer. After they save a white politician from an angry black crowd, and some racists- part of a new organization the Sons of the Shield- suggest that Captain America embodies their ideal of whiteness, they’ve gotta worry about increased racial tensions. An activist causes a firebombing in an effort to inflame tensions and Captain America is seemingly killed in an ensuing fight. So the Falcon decides that he’s gotta take over as Captain America. And he’ll need to be as good as Cap since the villain has a plan that may lead to millions dying, and he’s got a brainwashed Steve Rogers working for him.

It’s a bit of a missed opportunity not to connect this to Avengers Forever, which also features Captain America from roughly this time period. I believe that this is the first time Sam Wilson took over as Captain America, which is obviously meaningful since he’s taken over the job plenty of times since, including in the movies. Obviously Steve Rogers gets better, but this story has something meaningful to say about the characters and thorny issues of race relations and how bad people can exploit it.
Cully Hammer does the art for Part One, and Doug Braithwaite tackles Part Two. The styles are a bit different, but both are decent storytellers.
B+

The Mighty Thor #9

Thor defeats his former enemy Replicus- brought back by young shmucks, and realizes that his new alter ego of Jake Olsen was supposed to be at a ball game with his fiance and her daughter. To solve the mystery of what happened to Asgard, he seeks out former opponent Orikal, who can't help, although Marnot- the being who freed him from Hel in Issue 2- reveals who the real enemies are, and how Odin first overcame the dark gods.
There are some similarities here with the annual. Jurgens is answering some big questions right about the point when people might get frustrated at the lack of answers. Readers are going to get annoyed if Thor keeps trying to find out what happened to Asgard and always gets stymied and this is a decent way to play with expectations to have him try something and fail, but get answers elsewhere. The Dark Gods are a bit generic, and there’s a moment in the flashback where their defeat is way too convenient, but getting John Buscema and Jerry Ordway to draw the story sells it as part of Thor’s history and as a significant moment in the new run (And it is: this is when Thor realizes who his enemies in the first year of the series are- kicking off the final saga.) When John Buscema draws villains for Thor, it elevates their stature. And the woman who wanted to sacrifice her four year old also highlights the idea that those gods are scary.
B+

[Kaijudo]

Avengers Forever was a great book that I enjoyed reading. Carlos Pacheco's meticulous attention to detail is amazing. The 1950's Avengers are now called Agents of Atlas. I wish Kurt Busiek would write a new book about that team.

Yeah, I never liked it that the Agents of Atlas name was co-opted by the Pan-Asian team with Jimmy Woo, Brawn, White Fox, Wave, etc. The whole point of the name was that the members were published by Atlas Comics pre-Marvel. Yeah, Woo debuted under Atlas and is still a key player of the new team, but the others were all created by the time the company had changed to Marvel. It might make sense in-universe, but from a reader's perspective it feels kinda pointless.

[Mister Mets]

Thunderbolts #27-30
Teen Thunderbolts Zolt and Charcoal face a new challenge: high school, courtesy of Hawkeye’s efforts to make the team more legitimate. Gravitron gives ordinary people the power to fly, as long as they’re willing to use it to commit crimes and get him his cut. Hawkeye tries to use the resources of the defunct superteam the Champions, but this draws the attention of former member Archangel, who helps the team against Gravitron, not that it makes a difference. As a result, the teens not allowed on missions are the only ones who can stop a mass murderer with a super-powered army.
Gravitron’s plot is a good one. Ordinary people with superpowers in thrall to a madman is a decent challenge for a superteam. He’s abusing the opportunity the way you would expect from a former scientist with no morals to speak of.

The dynamics with the Thunderbolts are solid. The soap opera stuff works, building on what’s been established with the characters. Female members keep trying to make out with Hawkeye for different reasons. Atlas finds a former enemy working as a bartender, and enjoys the camaraderie, while still suspicious of how it may end up.
The series has major Claremont/ Byrne X-Men vibes, which is fine because that’s probably the best Marvel team book ever. It’s also appropriate for a series about a superteam on the run. As Archangel notes, the X-Men were feared and hated because of how they were born. The Thunderbolts are feared and hated because of all the terrible things they’ve done.
A



This would be a decent story to adapt into a movie, just to a superhero team reacting to overpowered civilians.

[Mister Mets]

The Mighty Thor #10-12
The dark gods who took down Asgard and captured Odin know that Thor is coming after them, so they goad him into battle by threatening to execute Sif. They’re much too strong for him, and he has to escape them having lost his powers. But he’s able to form an alliance with the gods he’s fought against in earlier stories.
This story seems to be a major influence on Thor: Ragnarok, which substituted the Dark Gods with Hela. It’s a story where Asgard is taken over by old enemies with the power to break Mjolnir. The story itself is fine and epic, although the villains are generic types we’ve seen before, and the allies Thor has to get to help fight them are more interesting than they are.

There’s a reason I call the bad guys the Dark Gods and not Majeston Zelia or Perrikus. Part of it may be the requirements of the story where you need someone powerful enough to take over Asgard for a year’s worth of comics, but not so powerful that Asgard can’t be rebuilt into something familiar for Year Two. The details and sequences are solid, and the journey through an Asgardian sewer represents a highlight.

This seems like an easy comic to get right because so much of it is just payoff, and it is earned and feels satisfying to get moments that everyone involved recognize to be awesome like Thor teaming up with the Destroyer (who has more personality than usual because this story focuses on the man whose body is trapped in the armor) or the Asgardians released from their chains and fighting back.
B+

[ComicNoobie]

Thunderbolts #27-30
Teen Thunderbolts Zolt and Charcoal face a new challenge: high school, courtesy of Hawkeye’s efforts to make the team more legitimate. Gravitron gives ordinary people the power to fly, as long as they’re willing to use it to commit crimes and get him his cut. Hawkeye tries to use the resources of the defunct superteam the Champions, but this draws the attention of former member Archangel, who helps the team against Gravitron, not that it makes a difference. As a result, the teens not allowed on missions are the only ones who can stop a mass murderer with a super-powered army.
Gravitron’s plot is a good one. Ordinary people with superpowers in thrall to a madman is a decent challenge for a superteam. He’s abusing the opportunity the way you would expect from a former scientist with no morals to speak of.

The dynamics with the Thunderbolts are solid. The soap opera stuff works, building on what’s been established with the characters. Female members keep trying to make out with Hawkeye for different reasons. Atlas finds a former enemy working as a bartender, and enjoys the camaraderie, while still suspicious of how it may end up.
The series has major Claremont/ Byrne X-Men vibes, which is fine because that’s probably the best Marvel team book ever. It’s also appropriate for a series about a superteam on the run. As Archangel notes, the X-Men were feared and hated because of how they were born. The Thunderbolts are feared and hated because of all the terrible things they’ve done.
A



This would be a decent story to adapt into a movie, just to a superhero team reacting to overpowered civilians.

Graviton is such an underrated villain for how powerful and the things he accomplishes. The Thunderbolts comics really showed what he could do with gravity powers. It always makes me wonder how powerful Zero-G from Power Pack would be if he had a wider range of his power.

[Mister Mets]

Entry…

Iron Man #15

Tony Stark’s doing a little bit better now that he has arrested his cellular degeneration. He’s finally able to give a long-promised speech to Happy’s youth enter in Downtown Seattle, but the festivities are interrupted by Nitro, who has been hired to kill Tony Stark.
Halfway through the issue Sean Chen is replaced by Salvador Larocca, and it’s not a good fit. Chen’s work is detailed and somewhat realistic, while Larocca’s got a more manga-inspired cartoony inspired style at this point. Each of the artists is fine in their way. It’s just jarring to see them on the same story in the same issue.
Otherwise, the story is fine. The threat presents a decent challenge for Iron Man. We get some momentum on ongoing stories as Rhodes faces a death threat, Tony ponders the mastermind while recovering from an ailment and Happy gets a big moment. The resolution to the Nitro story is pretty decent; it’s the way Iron Man stories are supposed to end- the genius with a lot of resources outsmarts the bad guy. Nitro even gets to learn how he contributed to Captain Marvel’s death, and I’m thinking it feels like this was a different era than the Death of Captain Marvel, but so much more time has passed from when this issue was published to now than between Starlin’s graphic novel and this issue.
A-

The Mighty Thor #13

The Dark Gods have fallen, and Odin is back on the throne of Asgard. Marnor, the mysterious force who combined Thor with mortal Jake Olsen reveals his identity and Odin’s connections to Thor’s misery.
I want to make a quick comment on why this type of comic works so well. Readers want to see characters reacting to big events, and thinking about it the way readers would. So much of comics is setting up the next thing, but it’s satisfying to see the superheroes dealing with the aftermath of the big thing they just did. They can celebrate. They can be annoyed with one another. I think my favorite moment is a conversation between Thor and Jane Foster where he reveals something very frustrating his father did, and she just things it’s typical of him.
The cliffhanger is also quite solid. Anyone thinking they’d drop the book now that the Dark Gods saga ended is probably going to pick up the next issue to see what happens next.
A-

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #10

This is an oddball humor one-shot by James Felder and Steve Manion in which Captain America has an anachronistic adventure in the early 60s. It’s anachronistic because Avengers #4 and all of Cap’s Silver Age adventures were published after John F Kennedy’s assassination and obviously the Marvel concept of real time doesn’t really allow for JFK to have sent Cap on a mission. Of course, the Comics Code of the 1960s would not have allowed a story to open with Cap encountering a blonde bombshell celebrity wearing only an American flag.
It’s goofy Wally Wood/ Harvey Kurtzman era Mad Magazine style fun, although some of the humor might not fly in a comic today. A dream sequence just gives an excuse for an already absurd comic book to take it up to 11. Why not have Captain America fight an LMD pastiche of Frank Sinatra?
B+

[ARkadelphia]

Graviton is such an underrated villain for how powerful and the things he accomplishes. The Thunderbolts comics really showed what he could do with gravity powers. It always makes me wonder how powerful Zero-G from Power Pack would be if he had a wider range of his power.

By sheer power alone, Graviton should outclass, say, Magneto. But I actually like the fact that a character’s abilities go beyond just innate abilities. The indomitable spirit should count for a lot, just like it does in sports.

[Mister Mets]

Iron Man #16-17

A dragon statue talks to Billy Yuan, a young man in Seattle who feels guilty after introducing his sister to the drugs that left her comatose, and Count Zorba wants Tony’s help finding it. The dragon transforms the kid into a monster instrumental in the resurrection of Fin Fang Foom.
The series does away with Iron Man’s secret identity in a few years, but I do like how he sells the idea to the public, faking an empty Iron Man suit teleporting away or messages from “Iron Man” as an excuse to go to situations where superheroes are needed.

I’ve always associated Fin Fang Foom with Iron Man thanks to the 90s TV show even if he’s not usually an Iron Man rogue. He’s a decent challenge for Iron Man, especially when Kurt Busiek & Roger Stern are working together on composing action scenes for Patrick Zircher and Sean Chen. Billy Yuan’s story is satisfying, a good example of how one-off bystanders can make superhero comics more compelling. We get some new developments for Tony, as he realizes a complication with a new relationship (the girl- who helped him in a previous story, so there’s some history- may like Iron Man a bit too much) while Happy rises to further prominence. The two issues are solid, but I’m still interested in the larger run. And I do like how Tony doesn’t realize how he wins this one.
A-

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #11

While teaming up to stop a crook, the Johnny Storm Human Torch tells Cap about an early adventure involving a criminal pretending to be the returned Captain America (Strange Tales #114- a Lee/ Kirby classic seen as a dry-run for Cap’s return)
Walter McDaniel & Anthony Williams have a style that seems to be typical of the 90s. It’s okay. The best part of the story is Cap & the Torch having fun, with Cap’s commentary on the story, which gets close to making fun of the Silver Age but seems to be respectful enough, especially when a connection with their current story is revealed. It’s a fun one-off.
B+