Avengers: Stern/Buscema/Palmer Run (#255-#287) Appreciation Thread

[bossofbam]

This run made Dr. Druid my favorite Avenger (yes, you read that correctly). Great writing, great art, great everything.

[Nomads1]

Oh? I thought your favourite was that run after this one, the one with Rage, and Hank Pym permanently stuck(?) as Giant Man and drawn by Steve Epting? (of all people...! I never quite liked his art when he was early and green though.. IMHO, his later work improved greatly - you could still see multiple weaknesses in his work at that time - it was clear that, even though he was promising, he was still a bit unpolished)

Sorry, but I'm a bit confused by your post. Let me see if I can clear some points.
The run right after this one, was Walter Simonson's (with art also by Buscema and Palmer). I greatly enjoyed it, especially since he shook things up so much with the original "Avengers Disassembled", complete with an oddball team of "New Avengers". However, it didn't have a chance to really hit it's stride, and it's not as popular among Avengers fans (it does contain my all-time favorite single Avengers issue. The Annual, #17, tieing in with the Evolutionary War). Rage was introduced in Larry Hama's short run, but the art was by Paul Ryan and Tom Palmer. Steve Epting did illustrate a two-part story written by Fabian Nicieza, which mainly spotlighted Rage, but Rage was already gone when Epting became the regular artist on the book, then written by Bob Harras. Hank became Giant Man again during that run, but he was not stuck as a giant, as it happened when he was Goliath, at the end of Stan Lee's run and the beginning of Roy Thomas'. That run by Harras and Epting is probably my third favorite run on Avengers, and while I agree Epting was still not at the top of his game (he was, IMHO, fantastic in Ed Brubaker's Captain America), I do feel that the book lost a lot when he left it, after the conclusion of the Gatherers Saga.

In some ways I wasn't wild about the cast - mostly because Vision & Scarlet Witch were taken away from the book just as Buscema rejoined, plus I'm not a big Black Knight or Hercules fan (though lots of people are). But it didn't matter because the Stern run got much better with the new art team than it was under Al Milgrom.

What I find most impressive about Stern's run was how, with the six member limit in full force, he managed to spotlight so many Avengers, and give them distinctive arcs. Those pages were filled with story and fantastic character development.

Milgrom was a workhorse, but he was not an exciting artist on Avengers or West Coast Avengers and his art looked old-fashioned without being cool. Buscema was also old-fashioned by the '80s, but the best kind of old-fashioned - timeless.

Funny, just today I posted in another thread that Milgrom's early work, with a heavy Jim Starlin influence, was actually quite good. However, when he got to West Coast Avengers, it was already bland and boring. IMHO, of course.

Peace

[Johnrevenge]

Probably the best run of Avengers with no doubt. Stern did a terrific job with all the characters and Wasp proved to be one of the best leaders in Avengers story.

[Kaijudo]

The love/hate bromance between Hercules and Namor is one of the most underappreciated/unrecognized "super buddies" pairings out there. I'd definitely put it on the same list as Beast/Wonder Man, Luke Cage/Iron Fist, and Blue Beetle/Booster Gold.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

I enjoyed the love/hate bromance between Hercules and Namor during the Stern/Buscema/Palmer run.

[pugbuddy]

It was a rare run where the story and art all worked together flawlessly--and it was all great. Even though Big John only did layouts for it, Mr. Palmer was more than capable of finishing them spectacularly. Great stories with high drama and heroic action; it was fantastic in every way!

[MollyBarton]

I didn't regularly read comics until about a decade ago, but reading through old Avengers, this is definitely my favorite era. Wasp was amazing, and the Black Knight was at his best- the brave, good hearted, somewhat dorky scientist. I really miss that version of Dane Whitman! The team worked, even Dr. Druid until the run's end where he was ruined. Under Siege and Assault on Olympus are two of my favorite storylines ever.

[kilderkin]

Under Siege is one of my favorite Avengers tales, ever.

Agreed, hercules being so beaten terrified me as a young reader

loved this period, looking back it wasn't perfect but it had some great qualities and I loved the characterisation involved

Great stuff

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

It was great to me that the comicbook character Hercules got to beat the comicbook character Goliath more than a decade later in the pages of Thunderbolts

[L.R Johansson]

Sorry, but I'm a bit confused by your post. Let me see if I can clear some points.
The run right after this one, was Walter Simonson's (with art also by Buscema and Palmer). I greatly enjoyed it, especially since he shook things up so much with the original "Avengers Disassembled", complete with an oddball team of "New Avengers". However, it didn't have a chance to really hit it's stride, and it's not as popular among Avengers fans (it does contain my all-time favorite single Avengers issue. The Annual, #17, tieing in with the Evolutionary War). Rage was introduced in Larry Hama's short run, but the art was by Paul Ryan and Tom Palmer. Steve Epting did illustrate a two-part story written by Fabian Nicieza, which mainly spotlighted Rage, but Rage was already gone when Epting became the regular artist on the book, then written by Bob Harras. Hank became Giant Man again during that run, but he was not stuck as a giant, as it happened when he was Goliath, at the end of Stan Lee's run and the beginning of Roy Thomas'. That run by Harras and Epting is probably my third favorite run on Avengers, and while I agree Epting was still not at the top of his game (he was, IMHO, fantastic in Ed Brubaker's Captain America), I do feel that the book lost a lot when he left it, after the conclusion of the Gatherers Saga.



What I find most impressive about Stern's run was how, with the six member limit in full force, he managed to spotlight so many Avengers, and give them distinctive arcs. Those pages were filled with story and fantastic character development.



Funny, just today I posted in another thread that Milgrom's early work, with a heavy Jim Starlin influence, was actually quite good. However, when he got to West Coast Avengers, it was already bland and boring. IMHO, of course.

Peace

Yo, cheers for the low-down on this Nomads - I had indeed confused together several of these late 80's early 90's runs. Oddly enough you got me thinking about the fact that some of the only issues I read, was the start of that cooky run... what with The Forgotten One joining the Avengers during the INFERNO of all things...! : O

I must say, our tastes certainly differs here - I can't stand Bob Harras for instance - he's really, really not my cup of tea.

Simonson and Stern are both h*lla' cool though - love their work on Thor and Spider-man respectively.

[kilderkin]

This period is right up there as one of my all time favourites in any team book

Loved hercules in this period

Monica was a fantastic addition to the marvel mythos imo

Black knight was great and Janet was brilliantly written in this period and a great leader

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

AUDIO PODCAST: Some of My Friends Read Comics 041 - Avengers: Under Siege
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxIWbjiPPKk

http://www.comicsreporter.com/index....y_roger_stern/

[Gamma Burst]

These are my Avengers. Greatest run ever and my favorite line-up, by far!

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Hear! Hear!

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

This run is in my opinion the definitive run of the title. It stands out because every single issue was drawn by Buscema and Palmer. 33 issues, only one fill-in. To be fair they continued on the book for a lot longer but I marked Roger Stern's departure as the end of this specific run. Imagine an artist team today being able to put out that many issues, and in an era when comics were two pages longer than today’s.

They weren't exactly noteworthy for their artwork but man oh man could they tell a story. Their portrayals of Wasp, Captain Marvel, Black Knight, and a variety of others are classic.

Indeed they are!