June 21, 2014 by jerrymcmullen - 5 Comments

Essential Avengers Vol. 5

First Published: January 2006

Contents: Avengers #98 (April 1972) to #119 (March 1972); Daredevil #99 (May 1973); and Defenders #8 (September 1973) to #11 (December 1973)

Key Creator Credits: Roy Thomas, Harlan Ellison, Steve Englehart, Barry Windsor-Smith, Rich Buckler, Don Heck, Sal Buscema, Bob Brown, and others

Key First Appearances: Imus Champion, Mantis

Story Continues From: Essential Avengers Vol. 4

Story Continues In: Essential Avengers Vol. 6

Overview: In the aftermath of the Kree-Skrull war, the Avengers have returned to Earth to find that one of their members is missing. Tracking down the Warhawks, the Avengers are reunited with Clint Barton, who has dropped the Goliath act and is now back to the bow and arrows of Hawkeye. With him, they find another former Avenger, Hercules, confused and disoriented. What a way to start the next volume of Essential Avengers!

The disoriented Hercules leads into a storyline that leads into #100 anniversary issue, which brought back every former Avengers – including the Hulk – in a battle between Earth, Asgard, and Olympus. Following that, the Avengers face numerous familiar foes, including the Grim Reaper, the Sentinels, the Space Phantom, and Magneto.

The highlight of this volume is the Avengers-Defenders War, which crossed over between the two titles, both scripted by Steve Englehart. Loki, the step-brother of Thor, and Dormammu, long-time foe of Doctor Strange, manipulate the two super-teams into battle. This has been reprinted multiple times, including in the Essential Defenders books.

The volume concludes as the Avengers make another return to Rutland, Vermont, for the annual Halloween parade. Once again, chaos ensues as the Collector shows up trying to complete a set of Avengers.

What is interesting with this volume is Englehart advancing the characters into relationships, bordering on a soap opera. The Scarlet Witch and the Vision start a relationship, much to Quicksilver’s chagrin. Mantis shows up, and wants to claim the Vision as her own. The Swordsman has fallen head over heels in love with Mantis, but can’t get the time of day from her. All of this gets resolved in the next volume.

What makes this Essential?: We see another transition in the Avengers title as Roy Thomas steps down as writer, and Steve Englehart comes in as the new scribe of the book. The X-Men – friend and foes – make numerous appearances during a time when their book was strictly a reprint title. Englehart scripts one of the first multi-part crossovers between the Avengers and the Defenders. With the introduction of Mantis, we start approaching the Celestial Madonna storyline that will dominate Essential Avengers Vol. 6. The downside to this volume is the art, which suffers from a lack of consistency. If you liked Essential Avengers Vol. 4, you should probably have this volume as well to continue the run.

Footnotes: Avengers #111 and Daredevil #99 was also reprinted in Essential Daredevil Vol. 4.

Avengers #115-#118 and Defenders #8-#11 are also reprinted in Essential Defenders Vol. 1.

If you like this volume, try: Avengers: Under Siege by Roger Stern and John Buscema. Running in Avengers #270-#277, the Masters of Evil are back with a vengeance, taking down the Avengers one-by-one. During the onslaught, Hercules is beaten within inches of his life; control of the Avengers Mansion falls over to the bad guys; and even the butler Jarvis is caught up and injured. But falling back to the group’s origins, the Wasp rallies the troops, calling in Thor and Captain America to defeat the Masters of Evil. When fans are asked to name the best Avengers stories, this is easily in the top five for everyone, if not the top choice. This has been collected multiple times and remains in print nearly 30 years after it initially ran in the monthly book.

April 16, 2014 by jerrymcmullen - 6 Comments

Essential Hulk Vol. 3

First Published: May 2005

Contents: Incredible Hulk #118 (August 1969) to #142 (August 1971); Captain Marvel #20 (June 1970) and #21 (August 1970); and Avengers #88 (May 1971)

Key Creator Credits: Roy Thomas, Herb Trimpe, Stan Lee, Gil Kane, and Harlan Ellison

Key First Appearances: Glob, Barbara Norriss, Jack Norriss, Jim Wilson, Golem, Jarella, Doc Samson

Story Continues From: Essential Hulk Vol. 2

Story Continues In: Essential Hulk Vol. 4

Overview: Welcome back to the smashing adventures of the Hulk. Our misunderstood monster has moved into the 1970s, still hounded by the army but now facing new challenges from friends and foes alike.

Hulk faces off against his familiar gamma-radiated foes in the Leader and the Abomination. But now he starts branching out to be threatened by the Rhino, the Absorbing Man, Maximus, and the Mole Man – all villains generally associated with other Marvel heroes. Speaking of which, the heroes themselves get matched up against the Hulk, as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four cross paths with the Hulk in an attempt to subdue him. Note the use of the word attempt, because no one stops the Hulk.

This volume shows us a different side of the Hulk as well. He picks up a new sidekick in Jim Wilson, who does his best to help his new jade friend. We also meet Jarella, the princess of a sub-atomic world that is a mix of high-tech and sorcery. Jarella becomes the love of the Hulk’s life, although Bruce Banner still remains true to Betty Ross.

What makes this Essential?: I really enjoyed this volume. Roy Thomas takes over as writer from Stan Lee, and moves the character away from being on the constant run from the army. Instead, we get more match-ups against foes who could test the Hulk’s strength, such as the Thing, Absorbing Man, the Rhino, and others. He is built up as the misunderstood monster who wants nothing more than to be left alone. We meet Jarella for the first time, and see the sensitive side of the Hulk, showing he has other emotions other than anger. This is a great volume to own if you are a fan of the Hulk. For the casual Marvel fan, it’s worth a read, but it may not be essential.

Footnotes: Incredible Hulk #126 is also reprinted in Essential Defenders Vol. 1 and Essential Doctor Strange Vol. 2.

Avengers #88 and Incredible Hulk #140 were also reprinted in Essential Avengers Vol. 4.

Captain Marvel #20 and #21 are also reprinted in Essential Captain Marvel Vol. 1.

If you like this volume, try: the 2008 Hulk series by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness. Following the events of the World War Hulk storyline, the Incredible Hulk title was renamed to the Incredible Hercules and given to the Greek Avenger. The Hulk moved into a new adjective-less title and a new take was presented with the character. A mysterious Red Hulk was introduced, which led to months of speculation as to who that might be. McGuinness’ art is perfect for the Hulk and his supporting cast, and Loeb was having fun with the stories. This has been collected multiple ways, so it should be easy to find.

March 15, 2014 by jerrymcmullen - 10 Comments

Essential Avengers Vol. 4

First Published: October 2004

Contents: Avengers #69 (October 1969) to #97 (March 1972), and Incredible Hulk #140 (June 1971)

Key Creator Credits: Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema, John Buscema, Neal Adams, and Harlan Ellison

Key First Appearances: Grandmaster, Squadron Sinister (Doctor Spectrum, Hyperion, Nighthawk, Whizzer), Zodiac (Aquarius, Aries, Cancer, Capricorn, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Pisces, Sagittarius, Taurus, Virgo), Monica Lynne, Arkon, Lethal Legion, Red Wolf & Lobo, Lady Liberators, Valkyrie, Squadron Supreme (American Eagle, Doctor Spectrum, Golden Archer, Hyperion, Lady Lark, Nighthawk, Tom Thumb, Whizzer), Jarella

Story Continues From: Essential Avengers Vol. 3

Story Continues In: Essential Avengers Vol. 5

Overview: Hold onto your seats, faithful readers. This is a 29-issue run of Avengers that never lets off the gas, giving us non-stop action that crosses multiple universes.

Leading off, we meet the Grandmaster, one of the Elders of the Universe, who has challenged Kang to a game. Kang chooses the Avengers as his pawns, and the Grandmaster chooses from an alternate dimension the Squadron Sinister, whose four members bare a striking resemblance to DC’s Justice League. Later in this volume, the Avengers travel to another alternate dimension dubbed Earth-S, where they meet the Squadron Supreme. This team fights for the side of good, and again contains character analogs for the Justice League.

Next up would be the confrontation with the Zodiac, a crime cartel made up of 12 members representing the various astrological signs. In particular, Taurus (Cornelius Van Lunt) would be a constant thorn in the side of the Avengers for many years. During this period, we also learn more about Black Panther, getting his full origin and meeting a new romantic interest for him in Monica Lynne.

The concluding story in the volume is the Kree-Skrull War. While it officially begins with issue #92, hints of this looming confrontation had been dropped for months. The two alien races go to war against each other, and Earth finds itself literally in the middle of the battle. The Avengers intercede, leading to a ceasefire and letting both empires know that the Earth is off limits to territorial expansion by either the Kree or the Skrulls.

The creators of these issues are some of the all-time greats. This is some of Roy Thomas’ best writing in his long career. The art is alive, jumping off the page thanks to the Buscemas and Neal Adams. We are even treated to a rare comic appearance by legendary writer Harlan Ellison, whose plot concept was adapted into a two-issue story by Roy Thomas for Avengers #88 and Incredible Hulk #140.

What makes this Essential?: This is a must-own volume for so many reasons – the creative talent on these books, the introduction of the Squadrons Sinister and Supreme, a new Elder of the Universe, the Zodiac crime organization, the Lady Liberators, and, of course, the Kree-Skrull War! These comics are still influencing ongoing stories 40+ years later. Seriously, if you plan on not having this book in your collection, then I really need to question our friendship.

Welcome to Rutland: In Avengers #83, the Avengers and the Lady Liberators travel to Rutland, Vermont, where they take part in the annual Halloween parade. The parade began in 1960, with local resident Tom Fagan being the driving force behind the event. Fagan, a comic book fan, would encourage people to dress in superhero costumes for the parade, and he would wear a Batman costume for the event. Fagan developed friendships with many popular comic writers of the early 1970s, such as Roy Thomas, Steve Englehart, Len Wein, and others. These writers then started incorporating Fagan, Rutland, and the Halloween parade into various stories at both DC and Marvel. In Marvel books, many DC characters could be seen in the parade, and vice versa. In addition to this issue of Avengers, look for Tom Fagan and Rutland to appear in Batman #237, Thor #206-207 (Essential Thor Vol. 5) and #232 (Essential Thor Vol. 6), Avengers #119 (Essential Avengers Vol. 5), Justice League of America #103 (Showcase Presents Justice League of America Vol. 5) and #145, Defenders #100 (Essential Defenders Vol. 5), Batman #237 (Showcase Presents Batman Vol. 6) and many other comics.

Footnotes: Avengers #88 and Incredible Hulk #140 were also reprinted in Essential Hulk Vol. 3.

While 11 of the 12 members of the Zodiac debuted in Avengers #72, Scorpio (Jake Fury) made his first appearance in Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (June 1968).

If you like this volume, try: the Secret Invasion mini-series from 2008 from Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Francis Yu. Following the events of the Kree-Skrull War, the Skrull empire has secretly been capturing various superheroes and replacing them with disguised Skrulls. The ruse comes to light when “Electra” is killed in battle and her body reverts to her true form. Distrust forms among the superhero community, as colleagues question if they have a Skrull in their midst. During a raid of the Skrull world, many longtime characters believed dead were revealed to alive as prisoners of the Skrulls. Battles ensue as the Skrulls make a full-blown of invasion when their plan is revealed. The Skrulls are defeated in a final battle in Central Park, as a long-time Avenger makes the ultimate sacrifice to stop the Skrull threat. This has been collected as both a hardcover and as a trade paperback.