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Post by Batflunkie on Mar 29, 2017 12:56:50 GMT -5
Then again, I'm not much of a fan of team books as a rule of thumb, so your mileage may vary. I like team books, but the characters have to have good chemistry for me to find said books engaging The writers in this case are kind of like, to quote Alan Moore, Shamans; conjuring up the personalities and uniqueness of the characters and putting them to paper |
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Post by String on Mar 29, 2017 14:44:44 GMT -5
The Avengers series is my all time favorite run from any comic company. I break it down like this: 1-196 good to great 197-210- so-so 211-230 The Yellowjacket saga which was great 231-253- nothing too ground breaking 254-300 solid stories including the famous " siege" story. 300 on to 402 - largely forgettable Along with his handling of the Fall of Hank Pym, the continuing development of Wasp as a leader, the progression of Captain Marvel as a hero and Avenger, I liked how Stern developed Vision as well. How linking with Isaac, the Eternal's computer, as part of his recovery played out, opened larger avenues of exploration for Vision's character (beyond the seeming trope of 'Does he or does he not truly love Wanda'?). Yes, for better or worse, it ultimately lead to Bryne's arc in WCA over dismantlement but it brought renewed focus on the worthiness of AI as displayed by the Vision. As for the later parts of the run, I finally read Bob Harras' arc concerning the Gatherers which I think started somewhere around #353 perhaps? I'd heard horror stories about it, considering the time frame and Harras' influence as EIC in trying to mix in X-Men elements into the book and team in trying to boost sales. But for me, I thought it was a decent story with action and drama. Is it a classic on par with Thomas and Stern's work? No, but it's certainly better than the Crossing and Teen Tony.  |
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Mar 29, 2017 17:51:27 GMT -5
Going to echo everyone else except for the sadly deluded Confessor and say Avengers is top notch up through #285. My favorite era is the Thomas run from around #51-100, but other than a couple very brief hiccups (like #206-210 or so) it's excellent throughout.
The Gatherers storyline is the only highlight from #301-402, and while it's not as legitimately great like some of the earlier storylines, it's head and shoulders above everything else in the book during this era. It tries too hard to the X-Men, with the matching jackets, and Black Knight getting turned into a Cyclops wannabe, but it's very solid stuff overall.
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Post by Icctrombone on Mar 29, 2017 19:08:28 GMT -5
By the time "the crossing" came along, the books was sinking like the Titanic.
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Post by Icctrombone on Mar 29, 2017 19:12:06 GMT -5
Going to echo everyone else except for the sadly deluded Confessor and say Avengers is top notch up through #285. My favorite era is the Thomas run from around #51-100, but other than a couple very brief hiccups (like #206-210 or so) it's excellent throughout. The Gatherers storyline is the only highlight from #301-402, and while it's not as legitimately great like some of the earlier storylines, it's head and shoulders above everything else in the book during this era. It tries too hard to the X-Men, with the matching jackets, and Black Knight getting turned into a Cyclops wannabe, but it's very solid stuff overall. If you put a gun to my head to pick the highlight from 300-402, I would ay the story that had Nebula fight the Assemblers in space that had Spider-man trapped with them. It was # 314-318. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2017 21:24:58 GMT -5
I'm surprised at the amount of love in this thread for Avengers. The only issues I've read of that title was when I was a kid in the Bronze Age, and I recall very little of it. It seems like a title worth the effort for me to embark on acquiring. I'm carefully choosing my battles in which Masterworks to pick up, but I think I'll start fighting the battle to get Avengers.
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Post by Batflunkie on Mar 29, 2017 22:16:44 GMT -5
I'm surprised at the amount of love in this thread for Avengers I kind of am too, I mean you'd think by the way everyone talks about them on here that they'd be the defacto team-book  Personally I love Invaders and FF more, but to each their own |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2017 22:41:54 GMT -5
I'm surprised at the amount of love in this thread for Avengers I kind of am too, I mean you'd think by the way everyone talks about them on here that they'd be the defacto team-book Personally I love Invaders and FF more, but to each their own Bronze Age Invaders? |
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Post by Batflunkie on Mar 29, 2017 23:32:43 GMT -5
I kind of am too, I mean you'd think by the way everyone talks about them on here that they'd be the defacto team-book Personally I love Invaders and FF more, but to each their own Bronze Age Invaders? Yes, Roy Thomas' "Dream Comic" made flesh Love me some classic WWII Cap stories and Namor and Torch thrown in there is just the icing on the cake |
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Post by berkley on Mar 29, 2017 23:42:46 GMT -5
It's my favorite Marvel title. Issues 2-5 are, in my opinion, the peak of the Lee/Kirby collaboration prior to the introductions of the Inhumans, Galactus, and the Black Panther. The Cap's Kooky Quartet era (#17-25) has its moments but the book doesn't really become a must-read until Roy Thomas starts scripting (#35), especially once John Buscema comes aboard as artist with #41. From there through #71 is solid gold, particularly #54-62 and Annual #2. After that the book has its ups and downs but is generally enjoyable. With #89, the Kree-Skrull War storyline gets underway, not wrapping up until #100. Cei-U! So, yeah, go for it! I'd agree with all that, and add that Steve Englehart's run, which follows Roy Thomas's, continues the excellence and might even be my favourite, although sometimes hindered by inconsistent artwork. But maybe mfd1 has already read those, since they only asked about the issues up to #90. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2017 23:49:16 GMT -5
No, I've not read them. I saw one of the board members, James I think it was, saying his favorite run was Avengers 95-300, or around there, and that's why I was asking about the first 90 or so. I greatly appreciate everyone's contributions to this thread. It's been very helpful to me and interesting.
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 30, 2017 11:08:39 GMT -5
I've been reading Avengers #59 to #71 lately, and most of that run is pretty awesome. I love the three-issue series with the Avengers, Kang, the Grand-Master, the Squadron Sinister and ... the Invaders! in #69 to #71 (which I just read last night). Those issues were drawn by Sal Buscema and inked by the wonderful Sam Grainger, but this run also included art by John Buscema, Gene Colan and Barry Smith! Great stuff!
I've now read every issue of Avengers from #1 to around #280 except for the #98 to #120 era (I've only read a handful of those issues) and I'm feeling that in the long term, the Silver Age/Bronze Age Avengers is just a few hairs short of being as great as Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four for the long haul in the same period.
I'm planning on reading #98 to #120 pretty soon. Those issues feature the Avengers/Defenders War, which I read several chapters of in the late 1970s, and I've been wanting to read the whole thing ever since.
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Post by badwolf on Mar 30, 2017 11:25:08 GMT -5
I've read the first Avengers Omnibus (#1-30) and honestly I was disappointed, it wasn't very good. Just a series of slugfests plus Captain America pining over Bucky in a way that reads very differently today than it probably did then. You could say it's of its time but I don't think it's nearly as good as Spider-Man or FF of that era.
As for later eras, the Michelinie & Stern runs (roughly) are my favorite.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 30, 2017 11:46:54 GMT -5
I've read the first Avengers Omnibus (#1-30) and honestly I was disappointed, it wasn't very good. Just a series of slugfests plus Captain America pining over Bucky in a way that reads very differently today than it probably did then. You could say it's of its time but I don't think it's nearly as good as Spider-Man or FF of that era. Yeah, at I noted earlier, this was my feeling about the first 40 or so issues of The Avengers too. Lots of boring, rather two-dimensional stories to slog through, with the occasional issue of gold. Like you, I don't think it's a patch on FF and not even close to the high quality of Amazing Spider-Man. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 30, 2017 11:57:38 GMT -5
As for those early Avengers issues, I think they are pretty AWESOME (and chaotic and crazy and insane) for the first ten issues, but #11 and #13 are very disappointing, and #12 and #14 are pretty bad. You can see why they shook things up in #15 and #16. Cap's Kooky Quartet is my favorite era of the Avengers, even if some (a lot?) of the stories are kinda stupid. But I love #19 to #24 so much! The Swordsman, Power Man, the Enchantress, the bickering ... and then the Kang two-parter in #23 and #24. It's my favorite Kang story.
The tone of the comic changes quite a bit when Hank and Jan return.
I think reading it in a bunch is different from reading them in the wrong order over a period of ten or twenty years. The characters have a chance to grow on you. I read most of the issues from #30 to #45 in Marvel Triple Action in the 1970s, but some of the others I read for the first time just within the last few years.
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