Post by shaxper on Apr 26, 2018 10:40:05 GMT -5
#30-21
#40-31
#50-41
#60-51
#70-61
#80-71
#90-81
#100-91
It should be no surprise that the biggest tabulating challenge we faced going into this event was the whole Thanos/Magus debate: two beloved comic book sagas hopelessly intertwined within each other, and no clear consensus as to which is superior. And, of course, some people then voted only for the Warlock stories concerning Thanos, while others included the Captain Marvel ones. Maddening.
Technically, looking at the votes exactly as they were written, and following the rules as I wrote them, "The Thanos Saga," including both Captain Marvel and Warlock stories, should have won out and absorbed "Warlock: The Magus Saga," but that didn't seem to honor the spirit of the votes, so I created an exception.
Both "The Thanos Saga" and "Warlock: The Magus Saga" tied for the #12 spot, any vote that could have been counted towards one of the two sagas being counted towards both. Seemed like the solution that best honored the spirit of the votes.
#20-11
20. Astro City
by Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Alex Ross
originally published in: Astro City #1-6, vol. 2 #1-22, assorted miniseries and specials (1995-2000)
Nominated by: coke & comics, rberman, Icctrombone, Crimebuster, and Slam_Bradley
coke & comics says, "Still going strong, but I'll focus on the first two series eligible for this contest.
It works well as a series of vignettes. But it is one big story, the story of a city. (Same way that Dubliners is a novel)
The best two stories are "In Dreams", which concerns a man who dreams of flying; and, "Nearness of You", which concerns a man in love with a woman he's never met.
I remember getting really annoyed reading Neil Gaiman's introduction to the second trade, how badly he'd missed the point.
"Astro City", he wrote, "is about what would have happened if those old comics, with their fine simplicities and their primal, four-color characters, had been about something."
I stopped reading the introduction and vowed to never read another Gaimain book.
Luckily, one day, I picked up the book again and let Gaiman finish his thought. Because it turns out he corrected himself in the next sentence.
"Or rather, it assumes they were about something, and tells you the tales that, on the whole, slipped through the cracks."
I apologize for doubting him. Gaiman nailed it. Turns out the guy knows a thing or two about comics after all.
Astro City tells the stories that have always been right in front of us, if we'd just been willing to imagine a little more.
If Watchmen had questions about the superhero genre, then Astro City is the answer."
19. Swamp Thing (Alan Moore Reinterpretation)
by Alan Moore and others
originally published in: Saga of the Swamp Thing #20-64, and Annual 2 (1984-1987)
Nominated by: coke & comics, @mrp, Paste Pot Paul, Slam_Bradley, shaxper, brutalis, and Paste Pot Paul
coke & comics writes, "Alan Moore began his run in issue 19, finishing up the previous story with a bullet to Swamp Thing's head. Issue 20 is the "Anatomy Lesson", in which Swamp Thing is dissected and reimagined.
What follows is true horror, then a descent into a hell that combines Dante with several characters from the DC universe, figuring out where Spectre and Phantom Stranger and Deadman and Demon fit into the whole cosmology. And then a psychedelic love poem. And then the enigmatic John Constantine. And the Crisis. And a battle with Batman. And exile to a blue world. And a journey across space.
It's horror and science fiction and romance and a superhero story, comfortably jumping back and forth between genres or blending them as needed.
It's with this comic in hand and in mind that Neil Gaiman sat to write my #5 choice, Sandman. The entire Vertigo line was birthed in these pages, as well as the standards that DC superhero comics would strive to live up to henceforth."
18. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
by Don Rosa
originally published in: Anders And & Co. (August 10, 1992 thru June 12, 1995)
Nominated by: shaxper, Crimebuster, and Slam_Bradley
shaxper writes, "I've never seen a comic more seamlessly blend aspiration, goofy comedy, dark tragedy, and loving attention to research and history (both of comics and of the real world) into one power-packed adventure, but Rosa achieved it in this chronicle of Scrooge McDuck's life from the first moment he dreamed of making his fortune as a tender young shoe shine in Scottland to his life in the present day of the Disney Ducks world. Rosa gives Scrooge a richer, more full life than any other fictional character I've ever come across, and it makes us positively fall in love with the character and his life – all he's seen and experienced, and all the ways in which it has shaped him, to the point that one can never again look at that curmudgeonly old geezer with anything less than total pathos, even when another writer is playing him for laughs or using him as a simple plot contrivance. This work is true, unforgettable literature with the ability to transform. I don't think I can overstate that."
17. Daredevil: The Elektra Saga
by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson
originally published in: Daredevil #168-191 (1981-1983)
Nominated by: hondobrode, Icctrombone, @mrp, brutalis, and coke & comics
Icctrombone writes, "Frank Miller made his name on a bi-monthly title close to cancelation and it really took off when he introduced Elektra into the book. What followed was an excellent mob/crime/street tale that culminated in a showdown between his greatest enemy ( Bullseye) and his first love ( Elektra). But along the way we are introduce to many new fresh Characters like Stick, Ben Urich , a JJJ with integrity who I didn’t hate, and a rejuvenated Kingpin. Man, those were good books. The Ninja aspects were well done and even the redefining of Daredevils True powers ( everyone has radar but it gets deadened because of sight) worked. Issue # 181 has Elektra die at the hands of Bullseye thus ending her story. Or did It?"
16. Will Eisner's Saga of Understanding
by Will Eisner
originally published in: A Contract with God, New York: The Big City, A Life Force, The Dreamer, The Building, City People Notebook, To the Heart of the Storm, Invisible People, Dropsie Avenue: The Neighborhood, A Family Matter, Minor Miracles, Last Day in Vietnam, The Name of the Game (1978-2001)
Nominated by: shaxper, and rberman (voting for "A Contract with God, 1978; A Life Force 1988; Dropsie Avenue, 1995"), @mrp (voting for A Contract With God), and Slam_Bradley (voting for "Will Eisner's Dropsie Avenue Universe")
shaxper writes, "There is no graphic novel by this name; don't go looking for it. It's my attempt to lump together twenty three years of work by a master of the medium at his apex. While each of these works has its own soul (so to speak), and several can be grouped together by topic, by common characters, or by the name "Dropsie Avenue," there is a thematic center that unites nearly all of Eisner's graphic novel works together (at least all the great ones) -- each is an effort to understand people.
It begins with A Contract with God, in which Eisner took a bold look into his own neighborhood's past for clues as to how it had shaped him into who he was, but that first journey opened a door instead of closing it. Soon he was turning out masterworks nearly every other year that sought to understand him, his neighborhood, his family, the people in the apartments and on the streets around him, and especially the people around him he sensed but seldom actually saw. It didn't matter where Eisner was looking -- he always managed to find darkness, hope, drama, and inspiration.
To this day, the review thread I did on these graphic novels has been the most rewarding one I've ever done, Eisner's works truly inspiring me to live my life better while leaving me to feel like I truly actually knew these people and these neighborhoods. He'd made their stories that real to me. Eisner truly takes the sequential art medium to a level few others have ever even come close to approaching."
15. Elfquest
by Wendy and Richard Pini
originally published in: Elfquest #1-21 (1978-1984)
Nominated by: brutalis, wildfire2099, and Crimebuster (voting for "Elfquest #1-20 as collected in the Donning/Starblaze GN #1-4"), and coke & comics (voting for "Elfquest # 1-21, Siege at Blue Mountain 1-8, Kings of the Broken Wheel 1-9, Hidden Years 1-29, Shards 1-16").
Crimebuster writes, "One of the most important indy books of all time, and one of the best fantasy comics ever published. For my money, the original 20 issues Elfquest saga is almost impossible to beat, weaving together ten thousand years of storylines into one gripping tale of a visionary leader trying to save his people and reclaim their destiny. This was a seminal work for me personally, arriving in my life when I was 12 years old and quickly becoming one of my favorite stories, one I would read and re-read over and over again. I'm not as big a fan of anything that has been done with the characters since, but the original saga holds up every single time I return to it. It's just timeless.
And the art by Wendy Pini! Not only great, but I think its influence has been underplayed, as it really started the trend of bringing Japanese stylistic influences into American comics."
14. Kingdom Come
by Mark Waid and Alex Ross
originally published in: Kingdom Come #1-4 (1995-1996)
Nominated by: Paste Pot Paul, sunofdarkchild, rberman, and wildfire2099
Paste Pot Paul writes, "Ive always been a sucker for alternate worlds, whether its Star Trek with its evil Captain Kirk, Harry Turtledoves alternate histories, heck even Orson Scott Cards Seventh Son series. This was always going to speak loudly to me, and I was suitably deafened.
I never got to read this when it was released, being on a progeny induced poverty cycle, inducing a complete reversal of previous financial arrangements. I did however see plenty of write ups and a lot of art in "ahem" Wizard.
Of course this resulted in the comicbook version of heroin withdrawl, in my case years of sulking and self torture looking at snippets on the www.
10 years man, I waited 10 freakin years, and even with the spoilers I'd read I was blown away.
Looking at these guys,in the future,you want them to look older, see the years thickening the body,see some real body types,some real faces, and Alex Ross deivers in spades.
Ross seems to have lost his allure today,well with others, I still love his work. Maybe its just that having seen so much of it we've forgotten just how amazing this was 20 years ago, pity that."
12 (tie). Warlock: The Magus Saga
by Jim Starlin, Steve Leialoha, and Al Milgrom
originally published in: Strange Tales 178-181, and Warlock 9-11 (1975-1976)
Nominated by: Icctrombone, and de facto nominated by Paste Pot Paul, coke & comics, @mrp, brutalis
Icctrombone writes, "I make the distinction of including just the story of Warlock fighting his future self with Thanos as a supporting character as opposed to the entire Starlin run. Pretty much a story involving the lead character finding out that he becomes the champion of life by becoming a universal dictator and his doing what can to prevent it. Along the way, we are introduced to Pip and Gamora for the first time and we see the Thanos has an end game to aiding Warlock. Starlin at his absolute best."
12 (tie). The Thanos Saga
by Jim Starlin and others
originally published in: Iron Man #55, Captain Marvel #25-34, Strange Tales #178-181, Warlock #9-15, Avengers annual 7, Marvel 2-in-1 annual 2, Marvel Graphic Novel #1 (1973-1982)
Nominated by: coke & comics, and de facto nominated by Icctrombone, Paste Pot Paul, coke & comics, @mrp, brutalis
coke & comics writes, "Yeah, I'll be the jerk who refuses to split up Starlin's Thanos stuff and makes vote-totaling hard. Why can't I just put the Warlock run? Or even Magus Saga like a normal person. The Magus Saga even has the word "saga" right in it.
Because it's Thanos' story first and foremost. Its his character. Obsessed with Death, seeking ultimate power, having it in his grasp and letting it slip away.
Yes it's also Captain Marvel's story. The Kree captain who betrayed his own people to fight for a greater good. Who undertook a metaphysical journey to understand that his warrior ways were still bad. And that he needed to become a protector, a true champion of life. Who met his end battling cancer, but had one last battle with Thanos, champion of death, though only his mind.
Yes it's also the story of Pip the Troll. He wanted women drinks, and pleasure. And found death.
And of Gamora, deadliest woman in the universe.
And of Warlock. An artificial man struggling to find his place in the universe. Who learns that he is doomed to become a great villain. And chooses instead a bizarre cosmic suicide that at last brings him peace."
11. Avengers: The Kree/Skrull War
by Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema, Neal Adams, John Buscema, and Tom Palmer
originally published in: Avengers #89-97 (1971-1972)
Nominated by: brutalis, Icctrombone, coke & comics, shaxper, and Crimebuster
brutalis writes, "Earth's mightiest go on trial, get disbanded and then head to space as the Kree/Skrull War chooses Earth as their battlefront. Invasion of the green shape changing aliens versus the cosmic conquest minded blue and white skinned Kree. It's the 1950's alien invader's fears taken to intergalactic proportions. Sit back and drink your Skrull milkshake as you take in the thrill packed, stunning and stupendous battle filled story by Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema and Neal Adams.
You get the bogus Fantastic Four, Captain Marvel, The current Avengers along with the return of the Big 3 and you learn the fate of the 1st invading Skrull's the FF turned into cow's (milk, it does a body good) and Mandroids versus Avengers, along with a slight Inhuman crossover, political intrigue, Ant-man takes a most fantastic journey exploring the insides of the synthezoid Vision and Rick Jones playing Flash Gordon as the Savior of Earth and the universe (with a little psychic push from the Supreme Intelligence, Ahhahhhh) with his love of Marvel Golden Age Superheroes! What more can you ask for comics fans?
Roy makes the Avengers cosmic with this story and plays connects the dots with Kree/Skrull activities from the FF and Captain Marvel while turning up the thrills with a nearly year long roller coaster ride. Avengers Assemble indeed!"
#40-31
#50-41
#60-51
#70-61
#80-71
#90-81
#100-91
It should be no surprise that the biggest tabulating challenge we faced going into this event was the whole Thanos/Magus debate: two beloved comic book sagas hopelessly intertwined within each other, and no clear consensus as to which is superior. And, of course, some people then voted only for the Warlock stories concerning Thanos, while others included the Captain Marvel ones. Maddening.
Technically, looking at the votes exactly as they were written, and following the rules as I wrote them, "The Thanos Saga," including both Captain Marvel and Warlock stories, should have won out and absorbed "Warlock: The Magus Saga," but that didn't seem to honor the spirit of the votes, so I created an exception.
Both "The Thanos Saga" and "Warlock: The Magus Saga" tied for the #12 spot, any vote that could have been counted towards one of the two sagas being counted towards both. Seemed like the solution that best honored the spirit of the votes.
#20-11
20. Astro City
by Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Alex Ross
originally published in: Astro City #1-6, vol. 2 #1-22, assorted miniseries and specials (1995-2000)
Nominated by: coke & comics, rberman, Icctrombone, Crimebuster, and Slam_Bradley
coke & comics says, "Still going strong, but I'll focus on the first two series eligible for this contest.
It works well as a series of vignettes. But it is one big story, the story of a city. (Same way that Dubliners is a novel)
The best two stories are "In Dreams", which concerns a man who dreams of flying; and, "Nearness of You", which concerns a man in love with a woman he's never met.
I remember getting really annoyed reading Neil Gaiman's introduction to the second trade, how badly he'd missed the point.
"Astro City", he wrote, "is about what would have happened if those old comics, with their fine simplicities and their primal, four-color characters, had been about something."
I stopped reading the introduction and vowed to never read another Gaimain book.
Luckily, one day, I picked up the book again and let Gaiman finish his thought. Because it turns out he corrected himself in the next sentence.
"Or rather, it assumes they were about something, and tells you the tales that, on the whole, slipped through the cracks."
I apologize for doubting him. Gaiman nailed it. Turns out the guy knows a thing or two about comics after all.
Astro City tells the stories that have always been right in front of us, if we'd just been willing to imagine a little more.
If Watchmen had questions about the superhero genre, then Astro City is the answer."
19. Swamp Thing (Alan Moore Reinterpretation)
by Alan Moore and others
originally published in: Saga of the Swamp Thing #20-64, and Annual 2 (1984-1987)
Nominated by: coke & comics, @mrp, Paste Pot Paul, Slam_Bradley, shaxper, brutalis, and Paste Pot Paul
coke & comics writes, "Alan Moore began his run in issue 19, finishing up the previous story with a bullet to Swamp Thing's head. Issue 20 is the "Anatomy Lesson", in which Swamp Thing is dissected and reimagined.
What follows is true horror, then a descent into a hell that combines Dante with several characters from the DC universe, figuring out where Spectre and Phantom Stranger and Deadman and Demon fit into the whole cosmology. And then a psychedelic love poem. And then the enigmatic John Constantine. And the Crisis. And a battle with Batman. And exile to a blue world. And a journey across space.
It's horror and science fiction and romance and a superhero story, comfortably jumping back and forth between genres or blending them as needed.
It's with this comic in hand and in mind that Neil Gaiman sat to write my #5 choice, Sandman. The entire Vertigo line was birthed in these pages, as well as the standards that DC superhero comics would strive to live up to henceforth."
18. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
by Don Rosa
originally published in: Anders And & Co. (August 10, 1992 thru June 12, 1995)
Nominated by: shaxper, Crimebuster, and Slam_Bradley
shaxper writes, "I've never seen a comic more seamlessly blend aspiration, goofy comedy, dark tragedy, and loving attention to research and history (both of comics and of the real world) into one power-packed adventure, but Rosa achieved it in this chronicle of Scrooge McDuck's life from the first moment he dreamed of making his fortune as a tender young shoe shine in Scottland to his life in the present day of the Disney Ducks world. Rosa gives Scrooge a richer, more full life than any other fictional character I've ever come across, and it makes us positively fall in love with the character and his life – all he's seen and experienced, and all the ways in which it has shaped him, to the point that one can never again look at that curmudgeonly old geezer with anything less than total pathos, even when another writer is playing him for laughs or using him as a simple plot contrivance. This work is true, unforgettable literature with the ability to transform. I don't think I can overstate that."
17. Daredevil: The Elektra Saga
by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson
originally published in: Daredevil #168-191 (1981-1983)
Nominated by: hondobrode, Icctrombone, @mrp, brutalis, and coke & comics
Icctrombone writes, "Frank Miller made his name on a bi-monthly title close to cancelation and it really took off when he introduced Elektra into the book. What followed was an excellent mob/crime/street tale that culminated in a showdown between his greatest enemy ( Bullseye) and his first love ( Elektra). But along the way we are introduce to many new fresh Characters like Stick, Ben Urich , a JJJ with integrity who I didn’t hate, and a rejuvenated Kingpin. Man, those were good books. The Ninja aspects were well done and even the redefining of Daredevils True powers ( everyone has radar but it gets deadened because of sight) worked. Issue # 181 has Elektra die at the hands of Bullseye thus ending her story. Or did It?"
16. Will Eisner's Saga of Understanding
by Will Eisner
originally published in: A Contract with God, New York: The Big City, A Life Force, The Dreamer, The Building, City People Notebook, To the Heart of the Storm, Invisible People, Dropsie Avenue: The Neighborhood, A Family Matter, Minor Miracles, Last Day in Vietnam, The Name of the Game (1978-2001)
Nominated by: shaxper, and rberman (voting for "A Contract with God, 1978; A Life Force 1988; Dropsie Avenue, 1995"), @mrp (voting for A Contract With God), and Slam_Bradley (voting for "Will Eisner's Dropsie Avenue Universe")
shaxper writes, "There is no graphic novel by this name; don't go looking for it. It's my attempt to lump together twenty three years of work by a master of the medium at his apex. While each of these works has its own soul (so to speak), and several can be grouped together by topic, by common characters, or by the name "Dropsie Avenue," there is a thematic center that unites nearly all of Eisner's graphic novel works together (at least all the great ones) -- each is an effort to understand people.
It begins with A Contract with God, in which Eisner took a bold look into his own neighborhood's past for clues as to how it had shaped him into who he was, but that first journey opened a door instead of closing it. Soon he was turning out masterworks nearly every other year that sought to understand him, his neighborhood, his family, the people in the apartments and on the streets around him, and especially the people around him he sensed but seldom actually saw. It didn't matter where Eisner was looking -- he always managed to find darkness, hope, drama, and inspiration.
To this day, the review thread I did on these graphic novels has been the most rewarding one I've ever done, Eisner's works truly inspiring me to live my life better while leaving me to feel like I truly actually knew these people and these neighborhoods. He'd made their stories that real to me. Eisner truly takes the sequential art medium to a level few others have ever even come close to approaching."
15. Elfquest
by Wendy and Richard Pini
originally published in: Elfquest #1-21 (1978-1984)
Nominated by: brutalis, wildfire2099, and Crimebuster (voting for "Elfquest #1-20 as collected in the Donning/Starblaze GN #1-4"), and coke & comics (voting for "Elfquest # 1-21, Siege at Blue Mountain 1-8, Kings of the Broken Wheel 1-9, Hidden Years 1-29, Shards 1-16").
Crimebuster writes, "One of the most important indy books of all time, and one of the best fantasy comics ever published. For my money, the original 20 issues Elfquest saga is almost impossible to beat, weaving together ten thousand years of storylines into one gripping tale of a visionary leader trying to save his people and reclaim their destiny. This was a seminal work for me personally, arriving in my life when I was 12 years old and quickly becoming one of my favorite stories, one I would read and re-read over and over again. I'm not as big a fan of anything that has been done with the characters since, but the original saga holds up every single time I return to it. It's just timeless.
And the art by Wendy Pini! Not only great, but I think its influence has been underplayed, as it really started the trend of bringing Japanese stylistic influences into American comics."
14. Kingdom Come
by Mark Waid and Alex Ross
originally published in: Kingdom Come #1-4 (1995-1996)
Nominated by: Paste Pot Paul, sunofdarkchild, rberman, and wildfire2099
Paste Pot Paul writes, "Ive always been a sucker for alternate worlds, whether its Star Trek with its evil Captain Kirk, Harry Turtledoves alternate histories, heck even Orson Scott Cards Seventh Son series. This was always going to speak loudly to me, and I was suitably deafened.
I never got to read this when it was released, being on a progeny induced poverty cycle, inducing a complete reversal of previous financial arrangements. I did however see plenty of write ups and a lot of art in "ahem" Wizard.
Of course this resulted in the comicbook version of heroin withdrawl, in my case years of sulking and self torture looking at snippets on the www.
10 years man, I waited 10 freakin years, and even with the spoilers I'd read I was blown away.
Looking at these guys,in the future,you want them to look older, see the years thickening the body,see some real body types,some real faces, and Alex Ross deivers in spades.
Ross seems to have lost his allure today,well with others, I still love his work. Maybe its just that having seen so much of it we've forgotten just how amazing this was 20 years ago, pity that."
12 (tie). Warlock: The Magus Saga
by Jim Starlin, Steve Leialoha, and Al Milgrom
originally published in: Strange Tales 178-181, and Warlock 9-11 (1975-1976)
Nominated by: Icctrombone, and de facto nominated by Paste Pot Paul, coke & comics, @mrp, brutalis
Icctrombone writes, "I make the distinction of including just the story of Warlock fighting his future self with Thanos as a supporting character as opposed to the entire Starlin run. Pretty much a story involving the lead character finding out that he becomes the champion of life by becoming a universal dictator and his doing what can to prevent it. Along the way, we are introduced to Pip and Gamora for the first time and we see the Thanos has an end game to aiding Warlock. Starlin at his absolute best."
12 (tie). The Thanos Saga
by Jim Starlin and others
originally published in: Iron Man #55, Captain Marvel #25-34, Strange Tales #178-181, Warlock #9-15, Avengers annual 7, Marvel 2-in-1 annual 2, Marvel Graphic Novel #1 (1973-1982)
Nominated by: coke & comics, and de facto nominated by Icctrombone, Paste Pot Paul, coke & comics, @mrp, brutalis
coke & comics writes, "Yeah, I'll be the jerk who refuses to split up Starlin's Thanos stuff and makes vote-totaling hard. Why can't I just put the Warlock run? Or even Magus Saga like a normal person. The Magus Saga even has the word "saga" right in it.
Because it's Thanos' story first and foremost. Its his character. Obsessed with Death, seeking ultimate power, having it in his grasp and letting it slip away.
Yes it's also Captain Marvel's story. The Kree captain who betrayed his own people to fight for a greater good. Who undertook a metaphysical journey to understand that his warrior ways were still bad. And that he needed to become a protector, a true champion of life. Who met his end battling cancer, but had one last battle with Thanos, champion of death, though only his mind.
Yes it's also the story of Pip the Troll. He wanted women drinks, and pleasure. And found death.
And of Gamora, deadliest woman in the universe.
And of Warlock. An artificial man struggling to find his place in the universe. Who learns that he is doomed to become a great villain. And chooses instead a bizarre cosmic suicide that at last brings him peace."
11. Avengers: The Kree/Skrull War
by Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema, Neal Adams, John Buscema, and Tom Palmer
originally published in: Avengers #89-97 (1971-1972)
Nominated by: brutalis, Icctrombone, coke & comics, shaxper, and Crimebuster
brutalis writes, "Earth's mightiest go on trial, get disbanded and then head to space as the Kree/Skrull War chooses Earth as their battlefront. Invasion of the green shape changing aliens versus the cosmic conquest minded blue and white skinned Kree. It's the 1950's alien invader's fears taken to intergalactic proportions. Sit back and drink your Skrull milkshake as you take in the thrill packed, stunning and stupendous battle filled story by Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema and Neal Adams.
You get the bogus Fantastic Four, Captain Marvel, The current Avengers along with the return of the Big 3 and you learn the fate of the 1st invading Skrull's the FF turned into cow's (milk, it does a body good) and Mandroids versus Avengers, along with a slight Inhuman crossover, political intrigue, Ant-man takes a most fantastic journey exploring the insides of the synthezoid Vision and Rick Jones playing Flash Gordon as the Savior of Earth and the universe (with a little psychic push from the Supreme Intelligence, Ahhahhhh) with his love of Marvel Golden Age Superheroes! What more can you ask for comics fans?
Roy makes the Avengers cosmic with this story and plays connects the dots with Kree/Skrull activities from the FF and Captain Marvel while turning up the thrills with a nearly year long roller coaster ride. Avengers Assemble indeed!"
