Odin banishes the Enchantress and the Executioner from Asgard for their latest scheme, and they promptly team-up with Baron Zemo once on Earth. The reOdin banishes the Enchantress and the Executioner from Asgard for their latest scheme, and they promptly team-up with Baron Zemo once on Earth. The results are more Avenger-on-Avenger violence once Enchantress puts Thor under a spell which means that once again the superheroes spend more time fighting each other than anyone else.
Random Observations:
• Captain America pays wrestlers to attack him as part of his daily workout. That seems like it’d get expensive. • Iron Man gets suspended for a week for failing to answer an Avengers call. So essentially the others throw Tony Stark out of his own house for a while. • Tony may have a bad heart, but since this is the ‘60s that doesn’t stop him from casually having a cigarette.
It’s the Avengers vs. the Lava Men, and somehow they end up fighting the Hulk yet again so that streak is still going. Thank god Rick Jones was there It’s the Avengers vs. the Lava Men, and somehow they end up fighting the Hulk yet again so that streak is still going. Thank god Rick Jones was there to…. I dunno why he’s in here actually. He even gets listed as part of the full roster at the start. I guess being Captain America’s teenage companion has perks.
The cool thing about this one is the way that Kirby drew some of the the Lava Men with monstrous oversized faces that look genuinely creepy.
Random Observations: • Wasp actually comes through in a big moment, but then is miffed when she gets complimented on that instead of her beauty.
• I didn’t realize that it’s not generally known that Bruce Banner is the Hulk. Which makes General Ross and Betty seem pretty simple when they’re complaining about how Bruce just vanished after the gamma bomb incident.
The Avengers are worried about the Hulk after he quit the team and go looking for him. After yet another battle with his former team, the Hulk flees tThe Avengers are worried about the Hulk after he quit the team and go looking for him. After yet another battle with his former team, the Hulk flees to a deserted island. There he meets Namor, the Sub-Mariner, who dislikes humanity as much as Hulk does so they decide to join forces. They challenge the Avengers to a fight, and hilarity ensues.
Three issues into this, and the Hulk has fought the other Avengers in every one of them so far. So that’s getting pretty tired already, but the team-up with Sub-Mariner puts a new spin on things. My favorite part was how Hulk and Namor immediately plan to betray and destroy each other the second they beat the Avengers.
Random observations: • Iron Man has upgraded to a better looking red & gold suit, but the helmet still needs work. • Wasp’s main role continues to be panting over men, particularly Thor. • Hulk first fights the Avengers in the American Southwest, and he gets away by hiding in a truck loaded with gravel. That gets dumped in some body of water. Next thing you know the Hulk is in…. the Atlantic Ocean? How far was that truck going to dump a load of rocks into the sea?
We’re only in the second issue and already Hank Pym has shifted from Ant-Man to Giant-Man, and the Hulk has quit. Things move fast in these early MarvWe’re only in the second issue and already Hank Pym has shifted from Ant-Man to Giant-Man, and the Hulk has quit. Things move fast in these early Marvel comics!
An alien creep named the Space Phantom comes to Earth, and starts immediately causing trouble by using his power to imitate someone while sending the original into some kind of limbo. The catch is he can only do one at a time and the other person gets returned which is kind of an interesting twist on the ole shapeshifter thing.
More ‘60s fun with Kirby and Lee.
Random observations: • I don’t blame Hulk for quitting because all the other Avengers are real jerks to him. • Wasp continues to be boy crazy. • It already seems ridiculous that nobody figures out that Tony Stark is Iron Man or that Dr. Donald Blake is Thor.
The death of Stan Lee a few months back got me thinking about the old school Marvel comics so I decided to take advantage of my Marvel Unlimited subscThe death of Stan Lee a few months back got me thinking about the old school Marvel comics so I decided to take advantage of my Marvel Unlimited subscription to go back and read some of the oldies.
Loki makes it look like the Hulk is rampaging as part of a plan to trap Thor, but he doesn't count on other heroes like Iron Man, Ant-Man, and the Wasp showing up as well. The good guys win and decide to form a new super-team called Avengers. (Why? Because it's the first name Wasp throws out there, and it sounds pretty cool.)
It's pretty silly compared to modern comics, but there's Jack Kirby art and the hammy charm of Lee's melodramatic prose even if the dated elements like Wasp rhapsodizing about how handsome Thor is while Ant-Man berates her for being a silly woman don't play very well. Nor does a reference to dumping atomic waste in the ocean for disposal, but it was the '60s so why not? Iron Man's clumsy gold suit also looks pretty bad, but I think that improves quickly.
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