Sadly, I don't know what the transfers were now. But: Action Transfers! So good!
Without Marvel's ubiquitous reprints in the Bronze Age, I doubt that I would be writing this blog, so many decades later. The Avengers was the third Marvel UK title to be released, way back in September 1973. It was the first to have a glossy cover, no interior "spot" colour and it also introduced the kung-fu heroes Shang-Chi and Iron Fist (more about them to come). The series had been "trailed", if you like, in Mighty World of Marvel: I remember the reprint of Avengers 1 on the newsagent's shelf in Glenluce, perhaps, during our holiday in Sandhead that year. The series actually began with the return of Captain America from Avengers 4. (More about Cap to come!)
Whe I was last in Glasgow I couldn't resist buying Essential Avengers 6. I wanted to read Steve Englehart's Celestial Madonna saga, pretty much in its entirety, in one sitting. It had run in Super Spider-Man throughout 1977 and 1978, which, you'll recall, are very significant years for me.
You can see how UK weeklies tended to fold into one another as circulation fell.
The struggling UK economy of the mid-Seventies made the comics market-place a tough one. The Avengers absorbed the Savage Sword of Conan weekly but in July '76 it merged in turn with Mighty World of Marvel.
Thirty-six years ago. Astonishing. And a bit of a "What if?" cover.
The strip then migrated to the landscape title, the Titans. Spider-Man's weekly was amalgamated with The Super-Heroes, a generic anthology title. After changing to the landscape format, it then absorbed the Titans.The first thing that struck me, on re-reading these 21 comics (plus two cross-overs and four "giant-sized" issues) was the tragedy of the Swordsman, the reformed mercenary whose inadequacy and paranioa lead to his death. He's kiilled accidentally as an energy-bolt is channelled, Final Destination-style, by his sword. It's a surprsingly downbeat ending, akin to Thunderbird's suicidal actions in X-Men
One of the other things that's most striking about Englehart's run is his fondness for Marvel's history and his encyclopedic knowledge of it; stories grow organically out of characters and their interactions. Unlike John Byrne in the 80s, he never pulls the "Everything you know is a lie!" stunt to make is stories work. Instead, he tells you:" There is far more to everything you know than you suspect". The layers of Mantis' origin perfectly reflect this: she has implanted memories but everything that is revealed to her about the History of the Marvel Universe (well- the Kree, Skrulls and Cotati ) all connects in a four-colour tapestry of superheroics and blissed-out headshop kozmic- from the astrological villain cartel Zodiac to the Blue City of the Moon via the expansion of consciousness through communion with plants.
"Woman, have you not seen that you are to marry this tree?"
It doesn't get much more weird than this in comics, except in Gerber's Defenders -but those stories are largely satirical. Englehart wants to achieve something different here. I read a review that complained that the kung-fu heroine is destined to give birth to a cosmic messiah but we never see that happen in the comic (In fact, we finally meet Mantis' son Quoi, formerly "Sprout", in a miniseries in 2000!); that the defeat of Thanos is a false ending since, like most villains, he returns bigger and badder in Warlock. That Kang isn't "finally" defeated until Essential vol. 7. Well, a sprawling epic like The Madonna Saga can have no real lasting effect upon a continued series except in terms of character. I think Englehart's story (apart from its "Wow. That's heavy..." eschatology) is about two things: on the one hand, explanations for the completist fan- the Vision's connections to the original Human Torch, the secret of the Blue City, making Immortus another incarnation of Kang. But it's also about the Rising and Advancing of the Spirit (the meaning of Shang-Chi, allegedly). The Vision, Mantis, her father Libra, Wanda, Rama-Tut -all experience a kind of enlightenment which makes them stronger people. It wasn't intended to be a "seminal" story that could be neatly collected as a "graphic novel": it was an ongoing serial.
We can see that in the inclusion of the next almost half-dozen issues where the focus shifts to three new protagonists. Jim Starlin's Moondragon, Englehart has noticed, bares some significant resemblance to Mantis but is a more dynamic and forceful personality, who has had to re-assess her sense of self-importance. The second is Englehart's new pet character, the Beast, who announces that he's chilled out after his further mutation, basically by smoking hash and listening to Stevie Wonder (although his quirky word-play belies his newfound hipness). The third story driver is Yellowjacket. I had forgotten that the decline for which Jim Shooter is largely blamed begins with Englehart. Pym is an obsessive, volatile personality with an established history of physical and psychological problems. It would have been fascinating to see how Pym would have developed if Englehart hadn't left Marvel for DC.
Avengers legends George Tuska and Don Heck provide some of the artwork in this volume but I much prefer the slick, exciting pencilling of Dave Cockrum, fresh from the Legion, or even Sal Buscema.
One other point to note: editor Roy Thomas levered in an origin for the Scarlet Witch into the storyline, revealing All-Winners the Whizzer and Miss America as the parents of Wanda and Pietro. Thankfully that typical but completely illogical idea was nullified in this storyline, from this month in 1979!
Thirty-two years ago. I cannot believe it.
The Avengers was superceded by the X-Men the previous year as my favourite US Marvel comic and '79 was a brief, glorious period when Byrne was pencilling both books. I've previously stated how much I've enjoyed Bendis' New Avengers over the last year but I have to confess that, while I understand the inclusion of Spidey and Wolverine as marquee names, deep down, to me they're not Avengers. If I wrote the Avengers...is a game I play regulalry and have previously done so in this blog. But this time, I think I've got it right:
Ms. Marvel as reserve member and the Avengers Crew.
Obviously, Englehart's evolution of Dr. Pym as Scientific Adventurer with his robot vehicle "Rover" is an homage to the Fourth Doctor and K-9. I was excited by Dan Slott's idea that Pym was heir to Yandroth's title as Scientist Supreme so I'd like to have the good doctor as researcher and co-ordinator for the team. Also a spotlight for Jarvis was essential-maybe even a wedding?
Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Jarvis?
I think there should also be one Young Avenger-in-training, so from the tail-end of the 90s, I pick J2.
As previously mentioned, story-arcs would include the Eternals-Inhumans War and also Morgan Le Fay, The Soldiers of the Serpent, Imus Champion and the Triumvirate of Terror.Just for a change from Kang, I'd use the Tomorrow Man and the grand storyline is "Korvac and Son"!
Piledriver, Hammerhead, Thunderboot. Zarrko!
I was concerned that this team wan't diverse enought and gave a lot of thought to the line-up: at one point Nova and Echo were in the running. (Nobody deserves to be an Avenger more than Nova. It's been on the cards since his debut in '76.) But it finally occurred to me that I'd duplicated the team that Jim Shooter assembled in 1982 (plus the Vision!)
I definitely want an Avengers UK team: a new , New Excalibur.
It's also analogous to Bendis' first grouping of Mighty Avengers:
Speaking of Echo earlier, Bendis continues to utilise her in Moon Knight where he makes more jokes about her ingloriously brief tenure as a New Avenger: " Hey, yeah, she used to be on the team/You just noticed she was gone?". I'm still finding this highy stylised Holloywood-noirish series intriguing but the real revelation was Mark Waid's new Daredevil.
He's taken a character mired in enervating gloom and tragedy for about thirty years and made him witty, flirty, and one who truly " lives in the moment". Pencillers Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin also find innovative ways to depict Matt Murdock's sensory world. I cannot recommend this refreshing comic highly enough: it was a complete joy from start to finish. Pointedly, it was mature without descending into sadism and sensationalism, while staying true to the original Lee/Everett/Wood/ Colan template. Morrison and Millar could learn a lot from Waid.
Next: Tiger Sons. The Amazing Five. The Hyborian Triumvirate of Terror.
The Legal Bit: all images are presumed copyright of their respective owners.
Awesome blog you have here mr! Looking forward to reading through more of it and catching up on what I've missed.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree too - it's not the Avengers without Vision! Dr Pym's more inventor based identity made him a hit for me in the pages of Avengers West, and as for Spidey and Wolvie as Avengers - don't get me started on that one.
Keep up the great work!