Avengers #150

TITLE: The Avengers #150

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: August 1976

COVER PRICE: $0.25

18 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

As I mentioned on the last post, I just recently reread this issue so the events are pretty fresh in my mind. It doesn't help, that this issue serves as a vehicle for reprinting bits and pieces of stories that any Avengers or Marvel fan should know by heart. And honestly, if you don't know what happened in Avengers #4, you should probably just hang it up.

I'll cut the non-Avenger reader some slack if they're unfamiliar with Wonder Man's introduction in #9, and I might even be lenient about ignorance with the first big wholesale line-up change in issue #16 if you catch me on a good day.

And you know what? Today is a good day, because this issue reprints those exact issues. So while we don't get a new Avengers line-up until the next issue, we are treated to some highlights of the first year and half of Avengers history, courtesy of Messrs. Lee and Kirby. If that wasn't enough, we also get a framing sequence by Steve Englehart and George Perez.

Let's get right to it, and in the interest of still having something to say when and if the Randomizer picks issue #9 or 16, I'm going to forgo the full on review and just geek out for the remainder of this issue and soak up all that Lee, Kirby and Perez have to offer.

Since this was the anniversary of 150 issues of The Avengers, let's see if I can find 150 things to geek out about in these eighteen pages. Everybody synchronize your watches, and we're off...

1. Awesome cover by Ron Wilson and Frank Giacoia! That right there is just about the perfect Avengers line-up. Swap out Hawkeye for Hellcat, and I could read about these guys all day long.


2. It only cost two bits!


3. Great issue title. Avengers Assemble! It's also a great catch-phrase, but why does it work as well as it does? It's not like assemble is the most action-packed verb around, and it definitely doesn't translate to other super-hero teams nearly as well. Champions Congregate! Fantastic Four Forgather! Metal Men Muster! It's a true mystery for the ages.


4. Stan Lee


5. Jack Kirby


6. George Perez

I'm probably cheating by listing the creative team separately, but I gotta get to 150 somehow. Besides, those guys are legends and deserve the honor. And while I've acknowledged that I'm playing fast and loose with the rules, these guys ain't nothing to sneeze at either...


7. Steve Englehart


8. John Tartag


9. Duffy Vohland


10. Dick Ayers


11. Denise Wohl


12. Artie Simek


13. I love time travelling villains


14. Irene Vartanoff


15. Archie Goodwin


16. Avengers Trope #41: The assembled mass of people and reporters outside of Avengers Mansion. I love this visual, as it really drives home the accessibility of these heroes. You couldn't do this with a moon base.


17. Yellowjacket. You can keep your Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Wasp, Scientist Supreme, or Dr. Pym identities. To me, Hank Pym will always be Yellowjacket (although I do kinda like the sound of that Scientist Supreme one).


18. Crazy wild coincidence! That just happens to be the 150th different costume that the Wasp has worn in her tenure with the Avengers so far.


19. Another crazy wild coincidence! I think I may have just made that last fact up out of thin air.


20. It's not named here, but one can only wonder if that is Korr that Yellowjacket is riding on.


21. The Wasp's fiery streak! She's come a long way in the past 118 issues.


22. A bonus shout out for referencing continuity from the previous year...and in a Marvel book, no less. Those were the days.


23. Jarvis' striped pants and tails. There's a butler who dresses for success.


24. Avengers Trope #81: Monogrammed chairs! Nothing says super-hero headquarters like monogrammed chairs.


25. Although, for each of them supposedly having chairs "especially reserved for them", it would appear that the Beasts and Hellcats are pretty interchangeable. One can only assume that their decals are waiting if they make the cut into the new line-up.


26. Appropriate that Iron Man's symbol is that of both iron and man.


27. Avengers Trope #68: Overly dramatic resignations!
    
    But I guess when you're dealing with the god of thunder, you should expect a little bluster every now and again.


28. Thor's abrupt announcement leads us to our first flashback to Avengers #1 and the formation of the team, helpfully recapped by the local newscaster reporting from outside. It was pretty awesome that the news station had Kirby on staff to provide some artist's renderings of the action.


29. It turns out, it's actually George Perez that they had on staff. I just checked the panels that I assumed were reprinted from Avengers #1 with the actual issue, but they're not the same. So there you go, a little Perez after Kirby for you. Here's another...


30. I like how Iron Man keeps his options open. You know, just in case this whole Avengers thing doesn't pan out.


31. This was obviously the Hulk from his more verbose, catch-phrase spewing youth.


32. Overly officious membership by-laws.


33. Wait a minute...isn't everyone here? Couldn't you just do a show of hands and get the new chairman installed with an actual mandate behind him? We all know what happens when a leader gets appointed, rather than elected.


34. Here's Perez' take on Kirby's classic scene of a frozen cap from Avengers #4.


35. Followed shortly by a nice Perez ala Heck re-imagining.
    
    
36. There's something right about George Perez drawing Wonder Man. He's one of the few that can make his myriad of questionable costumes seem not quite so questionable.


37. With the flashbacks coming this quickly, it's only a matter of time until we're at the formation of the new Avengers in Avengers #16. And with it, our first glimpse of actual Kirby art.
    
    And not a moment too soon, as the old Avengers seem to be in a spot of trouble!


38. Avengers Trope #92: Nothing says let me onto your team more than an "I just kicked your teams ass" introduction!



39. Hawkeye!


40. Flashbacks within flashbacks. Were there no editors back then. But it's Hawkeye, so we'll give him a pass.
    
    


41. And what of old Jarvis tied up in the corner? No hard feelings I'm sure, but we'll see how quickly your tea and biscuits gets delivered the next time your feeling a bit peckish, eh Hawkeye?


42. ZZZZZZZIT!


43. TWANNNNNG!


44. SSSSSSST!


45. Three arrows loosed from the same bow at the same time, and only one of them sounds like an actual arrow. Although in all fairness, I think that last sound effect is actually coming from the snake that Hawkeye used to tie up Jarvis' legs with, so we're all good. It's probably a good thing he was around to get that snake before something drastic happened, eh?


46. More by-laws! Good thing there's an employee manual to get the new members up to speed.


47. Watch that wandering eye, Jan! You know your man is a bit of a loose cannon, right?


48. One reformed villain joined up, so why not offer a spot to Namor, The Sub-Mariner?


49. Denied!


50. He'd come around in about a hundred issues or so, and end up palling around with the Avengers for a good few years. I actually have a lot of love for Namor in the Avengers as his arrival came right around the time I started reading the books on a regular basis.


51. Don't fret Iron Man, there's plenty of b-list villains hanging around that are just dying to join up.


52. Old-timey social networking at its finest. I long for the days when you could have a membership drive using the want ads.


53. Quicksilver's hair, the beta-testing for Logan's hairdo.


54. Self-deprecating Stan.
    
    I guess even Stan gets tired of Magneto boasting in those early issues, as we have yet another flashback in a flashback dealing with the origin of Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch.


55. Old-timey social networking at its finest, part two.
    
    I guess the equivalent today would be tweeting your request for membership to #avengersmemberdrive.


56. Quicksilver has lovely penmanship for someone who, and I'm only assuming here, writes really fast.


57. Captain America fighting jungle beasts! Why? Who cares, as we've had a real lack of action in this issue.


58. If only he would've fought a gorilla, we would've come full circle from our last post.


59. I guess this is still early in Cap's career, as he hasn't mastered the art of ricocheting his shield back to him with every throw. There's nothing more foolish than a super-hero picking his shield up off the ground.


60. Back in the states, Cap is still on his jungle high and looks to avoid the assembled reporters in true, man of action style.
    
    Surely there has to be a secret door somewhere, eh?


61. Reunions!
    
    Just because the other Avengers are kid-sized to Giant-Man, shouldn't give him permission to treat them as such.


62. Time-travelling villains! Although isn't there some sort of paradox being violated by having two disparate versions of the same character commenting about the same thing in real time?


63. Did I mention that I love time-travelling villains? Maybe I'll go back in time and mention it there too!


64. The drama...oh, the drama!


65. Really Rick Jones? I mean really? (with apologies to Seth and Amy)


66. Tip for Rick Jones on getting into the Avengers. Try robbing a bank or subjugating mankind first. It seemed to work out all right for the new line-up.


67. I think Tony Stark is the poster child for personal reasons.


68. Overly dramatic exits...


69. ...and new beginnings!

And that brings the 150th issue extravaganza to a close. Let's see how we did on our quest to find 150 interesting things about Avengers #150. After totaling up the judges scores, it looks like we got to 69...so close, so close.

Lucky for you, you won't be going home empty-handed. That's right, along with the home version of the Random Longbox board game, every reader will also be going home with the identity of the new line-up that was teased in this very issue, but never revealed.

Here it is, enjoy...

(oh, and spoilers I suppose, for those of you not up on your 34 year old continuity)

As far as line-ups go, it doesn't get much better than that.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

Gorillas in the mist of time

Has it really been over three months since we've done a Comic Book Days of Wednesdays Past post? I guess we should probably rectify that.

For the new readers among you who may not be familiar with this...if it's Wednesday, and if it's time to pick a new random book to review, then it's also time to take a trip down memory lane to see what the kids were reading back in ye olden days. Let's fire up the Randomizer to pick a year from 1938-2009 and see where we start.

...and the first year up is 1956! So what books were on the spinner racks at the local five and dime 54 years ago?

It was Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #10! And in my mind, nothing screams fifties comics more than this title.

But here's an odd occurrence...How come every time the Randomizer stumbles across a Jimmy Olsen comic for this segment, it features a gorilla on the cover? And Jimmy in a leopard-skin toga?

If there's one thing the the comic book buying populace loves, it's apparently Gorillas. In fact, let's put that theory to the test to see if we can get another gorilla comic from the next random year that the Randomizer picks. Which just happens to be 2005!

This could be tough, as gorillas were nowhere near as in vogue this century as they were the last. Come on comic books, don't let me down, was there a gorilla on the cover of any comic books that were on the shelf 5 years ago this month?

Success!

Not only does Doom Patrol #7 have a gorilla on the cover, but it's got two of 'em...and one of them has four arms!

That right there is why I love comics!

Enough fooling around though, let's get to picking the next random book to actually review. Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is The Avengers #150 from August 1974, published by Marvel Comics!

And that makes two Avengers picks in a row! I don't mind though, as you can never read enough Avengers books. Especially ones from the mid 70's to the mid 80's. Comic booking just doesn't get much better than that. Interestingly enough, this one is also written by Steve Englehart, so we can do a little compare and contrast with his last book's mediocre performance.

I actually just reread this book within the last year, and while it looks like it promises a new Avengers line-up on the cover, it's a bit of a tease as this issue reprints parts of Avengers #4, #9, and a whole bunch of #16. For the uninitiated, these are three of the earliest books that feature a line-up change in the title.

Since that time, the new line-up reveal issues have become a staple of this title. Unfortunately, we don't get one here, and we'd have to wait until the next issue for that. Still, this book gives us a chance to look at some good Jack Kirby art, which we've yet to do here at the Random Longbox.

And not to end on a down note, but sadly enough there are no gorillas to be found in this issue either. See you in a day or two for the review.

The Avengers #32

TITLE: The Avengers #32

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: September 1966

COVER PRICE: $0.12

20 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

So this is the first of three reprint issues from Giant-Size Marvel Triple Action #2 that we'll be reading and reviewing. I was actually quite pleased when this issue came into my possession late last year, as the three stories are all ones that I haven't read yet.

My Avengers collection starts around issue #90, with a handful of earlier issues sprinkled here and there. Most of those early issues feature two of my favorite characters, either the Vision or Kang, including their first appearances. This story that we're reading today includes neither, so it's a new one for me.

Who do we have in this issue? Well Hawkeye's here, and any Avengers story worth its salt features Hawkeye. Hank and Janet are back, but Wanda and Pietro seem to be missing. And as always during these early years, Cap is leading the way.

"The Sign Of The Serpent!"

• Writer and Raconteur: Stan Lee
• Artist and Bon Vivant: Don Heck
• Letterer and Patron des Artes: Artie Simek
• Scapegoat, Junior Grade: Irv Forbush

Before we actually get started, there's a helpful tip from Stan about something we should be aware of with this issue.

I did a little googling about this issue, and it would appear that it never did win any prizes, so I'm assuming that Stan Lee is using a bit of his trademark hyperbole. In fact, it might be a good idea to turn on our patented Hyperbole Meter so we're not caught off guard and accidentally hurt ourselves when we come across it.

We barely even get a chance to introduce it and it's already going off!

So here come the Avengers back from their latest adventure when they're attacked..by their own headquarters!

That's right, deactivation codes are for wimps! Who needs 'em when you can use your own super-powers to shut it down. Which then begs the question...how secure is your base when your defensive measures can be thwarted with cutting edge stone age technology like a shield and a bow and arrow?

They don't get much of a chance to rest however, before Hank goes into one of his "woe is me" episodes. It seems he's been stuck in an enlarged state and is depressed about not being able to shrink back to normal size.

We're hitting the yellow on the meter, I'd look out if I was you Hank!

It may seem like Cap has lost his mind, but it's all part of some tough love as he tries to get Hank to snap out of his depression. A page and a half of fighting later, and Cap is able to break through to Hank and make him realize the his problem will not by solved by moping around. Off to the lab goes Hank, as Cap receives a kiss from the Wasp in thanks.

So now that everything's hunky-dory with the Avengers, let's check in with the general populace of New York City as the Sons of the Serpent are in the middle of a new recruiting drive. Who are the Sons of the Serpent, you ask? Well let's check in with the old Hyperbole Meter.

Hello? Is this thing on?


I guess old Stan was ahead of time as the Sons of the Serpent just don't sound that crazy today. In fact, there's a certain modern day "patriotic" political movement that they'd probably be right at home in.

Yep, the Sons of the Serpent are looking to rid the country of all of those "furriners".

And who is that working undercover to get inside the inner serpent circle? It's none other than Natasha Romanoff, giving the Black Widow her first (if brief) appearance here at the Random Longbox.

I guess this thing is working after all, and we're pushing the red zone. Let's check back in with the Avengers to see what all the commotion is about.

Wait a minute...Did Hank just hit Janet? It was just an accident, but honestly...there's just no place for a "chattering female" in the lab. After all, Hank is under a lot of pressure to get himself back to size. Janet's a strong-willed woman, however, and she storms out of Hank's lab as she will not be talked to in such a fashion.

A quick call to Tony Stark, and Hank soon has the the star of Stark's Baltimore Plans and Research Division to come over and lend a hand. Coincidentally enough, Hank's new assistant is African American. I smell trouble brewing with the Sons of the Serpent.

That didn't take long. Luckily for Bill, Hank heard the struggle and comes outside just as the Sons of the Serpent are making a hasty retreat. Enraged by their actions, Hank calls a stop to his labwork so that the Avengers can be assembled to take on this venomous group personally.

Captain America decides to check in with Nick Fury to see if S.H.I.E.L.D. knows anything about these jokers, while the rest of the Avengers strategize about the best way to take 'em down.

The next day, the Avengers call a press conference to announce that they are declaring war on the Sons of Serpent. After their recent attempt to kill a travelling foreign dignitary, they can't wait any longer. Luckily for them, they don't have to as Captain America is soon sucked up into a mysterious looking cloud.

It turns out it wasn't a cloud after all, but the hidden base of the Sons of the Serpent. And now that he's on board, he gets a personal introduction to the sons themselves.

Alas, they're just too many snakes and Captain America is soon captured. It's all part of the Serpent's plan, as now that they have an Avenger at their mercy they're using him to blackmail the rest of the Avengers to stay out of their business...or else they'll never see Captain America alive again.

So with their backs against the wall, how quickly do the rest of the Avengers get their stuff together to take the fight to the serpents in the cloud?

Unfortunately you'll have to get the next issue to find out, as Hank has a plan and it involves making the world think that the Avengers have gone soft.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

Now if you remember, right off the bat we were told to expect one of "the most deeply-moving, off-beat thrillers of the year." We never did get the ol' Hyperbole Meter up to the red zone during the course of the story, but I imagine if we fired it up now, that prologue blurb would be enough to do the trick.

Stan Lee was nothing, if not the mediums greatest pitch man. He's in full force here, as I found this story neither deeply-moving, or very off-beat. I think even calling it a thriller is a bit of an overstatement.

I can definitely see the story that Stan was trying to tell here, and it's a story worth telling, but I'm not sure Stan's your man. I realize that you have to view a story in the context of the era in which it was written, but...

We have a story dealing with the serious topic of racism, but how are we supposed to take it seriously when this is how the Avengers deal with the female members of their own team.

Quiz time...which one of these statements was actually said to the Wasp, to her own face no less.

• "Butt out of this lady!"
• "Look lady -- I know you've been trying to help and I appreciate it -- But it's just no good"
• "And I'll get one -- A top notch scientist -- Not a chattering female!"

The answer? All of 'em!

So all of Hank's blustering about the injustice and bigotry involved with what the Sons of the Serpent stand for, and that's how the Avengers treat a fellow hero just because she's a girl? Remind me to tell Hank and the boys about pots and kettles and the color black the next time I see 'em.

Don Heck handles the art chores on this issue, and while he's not one of my favorite Avengers artists, he does okay with this issue. The story doesn't leave a lot of space for visual fireworks, but he has some good action panels when the story picks up.

A regular reader (thanks Thelonious Monk) recommended that I pick up The Defenders #21-25 last year when the I reviewed another Defenders issue, and the Son of the Serpent are the main villains of that story arc. Now I'm doubly curious to track those down to see how these jokers and this topic are handled by the likes of Steve Gerber writing the story.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

Lines in the sand don't come cheap...and The Ultimates!

At the risk of sounding too melodramatic, today's kind of a bittersweet day. I've been waiting for what seems like forever to be able to enjoy a current Avengers book. No offense to the people who enjoy the Sentry and Wolverine rubbing elbows with, well...a bunch of other people who I couldn't really care less for.

I'm not saying Bendis' New Avengers was bad, it's just not for me. It's similar to other people enjoying Booster Gold taping KICK ME sings on Batman's cape. I wouldn't begrudge anyone else their Bwa-ha-ha League, but it's not for me.

Today was supposed to be a joyous day with the good, old-fashioned Avengers coming back into the fold. Even with my reservations about the creative team, I was looking forward to jumping back into the Avengers in a big way. I was even willing to look past my dislike of paying 4 bucks for a standard sized comic nook. After all, it was just for the first issue, right?

Wrong. I was looking at the solicits for August yesterday and noticed that both of the Avengers books that I was going to pick up are still priced at four dollars well after the first issue. I'm sorry, but that's just too much to spend month-in and month-out.

So yeah, as eager as I am to follow Cap and the boys again, I just can't do it. I'm voting with my wallet on this issue, and unfortunately the Avengers are the innocent bystanders.

I'm sure it'll be depressing leaving the issues on the racks for the first couple of months, but you know what? I dropped all the Ultimate titles when they bumped up to four bucks after Ultimatum, and I find that I really don't miss them.

Lucky for me, I still have an in with one of my favorite characters, so I'll be more than happy to put my funds towards a $2.99 book like Hawkeye and Mockingbird to get my Avengers fix until Joey Q's experiment fails or ebay lets me pick up the run at a more reasonable price.

With the soapbox back in the closet, let's get to the business at hand, which is picking a new random book for me to review. Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is The Ultimates #1 from March 2002, published by Marvel Comics!

So I don't know what exactly I did to piss of the Randomizer, but I just get done baring my heart about the pain of having to leave some of my favorite titles on the racks and it goes and picks both an Ultimate and an Avengers title for me to read.

Actually, though, I'm looking forward to this one. It's been long enough now that the bitter taste of having to wait eight months for an issue of The Ultimates is long gone. I remember liking this issue originally, but the process of the books creation led me to become burned out on this title long before Mark Millar passed the baton to Jeph Loeb.

I haven't re-read this since it's original release, so I can't wait to see if it still holds up. See you in a day or two for the review.

The Avengers (Vol. 3) #35

TITLE: The Avengers #35

PUBLISHER: Marvel

COVER DATE: December 2000

COVER PRICE: $2.25

23 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

Well, that's the last time the use the word "lazy" in a blog post title. Unfortunately, I've been anything but. Life goes on, however, and the internet community of comic book fandom can now function at top speed once again, as we take a long delayed look at The Avengers #35!

In the interest of getting right into the action, let's take a quick recap of what we know going into this issue. It's smack dab in the middle of Busiek's superb run, featuring fill-in art by soon to be regular Avengers penciller, John Romita Jr.

That's the good. The bad?

It's part of a crossover I have limited memory of, featuring a cast of Avengers that's decidedly b and c-list. You know when you have Moondragon and Photon duking it out for the second most powerful member of the team, things are a little off.

Even so, Busiek was able to do wonders with a bunch of d-listers when he wrote The Thunderbolts, so it would be a mistake to right this issue off before we sit down to re-read it.

Interstellar Intrigues

• Writer: Kurt Busiek
• Penciler: John Romita Jr.
• Inker: Al Vey, Mark McKenna, Chris Ivy
• Colors: Tom Smith
• Letters: Richard Starkings, Albert Deschesne
• Assistant Editor: Marc Sumerak
• Editor: Tom Brevoort
• Chief: Joe Quesada

This issue opens up with Thor and a group of fellow Avengers demanding to speak to Lilandra, Majestrix of the Shi'ar. After a few tense moments with Thor on the verge of losing his godly patience, the Avengers are escorted in to see Lilandra.

We don't get too much info as to what exactly is going on, but we are told that this issue will probably make more sense if we read Maximum Security #2 first. They also claim they'll fill us in on the way if we didn't, so I guess we'll put 'em to the test.

Once inside the inner chambers, its Moondragon's turn to lose her temper as she demands to know why Lilandra and the Intergalactic Council have quarantined the Sol System and have begun transporting undesirables to Earth's surface. Lilandra explains that yes, Earth has been made a prison planet for the universe's most undesirable inhabitants.

It's actually a pretty clever idea as the Earth's heroes will work to keep the prisoners contained, while the prisoners will force the heroes to focus on Earth and not have the time to get drawn into cosmic affairs every other issue.

Proving that bureaucracy knows no boundaries, Lilandra explains that since this was decided in council there is nothing more that can be done...but, Lilandra has been friends and allies with Earth's heroes before, so she agrees to give them a forum to bring up an appeal. In the meantime, they are dismissed.

Back in their quarters, the Avengers take a few moments to strategize their next move. Thor talks of raising the armies of Asgard to fight on the humanity's behalf, when Moondragon senses that they are being spied upon.

She reaches out with a psychic bolt and soon incapacitates the alien eavesdropper. Before they have a chance to interrogate the Ruul spy, they are beset by more attackers.

Realizing that these aliens will never let them plead their case before the council, they decide to make their way to the council chambers immediately. All the way there, they are attacked by more and more Ruul. One by one, the Avengers are taken down, with Thor the last one to fall.

As consciousness returns to our heroes, they find themselves restrained and taken prisoners by the Ruul. Now if you're like me, you're probably wondering who the hell are the Ruul?

Luckily for us, the Supreme Intelligence of the Kree appears before the captive Avengers to fill us all in! Most of the next three pages are filled with flashbacks that recaps Avengers Forever and explains how the Supreme Intelligence was able to use the Forever Crystal from that series to evolve the Kree race by more than a millennia in but a moment. Now almost unrecognizable after their forced evolution, the Supreme Intelligence sends them back out into space to involve themselves in intergalactic affairs masquerading as a new race, instead of the war-like Kree that everyone knows and loves hates.

Using their newfound influence, the Kree have pushed the Intergalactic Council to make Earth a prison planet. All of that was just a cover for the Supreme Intelligence to impregnate the Earth with the Ego-Spore, that will slowly transform Earth into Ego, The Living Planet! With the power of their own planet to control, the Kree will once again be unstoppable in their conquest of the galaxy.

And with that, the Supreme Intelligence disappears once again, secure in the knowledge that the Avengers will soon be dead and his plans for conquest will soon come to fruition.

Realizing that the Earth's days are numbered, Quasar summons every ounce of will power that he has left to send the smallest microburst of energy back to Earth in an attempt to warn the other Avengers.

The other Avengers have problems of their own, however, as they've just been commandeered by the Federal Authority under the command of U.S.Agent!

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

I shouldn't have been so hard on Kurt Busiek. It's been too long, and I've forgotten how enjoyable his entire Avengers run was. Even a fill-in issue like this one, that ties into an event mini-series, is still pretty entertaining. Even an issue like this one, that features Jack-Of-Hearts, Tigra, and Starfox, is still pretty entertaining.

The Maximum Security storyline, while not making too big of an impression on me originally, sounds like an original idea for a mini-series event. Reading this issue has made me curious enough to pull out the series proper, and give it another read.

The art in this issue featured a guest appearance by John Romita Jr. Now I have a hot/cold relationship with his work, depending on what the project is. I don't normally go for his style on straight-forward superheroics, and this issue falls squarely in that vein. It was interesting to see his take on the Avengers, even though we didn't get to see too many of the big guns. It was kind of disappointing that Thor was the star of this issue, as JRJR spent a long time drawing his title around this time. I think I would have preferred to see him tackle a Captain America or Hawkeye story.

I suppose I won't have long to wait on that score. Less than 24 hours now, by my count!

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics