Showing posts with label Avengers (Marvel). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Avengers (Marvel). Show all posts

Coming Up: Marvel's Classic Avengers "Kree/Skrull War" Saga Collected in New Gallery Edition


Out Jan. 17, 2023. Order now from Amazon.

Details:

The greatest Avengers saga of all gets the oversized Gallery Edition treatment, befitting the revolutionary artwork of the legendary Neal Adams! The galaxy is rocked by a conflict of star-spanning proportions — with Earth caught in the crossfire! The eternal intergalactic enemies, the merciless Kree and the shape-changing Skrulls, have gone to war, and our planet is situated on the front lines! Can Earth’s Mightiest Heroes bring about an end to the fighting before humanity becomes a casualty of war? And what good are even a dozen super-powered champions against the vast military machines of two of the great empires of the cosmos? The key to victory lies with the expatriate Kree Captain Mar-Vell…and his human host, honorary Avenger Rick Jones! It’s an all-time cosmic classic and one of the most important Marvel stories ever told!

COLLECTING: Avengers (1963) 89-97

Out Now: Lavish Avengers Anthology from Taschen Collects first 20 Issues of Classic Comics Series


Order "Marvel Comics Library: Avengers. Vol. 1 1963–1965" now from Amazon.

Details:

Super-hero teams had been around since the 1940s, but Thor, Ant Man, the Wasp, Hulk, and Iron Man broke new ground when they joined forces to form the Avengers in 1963. They not only fought together, they occasionally fought each other! The first 20 stories from the Avengers are collected in this Hulk‑sized volume and have been meticulously photographed from the most pristine copies of these rare comic books—a fine art celebration worthy of Tony Stark’s library.



Coming up: Avengers Epic Collection - Kang War

Out in July. Order now from Amazon.

Details: 

Throughout his Avengers’ run, Steve Englehart slowly built the mysterious Mantis into one of ’70s Marvel’s most intriguing characters. Here, her tale reaches its cosmic climax in a saga spanning space and time—“The Celestial Madonna!” When Kang the Conqueror arrives, the action begins. Before it’s over, Kang, Rama-Tut and Immortus will have you time-twisted in two. And that’s just for starters! The origin of the Vision is revealed and he and the Scarlet Witch wed. Then, the Avengers put out a call for new members. Beast, Hellcat and Moondragon join, while Captain America, Yellowjacket and the Wasp return. Each will be tested in a second war with Kang and the Squadron Sinister. It’s a classic conflict that teams the Avengers with the Marvel heroes of the Old West!

COLLECTING: Avengers (1963) 129-149, Giant-Size Avengers (1974) 2-4; material from Giant-Size Avengers (1974) 5, Marvel Treasury Edition (1974) 7, FOOM (1973) 12

Coming up: Avengers vs. Fantastic Four


Out Dec. 17. Pre-order from Amazon now.

Details:

Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Marvel's First Family share some of their greatest adventures! First, it's the battle of the century -- the Hulk vs. the Thing! And it'll take the combined forces of both teams to stop the destruction! Worlds collide again when Ultron-7 crashes Quicksilver and Crystal's wedding! And the Avengers and the Fantastic Four each have roles to play in cosmic encounters with Annihilus and the Skrulls! Then, on a break from the FF, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman actually join the Avengers for the Super-Nova saga! The New Avengers and the Fantastic Four face the Kree - -but why are Hank Pym and the Mighty Avengers breaking into the Baxter Building?!

COLLECTING: FANTASTIC FOUR (1961)#25-26, 150, and 255-256, FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #19; AVENGERS (1963) #127, 233, and 301-303, AVENGERS ANNUAL #14; NEW AVENGERS: AAFES #1; MIGHTY AVENGERS (2007) #25-26


Some relatively spoiler-free thoughts on "Avengers: Infinity War"


"Big event" crossovers have become so routine in comic books that I long ago stopped bothering to keep up. But whoever thought we'd see one on the big screen?

Those of us who grew up on the watered down, change-the-character's-origin/costume/secret identity, superhero TV shows, movies and cartoon series in the 1970s and 1980s never would've predicted that Hollywood would consider audiences interested or smart enough to track 10- or 20-some characters interacting in a huge team-up adventure.

But with Marvel now calling the shots with its own film studio, here we are with "Avengers: Infinity War." And it's a blast.

Nearly every Marvel character featured on screen since the first Iron Man film 10 years ago appears in the film - 20 some characters in all, including Spider-Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Black Panther and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

The film's story draws from artist/writer Jim Starlin's cosmic Infinity Stone storylines, which stretch from his 1970s run on Warlock to his "event' series of the 1990s and there are many references to the previous Marvel films and plot lines.

So why isn't the film, like nearly every comic book crossover since the 1990s, a huge, muddled mess? I think because, unlike most comic book stories these days which are continuity and plot-driven, this one is about characters.

Thanos and his cheesy, gumball machine gems are beside the point. We want to see Thor spar, verbally, with Star Lord and hang out with Rocket Racoon (who the Thunder God dubs "rabbit") and Groot. We want to revisit Wakanda, because Wakanda is the coolest. We want to see Black Widow fighting alien dogs alongside Black Panther's chief bodyguard, Okoye. We wanted to see Peter Parker meet Black Panther's brainy kid sister, Shuri, but that didn't happened ... yet.

Sure, the film might be a tad confusing if you haven't seen all the Marvel movies or if you don't remember the finer points of each. But it doesn't matter so much because the basics are clear - good guys are fighting a big bad guy, and the good guys are all interesting, likable and fun to spend time with. In most comics of this nature creators are so busy messing with continuity and referencing past storylines that characters and their interactions become superfluous.

Yes, the movies still make changes that may not be strictly necessary, and which may annoy hardcore comics fans. But for the most part they are better than today's comics at telling stories about these iconic characters.

I'm always perplexed why Marvel and DC don't got with the characters as they're presented on screen, where they are seen and understood by millions, not the mere thousands who still read comics. Why not use the movie versions and storylines in comics, too? It would make the comics more inviting to newer, younger fans. Fear of sales?

Let's hope that the Marvel movies don't go down the same wormhole of self-referential continuity. And let's hope that we can hang in there to see what happens next because - without spoiling things too much - lots of bad things happen at the end of "Infinity War" and we need to see how our favorite characters come out at the end. Plus, Peter and Shuri. It's gotta happen.