New Reviews

will begin on January 12. :)

Teen Titans Go! #25

Don’t worry, this is a review of the comic book based on the Teen Titans cartoon and has nothing to do with Teen Titans Go! the TV show.  And by the way, DC?  If you’re looking to get me a Christmas present in return for all my years of loyal fanning, you can cancel that pathetic pile of busted Christmas lights and leave Teen Titans Season Six in my stocking.

Okay, enough with the negativity.  The rest of this review will be nothing but happy Christmas happiness, I promise.

Avengerous Tales 2.11 - Avengers #92-#93

To read Avengerous Tales 2.10, go here!

Gotta love the juxtaposition of cover prices here.  On the first it brags in giant script that it’s fifteen cents, and on the second it’s twenty-five cents all of a sudden.  Nice timing, Marvel.

(To be fair, Issue Ninety-Three is several pages longer than usual, but the next issue is regular length and twenty cents, so.)

 

Just a quick note to let you all know that tomorrow's edition of Avengerous Tales will be the last one I post for the year.  I'm going to be busy with holiday stuff from now through the end of the year, plus I'm going to try to put together a special Christmas post for December 19.  If I don't post on the 19th, then I won't be posting at all until after New Years', when I resume Avengerous Tales.

Whatever you celebrate, or even if you don't celebrate anything at all, stay safe and have a good time!

Avengerous Tales 2.10 - Avengers #90-#91

To read Avengerous Tales 2.9, go here!

EVOLUTION DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY!

Avengerous Tales 2.9 - Avengers #88-#89

To read Avengerous Tales 2.8, go here!

You’ve probably noticed that we’ve been seeing Thor and Iron Man around more than we have for the past few years.  The comic never made an official announcement that these two were back to being full-time Avengers—they just started showing up on the regular all of a sudden.  I wonder how that played out in-universe, like did Thor’s socks just suddenly start appearing in the laundry while Iron Man left notes on the fridge complaining that they’re out of straws?

Avengerous Tales 2.8 - Avengers #86-#87

To read Avengerous Tales 2.7, go here!

When did this comic turn into an old EC horror story?

Avengerous Tales 2.7 - Avengers Annual #4, Avengers #84-#85

To read Avengerous Tales 2.6, go here!

Avengers Annual #4—a.k.a. Avengers Special #4 (the names of the annuals get a bit fuzzy after the first one)—is just like Avengers Annual/Special #3, in that there is not a single panel of new material in it.  It’s just back-to-back reprints of Avengers #5 and #6, so refer to Avengerous Tales 1.3 if you’d like to read my thoughts on them.  For now, let’s move on to the next regular issue of The Avengers, Issue Eighty-Four.

Avengerous Tales 2.6 - Avengers #82-#83

To read Avengerous Tales 2.5, go here!

Cover the first: Tony, that is the worst battle cry I’ve ever heard.

Cover the second: FOR THE LOVE OF AZAR NOT ONE OF THESE.

Avengerous Tales 2.5 - Avengers #80-#81

To read Avengerous Tales 2.4, go here!

This review is brought to you buy the letter R.  R stands for many things, like ‘review,’ which is what this is; ‘Red Wolf,’ who is today’s guest hero; and ‘racism,’ which this comic has an abundance of.  Happy reading!  Oh, look, another R!  Remarkable!

***Needless to say, if you’re sensitive about misrepresentation of Native Americans in the media, this Avengerous Tale is not for you.

Avengerous Tales 2.4 - Avengers #78-#79

To read Avengerous Tales 2.3, go here!

So we’re still going with the name Man-Ape, huh?

…Sigh.

Avengerous Tales 2.3 - Avengers #76-#77

To read Avengerous Tales 2.2, go here!

Welcome, nerds and nerdlings, to a very special era of The Avengers that I like to call ‘Why the heck is Wanda’s hair black on the covers and red on the inside?’

Avengerous Tales 2.2 - Avengers #74-#75

To read Avengerous Tales 2.1, go here!

Hey look, John Buscema’s back!  And just in time for things to get extra stupid!

***The first half of this review contains depictions and discussions of racism and racially-motivated violence.  If you’d prefer to avoid all that, don’t start reading until it says “Whew…”

Avengerous Tales 2.1 - Avengers #72-#73

 To read Avengerous Tales 1.38, click here!

Hello, all, and welcome to Avengerous Tales 2.0!  We’ve already covered the swinging sixties (here’s the masterpost if you want to get caught up), so now let’s dive right into the sensational seventies and see what this brand new decade has in store for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

***The second half of this review contains depictions and discussions of racism and racially-motivated violence.  If you’d prefer to skip all that, stop at “We get a new artist for the next issue.”

Avengerous Tales 1.0 Masterpost

Figured it was about time I made one of these.  I also tried to include notes on which reviews contained comics when people joined up or left the team.  If I missed anything, or if any of the links don't work, let me know.

New reviews are coming soon, I promise. :)

Avengerous Tales 1.38 - 1960s Retrospective

Well, nerds and nerdlings, I can’t believe I’ve made it this far, but I have officially reviewed every single issue of The Avengers that was published in the 1960s.  We’ve come a long way, and to celebrate, I decided to take a brief respite before jumping into the sensational ‘70s and take a look back at what we’ve read so far.  After rereading all of my Avengerous Tales reviews (I am hilarious, I must say), I just want to share a few thoughts about the Avengers’ first six years of existence.

***Because this retrospective covers all previous comics, previous warnings apply.  These include: 

-racism

-racially motivated violence
-physical abuse
-emotional abuse

Avengerous Tales 1.37 - Avengers #70-#71

To read Avengerous Tales 1.36, go here! 

Wait, why are we back to the old font?  I guess people didn’t like the new one…?

Avengerous Tales 1.36 - Avengers #68, Avengers Annual #3, Avengers #69

To read Avengerous Tales 1.35, go here!

We’ve got Sal Buscema, longtime artist for Captain America and The Incredible Hulk (and John Buscema’s brother), on art today.  Dang, the Avengers are going through artists faster than Harry Potter goes through Dark Arts professors.

 

Avengerous Tales 1.35 - Avengers #65-#67

To read Avengerous Tales 1.34, go here!

You get a triple feature today!  What fun!

Avengerous Tales 1.34 - Avengers #63-#64

To read Avengerous Tales 1.33, go here!

I don’t know why Hank would continue being Yellowjacket when that’s the identity he took in a weird fit of schizophrenic self-hatred, but those covers are awesome.  Much better than the Random Floating Head covers we’ve been getting lately.

***This review contains a tiny discussion of emotional abuse, so if that bothers you, skip the paragraph after I start swearing up a storm.

Avengerous Tales 1.33 - Avengers #61-#62

To read Avengerous Tales 1.32, go here!

A quick pit stop at Dr. Strange #178 before we begin today’s tale:

With his dying breath, the villain Asmodeus utters a spell that will cause the fire giant Surtur and the frost/ice giant Ymir (whom you may recognize from both Norse mythology and Thor comics) to come wreak havoc on Earth in one hour.  The only people who know how to break that spell are the Sons of Satannish, who are being held prisoner in the sixth dimension by a jerk named Tiboro.  Strange doesn’t really want to go there alone, so he tracks down our old pal the Black Knight—whose sword contains mystical properties—and enlists him as a road trip buddy.

And everything seems to go great.  Dr. Strange and the Black Knight defeat Tiboro, who agrees to release the Sons of Satannish.  Problem solved, right?  Well…

 

Avengerous Tales 1.32 - Avengers #59-#60

 

 

To read Avengerous Tales 1.31, go here! 

Hey kids, remember when this comic thought it was competent enough to have a discussion about racism?  Remember how well that went?  Well today they’re going to try to tackle mental illness!  Won’t that be fun?!!

***This review contains depictions and extensive discussions of emotional and physical abuse, a couple of brief scenes that could be interpreted as attempted sexual assault, and gross misrepresentation of schizophrenia.  If you’d prefer to avoid that, feel free to enjoy some adorable fanart while slamming canon’s fingers in the door.  Actually, you’ll probably want to do that anyway.

Avengerous Tales 1.31 - Avengers #57-#58

To read Avengerous Tales 1.30, go here!

NO BLOOD

NO STAIN
ALL WE NEED IS
ONE WORLD
ONE VISION

Avengerous Tales 1.30 - Avengers Annual #2

To read Avengerous Tales 1.29, go here!

Wow, is it time for another Annual already?  The year just flew by, didn’t it?

Like with the first Annual, we’ve got Don Heck doing the artwork, this time with Werner Roth as well.  Apparently, he’s best known for his work on X-Men and Lorna the Jungle Girl, which explains why I’m not familiar with him.  If you just gave me the name ‘Werner Roth’ with no context, I’d assume he was a German explorer and imagine a dude in jodhpurs and a pith helmet.

A friendly reminder that this Saturday marks the last time I'll be posting twice in one week.  I'll make one post a week until I finish Avengerous Tales 1.0, and then I'll take a short break, and then I'll either post sporadically or once a week, depending on how busy I am.  Don't worry, though, I'm determined to get through all of the Avengers comics eventually, so I won't be gone too long. :)

Avengerous Tales 1.29 - Avengers #55-#56

 

To read Avengerous Tales 1.28, go here!

I don't have any clever cut text for you this time, so you'll have to click the button below to see my incredible wit at work.

Avengerous Tales 1.28 - Avengers #53-#54

To read Avengerous Tales 1.27, go here!

 

Oh good, another hero vs. hero battle.  You know how much I love those.

Okay.  Avengers #53 is actually the continuation of a story that began in X-Men #43-45, so we’ll recap that one first real quick.  I’m sure you’ll be shocked to learn that Magneto has captured the X-Men and is keeping them captive on his private island.  Angel escapes and, after a short delay, makes his way to the Avengers to enlist their help in rescuing his team.

While Angel is out, Cyclops manages to escape also, only to be waylaid by Quicksilver, who tries to convince him to join the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.  Cyclops refuses and Quicksilver threatens to straight-up murder him, but Cyclops knocks him out, mostly by accident.  That’s when the Avengers show up, and they’re not exactly pleased about their former member being unconscious, even though Quicksilver plainly abandoned them last issue, but I guess you can’t be on a team with someone for so long without forming some tight bonds.

Avengerous Tales 1.27 - Avengers #51-#52

To read Avengerous Tales 1.26, go here!

Who thought it would be a good idea to let the Grim Reaper dress himself?  Even for a supervillain, that’s super-tacky.  Also, for crying out loud, someone get the painting supplies away from Batman.  He keeps painting all the Avengers’ backgrounds yellow.

Avengerous Tales 1.26 - Avengers #49-#50

 

To read Avengerous Tales 1.25, go here!

SUPER CLICHÉ COVER DEPLOY IN 3, 2—

Avengerous Tales 1.25 - Avengers #47-#48

 

To read Avengerous Tales 1.24, go here!

I assume that by now most people know who Magneto is, yes?  Well in X-Men #11, he tried to recruit a mysterious fellow called the Stranger for his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.  This just annoys the Stranger, who ends up transporting Magneto and his toadie, Toad (GET IT???), to an abandoned planet. 

But it turns out the Stranger is kind of a moron, as said planet has rockets on it, and Magneto uses one to return to Earth by X-Men #18, leaving Toad behind.  In this issue, Magneto tries to destroy the X-Men for the millionth time, but Professor X just sends a telepathic signal to the Stranger, who comes to retrieve Magneto and return him to the other planet.  Yes, the same planet that Magneto was easily able to escape from before, but for some reason, he doesn’t try the same trick again.

And that’s where Avengers #47 begins.

 

Avengerous Tales 1.24 - Avengers #45-#46

 

To read Avengerous Tales 1.23, go here!

It’s background time!

In Tales of Suspense #84, Captain America went up against an android called the Super-Adaptoid, an AIM creation and blatant Amazo rip-off with the ability to absorb the powers of others.  He quickly absorbed the powers of Giant-Man, Wasp, Hawkeye, and Captain America, and then he followed AIM’s orders by attacking the good captain.  Neither side really won that fight—the Adaptoid threw Cap at the ocean and assumed he was dead, because clearly Cap has no experience with surviving a drop into the ocean—and ran off so that AIM couldn’t deactivate him now that he’d achieved his purpose.

Avengerous Tales 1.23 - Avengers Annual #1

To read Avengerous Tales 1.22, go here! 

We’ve got something a little different lined up for today’s review: the very first Avengers Annual, the first of twenty-three specials featuring Earth’s Mightiest Heroes published from 1967 to 1994.  Obviously that means they weren’t printed every year, so the title of annual will prove false, but anyway.  Because it’s so long, we’re only reviewing this one issue instead of the two I normally cover per post.  Let’s see if this story is worth the extra pages.

Avengerous Tales 1.22 - Avengers #43-#44

To read Avengerous Tales 1.21, go here!

So remember last time, when the Avengers learned of Black Widow’s capture and Hawkeye was justifiably eager to save her?  Well, Issue Forty-Three picks up TWO DAYS LATER, and they’re STILL sitting around Avengers Mansion.  Why?  I don’t know, to be honest, but apparently Quicksilver can fly for short distances now—a power which I believe will quickly be left by the wayside—so maybe they’re finally doing something with their “Wanda and Pietro have power fluxes” subplot after all.

Then this happens.

Avengerous Tales 1.21 - Avengers #41-#42

 

To read Avengerous Tales 1.20, go here!

PANCAKES!!!!

Avengerous Tales 1.20 - Avengers #39-#40

To read Avengerous Tales 1.19, go here!

Okay, so remember last review when I said that Captain America’s battle with Red Skull in Tales of Suspense #88 wasn’t relevant?  Well, now it is, so listen up:

First off, waaaay back in Tales of Suspense #81, Red Skull got his hands on a doohickey called the Cosmic Cube (nowadays known as the Tesseract) that granted him unlimited power.  Cap knocked the Cube into the ocean, and Skull supposedly drowned trying to retrieve it.  Obviously he did not, as he returned in Tales of Suspense #88 with his Robo-Bucky.

After Cap defeats Robo-Bucky in Issue Eighty-Nine, Red Skull turned to Plan B: kill Captain America some other way.  After that failed in Issue Ninety, he turned to Plan C: he threatened to use his deadly bubble weapon (he should probably think about rebranding) to destroy New York unless Cap announced his allegiance to the Red Skull.  On live TV, no less. Captain America wasn’t about to let his adversary go on a rampage, so he did so swear.

Avengerous Tales 1.19 - Avengers #37-#38

To read Avengerous Tales 1.18, go here!

In Tales of Suspense #88, Captain America received a distress call from someone who appeared to be his lost sidekick, Bucky (the original, not the wannabe).  Obviously he dashed off alone to the location “Bucky” gives him, even though it’s a foreboding-sounding island.  Cap was the only one surprised when it turned out that Red Skull had created a fake Robo-Bucky (RoBucky?) to reel him in.  But the rest of that adventure is irrelevant for the purposes of this review.  All you need to know is that Cap will be AWOL for a few issues starting with Avengers #38, but first, let’s jump straight into Issue Thirty-Seven.

Avengerous Tales 1.18 - Avengers #35-#36

To read Avengerous Tales 1.17, go here!

“Big change”?  What, is Goliath going through puberty?
 

Avengerous Tales 1.17 - Avengers #33-#34

 

To read Avengerous Tales 1.16, go here!

Welcome, nerds and nerdlings, to a very special edition of Avengerous Tales.  Or at least it would be special, if the writer wasn’t so outrageously stupid.

***The first half of this review contains depictions and discussion of racism and racially motivated violence.  If you'd prefer to avoid that, don't start reading until you see "Now that Marvel's gotten that..."
 

Avengerous Tales 1.16 - Avengers #31-#32

To read Avengerous Tales 1.15, go here! 

And now, we return to the Forbidden Land, featuring inhabitants so magical that they can speak Standard English despite being hidden in the wilds of South America for hundreds of years.  Ooooooh… *wiggles fingers*

***The second half of this review contains depictions and discussion of racism and racially motivated violence.  If you'd prefer to skip that, stop reading at "now we can get to issue thirty-two."

Avengerous Tales 1.15 - Avengers #29-#30

 

To read Avengerous Tales 1.14, go here! 

Time for a little back story here, since this is the first time the Black Widow will appear in an Avengers comic, and the context of her appearance won’t make much sense if you don’t know about her previous exploits.

Black Widow debuted in Tales of Suspense #52.  She was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck as yet another “red” adversary for ToS star Iron Man.  After failing multiple times to bring Stark Industries secrets to her superiors behind the iron (hee) curtain, she teamed up with budding criminal Hawkeye, who immediately fell in love with her and agreed to do whatever she wanted, even though he wasn’t a communist himself.  It all went south in Tales of Suspense #60, when Widow’s superiors have enough of her failing and mooning over Hawkeye and take her back behind the curtain for “interrogation.”

As we learn in Avengers #29, Black Widow was taken to “the Orient” where she was brainwashed to eliminate any “weakening” effects her time among those pansy capitalists may have had.

 

Now it’s story time!

Avengerous Tales 1.14 - Avengers #27-#28

To read Avengerous Tales 1.13, go here!

 

As I’m sure you’re beginning to realize, Hank Pym changes his nom du guerre more often than P. Diddy.  Or Diddy, or Sean Combs, or whatever the heck he’s calling himself right now, I don’t know anything about rap.  You get my point.

Avengerous Tales 1.13 - Avengers #25-#26

 

To read Avengerous Tales 1.12, go here!

It’s been a while since we had to check out a different comic to better explain what’s going on in The Avengers, but I think I remember how to do it.

In Tales to Astonish #77-#78, we find out what Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne have been doing since they left the team: performing vital drilling experiments in the middle of the ocean, trying to figure out the origins of life.  However, their drill is causing serious damage to Namor’s kingdom, and he destroys the drill. 

Of course, instead of explaining that the drill is wrecking his city, Namor just tells them to go away because he’s a prince, dammit, now do what he says!  Hank, Jan, and the rest of the crew don’t take kindly to that, and one of them gets trigger happy and shoots at Namor, setting the whole ship on fire instead.  They get it under control fairly quickly, but right then, a villain named the Puppet Master decides to take control of Namor’s mind and compels him to swim to New York.  With the radio gone and with Hank unwilling to leave the job of fixing his equipment to others long enough to become Giant-Man and walk to shore, that leaves Jan to shrink down to wasp-size and fly to New York to alert the Avengers.

Got that?  Good.  Now stick a pin in it and save it for later, because we have one issue left before you’ll need to remember all that.

Avengerous Tales 1.12 - Avengers #23-#24

To read Avengerous Tales 1.11, go here!

The moral of today’s Avengerous Tale is that love conquers all, even when you are an actual conqueror, as long as you are being written by a man in 1965.

Okay, so I’m no Aesop.  So sue me.

 

Some extra Avengerous Tales for you all

So I've actually been writing my Avengerous Tales reviews a lot faster than I thought I would and now I have a backlog of about fifteen of the suckers on my laptop.  I'm going to try to get rid of some of them by posting two a week--Saturdays and Sundays--for a while, if it's all the same to you. :)

Oh, and what a coincidence, if I do that, we'll get to Ultron's first appearance just in time for the movie.  My excitement for Age of Ultron has waned considerably since I learned it's all leading up to that crapfest Civil War, but hey, if you're still excited about it, now you'll get an extra dose of evil robot goodness.  Er, badness.

Avengerous Tales 1.11 - Avengers #21-#22

To read Avengerous Tales 1.10, go here!

I love how Wanda looks like she’s swooning on the cover of Issue Twenty-One.  “Oh Pietro, my brother, that Power Man is so hot!  Please bring me my smelling salts before I am overcome!”
 

Avengerous Tales 1.10 - Avengers #19-#20

To read Avengerous Tales 1.9, go here!

 

Today’s tale begins not with The Avengers but with Strange Tales, which at the time featured stories about Dr. Strange (you probably could have guessed that) and, more importantly for our purposes, about White Nick Fury.

In Strange Tales #135, a historic event occurred: Nick Fury was put in charge of SHIELD.  SHIELD’s nemesis, Hydra, wasn’t too crazy about that and put out a hit on Fury, who spent most of #135-#136 running around in flying cars and stuff trying to defeat them.

Yes, this is relevant, I promise.  Head behind the cut to find out how!  (Was that shameless enough?)

Avengerous Tales 1.9 - Avengers #17-#18

To read Avengerous Tales 1.8, go here! 

You know what this comic has been missing?  Anti-communist propaganda!  Gee, Iron Man sure is going to be disappointed when he learns he missed out on a chance to whale on some commies.

 

Avengerous Tales 1.8 - Avengers #15-#16

 

To read Avengerous Tales 1.7, go here!

Today is not just a review of some old Avengers comics.  Today is an AWESOME review of some old Avengers comics… and a major change in the line-up of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Avengerous Tales 1.7 - Avengers #13-#14

To read Avengerous Tales 1.6, go here! 

In which Europeans are melodramatic and evil, war-like aliens are easily intimidated by shouting, and the Wasp is useless.  So it’s Tuesday, then.

Spitballing - "The Sound and the Fury" (The Flash)

I have been waiting to see the Pied Piper on my television screen for literal years.  (And no, a two-second cameo doesn't COUNT, Justice League: Unlimited.)  A split-second after they announced the new Flash series, I was already thinking I hope Piper makes an appearance.

No WAY was I about to let this episode go by without throwing a few spitballs.

**Normally I don't post spoiler warnings, but since this episode is still so new at the time of this posting, I'm putting one right now.**

Avengerous Tales 1.6 - Avengers #11-#12

To read Avengerous Tales 1.5, go here!

Once again, it’s backstory time!  See all this extra reading I do, just to flesh out these reviews?  That’s how much I love you.  And comic books.  But mostly you.

Okay, so leading up to Tales of Suspense #61, Iron Man’s heart condition took a bit of a nosedive (that’s why you don’t smoke, idiot), so he had to wear the entire armor all the time instead of just the chest plate.  Obviously Tony Stark couldn’t be seen wandering around in Iron Man’s armor, so Stark just kind of disappeared with no good explanation, leaving Iron Man as the prime suspect in his disappearance.  It all came to a head in Tales of Suspense #61, in which Tony stumbled on the idea of being sick and bedridden as an excuse for his absence.  Unfortunately, the Mandarin had to go and complicate things by destroying Tony’s house with a giant energy beam from space, making the world think everyone’s favorite playboy engineer is dead.  Iron Man runs off to find the source of the beam.

Which brings us to today’s tale.

Avengerous Tales 1.5 - Avengers #9-#10

To read Avengerous Tales 1.4, go here!

No supplementary material necessary for these issues, so we can dive right in!