Avengerous Tales 2.29 - Avengers #127-#128

To read Avengerous Tales 2.28, go here!

Between the last issue and this one, Captain America made good on his vow to give up that particular secret identity, so we won’t be seeing him in The Avengers for a while.  You can check out Captain America #176 if you want the details (and/or Cap’s origin story), but the rest of us have tuxes to rent and flowers to sneeze over—there’s a wedding in the offing!

 

(Today’s issues feature art by Sal Buscema and Joe Staton.)

Avengerous Tales 2.20 - Avengers #110-#111

To read Avengerous Tales 2.19, go here!

A special note for Hawkeye fans: you may want to keep a copy of your Fraction and/or Duggan TPBs at hand while you read this review to remind yourself of why you like this character.

Avengerous Tales 2.19 - Avengers #108-#109

To read Avengerous Tales 2.18, go here!

We spin the Wheel of Artists for the last time today.  Dave Cockrum, Joe Sinnott, and Don Heck are the artists for Issue 108, and then our old buddy Mr. Heck once again takes over as the regular artist for the next few issues.

As a side note, we find out this issue that Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne recently “““died.”””  Just in case it comes up again in future issues, I figure I should mention it now.

Avengerous Tales 2.17 - Avengers #104-#105

To read Avengerous Tales 2.16, go here!

 

We have lots of goodbyes to say in this review.  I hope you brought your Bat-hanky. *sniff*

Avengerous Tales 2.16 - Avengers #102-#103

To read Avengerous Tales 2.15, go here!

And we’re back to the floating head covers.  Great.  Also, like the last story, Roy Thomas is responsible for the script but not really the story idea.  That credit goes to Chris Claremont, who we’ll be talking more about down the road, although the comic just says this is “based on an idea from Chris Claremont,” so I don’t know if he provided Thomas with a full synopsis or just turned to him one day over coffee and was like “hey, wouldn’t it be cool if…?” and then let Thomas run with it.

Avengerous Tales 2.15 - Avengers #100-#101

To read Avengerous Tales 2.14, go here!

I am going to need so many tags for this.
 

Avengerous Tales 2.14 - Avengers #98-#99

To read Avengerous Tales 2.13, go here!

A brief sojourn to Thor #196-#197 before we begin this Avengerous Tale:

Asgard was under attack from a being called Mangog, which Odin himself created because he’s a genocidal a-hole, but that’s a long story and we’re not going to get into it right now.  The point is, Mangog’s on a rampage, and to protect the rest of the universe, Odin breaks the Rainbow Bridge and whisks Asgard away to a separate dimension.

Avengerous Tales 2.13 - Avengers #96-#97

To read Avengerous Tales 2.12, go here!

Diggin’ the new title font, but why is Namor naked?

Avengerous Tales 2.12 - Avengers #94, Avengers Annual #5, Avengers #95

To read Avengerous Tales 2.11, go here!

It’s my first Avengerous Tale of the new year, but we’ve still got to resolve the plotlines started back in the old one, so let’s get a-movin’.

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.)

 

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 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.