Books for Prep | |
 - This is Why we love the Avengersthe avengers throught out there history have basically have had "Moments" this is one of them ! this is some of what i think are Gems is the gravel pit of comics. its a great read-compare to recent Avenger stories- which if your not reading shame on you. Rating: - Stands the test of timeWith the exception of the much more recent "Avengers Forever" by Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco, this yarn is the pinnacle of Avengers "big" storylines. Marvel's most popular -- and infamous -- interstellar races, the Kree and the Skrulls, are going at it yet again, and this time Earth is caught square in the middle (literally -- it's at the midway point between both empires, although astronomy buffs know this is actually silly!) The Kree Supreme Intelligence, even though a captive of the malevolent Kree Ronan the Accuser, has used his mental might to maneuver one Rick Jones into his possession. He unlocks Jones' "Destiny Force" (whose effects are played to much greater detail in "Avengers Forever") to ultimately quell the cosmic war and become the rightful Kree ruler again. Featuring guest stars out the wazoo (Captain Marvel, The Inhumans, Super Skrull), this compilation also showcases one of the greatest artists of all time, Neal Adams, as well as one of the premier scripters, Roy Thomas. This is easily in the top three Avengers stories of all time, if not THE best. Rating: - Finally!!!!Marvel is starting to release bound volumes of their classic issues. Neal Adam's artwork is stellar, however his interpretation of the Thing is somewhat lacking. This is a great story, marred only by the issues that Adams did not pencil. This is a perfect companion to the Avengers: The Celestial Madonna volume just released. If you like the Avengers now, you would have liked them then. No angst, no beserkers, minimal teen presence; just great storytelling and a sense of adventure. Rating:  - Good stuff, but not for everyoneIf you have even the tiniest soft spot in your heart for superheroes (my own soft spot is pretty tiny), you might enjoy this very much. If purple prose, shameless hyperbole, fuzzy science, and technicolor longjohns are most definitely not your thing, then you'd best look elsewhere for your entertainment. Roy Thomas, in writing for Marvel Comics, wrote in the grossly overwrought style created by his boss, Stan Lee, but he did it better than Lee. His sentences are actually grammatically correct, the style is consistent, and all the five-dollar words are used properly. More importantly, whereas Lee would just ramble on with nary thought for overall story structure (let alone "theme"), Thomas developed his stories carefully, imbued them with something resembling significance, and made them genuinely interesting. In the case of this storyline, he was also blessed to have two of the best illustrators of the day (Neal Adams and John Buschema) and a third quite competent illustrator (John's brother Sal) adding excellent visuals to an exciting story. Another aspect of this work that should not be overlooked is the fact that it can be enjoyed even without background knowledge of the "Marvel Universe" of the time. Sure, it helps to know the difference between Giant-Man and Goliath, and Yellow-Jacket and Ant-Man, but it is not essential. Thus, unlike so many other superhero epics (the dreadful "Crisis of Infinite Earths" and the snicker-evoking "Kingdom Come" come to mind), the "Kree-Skrull War" can be enjoyed on its own by anyone willing to accept the whole muscle-man-in-tights thingy. I am no superhero fan (though I enjoyed Marvel Comics in the mid-seventies as a pre-teen), but I couldn't put this book down, and am very glad I bought it. I wish it was available in Japanese so I could have my Japanese students read it in my course on American comics. Rating: - Rascally Roy's Best Superhero WorkAlthough one might classify Roy Thomas' work on Conan as his highpoint, this effort is certainly up there. Roy was a master at pulling in loose ends from the past and making a story out of them. In this, he goes back to Fantastic Four #2 which introduced the Skrulls, a shapeshifter race. At the end of that story, the Skrulls are hypnotized into changing into and spending life as cows. Roy notices that although there were four skrulls, the final panel only showed 3 cows. From a small mistake, Thomas crafted an epic. The Avengers are drawn into a war between the Kree and the Skrull in which the missing 4th Skrull plays a major part. Along the way, there are battles with all manner of alien villains, another "breakup" of the Avengers, a hero vs hero battle against the FF, and the search for BlackBolt, king of the Inhumans. The climax is perennial superhero sidekick Rick Jones serving as a conduit for a group of Marvel's original WWII heroes. With art by John Buscema and Neil Adams, this epic is a can't miss for vintage marvel fans. In association with Amazon.com | |