The story in these four issues has a very simple premise: After being split from Dr. Bruce Banner in issue #315, the Hulk has become a being of pure rage with no moderating intellect or rationality, and as a result is now more uncontrollably violent than ever. Both Avengers teams now have to confront the... Continue Reading →
These three issues present a story of Kang... or Kangs, as it were. The plot resembles the films Highlander or Jet Li's The One in that one Kang tries to eliminate other Kangs created by divergences in the timeline due to all his time-travel shenanigans over the years (extending into the past and future). We... Continue Reading →
Fresh from their crossover in the recent Avengers and Fantastic Four annuals, the two teams meet once again in their regular titles in a story that—no surprise, given the FF cover—reintroduces Jean Grey, who seemed to perish during the "Dark Phoenix Saga," and in turn leads into the first X-Factor series, starring the reunited original... Continue Reading →
This issue of Avengers is both the aftermath of their recent adventures with the Skrulls in issues #259-260 and the recent Avengers and Fantastic Four annuals, as well as the title's second Secret Wars II crossover, a more substantial encounter with the Beyonder than his sudden surprise appearance in the first (issue #260). This is... Continue Reading →
These two annuals represent a unique experiment on the part of writers Roger Stern and John Byrne (who also handles pencils or breakdowns): They represent two separate stories that intersect in the third act, at which the issues cover the same events from each team's point of view, with several panels and pages effectively duplicated... Continue Reading →
These three issues of Captain America, written by Mike Carlin, are part of the short transition between the legendary runs of J.M. DeMatteis, which ended with issue #300, and Mark Gruenwald, which starts with issue #307 (and lasts, with the exception of one issue, to #443!). Although we won't see him much here, this story... Continue Reading →
This post and the next together bring the "Absolute Vision" storyline to a finish. Quick recap: As we saw in issue #233, Vision was knocked unconscious, only to be revived later by Starfox and ISAAC, the computer that runs his home planet of Titan. ISAAC's corrupting influence, combined with a malfunctioning "control crystal" implanted by... Continue Reading →
This Avengers annual, which reunites the team with former members Hank Pym, She-Hulk, and the Beast, is most notable for its art team: Steve Ditko on pencils and John Byrne on inks, which makes for a very interesting combination, especially with a script by the Avengers writer at the time, Roger Stern, which helps maintain... Continue Reading →
In this post, we're looking at the entire 12-issue Secret Wars series, the first major line-wide crossover event in comics, which expanded significantly on the model of 1982's Contest of Champions and cast the mold for the subsequent annual crossover event comics at both Marvel and DC. (You can read more on the origin and... Continue Reading →
As usual with Avengers around this time, these are great team stories with only occasional ethically interesting Captain America content, so we'll discuss these three issues together (plus a page from another Avenger's first solo title). Personal note: Avengers Annual #12 was the first Marvel comic I ever bought, a purchase from a hospital gift... Continue Reading →
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 