Avengers: Avengers 1959

Avengers 1959 #1-5

by Howard Chaykin

Exploding from the pages of New Avengers! It's the tail end of the fabulous fifties. Nick Fury and his newly-minted Avengers team roar into their secret mission, hunting down nazi super villains - men and women relentlessly preparing to unleash hell on a troubled world barely holding on to peace - only to find that the Avengers have what appears to be serious competition in their manhunt for these escaped ubermenschen...when their mission is suddenly compromised by interference from an unlikely source.

COLLECTING : AVENGERS 1959 1-5

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Superheroes, Marvel, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Howard Victor Chaykin is an American comic book artist and writer. Chaykin's influences include his one-time employer and mentor, Gil Kane, and the mid-20th century illustrators Robert Fawcett and Al Parker.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 1 out of 5]

Avengers 1959 #1-5. Very weak Marvel Limited Series involving a 1959 grouping of Nick Fury Avengers combatting a mystical Nazi conspiracy rooted in the US Government. So many of these alternate reality Marvel books are just a plain waste of time and money, I only read this one, as I caught it free online Just about 2 out of 12, One Star read.

2012 read

[Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

It started with deranged eyebrows...and just went downhill quickly from there.
From what I could find online, this is a follow-up to the Infinity arc, and supposed to give a glimpse of the pre-Avenger Avengers. So I guess Captain America wasn't the first Avenger after all.
Sorry Cap, you've been replaced by a line-up of losers!
Sabertooth, Kraven the Hunter, Namora, and a few others I've never heard of rounded out the team.
Dominic Fortune, anyone?
Anyone?

But first, The Eyebrows ...
It looked like The Rock's eyebrows and Satan's eyebrows had mutant babies.
Ok. It's stylized art, I get it. Seriously, though? Those eyebrows were ALL over the place! They needed their own spot on the team.
Possibly even a vehicle of some sort to transport them from one adventure to another.
Horribly distracting. Just sayin'.

sigh
I never thought I'd say this, but I'm sick of the Evil-Nazi-Occult theme. And if I wasn't before, I officially am now.
Enough! Are there no other real life villains that we can dredge up out of history to play the role of bad guys?
Yes, they did outrageously evil things. But the thing that really makes them stand out, was the way they got caught with their pants proverbially down in front of the entire world.
As in, Holy shit! You guys were doing WHAT?! We just thought you guys had really nice bathing facilities for all of your prisoners...
So, yes. Very evil.
Although, I still say the real mystery of the Nazi occult is how they managed to spawn so many bald hillbillies on this side of the pond.
I mean, come on boys, this is America. Nobody is really white over here. Hello? Melting pot...

Next up, dialogue .
Alrighty folks, since we've decided to go with the Nazi theme for this party, let's randomly throw in a bunch of German words!
Which I'm sure would mean something profound...If I spoke a fucking lick of German!
But I don't, so here's what it looked like to me:
Gooberfluntz!
Ubersniffle!
Oberwaffle!
Heinzketchup!
Not helpful. Not helpful at all when you're trying to read.
But that wasn't the worst problem with the dialogue.
No, the worst problem wasn't the author's need to sporadically say gesundheit! throughout the book. It was the nonsensical throw-back words like 'pally'.
As in, Ok, pally. The jig is up. You and your cronies are going downtown!
That's not a quote, by the way. But can you imagine Sabertooth saying something like that?
Yeah. Me neither.

So the plot, the premise, the setting, the characters, the dialogue, and the art sucked.
Highly Recommended to Nobody!

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars

Ok, I agree with lots of reviews here saying this miniseries was all creepy eyebrows/big chins/boring and so on...

but...

I like Chaykin art and I loved seeing him drawing Nick Fury again after the awesome Wolverine/Nick Fury "Scorpio connection" old graphic novel.



The story was nice and original (liked a lot the 1959 Latveria/Wakanda/Madripoor settings), the dialogues were maybe too many but solid and interesting ones.
And the jealous Kraven shooting Sabretooth in the face after just a few pages made me laugh to tears!



Same thing for the huge tribute reference to the old "The Avengers" tv series: the nameless brit in Avengers 1959 is whitout doubt John Steed!!!







So this comic is a prequel to more than an "Avengers" series after all... XD


Sadly too much ret-con and the not much charismatic villains appearing for just 1-2 vignettes thrown downfall an otherwise very good reading.

Highly recommended to diehard Howard Chaykin fans.

[Otherwyrld · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this one a lot more than I did, principally because it's Howard Chaykin drawing the story, but it didn't resonate with me at all. Perhaps I've been spoiled by Agent Carter because I really wanted Peggy to turn up here and kick a few asses. I'm not sure where this is supposed to fall in terms of Marvel continuity - is it some kind of alternative reality?

Chaykin is the perfect person to illustrate this though, given the misogyny of the era. He proves he has still got what it takes to produce good work. Otherwise though, this is a bit of a miss.

[Tomás · Rating 3 out of 5]

¿Por que tiene tan bajo puntaje este comic? No están tan mal. Obvio, no es ninguna obra maestra pero es bastante divertido y los dibujos de Chaykin están bien (no son sus mejores dibujos, pero igual..)

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art is jawbreaking but the plot is very simple what does not deny us a big deal of fun.
Chaykin is one the greatest artists in the genre but sometimes he just lays out a good story without much deepness but that never compromises his legendary reputation.

[Roman Colombo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. Why does every character in Howard Chaykin's art look like Bruce Campbe?

[Devero · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mi sto ancora chiedendo perché?
Perché la Marvel a volte pubblica simili inutilità e brutture.
Perché continuare a far scrivere, ma soprattutto a fare disegnare Chaykin.
Perché creare un gruppo di fine anni '50 e chiamarlo Vendicatori.
Perché?

Non si possono dare stelle in negativo?

[Jean-Pierre Vidrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable espionage thriller and one of those times where Chaykin's "deconstructionist" approach to established characters actually works. Having some of the crew be characters who are well-known villains later in the timeline is intriguing and blurs the lines between "good" and "evil." This is particularly relevant as this story examines America's political attitudes and how so much of the nation accepted Nazi-ism before and after the war.
One qualm is the presence of Bloodstone and Sable. They're there at the beginning, complete with logos introducing them, but afterward are nowhere in sight. I just wonder why they teased them only to not use them.
The art feels deliberately rough, fitting well with the pulp style of the story.
This may not have great consequences to Marvel's continuity, but it is a lot of fun with potential for further exploration.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was okay. I liked the idea of a team with Sabretooth and Kraven the Hunter, but I also wonder about Kraven being on a team in 1959? Seems a little old for him in Marvel time? I also knew who Dominic Fortune is, although he's fairly obscure.

Chaykin runs hot and cold, as I've read some of his stuff that was good and some I didn't care for. The story itself was nothing special, and I can see how Chaykin's art can be polarizing. It's not my favorite but I don't hate it.

So basically I thought this was decent, but at the same time didn't really see where this came from or where it was going. The team didn't really seem to have a reason, and these characters don't really have a lot of connection beyond this story.

[Travis Witty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Howard Chaykin shows the same flair for Cold War stories with Avengers 1959, that he has with his work on the Shadow (particularly Midnight in Moscow). Puling in longer lived characters as an off the books team under Nick Fury in 1959, with oblique references to Agents of Atlas, the volume serves as a sort of prehistory for S.H.I.E.L.D. My only complaint is that the narrative got a little choppy in places, but that seems to have been due to the limitations of being a 5 issue serial originally, and is therefore forgivable.

I had hoped to see Chaykin tackle more of this team of early heroes and adventurers (either in a sequel or a prequel using Bloodstone and Silver Fox).

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings on this book. On the one hand, it’s Howard Chaykin, and his books are almost always worth picking up. He’s also one of the best at drawing period stuff, so all good there. So far, so good. The bad? The book never seemed to progress beyond the novel concept of banding together these legacy characters. I liked the characters, and the throwaway Nazi villains, but the story was pretty weak and certainly not worth 5 issues. The art is typical Chaykin, and you��ll love or hate it based on what you think of him. Personally, I like it.
Decent, but by no means essential.

[Rose Swan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fun and simple spy thriller with superheroes. The art is not the best but it is serviceable for the story told. The big issue here is there are simply too many characters. No one really gets to shine because they all fill the same basic roles. It never really justifies needing to be an avengers story. I wish it would’ve just focused on Fury and the Blonde Phantom.

[Jdetrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is why I like Marvel Unlimited....because it enables me to read a book like this and remind myself that I am not a fan of Howard Chaykin. I'm not going to say this is a bad comic (and indeed, the basic concept I find very interesting), but his art and plotting and dialogue do nothing for me.

[Nicolas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the concept and it does have its charms, but ultimately the hodge podge team and clunky storytelling don't pay off.

[Smut Goblin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was interesting enough but the pencils and colouring were atrocious.

[ShadZane · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of an espionage story than a super-hero story. Very cynical. I don't know why Dominic Fortune is in the story, and I wish Sabertooth wasn't.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun romp that has only a paper thin connection to the actual Avengers.

It's the 1950's and super spy Nick Fury (not played by Sam Jackson in this story) is busy hunting nazis and various mad scientists and monsters left over from the war. He has put together a team of assorted adventurers and villains from marvel history to deal with them.

What do a bunch of nazis, a dark magician and a corrupt US senator have to do with the missing heir to the throne of Wakanda?

Well, if I told you why would you need to read this story?

Lots adventure, intrigue, big fights, occasional bit of sex and some clever dialogue make up for Chaykin only being able to draw about four different types of people, his paying only a tiny bit of attention to actual marvel history and his love of 'every one is slightly corrupt'.

A pleasant change of pace to the grim and gritty, trying for realism stories that are popular today.
Much as I beat on Chaykin, it's good to see him back writing and drawing on a semi-regular basis.

[Paul-Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I quite like the idea of a pre-'proper' Avengers team made up of some Marvel universe folks like Sabretooth, Kraven the Hunter and Dominic Fortune, formed by Nick Fury, having pulpy Cold War spy adventures in dapper suits. The fact it's a Howard Chaykin comic should mean it's pretty much just a right 'romp', eh? He's done this sort of stuff really well, in the past.

Oh, but that art. I'm a fan of Chaykin's bulky chinboys and his love of textured, patterned clothing, but there's something a bit wrong here. It's the colouring, I think?

This comic is incredibly difficult to actually see. This means most of the action just splobs on by unintelligbly, with no impact at all. The actual story itself is rather dull, as well. There's some badlads in the US government that are siding with Nazis in order to beat the Russians and blah blah yaaaawnnnn

I dunno.

I can't remember much about this comic. Wakanda's in it?

Wakanda looks pretty cool in this, actually. Nice big statues.

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was entertaining, maybe 3.5 stars and not a full four stars but still a decent story. I agree with other reviews that something is wrong with most of the characters faces, some just look like the puffy faces of little kids.

Anyway it is nice to read a "superhero" story that is more than just fights, splash pages and scantily dressed ladies. There is a plot here though in a few places the story jumps as if there were pages missing from the story but sadly the pages were numbered with nothing missing. So it was a typical comic after all.

For myself I did enjoy the different take on villains and very obscure characters from the Marvel Universe. Making them all into "Avengers" was fun to read.

[William Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvel Execs brought Howard Chaykin out of cryogenic hibernation to write a prequel to the Avengers called American Flagg! Wait, no, Avengers 1959. I think its possible that this was a long lost American Flagg! story that Chaykin just never got to use and inserted a bunch of Marvel nobodies and pre-villains into the mix in order to make it gasp-tastic. Only this book isn't going to make anyone gasp. It might make you roll your eyes more than once, though. Despite the fact that this reads like an Ian Fleming novel, it isn't all bad. Its nice to see Chaykin getting some work and hopefully this is a precursor to something bigger he's onto. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't good either.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 3 out of 5]

La parte que más me gustó es esa en la que entra un simpático hombre mono con pistola por la ventana. La que menos, donde a ese otro hombre mono lo electrocutan con un fierro en la boca. Está bien, era un nazi, pero mono al fin. El resto, bastante bien dibujado y más o menos bien escrito.
La verdad, no creo que sea un cómic que se me vaya a fijar mucho que digamos.

[Rosa · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I really wanted to like this but it just didn't happen. It felt like I came in in the middle of a story and was just never able to get my bearings, which is a shame b/c I liked the way the story was kind of stylized.

[Brendan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Howard Chaykin’s pre-Avengers avengers tale is a Marvel-centered take on Operation Paperclip (in which the Allies recruited Nazi scientists to help win the cold war). Nick Fury is enjoyable,and the mix of superheroes works well. Amusing.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marvel retcon at its worst.

Although Chaykin’s style bumps it up a star.

[M Pereira · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like the premise of this story. I tried to like it, really, I did. The plot was too boring and the characters were dull.

[Willow · Rating 1 out of 5]

So. Boring. Couldn't even care enough to finish reading it.

[Jacob · Rating 1 out of 5]

Public library copy.

While I have not read a whole bunch of Howard Chaykin book, the one's I have read are less enjoyable when he writes the stories he draws. This title was no exception.

[La Revistería Comics · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una gran obra de retro-para-contra-supra-intro-continuidad con guion y dibujos del gran Howard Chaykin.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was decent. The art was not the best. I definitely would've enjoyed this more overall if it had better art.