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Avengers (1963) #131-132, 352-354, Annual #16
Avengers: Legion of The Unliving
It's been said that when there's no more room left in hell, the dead will walk the Earth! And that's just what happens when the Earth's Mightiest Heroes come face to face with various hordes of dearly departed heroes and villains! Can even the Mighty Avengers face their former comrades in such unsettling battle? Featuring the original Human Torch, the Swordsman, the Monster of Frankenstein and Count Nefaria, plus more cantankerous cadavers than you can shake an Uru hammer at!
256 pages, Paperback
First published April 18, 2012
3 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Steve Englehart
1,395 books97 followersSee also John Harkness.
Steve Englehart went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. After a stint in the Army, he moved to New York and began to write for Marvel Comics. That led to long runs on Captain America, The Hulk, The Avengers, Dr. Strange, and a dozen other titles. Midway through that period he moved to California (where he remains), and met and married his wife Terry.
He was finally hired away from Marvel by DC Comics, to be their lead writer and revamp their core characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern). He did, but he also wrote a solo Batman series (immediately dubbed the "definitive" version) that later became Warner Brothers' first Batman film (the good one).
After that he left comics for a time, traveled in Europe for a year, wrote a novel (The Point Man™), and came back to design video games for Atari (E.T., Garfield). But he still liked comics, so he created Coyote™, which within its first year was rated one of America's ten best series. Other projects he owned (Scorpio Rose™, The Djinn™) were mixed with company series (Green Lantern [with Joe Staton], Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four). Meanwhile, he continued his game design for Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, and Brøderbund.
And once he and Terry had their two sons, Alex and Eric, he naturally told them stories. Rustle's Christmas Adventure was first devised for them. He went on to add a run of mid-grade books to his bibliography, including the DNAgers™ adventure series, and Countdown to Flight, a biography of the Wright brothers selected by NASA as the basis for their school curriculum on the invention of the airplane.
In 1992 Steve was asked to co-create a comics pantheon called the Ultraverse. One of his contributions, The Night Man, became not only a successful comics series, but also a television show. That led to more Hollywood work, including animated series such as Street Fighter, GI Joe, and Team Atlantis for Disney.
Steve Englehart went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. After a stint in the Army, he moved to New York and began to write for Marvel Comics. That led to long runs on Captain America, The Hulk, The Avengers, Dr. Strange, and a dozen other titles. Midway through that period he moved to California (where he remains), and met and married his wife Terry.
He was finally hired away from Marvel by DC Comics, to be their lead writer and revamp their core characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern). He did, but he also wrote a solo Batman series (immediately dubbed the "definitive" version) that later became Warner Brothers' first Batman film (the good one).
After that he left comics for a time, traveled in Europe for a year, wrote a novel (The Point Man™), and came back to design video games for Atari (E.T., Garfield). But he still liked comics, so he created Coyote™, which within its first year was rated one of America's ten best series. Other projects he owned (Scorpio Rose™, The Djinn™) were mixed with company series (Green Lantern [with Joe Staton], Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four). Meanwhile, he continued his game design for Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, and Brøderbund.
And once he and Terry had their two sons, Alex and Eric, he naturally told them stories. Rustle's Christmas Adventure was first devised for them. He went on to add a run of mid-grade books to his bibliography, including the DNAgers™ adventure series, and Countdown to Flight, a biography of the Wright brothers selected by NASA as the basis for their school curriculum on the invention of the airplane.
In 1992 Steve was asked to co-create a comics pantheon called the Ultraverse. One of his contributions, The Night Man, became not only a successful comics series, but also a television show. That led to more Hollywood work, including animated series such as Street Fighter, GI Joe, and Team Atlantis for Disney.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 6, 2023
Upon first glance this book might seem like a confusing hodge-podge of random issues cobbled together to make you unclench that cash from your fist, and you would be right. Once you settle in and start reading it though you will see a thread throughout these stories spanning 24 years of publication. That thread is The Avengers, in various incarnations, fighting the Legion of the Unliving, also in various incarnations.
Things start out smack dab in the middle of the Bronze Age of comics with Avengers #131, 132, and Giant-Size Avengers #3 by the criminally forgotten Steve Engelhart. These issues are the first three parts of the legendary Celestial Madonna storyline. I have always been a sucker for Kang The Conqueror/Rama-Tut/Immortus, in all of their various timeline and reality glory. For the uninitiated, they are all one and the same from different points in time. Immortus, working at a grand scheme not clear to those who have not lived for seventy odd centuries in timeless Limbo, gets unwittingly/wittingly trapped by Kang, who plucks dead villains from various points in time to fight The Avengers.
When reading comic books it is most helpful to have a healthy suspension of disbelief. When reading Bronze Age comics, it is also helpful to not over-analyze and overthink everything. Just relax and enjoy it. Let's face facts: seeing Thor battling the Frankenstein Monster is worth it, no matter how it gets to that point, right?
Avengers Annual #16 is the weak link of the book, being enjoyable but not great. While I am a fan of Tom DeFalco's writing, particularly his Spider-Man and Spider-Girl stuff, he is outclassed as an Avengers writer by the heaping helping of talent present in this book. I did enjoy the “comic jam” aspect of that annual, with artwork by a smorgasbord of greats. This issue has been collected in multiple books, so I have read it a number of times.
Avengers West Coast #61 finds Roy Thomas doing what Roy Thomas always does, making continuity as tight as a drum, for better or for worse. Here we see Agatha Harkness cast a spell on Immortus and make him spill the beans on things. Roy Thomas was apparently not a fan of the original android Human Torch being a part of the original Legion of the Unliving, since an android is not alive and therefore cannot truly die. He ret-cons Toro, the Torch's Golden Age kid sidekick, into that role instead. I can dig it. Continuity is Roy Thomas' porn.
Avengers #352-354 were a pleasant surprise to say the least. '90s Marvel can be a dicey thing, but here we see the Grim Reaper upgraded to his logical extreme. Changes to a character that make sense are welcome. Changes to a character to suit a spoiled brat “rock star” writer are not. The Grim Reaper is more dead than alive, a quasi-demon almost. I like this version of the character way more than the original (and current version). Len Kaminski wrote a ton of great comics for Marvel during this time but has seemingly dropped off the comic grid. The same can be said for artist M.C. Wyman, a wonderful craftsman whose work here reflected the Marvel house style. He took a severe turn for the worse shortly after these issues, which is a shame because he can clearly do great work. Stupid Image artists! They, and the speculator nonsense that they created and attracted, nearly destroyed the entire industry.
The endcap of this book are issues 9 and 10 from the incredible 1998 relaunch of the title by Kurt Busiek and George Perez. Busiek is Avengers royalty, a writer whose run I hold in the highest regard. Busiek, Englehart, Stern, Thomas...these are the greatest Avengers writers bar none. Busiek's writing is so rich and textured here. If space aliens landed and asked me what are the best Avengers comic books to read, I would have to flip a coin between Busiek's and Stern's run. Perez is at the top of his game here. Unlike some artists, Perez's work only improves with age. Seriously, check his artwork out. That is some seriously great stuff! Like Ultron, Busiek managed to pen the ultimate Legion of the Unliving story. This book was an absolute blast to read and should be a welcome addition to any serious superhero fan's bookshelf.
Things start out smack dab in the middle of the Bronze Age of comics with Avengers #131, 132, and Giant-Size Avengers #3 by the criminally forgotten Steve Engelhart. These issues are the first three parts of the legendary Celestial Madonna storyline. I have always been a sucker for Kang The Conqueror/Rama-Tut/Immortus, in all of their various timeline and reality glory. For the uninitiated, they are all one and the same from different points in time. Immortus, working at a grand scheme not clear to those who have not lived for seventy odd centuries in timeless Limbo, gets unwittingly/wittingly trapped by Kang, who plucks dead villains from various points in time to fight The Avengers.
When reading comic books it is most helpful to have a healthy suspension of disbelief. When reading Bronze Age comics, it is also helpful to not over-analyze and overthink everything. Just relax and enjoy it. Let's face facts: seeing Thor battling the Frankenstein Monster is worth it, no matter how it gets to that point, right?
Avengers Annual #16 is the weak link of the book, being enjoyable but not great. While I am a fan of Tom DeFalco's writing, particularly his Spider-Man and Spider-Girl stuff, he is outclassed as an Avengers writer by the heaping helping of talent present in this book. I did enjoy the “comic jam” aspect of that annual, with artwork by a smorgasbord of greats. This issue has been collected in multiple books, so I have read it a number of times.
Avengers West Coast #61 finds Roy Thomas doing what Roy Thomas always does, making continuity as tight as a drum, for better or for worse. Here we see Agatha Harkness cast a spell on Immortus and make him spill the beans on things. Roy Thomas was apparently not a fan of the original android Human Torch being a part of the original Legion of the Unliving, since an android is not alive and therefore cannot truly die. He ret-cons Toro, the Torch's Golden Age kid sidekick, into that role instead. I can dig it. Continuity is Roy Thomas' porn.
Avengers #352-354 were a pleasant surprise to say the least. '90s Marvel can be a dicey thing, but here we see the Grim Reaper upgraded to his logical extreme. Changes to a character that make sense are welcome. Changes to a character to suit a spoiled brat “rock star” writer are not. The Grim Reaper is more dead than alive, a quasi-demon almost. I like this version of the character way more than the original (and current version). Len Kaminski wrote a ton of great comics for Marvel during this time but has seemingly dropped off the comic grid. The same can be said for artist M.C. Wyman, a wonderful craftsman whose work here reflected the Marvel house style. He took a severe turn for the worse shortly after these issues, which is a shame because he can clearly do great work. Stupid Image artists! They, and the speculator nonsense that they created and attracted, nearly destroyed the entire industry.
The endcap of this book are issues 9 and 10 from the incredible 1998 relaunch of the title by Kurt Busiek and George Perez. Busiek is Avengers royalty, a writer whose run I hold in the highest regard. Busiek, Englehart, Stern, Thomas...these are the greatest Avengers writers bar none. Busiek's writing is so rich and textured here. If space aliens landed and asked me what are the best Avengers comic books to read, I would have to flip a coin between Busiek's and Stern's run. Perez is at the top of his game here. Unlike some artists, Perez's work only improves with age. Seriously, check his artwork out. That is some seriously great stuff! Like Ultron, Busiek managed to pen the ultimate Legion of the Unliving story. This book was an absolute blast to read and should be a welcome addition to any serious superhero fan's bookshelf.
May 1, 2023
a collection of fights between the 'unliving' and avengers. I believe from the time Marvel couldn't use the word Zombies due to copywrite.
i enjoyed this because it features wonder man, the reaper and the scarlet witch.
i enjoyed this because it features wonder man, the reaper and the scarlet witch.
June 1, 2020
Collection of the Avengers battles with the many incarnations of the Legion,a changing roster of lackeys made up of their deceased teammates and enemies.
March 9, 2014
Erano gli anni '70 e Steve Englehart subentrava a Roy Thomas come sceneggiatore sulla testata dei Vendicatori. Storie gradevoli ma alquanto contorte, non sempre all'altezza di quelle di Thomas. Per quanto buone, non c'è nessuna tra queste che meriti di essere considerata un capolavoro.
October 12, 2017
Has the original Legion under Kang followed by Grandmaster and then multiple Grim Reaper tales. Busiek and Perez's by far the best. One of the stories was left without its finale.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews