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Essential Avengers #6
Essential Avengers, Vol. 6
Changes in the Marvel Universe are nothing new - as seen when heroes are reborn, slain in this startling selection of seventies sagas! The search for the Celestial Madonna is on! After reviving heroes and villains to set a Legion of the Unliving against the Avengers, will Kang be divided against himself in deciding the fate of the woman who could alter the universe's destiny? Collecting: Avengers #120-140, Captain Marvel #33, Fantastic Four #150, Giant-Size Avengers #1-4
576 pages, Paperback
First published October 10, 1975
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113 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 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 17, 2015
Action! Melodrama! But rather than the confusing, out-of-control mess that Marvel's X-Men devolved into in the 1990s, this classic era of Avengers keeps pinballing from one crazy adventure to another without requiring total recollection of every tidbit of minutia.
The melodramatic writing style, along with the heavier reliance on exposition and recap may not be to everyone's taste, but this is my original honeymoon with comics.
This collection has it all, with more story crammed in to 20 issues of a single title than the Avengers has seen in 5 years, multiple books and "special events."
Zodiac, Thanos, Klaw, Ultorn, Kang & Immortus, plus some of the best on the Avengers roster to take them on.
If there is one weakness, for me, of this era, it is the art. Not a huge fan of most of the pencillers here, and the results seem highly dependent on the inker. When Joe Staton has a more dominant hand (possibly over looser pencils), it comes out pretty well. Otherwise, I just salivate for the Perez & Byrne eras yet to come.
The melodramatic writing style, along with the heavier reliance on exposition and recap may not be to everyone's taste, but this is my original honeymoon with comics.
This collection has it all, with more story crammed in to 20 issues of a single title than the Avengers has seen in 5 years, multiple books and "special events."
Zodiac, Thanos, Klaw, Ultorn, Kang & Immortus, plus some of the best on the Avengers roster to take them on.
If there is one weakness, for me, of this era, it is the art. Not a huge fan of most of the pencillers here, and the results seem highly dependent on the inker. When Joe Staton has a more dominant hand (possibly over looser pencils), it comes out pretty well. Otherwise, I just salivate for the Perez & Byrne eras yet to come.
February 28, 2016
Reprints Avengers (1) #120-140, Avengers (1) Giant-Size #1-4, Captain Marvel (1) #33, and Fantastic Four (1) #150 (February 1974-October 1975). The Avengers have a mysterious new member named Mantis. She does not know her past and there are strange rumblings about her future. When Kang arrives and proclaims that the Celestial Madonna is among the Avengers, the quest is on to find the origin of Mantis and along the way, the true origin of the Vision is uncovered. With a couple of surprise weddings and a new membership drive, the Avengers will never be the same.
Essential Avengers Volume 6 is heavily tied to the Mantis storyline. The collection like all of Marvel Essential collections is black and white with a number of issues including reprints of four of the five Avengers Giant-Size issues, plus crossover issues with Captain Marvel and Fantastic Four. Avengers (1) #129-135 and Avengers (1) Giant-Size #2-4 were also collected in color in Avengers: Celestial Madonna.
I really love this period of the Avengers (and it leads into maybe my favorite period of the Avengers). The Mantis storyline is interesting and it also presents a ton of secrets about the Kree and the Skrulls who are frequent players in the Avengers comics. Some of the Celestial Madonna stuff gets a bit confusing (the weird Boys from Brazil relationship to Moondragon seems a bit extreme), but the comic isn’t afraid to spend a lot of time explaining it. It is too bad that Mantis finally is explained and then disappears by the end of this collection. She does frequently pop-up in the Marvel Universe (most recently as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy), but she never has had as much feature time as when she was an Avenger.
In addition to Mantis’ origin, Vision’s past is finally untangled (though much of it has now been rewritten). Vision is revealed to be the body of the original Human Torch and as a result finally learns how Ultron-5 made him. He also comes in conflict with his original brainwave creator Wonder Man (Simon Williams) who is reanimated as part of Kang’s Legion of the Undead. Though the appearance is brief by Williams, in Essential Avengers Volume 7, Wonder Man becomes a major player for the Avengers again.
It is almost jolting to have the last part of this collection in Volume 6 in that the first half is so heavy into Mantis that the team roster change feels like it maybe should have been slid to Volume 7. At the end of this collection, the Avengers welcome back Wasp and Yellowjacket, but also add former X-Man and now furry Beast (also reprinting a modified Amazing Adventures (2) #12 in Avengers (1) #136 where he first met Iron Man) and Moondragon. Both characters are fun additions. The Beast is their Spider-Man who can wisecrack with Hawkeye. Moondragon is their “bitchy” character (Sersi later took that role), but she is a bit softer here.
Essential Avengers Volume 6 is a fun addition to any Avengers’ fan’s library. The comic also has a bit of a preview of possible things to come with The Avengers films in that the crossover with Captain Marvel shows the Avengers first encounter with Thanos (seen at the end of The Avengers film). Check it out, it is worth the read of a classic period for the Avengers.
Essential Avengers Volume 6 is heavily tied to the Mantis storyline. The collection like all of Marvel Essential collections is black and white with a number of issues including reprints of four of the five Avengers Giant-Size issues, plus crossover issues with Captain Marvel and Fantastic Four. Avengers (1) #129-135 and Avengers (1) Giant-Size #2-4 were also collected in color in Avengers: Celestial Madonna.
I really love this period of the Avengers (and it leads into maybe my favorite period of the Avengers). The Mantis storyline is interesting and it also presents a ton of secrets about the Kree and the Skrulls who are frequent players in the Avengers comics. Some of the Celestial Madonna stuff gets a bit confusing (the weird Boys from Brazil relationship to Moondragon seems a bit extreme), but the comic isn’t afraid to spend a lot of time explaining it. It is too bad that Mantis finally is explained and then disappears by the end of this collection. She does frequently pop-up in the Marvel Universe (most recently as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy), but she never has had as much feature time as when she was an Avenger.
In addition to Mantis’ origin, Vision’s past is finally untangled (though much of it has now been rewritten). Vision is revealed to be the body of the original Human Torch and as a result finally learns how Ultron-5 made him. He also comes in conflict with his original brainwave creator Wonder Man (Simon Williams) who is reanimated as part of Kang’s Legion of the Undead. Though the appearance is brief by Williams, in Essential Avengers Volume 7, Wonder Man becomes a major player for the Avengers again.
It is almost jolting to have the last part of this collection in Volume 6 in that the first half is so heavy into Mantis that the team roster change feels like it maybe should have been slid to Volume 7. At the end of this collection, the Avengers welcome back Wasp and Yellowjacket, but also add former X-Man and now furry Beast (also reprinting a modified Amazing Adventures (2) #12 in Avengers (1) #136 where he first met Iron Man) and Moondragon. Both characters are fun additions. The Beast is their Spider-Man who can wisecrack with Hawkeye. Moondragon is their “bitchy” character (Sersi later took that role), but she is a bit softer here.
Essential Avengers Volume 6 is a fun addition to any Avengers’ fan’s library. The comic also has a bit of a preview of possible things to come with The Avengers films in that the crossover with Captain Marvel shows the Avengers first encounter with Thanos (seen at the end of The Avengers film). Check it out, it is worth the read of a classic period for the Avengers.
September 29, 2023
As per usual, this Essential volume covers a lot of ground. This time, it contains a lot of my favourite work from Steve Englehart's Avengers run.
I actually enjoyed the Zodiac story this time around, after feeling underwhelmed by their previous two appearances. The tie-in to Mantis' origin probably helped. I find her such a fascinating character.
Then, after a few more issues delving into Mantis' past, there's a short break to help Captain Marvel tackle Thanos. This is great in theory, but only two issues of the Thanos War event are here, as most of the story is in Captain Marvel's own book. This leads to the issues printed here feeling very convoluted and underwhelming. It's best to check out the Avengers vs. Thanos TPB to get the full story and watch all the strands come together. It's much more rewarding that way.
At this point, there are a few issues I would consider filler material. Klaw returns to torment Black Panther, the Whizzer arrives with his radioactive son, claiming to be Scarlet Witch's father, and then Quicksilver marries Crystal while Ultron makes an incredibly underwhelming appearance. I guess it's more important for Fantastic Four fans as young Franklin Richards undergoes a change.
The Celestial Madonna Saga caps off this volume, and it's definitely the highlight for me. Mantis' mysterious past is finally revealed, Kang the Conqueror wreaks Havoc over and over, there's a tragic death, the Vision's origin is finally revealed and there's a double wedding!
Great volume overall with some gorgeous artwork from the likes of Sal Buscema, John Buscema and Bob Brown.
I actually enjoyed the Zodiac story this time around, after feeling underwhelmed by their previous two appearances. The tie-in to Mantis' origin probably helped. I find her such a fascinating character.
Then, after a few more issues delving into Mantis' past, there's a short break to help Captain Marvel tackle Thanos. This is great in theory, but only two issues of the Thanos War event are here, as most of the story is in Captain Marvel's own book. This leads to the issues printed here feeling very convoluted and underwhelming. It's best to check out the Avengers vs. Thanos TPB to get the full story and watch all the strands come together. It's much more rewarding that way.
At this point, there are a few issues I would consider filler material. Klaw returns to torment Black Panther, the Whizzer arrives with his radioactive son, claiming to be Scarlet Witch's father, and then Quicksilver marries Crystal while Ultron makes an incredibly underwhelming appearance. I guess it's more important for Fantastic Four fans as young Franklin Richards undergoes a change.
The Celestial Madonna Saga caps off this volume, and it's definitely the highlight for me. Mantis' mysterious past is finally revealed, Kang the Conqueror wreaks Havoc over and over, there's a tragic death, the Vision's origin is finally revealed and there's a double wedding!
Great volume overall with some gorgeous artwork from the likes of Sal Buscema, John Buscema and Bob Brown.
August 1, 2017
The most convoluted drawn out origin of both Mantis and The Vision. It absolutely boggles the mind.
January 3, 2018
#136-#140
Beast appearances.
Beast appearances.
February 20, 2023
A LOT of Kang in this essential! The art sings when Joe Staton is inking, but goes to sour mediocrity when he leaves. It actually was hard to read the last 20% which covers the Visions origin.
October 31, 2010
This is honestly a perplexing, interesting, frustrating and valuable collection all at the same time. It's littered with origin stories (Moondragon, the Vision, Mantis) and first contact (the Beast and Iron Man), many of them told with needless verbose complexity. Its a twenty issue stretch where The Avengers membership is not at its classic best, and second string or tertiary heroes play a role, but the stories are good and hang together.
The issues collected here are a part of comic veteran Steve Englehart four year run on the book. It was probably normal for the era but the prose frequently is too centered on exposition. It's a lot of thought balloons, making sure you understand each characters thoughts and motivations every step of the way. And when its not thought balloons, its ridiculous out loud exposition. As was par for the era there are numerous footnotes to other books in the Marvel line, and past issues, and frequent synopses of recent events. The writers of this time we're far too concentrated on mimic-ing Stan Lee's voice, which concentrated on trying to draw the reader into the story with word play, and when the narrative changes assuring the reader that they will return to that story, but....and Englehart was no different.
Englehart also works diligently to keep character voices unique. Thor speaks like he's straight out of a Shakespearean production; plenty of "thous" and "dost", while admirable given onerous constant exposition, it wears out its welcome quickly. What makes things worse is that no one can talk straightforwardly, or simply. The Vision, Mantis, the Scarlet Witch, even Iron Man, for reasons passing understanding all have incredibly verbose (albeit distinct) voices. Late in the collection Hawkeye is introduced, and he's allowed some measure of succinctness but its only employed for forty year old comic timing.
It's perfectly passable, but not classic Avengers. The stories collected here, boiled down, are fun. My issue with the collection is that to get through the stories was a little too much work for too little reward.
The issues collected here are a part of comic veteran Steve Englehart four year run on the book. It was probably normal for the era but the prose frequently is too centered on exposition. It's a lot of thought balloons, making sure you understand each characters thoughts and motivations every step of the way. And when its not thought balloons, its ridiculous out loud exposition. As was par for the era there are numerous footnotes to other books in the Marvel line, and past issues, and frequent synopses of recent events. The writers of this time we're far too concentrated on mimic-ing Stan Lee's voice, which concentrated on trying to draw the reader into the story with word play, and when the narrative changes assuring the reader that they will return to that story, but....and Englehart was no different.
Englehart also works diligently to keep character voices unique. Thor speaks like he's straight out of a Shakespearean production; plenty of "thous" and "dost", while admirable given onerous constant exposition, it wears out its welcome quickly. What makes things worse is that no one can talk straightforwardly, or simply. The Vision, Mantis, the Scarlet Witch, even Iron Man, for reasons passing understanding all have incredibly verbose (albeit distinct) voices. Late in the collection Hawkeye is introduced, and he's allowed some measure of succinctness but its only employed for forty year old comic timing.
It's perfectly passable, but not classic Avengers. The stories collected here, boiled down, are fun. My issue with the collection is that to get through the stories was a little too much work for too little reward.
July 13, 2008
How jumpy are the plots? How about the moment when a doctor, talking to some parents who have just had a baby who glows with radioactive rays, and the doctor (in order to just move the plot along) says, "Don't ask me how. These things...happen."
Sure they do! All the time!
And how ridiculously overwritten is this? How about the example wherein the Black Panther (who, for those of you who don't know, does have noble, but always straightforward speech) answers Thor's question of whether the Panther would like to come back to the Avengers with this amaaaaaazing bit of comic book writing.
"Thor, the fine fool's gold of stark velvet morning seems to light the mottled tapestry of desire and disaster that comprises the legend of life for my people and myself in this hidden half-slumbering nation-state we proudly proclaim Wakanda--but the amber eyes of reason widen as mauve shadows of regret creep across the outside worldscape, and scream the bleeding need for Panther's presence at this time."
Now, if I was Thor, I'd have been screaming "Dude! WTF!" while slamming my hammer into the Panther's cranium.
Nuff said.
Sure they do! All the time!
And how ridiculously overwritten is this? How about the example wherein the Black Panther (who, for those of you who don't know, does have noble, but always straightforward speech) answers Thor's question of whether the Panther would like to come back to the Avengers with this amaaaaaazing bit of comic book writing.
"Thor, the fine fool's gold of stark velvet morning seems to light the mottled tapestry of desire and disaster that comprises the legend of life for my people and myself in this hidden half-slumbering nation-state we proudly proclaim Wakanda--but the amber eyes of reason widen as mauve shadows of regret creep across the outside worldscape, and scream the bleeding need for Panther's presence at this time."
Now, if I was Thor, I'd have been screaming "Dude! WTF!" while slamming my hammer into the Panther's cranium.
Nuff said.
October 11, 2020
A bunch of the longer plots didn't interest me and/or were confusing as hell. The Zodiac arc was boring and unnecessarily convoluted. I liked Steve Englehart's work on Captain America and especially on Batman, but here he made a dud. Mantis and Moondragon were interesting characters, but the story around them felt slow. Also not a fan of the Beast, he doesn't really fit in the Avengers.
July 8, 2013
La saga della Madonna Celestiale è tutta qui, più o meno.
Un altro grande periodo di storie dei Potenti Vendicatori gestito da Steve Englehart in ottima forma. Un poco altalenante la parte grafica, ma nel complesso più che buona-
Un altro grande periodo di storie dei Potenti Vendicatori gestito da Steve Englehart in ottima forma. Un poco altalenante la parte grafica, ma nel complesso più che buona-
May 27, 2011
This series is getting better. The characters now have more depth, and it isn't just about the fighting anymore. Love stories sneak in too.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews