Avengers Epic Collection, Vol. 1: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

Avengers Epic Collection

by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber (Writer), Larry Ivie (Writer)

Gathering together to face Loki, Marvel's greatest heroes - Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man and the Wasp - formed comics' greatest team: the Avengers! Soon after, they were joined by Captain America and there was no doubt, these were Earth's Mightiest Heroes! But Marvel heroes don't just battle villains, they live, breathe, argue...and even fall out. And in an innovati ve twist, Stan Lee eventually chose to have those original Avengers depart, leaving Captain America to carry on! COLLECTING: AVENGERS (1963) 1-20 (AVENGERS EPIC COLLECTION VOL. 1)

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

456 pages, Paperback

First published November 25, 2014

About the author

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

Reviews

[Sean Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scandalous opinion alert: I tend to like books better after Jack Kirby leaves them.

Does that make me a terrible comics fan? Maybe. I mean, Kirby is great at spectacle. But, sometimes it’s nice to have…not spectacle. Most of the first 20 issues of Avengers is spectacle, and it’s all well and good, but I most enjoyed the issues toward the end that Don Heck drew where things started getting a little smaller and more subtle.

I had the same experience on X-Men (Werner Roth was the man). Though, to be fair, I felt the same about Ditko on Spidey—I love his art, but Romita made that book sing.

I’m just going to go sit over here in my comics fan shame corner. Join me, won’t you? I’ll bring the grape soda, and we can talk about how Rob Liefled doesn’t draw feet.

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read half of it, the writing is super outdated, excessive and pretty basic, too much of a chore to read, I simply can't stomach reading comics from the sixties, sure the art is cool and iconic, and all the basics that made Marvel great are still there, but the writing kills it. I'm simply not a fan of comics from the sixties, never was, never will, as much as the completionist in me keeps pushing me to try, the eighties have always beeen my golden age.

[Edward Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's funny looking back to see that The Hulk was only in the Avengers for a couple of issues and that Captain America didn't join until issue 4. The line-up changes drastically even in the first ten issues, where they battle the likes of Loki, Baron Zemo and Kang The Conqueror before the team threatens to disband! And all in their first year! There are some further major roster changes in the second half of this volume, as Giant Man, The Wasp, Iron Man and Thor all leave to make way for Quicksilver, The Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye. I guess the others were needed in their solo tales, but just because some big hitters have left doesn't make the stories any less fun.

[Bryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the early 1980s, The Avengers would be my entry point into the Marvel Universe, and comics in general. But I forgot how long it takes The Avengers to start hitting its stride. It starts out as little more than a collection of Marvel’s most popular solo characters being thrown together into a team book, with some pretty uninspired stories and art by the usually much more capable Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It feels like a rehashed Marvel version of the Justice League of America, with little of the characterization or depth of storytelling that distinguished Marvel from DC at the time. By the time the team roster has changed up and becomes more interesting, Don Heck has taken over the art duties, which is a big step down from Kirby (no offense to Heck; just about anyone would have been). I know that at a certain point, the book really starts firing on all cylinders, and the team becomes a cornerstone of the Marvel Universe. But the first 20 issues don’t give a lot of glimpses of what that will ultimately look like.

[Patrick.G.P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent stories by Stan "the Man" Lee. Really fun to read about the formation of the Avengers. The only thing holding it back is the way Lee writes his female heroes,such as the Wasp early on. Outdated to the extreme, and a waste of a really great character, all she does is dote over Thor and frets over her make-up. Luckily it gets better towards the end of the collection and Wanda Maximoff a.k.a Scarlet Witch is a more refined and capable character. Overall a great collection for any Marvel fan! 'Nuff Said!

[Cal Brunsdon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first volume of The Avengers Epic collection includes the first 20 issues from 1963-65. Legend has it that at this point in Marvel history, Stan Lee and the powers that be were looking at the success DC was having with their “all star” team, The Justice League, and hoping to do the same. Stan had spent the better part of 4 years churning out hit after hit character, (including Hulk, Thor, and Iron Man) and publishing an additional series starring those same headliners made a great deal of business sense.

Again, this isn’t the best silver age material out there, but it certainly has its charm. The fact that these guys were all starring in their own titles meant that Stan could dispense with the background info and dive headfirst into the action (for better or worse, at times) and the individual voices were unique. Thor doesn’t speak or think like Hawkeye, for example, and even then Cap’s ideologies don’t always mesh with Tony Stark’s.
Art is from the legendary Jack Kirby and Don Heck, and the book looks great. These guys were top shelf.

While the first few issues are fun in their own right, (issue 1 sees the OG Avengers battle Loki) it isn’t til Captain America arrives in issue 4 that things really get going. He’s definitely the heart of the team, and drives most of the action for the next 16 issues.

All in all: fun, readable, classic, but probably not evergreen for me. Still, would recommend to curious Marvel fans.

[Michael Emond · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am a huge comic book geek. I say that so you understand that even as a person who loves some older collections (Justice League; X-Men; Amazing Spider-man)I cannot give this collection a thumbs up. It is odd in my 30+ years of reading comics I never read the early Avengers but now I see why - they are horrible stories with very weak art. Look, Stan Lee was writing a dozen comics every month at this time so it is no wonder not every comic was a hit. Even on the better ones like the Fantastic Four you see how muddled the stories can get. With the Marvel method the artist would draw the story and then Stan would fill in the dialogue. Sometimes it would still result in amazing stories (the Spider-man ones with Ditko being my favourites) but often they would be stories that made little narrative sense and lacked any creativity and degenerated into a fight scene and no real climax. The Avengers, in theory, should have been a great comic. It had as its cast the best super-heroes on the Marvel Universe - Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Ant Man, The Wasp. But Stan just didn't come up with a good storyline for it. You can see desperation set in as he jettisoned everyone but Captain America and replaced them with the unlikely cast of Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver by issue 16.
Just look to the Justice League stories by Gardner Fox to see how a book like this should be handled. Clever traps and smart escapes and interesting villains.
Why one star? Well because there wasn't one story in the 20 presented that was interesting in any way. Sorry. But that's the way it was. Even allowing for the weaker story telling of the 60's these stories were almost unreadable. Yeah, there's a reason these stories aren't as fondly remembered as the Fantastic Four, Spider-man or even Doctor Strange. Give it a pass.

[Tyler Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic historical glimpse into the roots of modern superhero stories, though one that suffers from all the great works that built off it. This is the first twenty issues of the seminal, groundbreaking Avengers series, and it's wonderful to see history being made and canon being established (the Masters of Evil! Kang! Immortus!); I even found myself understanding a few in-jokes from the current Avengers run because of this reading. Kirby's and Heck's art is spectacular, and Lee's writing is unique if not always stellar, but this is exactly my only problem with the book: because of the hard work these men did, later creators were able to do more, and so there are times where this feels flat and obvious. The values dissonance regarding race, gender, and...mmm...empathy is also sometimes grating. That said, if you're into superhero comics, this is a must-read, and it's very nicely presented in this volume.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack Kirby & Stan Lee respond to the Justice League of America with The Avengers! Earth’s Mightiest Super-Heroes!

Avengers #1-3 - Loki uses the Hulk to try and defeat Thor, but the plan backfires and He ends up creating the Avengers. The Space Phantom attempts to invade the Earth, using the Hulk to trick the Avengers. Namor the Sub-Mariner attempts to ally himself with the Hulk, using him to help defeat the human population. Do you see a trend here? Basically the Avengers were created to deal with theHulk, even if he was one of their founding members. These stories only heighten the threat of the Hulk, the misunderstood nature of his existence, and the pathos of Robert Bruce Banner. And to be honest, the fact that Lee couldn’t even be bothered to remember Bruce Banner’s name, says exactly how much stock he put in the character’s concept. If Lee had believed in the potential of the character, he’d have been able to remember the Hulk’s alliterative name being Bruce Banner, not as Bob Banner. In the end though, these early Hulk centered tales are not the most promising start for this new team.

Avengers #4 - Taking a breather from the Hulk, Kirby & Lee being back the original Captain America. This just might be Marvel’s first retcon as well, as Captain America had been active in comics into the 1950s, Kirby’s take here is that this original Captain Marvel had not been around since sometime fairly early in WWII (this allows Marvel to unload all the baggage from the anti-communist comics staring the character). It’s an interesting tale, although it has even more issues with the relationship between Namor and Captain America in light of the eventual revelation of the WWII team The Invaders. The next appearance of the Avengers would be in the pages of Fantastic Four #26, sadly not included here (but you can find it in either: Incredible Hulk Epic Collection, Vol. 1: Man or Monster? or Fantastic Four Epic Collection, Vol. 2: The Master Plan of Doctor Doom).

Avengers #5 - This story almost brings the Hulk back into the Avengers fold. But the threat of the Lava Men never quite pulls him back to the team. We’re also seeing the continued rise of his anger at the human race as his uncontrollable bestial nature comes more into focus. This becomes even more prominent as his next couple guest-appearances demonstrate.

Avengers #6-7 - To match in indomitable might of the likes of Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man, the Wasp & Captain America, you’d have to assemble a pretty powerful group of villains. So Cap’s old foe, Baron Zemo, does just that. He recruits the Black Knight, the Radioactive Man, and the Melter to his team the Master of Evil. They are soon joined by the Enchantress and the Executioner, who have recently been exiled from Asgard. This 2-parter firmly turns the Avengers away from the saga of the Hulk (see Incredible Hulk Epic Collection, Vol. 2: The Hulk Must Die for that odyssey).

Avengers #8 - This next story features the first appearance of Kang (check out either Fantastic Four Epic Collection, Vol. 2: The Master Plan of Doctor Doom or Kang: The Saga of the Once and Future Conqueror for the first appearance of Rama-Tut, and thus the official first appearance of the character) where it’s revealed that Kang and Rama-Tut are one and the same person. Already the web of complexity around the character grows, and it’s only just getting started. Another Kirby/Lee classic, but unfortunately this is also the last one in this collection. Kirby will be back to do some layouts for #14-16, but this is his last work as full penciler in this collection.

Avengers #9 - Brings us Wonder Man and the penciling talents of dynamic Don Heck. If I’m being honest, which I do try to be, Heck was never a favorite of mine as a kid, while I’ve since grown to appreciate his enormous talent, it just doesn’t have the same nostalgic kick that Kirby’s work gives me. Nonetheless, this issue provides the return of Zemo, Enchantress and Executioner with a plot to use a newly super powered Simon Williams to infiltrate and destroy the Avengers from within. And said dastardly scheme almost succeeds!

Avengers #10 - Immortus! A mysterious new threat arrives. And the Masters of Evil, Baron Zemo, Enchantress & the Executioner, decide to throw Immortus at the Avengers as a way of determining if he is worthy of joining them. With an ability to travel through time and seemingly be able to pluck anyone from anywhere in time, Immortus seems to be a truly impossible foe to beat. Looking back on this now, hindsight is 20/20 vision after all, I’m wondering if this even qualifies as Immortus. The foes he brings forward to battle the Avengers are nothing like the versions of many of these individuals we’ll come to know. Hercules and Merlin are nothing like those characters that readers will be seeing before to long. And while Paul Bunyan, Goliath, and Attila the Hun are not exactly Marvel characters, they don’t seem at any more genuine than Hercules and Merlin. And as Immortus doesn’t seem to even recognize the Avengers in any more detail than as one would know them as celebrities, is this really another facet of the man who is both Kang and Rama-Tut? Yes, yes, a lot got retconed in later years, but I still think there is untapped potential here.

Avengers #11 - Kang returns and he’s made a Spider-Man robot to defeat the Avengers. I know, I know, it’s as absurd as it sounds. While Spider-Man does make an appearance, there are so many problems with this story it’s not even worth going into.

Avengers #12 - The Mole Man confronts the Avengers. Wait? Seriously? The Mole Man against Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, the Wasp and Giant-Man. The previous issue was absurd, this one is just ridiculous. But wait, there’s more, as about halfway through we suddenly get the Red Ghost popping up and joining forces with the Mole Man. Because? Well, why not?

Avengers #13-14 - While this isn’t technically a two-part story, there are plot elements that carry over that link them rather solidly. The first issue finds the Avengers up against the organized crime syndicate known as the Mafia, oh sorry, make that the Maggia and it’s being led by Count Nefaria. It all gets wrapped up just fine, except the Wasp is injured and nearly dying. And there’s the linking cliffhanger. The second story features the Avengers trying to find the only, yes the ONLY, Doctor in the world capable of saving her life. And he’s apparently been kidnapped by … aliens? Wait … what? Yeah, it’s goofy and basically it turns into a pretty lame mess. The only thing that works with this second story is the threat of the Wasp dying and the return of Kirby to do the layouts.

Avengers #15-16 - This two-parter opens with the return of the Masters of Evil. Only this time it includes most of the members from both of the initial line-ups: Baron Zemo, Melter, Black Knight, Enchantress and Executioner (only the Radioactive Man is missing). Kirby is still doing the layouts, as he will for the second half as well, and it. Even feels like the Masters of Evil might just succeed until it’s revealed that the goal here is just to separate Captain America and lure him by himself to Baron Zemo’s location in South America. This leads us into the second half and the opening depicts the defeat of the villains in the most anticlimactic way imaginable. So much for that epic big battle royale. But this issue also offers the sudden departure of Iron Man, Giant-Man and the Wasp, and the introduction of three former “villain” who want a chance to reform. And enter: Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. And we arrive at the dawn of the era of Cap’s Kooky Quartet. The Avengers will never be the same again.

Avengers #17-18 - The first mission for the “New” Avengers is recruit the Hulk. Okay technically it’s find the Hulk, but the intent is to bring him back into the ranks of the team. But in either case, they fail on both counts. And I always forget that the Hulk does actually appear, albeit briefly, during his own adventures from the pages of Tales to Astonish #69. Instead the new team fights the Mole Man and his mighty Minotaur monstrosity. And while they defeat this lame Greek myth knock-off, they never do find the Hulk, let along recruit him. But we can already see just how “kooky,” and different from the old team, this new team is going to be. They’re second mission is too a Marvel fictional Asian nation overrun by communist tyranny where they fight said forces of authoritarianism and defeat a ridiculous robot of Red imperialism. All this alliteration means Stan Lee is definitely rubbing off on me. Neither of these are particularly good stories, but they’re fun and this is an Avengers era that I really enjoy. Make mine Cap’s Kooky Quartet!

Avengers #19-20 - Rounding off this volume is a two-part that features a weirdly structured story that has the Swordsman try to join the Avengers, then fight them, then try to join them, then try to kill Captain America, then get kidnapped by the Mandarin, then actually join the Avengers, then try to kill them, then try to save them. While it’s an interesting point in Avengers history, the story ridiculously structured and makes zero sense.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loki seeks revenge on his brother Thor, so he hatches a harebrained scheme that involves pitting the Hulk against him. However, when Rick Jones is incapable of summoning the Fantastic Four to respond to the Hulk situation, heroes like Giant-Man, the Wasp and Iron Man join up with Thor to contain Hulk and take down Loki. The heroes decide they work well together and Wasp coins the team name - "The Avengers". And thus, one of Marvel's most iconic books is born.

The early Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Don Heck Avengers comics were enjoyable romps involving several of Marvel's second tier characters. While many of these early adventures are rather forgettable, there are definitely some moments that were pretty creative bits of storytelling. The fluidity of the Avengers roster was always a fun part of the book, and it's pretty porous right from the start. Hulk leaves the team within one issue, deciding that he can't work with people who don't like him. Captain America joins the roster in issue #4, which also features an iconic showdown between the Avengers and the Sub-Mariner. The biggest change comes in issue #16 when Iron Man, Thor, Wasp and Giant-Man all leave, with the team adding Hawkeye, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch as replacements. The team dynamics in that period was the most fun, with Cap questioning his own leadership, Hawkeye vying for team control and Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver pondering whether they are worthy enough to be heroes.

There is a rotating stable of villains in these early issues, as opposed to a central threat. Sub-Mariner is an early villain in the series, as are some recurring villains from the Fantastic Four series like Kang the Conqueror and the Mole Man. Wonder Man is introduced originally as a villain, but makes a quick turn for redemption by siding with the Avengers before dying (and he stays dead, right?). But if there was one set of recurring villains in these early issues, it would be Baron Zemo and his ragtag version of the Masters of Evil, featuring Black Knight, Melter, Radioactive Man, Enchantress and Skurge the Executioner. The adventures are lighthearted and campy, but overall there was some decent creativity on display, even if this series did pale in comparison to other Silver Age stalwart titles like Fantastic Four and Amazing Spider-Man.

While Jack Kirby doesn't stay on the book long, it has to be said that Don Heck does not let the book miss a beat. The artwork is great throughout and really made the motley roster of this superteam colorful and dynamic.

[Mariano · Rating 2 out of 5]

- This is probably the epic that I have read faster after buying it, just a couple of weeks. I never read this (even though I have the Essential) so I was really curious.

- It was a chore to read, it took me almost two weeks, the longest for any epic. I even read other epics in the middle, which I usually try not to do.

- It felt that for most stories 20 pages was too much. Some even have 25!

- Some special character design stuff: I love 3 toes Hulk! Iron Man's original armor was the worst design ever, glad it didn't last.

- I have to give recognition to Stan for being coherent with his character's writing, Hank Pym is as misogynistic as always, and Wasp is horribly written. At least this took a huge turn later on with the infamous slap, right?

- There are some names mistakes that happen several times, like Bob Banner??? Rick Brown??? 😂

- The return of the Cap issue is super cool, I did love that one.

- Ideas clearly peaked in this series when they had an epic battle against... a rock 👀

- Hulk meme: Why are you so obsessed with me???

- I really like the Cap tormented about Bucky's death, although it becomes a little repetitive.

- It's pretty cool how Cap takes the lead instantly.

- Giant Man's kaiju moments from Issue 7 are cool.

- Immortus? More like Kid Eternitus.

- I didn't know that Thor was the first to shout "Avengers Assemble"

- Zemo, Enchantress, and The Executioner again! That's lazy.

- You can tell Kirby wasn't there when every story involves some kind of "hero duplicate".

- I must say that I'm fond of the teen brigade for some reason.

- I'm not a fan of Don Heck in this epic.

- I always find it funny how all these villains create astonishing tech that, if they just put it into a business, they could become rich and achieve all their goals pretty easily.

- Kirby's covers are amazing.

- "I know the torment which must be filling the giant's breast". Good 'ol Larry Lieber writing.

- Issue 16 is when things start to shift! It's a huge change. No senseless battle but character development and some wholehearted with the change of the team. For me, this is where the Avengers start.

- The issues with the new formation are a huge improvement!

- Fave issue: Issue 4, the return of the Cap. Kirby inking himself is a blast.

- Least fave issue: A lot, but issue 11, with the false Spider-man, felt like 76 pages long.

- 2.5/5, it was a tough one, but it gets bonus points with the return of the Cap and the last issues.

[Francisco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvel's Epic Collections are these heavy little paperbacks, collecting some 400+ pages of classic comics. This particular one collects the issues #1 to #20 of the original run of The Avengers. It starts out with the classic Stan Lee/Jack Kirby run and moves on to the Lee/Heck run.

It starts off with a classic team which should be pretty familiar to today's audience, consisting of Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man and the Wasp with Hulk coming in and out in the first few issues. By issue 4 Captain America is defrosted and comes back from 1945 to be a leader in the team. This team goes on for a while until by number #16 everyone is too busy doing their own crap and you get a new Avengers team, consisting of Captain America, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.

It is actually only by this new team that the stories start getting more interesting. Previous to that it's very much villain of the week storytelling, but the new team, composed of complete misfits, brings with it some much needed drama, with power struggles, mistrust and family stuff thrown in. It makes it more similar to the Fantastic Four of the same period, but that's not a bad thing. Also by the end of this run Lee or whoever was ghostwriting it for him starts getting sparser with the dialogue. The first few issues really are a bit of a slog to go through as some pages seem to have more text than images, which is never fun. Art-wise Kirby is of course a god, but Don Heck does a good job of taking on the mantle. A classic start to an iconic series.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much happens in the first 20 issues of The Avengers that it's hard to put all my thoughts in order.

Stan Lee should be commended for creating the superhero team in the first place, even if his storytelling style is a bit dated by todays standards. The biggest problems are that female characters tend to be around purely for eye-candy or to conform to various negative stereotypes and that 'deus-ex-machina'-style events occur in most issues, including the heroes or villains using powers or gadgets never seen before that just happen to be useful at that precise moment. You know, like the team just happen to stand in the exact area of a giant desert that has a trapdoor underneath it. Corny stuff like that!

Jack Kirby's art in the earlier issues is decent (although I've always found him to be a tiny bit overrated! Sacrilege!) and Don Heck takes over in an acceptable manner.

The first big team member switcheroo occurs towards the end of this volume, bringing in a couple of my favourites, Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch. Their characters (and pretty much everyone else's) haven't been developed enough yet though, so they're still a little one-dimensional.

All in all, early Marvel might not have aged too well, but if you can overlook the various faux-pas then it's bright, colourful and action-packed fun.

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not Aged Well

These early Stan Lee works are rough. Constantly telling where the art could just as easily show. Sometimes, the art itself doesn't quite manage to fit what's being said, I assume when that happened, it was due to the process they used to make them. Whatever it is, it makes for a drag to read.

The good news is that everyone I've read from ant man to Iron Man and even this Avengers book got better further in. There are fewer double explanations, the plots are better, and even the character work improves. I only hope it continues in the next volume

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great adventure and action! The characters come together brilliantly in epic battles and you can see how the team comes together! The characters are so fully formed from other tales so come in with their origin stories in place! At the same time you can see the the generation of epic storylines that neatly the I to I going plotlines as well as creating new ones! Epic Battles, Character Development, Adventure and Action! Brilliant and Highly Recommended! Get It When You Can! :D

[Jay Emmerich · Rating 4 out of 5]

What started as an effort to sell some comics by throwing heroes together that wouldn't sell their own solo titles evolved into one of the biggest franchises and it's fun to see the humble beginnings. With throwing these disparate characters together came an increased effort for continuity, and I enjoy seeing that evolve and develop. Yes it's old and dated, but I find it kinda charming in some ways.

[Fredrick Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

(B+) Volume 1 of The Avengers epic collection has its ups and downs. The first half of the collection starts off good, introducing us to the assembled team. The second half sees the original cast take a leave of absence and get replaced by their replacements who lack the same substance as the originals. Still a fun read for marvel fans. If The Avengers teaches us one thing it is this: Nothing can stop the avengers..Avengers... except for themselves... and The Hulk.

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, the misogyny! Still, it's not really fair to judge these comics on our standards, and there is some fun to be had here....many of these are simply goofy fun, with some dynamic art by Kirby and Don Heck doing some of his best work on the title. The last few issues get a little repetitive, sadly forecasting what's to come, but the first 16 issues are classics.

[Steve Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to rate this highly due to reasons mainly associated with nostalgia. I read most of these issues as a kid. I especially enjoyed reading the 1st Issue (origin), Issue #4 (return of Captain America), Issue #16 (new line-up even tho' I hated it at the time). Sold these all a long time ago. Buying this compilation eased the pain a bit!

[Doug Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solid start to the series, though my enjoyment dipped alongside the change in lineup three quarters of the way through. There is the introduction of some classic villains here and some good stories but overall nothing really stands out.

[Tommy Pett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely dated, but a lot of the dynamics created here can be found in much of modern avengers media like the hulk being used by villains to cause chaos, the dynamics between members of the team, etc...

[Joe B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another classic from Stan Lee

[Nanao Midori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories were much better after Hawkeye, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch joined.

[Daniel Kleven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Avengers, collecting the first 20 issues in the series, from back in 1963.

[Huxley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book with fast action and new twists and turns around every corner!

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

While it was nice to see where some of the classic storylines came from, you really have to be in the mood for this era of comics. I was not in that mood.

[Yosef Shapiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Foundational early marvel story reprints.

[Ginger Wolverine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t care how old you are, everyone needs to read the classic Avengers

[tammy (eskel's version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

read until issue #17 and absolutely loved it

[Scott Finlay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this a lot even though it had some flaws.

The stories tended to have amazing build up and they felt like stories of epic proportions in comparison to other comics of the era. What I didn't like so much was that they tended to have pretty anticlimactic endings, often with something akin to a deus ex machina.

I liked seeing the original origin story behind the avengers and seeing how the characters interact with each other. I particularly found the Hulk's role interesting and unexpected.

At times it felt pretty dated. The portrayal of Wasp was pretty weak and she appeared as a pretty immature, single-minded character. It was also clear that the stories were written by someone with very little science and tech knowledge at a time when such knowledge wasn't so widespread, and this unfortunately makes Iron Man pretty lame compared to the modern cinematic universe.

Still, despite the weaknesses I still really enjoyed it and can recommend it to any marvel fans interested in learning about some of the brands roots.