The Mighty Avengers vs. the 1970s

by Paul Cornell

The Avengers was the comic book of the 1970s. From Civil Rights to Women's Lib, battles for the soul of America became battles between superheroes.

Writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby co-created the all-star group of six superheroes in September 1963. From there, just three main writers chronicled Earth's Mightiest Heroes in that most turbulent of Roy Thomas, Steve Englehart, and Jim Shooter, each with differing approaches. The Avengers quickly became the pivot around which the Marvel Universe turned. To look back through its issues is to get a crash course in '70s pop culture.

Illustrated with full-color art from this legendary run, Paul Cornell's entry in the MARVEL AGE OF COMICS series explores how the Mighty Avengers became icons during a time of immense change and upheaval.

Genres: Comics, Nonfiction

120 pages, Paperback

Published November 11, 2025

About the author

Paul Cornell is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy prose, comics and television. He's been Hugo Award-nominated for all three media, and has won the BSFA Award for his short fiction, and the Eagle Award for his comics. He's the writer of Saucer Country for Vertigo, Demon Knights for DC, and has written for the Doctor Who TV series. His new urban fantasy novel is London Falling, out from Tor on December 6th.

via Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Cor...

Reviews

[Steve Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable summary of The Avengers in the 70s, with nice examples of art to illustrate the points being made, but its undeniably a slight read (around 100 pages) so it doesn’t have the space to go into any depth.

[Egghead · Rating 5 out of 5]

made me want to read
all seventies avengers
for first time ever

[Alex Sarll]

Along similar lines to their 33 1/3 or Object Lessons, Bloomsbury's new series of slim volumes on very specific topics gives writers a chance to dive into particular rooms of the House of Ideas. This could potentially lead to debatable choices down the line; particularly in a sprawling, interconnected shared universe, topics in comics don't have the natural boundaries that albums do, and even compared to rivals DC, Marvel are notably short on standalone acknowledged classics like Watchmen or DKR – there's a reason the best book on the company's output to date was the absurdly maximalist All Of The Marvels by Douglas Wolk (who gets a nod in the acknowledgemens here). Paul Cornell's selection still feels like a lot to take on in the space available; a decade of an ongoing comic leaves him one page per issue, not counting annuals. Fortunately, he has more sense than to approach the project that way, and it helps that, as he shows, the Avengers were increasingly moving into soap opera territory over these years, beginning to weave new sagas out of Marvel's own accumulated backstory (including one that hinged on a colouring choice in a single panel years previously) and set up long-running romantic, rivalrous or mysterious subplots which sometimes even extended past a single writer's tenure. Nevertheless, the writers are how the book is organised, with big chapters on Roy Thomas, Steve Englehart and the recently deceased Jim Shooter, plus interstitials on the spottier periods in between and a whole, albeit brief, chapter on "The Greatest Fill-In", a single, atypical issue by Steve Gerber and Carmine Infantino which does sound pretty fascinating in its focus on Gerber's usual concerns of the individual and society, as reflected through a solo adventure for Beast. I've not read it, or indeed anything much here bar the Korvac Saga, which you could say made this an odd choice when I know Born Again or Miles Morales, covered by other volumes in the opening salvo, much better. But I do know from 30+ years of reading Cornell that he can write, and I know from his newsletter how much he loves Bronze Age Marvel, so really it was always going to be this one. And in showing how seventies Avengers responded to social upheavals in the real world, while also trailblazing comics ideas that have since become mainstays such as the multi-title crossover story, maintaining all the while a distinct town square melodrama quality of its own, he has definitely made me more likely to investigate some. My only complaint is that, even compared to the general problem with reproducing comics made for newsprint in modern formats, a lot of the colouring on the panels included here has ended up pretty day-glo, though hopefully that will be rectified between my Edelweiss ARC and the finished edition.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the free Kindle book. My review is voluntarily given, and my opinions are my own.

This was an amazing book; not only talking about the different storylines during iin the comics but the writers and artists that created them. I am one of those people who never know much about the creators, so it was great reading more about them. I had to immediately go look up more information on the author when it said he wrote episodes of Doctor Who, as the name hadn't registered when I first saw it.

Really enjoyed this book, and I would definitely recommend it.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Academic for an advance copy of this new look at Marvel Comics their rich legacy and the creators who drew on world events, cultural shifts and more to create stories at are still being used in movies today.

My Grandmother was the one who introduced me to comics at a very young age. I used to spend weekends with my Grandparents in the Bronx, and everytime I entered there apartment, I opened a special shelf that had one comic book and a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. So I have my Nan to thank for my love of comics and my portly physique. Nan didn't know comics, she grabbed whatever at the candy store, so I would get Marvel, DC even Casper and Sad Sack comics. I didn't care. I loved them all, though as Nan never got the same comics it took me years to find all the issues I needed to complete the stories that I had the first, the last or the middle of. I was not a Marvel Zombie, nor a DC kid, but I must admit, Marvel taking place in New York, just a few miles from where I was reading meant a lot. And too many others. This new series from Bloomsbury takes a look at the Marvel Age and its impact on readers, and well history. The Mighty Avengers vs. the 1970s: An Exploration is written by comic and fiction writer by Paul Cornell and talks about the heroes of the seventies, their creators and the stories that are still making intellectual property money for Disney, and made mine and other kids childhoods magical.

The author Paul Cornell was introduced to comics especially Marvel in England, where the stories were more collections, and to find an entire run was difficult. Not having the best of family lives, comics meant a lot to him, as one can tell from reading this book. Cornell looks at the seventies, when Marvel was in flux, with Stan Lee moving up in the company, younger writers who grew up on comics coming in and creating. While all around them the society was changing in many ways, changes that were being shown in the comics. Cornell looks at the writers of the Avengers, small in number, but big in stories and plotlines that are still being used today, Roy Thomas, Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber, Jim Shooter, Roger Stern and Dave Michelinie. Names that I still remember. Cornell looks at the stories, but is careful not to ruin them, just in case people who are new want to go back. There is talk about the Marvel style, giving artists a plot, and later writing dialogue to fit the art, some of which lead to interesting story lines. Women's rights, gay rights, the Black Panthers are all mentioned, along with some stories that didn't go as expected.

I enjoyed this quite a bit, and learned quite a lot about some of my favorite creators. I like the fact that Stan Lee wanted comics to reflect the fact that this might be the first comic people read, and that creators had to be clear who people were, their relationships, and why things that seemed obvious was happening. I can't imagine a new person reading and X-Men or current Batman without a checklist or a 10-part Youtube video to explain things. That is a skill that has been lost. Cornell is a very good writer, with a familiarity with the subject that shows, and a skill in not giving stories away, so one can go back and read them to enjoy them.

A very well done book, the first I have read of a series. I look forward to the rest. These are perfect for new readers, old people like myself, and for those who just want to know what the gravitational pull of comics is to so many people. Hopefully at the end many will want to make theirs Marvel.

[Justin Soderberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paul Cornell kicks things off with a look back to The Mighty Avengers historic decade of the 1970s.

The team that defined a generation-and reshaped a universe. The Avengers was the comic book of the 1970s. From Civil Rights to the Women's Liberation Movement, battles for the soul of America became battles between super heroes.

Writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby co-created the all-star group of six super heroes in September 1963. From there, just three main writers chronicled Earth's Mightiest Heroes in that most turbulent of decades: Roy Thomas, Steve Englehart, and Jim Shooter, each with differing approaches. The Avengers quickly became the pivot around which the Marvel Universe turned. To look back through its issues is to get a crash course in '70s pop culture.

Illustrated with full-color art from this legendary run, Cornell's entry in the Marvel Age of Comics series explores how the Mighty Avengers became icons during a time of immense change and upheaval.

It was wonderful to look through the lens of Cornell's deep dive into the 1970s era Avengers and the connections played to the turbulent times of the decade. While it was a great way to deeper my love for the Avengers and Marvel Comics. There was A LOT packed into the 120 page book. The Mighty Avengers vs. the 1970s was fact upon fact, upon fact over 10 years and multiple writer/artist combinations. This length of period in a short time felt a bit overwhelming. While I still enjoyed the content within, this entry was my least favorite of the first three books.

Marvel Age of Comics: The Mighty Avengers vs. the 1970s hits bookstores everywhere on November 11, 2025 from Bloomsbury Academic. The audiobook, narrated by Cary Hite, lands on Libro.fm on November 13.

NOTE: We received an advance copy of Marvel Age of Comics: The Mighty Avengers vs. the 1970s from the publisher. Opinions are our own.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bloomsbury Academic press has started a new series of books on various Marvel Comics runs. They're short and cheap and roughly the comic book equivalent of the way record albums are treated by the 33 1/3 series. As the Avengers was my favorite comic book series between 1966 and 1975, a book covering the back half of my love affair was irresistible.

Cornell divides the book into chapters by writers. The three longest-tenured writers of the Avengers in the 70s were Roy Thomas (who started in 1966 with #35, kept going in the 70s with #74, and ended in 1972 with #104; Steve Englehart, who wrote most of 105 through 150, and Jim Shooter, who was intermittent between 156, I think, and 178. Other writers get shorter chapters to cover their shorter runs, though Steve Gerber gets a whole chapter for one fill-in issue that came out after I stopped reading comics obsessively.

Cornell is very good at analyzing ways that each writer was different, and he seems to love Englehart as much as I did back then and still do. Of course, Thomas did really strong work on the book, and the Kree-Skrull War issues (89-97) were spectacular. The Shooter books were ones I read, mostly, but they didn't impress me much at the time - Cornell argues that they were better than I remember, so I'll consider that a possibility.

I'm happy to have a book taking analysis of these stories seriously, even one this short which inevitably gives short shrift to a number of themes and methods which helped made them so good in the first place.

[Kylee Kosoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a really unique lens on history. Obviously, the Avengers mean something very specific to me since I grew up with them during the 2010s, when the MCU was everywhere. But this book made me step back and look at their much messier comic book origins and the cultural climate of the 1970s—a time I honestly hadn’t connected to superheroes before.

What I really appreciated was how the book situated the Avengers within the real-world context of the era. The ‘70s were turbulent—political scandals, cultural shifts, changing ideas about gender and race—and all of that filtered into the stories Marvel was telling, whether intentionally or not. It reminded me that superheroes don’t exist in a vacuum; they reflect the anxieties, hopes, and contradictions of their time.

As someone who loves Marvel, loves superheroes, and also loves history, this was an incredibly satisfying read. It deepened my appreciation for the Avengers by showing how they’ve always been more than just costumed characters punching villains—they’re cultural touchstones that evolve alongside society.

If you’re a Marvel fan who’s interested in how the comics connect to broader history—or if you just love exploring the intersection of pop culture and politics—I’d highly recommend this book.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the three books to launch this new series, looking at Marvel comics of yore – whether that be one arc, or, as is evident in two of the first three, a decade. Here it's the strict 1970s, and this is pretty much what I'd expect, having seen the Doctor Strange volume. This is quite the different approach, and it might be due to the storytelling it's talking of, as well as our author here, that this felt denser than that other book. There seems more detail about everything here, even though it's a touch shorter, and – because this is a bit academic – discussions about whether what it's talking about was racist, or not combatting sexism enough.

There's also the nuance of autobiography, as our author points to the very issue of the run that practically made him a comics author, so, without which, etc. It's a sine qua non, and the author's first issue – go figure. There's a lot more than that – characters thinking the Falcon was one of the first DEI hires, and some of the first major event runs, all fully justifying the selection of this Marvel spin as worth our time. I had a slight preference for the Doctor Strange edition, but this is still worth close enough to four stars to make no difference.

[Zachary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Marvel Age of Comics is series of short books on specific topics, like the 33 1/3 series. This one is an overview of how the Avengers comic reflected the changes of the 70s. Obviously, I will be reading all of these.

Note: I received the first three releases in the series as audiobook ARCs. The book itself features art from the comics, which is sometimes referenced in the text. I don't know if the commercial audio editions come with artwork PDFs, but the ARC versions didn't. I'll stick with the audio of the next two, but will likely switch to the print editions for volumes after that.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new academic series of books about comics that I loved and continued to love? Count me in! My first experience of the Avengers comics were reprints of mid 1970s stories featured in old Marvel UK titles that I found at jumble sales and second hand shops so this era is rather special. I was 13 in 1986 and so ready for a grittier and more emotionally Daredevil, then I re-read those issues a year or so ago as part of my Daredevil revisitations, when I loved them all over again.

[Alise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good historical dive but I would have appreciated a little more analysis. Easy to follow and interesting insight into an experience of both creating, writing and product development of comic lines in that time.

Disclosure: I received a gifted copy of the ALC from Libro.fm. No review was required and all opinions are my own

[Reagan Kapasi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Especially love background details of how the series was written in contrast to DC

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

An academic take on how Earth's Mightiest Heroes evolved through the decade through different writers and editors.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

boring but im not a marvel girl

[Raccoon in the Garage · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 rounded up

[Venneh · Rating 4 out of 5]

There haven't really been these types of deep dives into certain eras of major comic series outside of maybe some individual blog posts online, so I'm really happy to see an academic publisher give someone who knows their shit a short monograph to do a deep dive into certain decades in comics, in this case, The Mighty Avengers and the 1970s. Highly recommended read.