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Avengers Epic Collection
Avengers Epic Collection, Vol. 21: The Collection Obsession
To battle the Brethren! Thane Ector and his allies devastated the Collector - and now they've come for Earth. And to stop them, the Avengers must call in reserves, returnees - and a new recruit! But will the humbled Elder of the Universe aid Earth's Mightiest, or renew his collection obsession? Hate may conquer all when the Sons of the Serpent strike - unless the Avengers and New Warriors can do something about it! But how will our heroes react when a fallen comrade seemingly returns? Plus, the Subterranean Wars rage, and the Vault prison becomes a deathtrap filled with deadly menaces - including Venom!
Collects: Avengers (1963) #334-344, Annual #20; Avengers: Deathtrap - The Vault; material from Incredible Hulk Annual #17, Namor the Sub-Mariner Annual #1, Iron Man Annual #12, Avengers West Coast Annual #6.
Collects: Avengers (1963) #334-344, Annual #20; Avengers: Deathtrap - The Vault; material from Incredible Hulk Annual #17, Namor the Sub-Mariner Annual #1, Iron Man Annual #12, Avengers West Coast Annual #6.
- GenresComicsMarvelSuperheroes
494 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 14, 2018
25 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
Danny Fingeroth
329 books24 followersDaniel Fingeroth (/ˈfɪŋɡərɔːθ/) is an American comic book writer and editor, best known for a long stint as group editor of the Spider-Man books at Marvel Comics.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 20, 2023
Mid-90s Avengers isn’t terribly well remembered or loved - most of it is a single ongoing storyline involving Proctor and The Gatherers (what were they gathering? no man now remembers), which kicks off in the final issues here under new creative team Bob Harras and Steve Epting. It’s probably the case that the book needed stability, though the brief Larry Hama run was better and bolder than its rep and some of the shorter stories here are fine. But Harras restores a sense of direction and solidity, one matched by Epting’s art, a more restrained, conservative take on the 90s style, like Neal Adams with more of a taste for combat jackets and mullets.
Harras is not best remembered as a scripter, though - it’s his editorial impact as the X-Books editor and then Editor In Chief that built his reputation. It was an era of immense pressure from sales and marketing on the creative side at Marvel, and Harras was generally on the marketers’ team. He’d already made fandom bristle by essentially forcing an end to Chris Claremont’s X-Men run and it’s ironic that his own style as a writer is very much diet Claremont, prolix and subplot heavy. His run is instantly interrupted by a big event - Operation: Galactic Storm - which was entirely a marketing-driven creation.
O:GS establishes Harras’ taste for grandiose, universal-stakes storytelling, but so does his trial run as writer, the 6 part Collection Obsession. There’s an explicit argument made here that planetary-scale threats are the Avengers’ territory and they shouldn’t be messing about with small fry (the somewhat problematic Rage is removed from the book soon after this story, which does leave Harras’ team with no minority representation at all). The Collection Obsession is also a preview of some of Harras’ other favourite tropes - he spends the story mostly interested in establishing his murderous villains as Shakespearean tragic figures (helmeted bad boy Thane Ector is even accompanied by a Fool, which is amusingly on the nose). It’s too long - another Harras theme - but has a strong central idea.
The rest is mixed. Avengers Deathtrap: The Vault is a stab at doing a tense Die Hard type thriller with superheroes, which is entertaining but as contrived as you’d expect it needs to be given superheroes can handle Die Hard type problems with ease. Fabian Nicieza does a two part New Warriors team up which is extremely 90s in ways both wonderful (Namorita’s costume!!) and regrettable (it’s very both sidesy about police violence). Scott Lobdell does a surprisingly good one-off about a paranoid billionaire raising his kids as child soldiers. And Roy and Dann Thomas do a crossover across 5 annuals untangling Marvel’s many subterranean empires going back to the deep Silver Age. You already know if a Roy Thomas mole man continuity deep dive is your bag, as do I: I couldn’t read it.
Harras is not best remembered as a scripter, though - it’s his editorial impact as the X-Books editor and then Editor In Chief that built his reputation. It was an era of immense pressure from sales and marketing on the creative side at Marvel, and Harras was generally on the marketers’ team. He’d already made fandom bristle by essentially forcing an end to Chris Claremont’s X-Men run and it’s ironic that his own style as a writer is very much diet Claremont, prolix and subplot heavy. His run is instantly interrupted by a big event - Operation: Galactic Storm - which was entirely a marketing-driven creation.
O:GS establishes Harras’ taste for grandiose, universal-stakes storytelling, but so does his trial run as writer, the 6 part Collection Obsession. There’s an explicit argument made here that planetary-scale threats are the Avengers’ territory and they shouldn’t be messing about with small fry (the somewhat problematic Rage is removed from the book soon after this story, which does leave Harras’ team with no minority representation at all). The Collection Obsession is also a preview of some of Harras’ other favourite tropes - he spends the story mostly interested in establishing his murderous villains as Shakespearean tragic figures (helmeted bad boy Thane Ector is even accompanied by a Fool, which is amusingly on the nose). It’s too long - another Harras theme - but has a strong central idea.
The rest is mixed. Avengers Deathtrap: The Vault is a stab at doing a tense Die Hard type thriller with superheroes, which is entertaining but as contrived as you’d expect it needs to be given superheroes can handle Die Hard type problems with ease. Fabian Nicieza does a two part New Warriors team up which is extremely 90s in ways both wonderful (Namorita’s costume!!) and regrettable (it’s very both sidesy about police violence). Scott Lobdell does a surprisingly good one-off about a paranoid billionaire raising his kids as child soldiers. And Roy and Dann Thomas do a crossover across 5 annuals untangling Marvel’s many subterranean empires going back to the deep Silver Age. You already know if a Roy Thomas mole man continuity deep dive is your bag, as do I: I couldn’t read it.
July 8, 2018
Great Avengers collection....
A lengthy (440+ pages) collection including the complete subterranean wars, the return of the Sons of the Serpent (white supremecist group) and the beginning of the return of the Swordsman, a former member thought dead, mow returned for revenge. The subterranean saga is quite good, spanning several issues, and making the Avengers allies of the Mole Man and Grotesk, giving them the excuse to dredge up some old but fun villains. There is a quick story about hate monger, a villain who feeds off hate, a bit heavy handed but no truer than now. The Swordsman tale leaves on a cliffhanger, of course they want you to buy the next volume.
This is a period I missed, being busy raising my daughter, so many of the characters like Rage and the Sandman as an Avenger were knew. Fun read, quite a bit of stuff going on
A lengthy (440+ pages) collection including the complete subterranean wars, the return of the Sons of the Serpent (white supremecist group) and the beginning of the return of the Swordsman, a former member thought dead, mow returned for revenge. The subterranean saga is quite good, spanning several issues, and making the Avengers allies of the Mole Man and Grotesk, giving them the excuse to dredge up some old but fun villains. There is a quick story about hate monger, a villain who feeds off hate, a bit heavy handed but no truer than now. The Swordsman tale leaves on a cliffhanger, of course they want you to buy the next volume.
This is a period I missed, being busy raising my daughter, so many of the characters like Rage and the Sandman as an Avenger were knew. Fun read, quite a bit of stuff going on
June 14, 2019
The stories in this weren't that bad, but the majority of the artwork was terrible! Imagine my disappointment when I see one of the Kubert's illustrating a six part story, then find he only drew part one!
May 15, 2024
Seguimos con los Vengadores, que ya hemos llegado a los 90, y esto no va a parar. Y lo hacemos con la saga llamada "La Obsesión por Coleccionar", y que supone la llegada a la serie de Bob Harras, que va a afrontar una nueva etapa larga, en la que tendrán lugar eventos tan importantes como Operación: Tormenta Galáctica o Lazos de Sangre. Y lo va a hacer acompañado por un Andy Kubert muy potente y un mucho menos afortunado Steve Epting que, quizá porque estaba apresurado, quizá por el entintado, por lo que sea, tiene un número bastante duro (horrible) antes de que se afiance el equipo Harras/Epting/Palmer y la cosa empiece a tomar forma.
En esta primera saga de Harras, los Vengadores se van a enfrentar a una raza de enemigos extraterrestres que parecen decididos a conquistar la Tierra y acabar con toda la humanidad y por supuesto, con los Vengadores. Liderados por un caudillo militar llamado Maese Ector (que cuenta con una especie de bufón demoníaco como compañía... con girito), la Cofradía llega para abrumar y prácticamente deshacer a los Vengadores, que se ven obligados a recurrir a ayudas y suplentes, por lo que vamos a tener un equipo bastante amplio, con Harras comenzando a introducir aquí a una nueva incorporación para el equipo... aunque ya clásica en el Universo Marvel: Crystal, de los Inhumanos. Así a la Viuda Negra, el Capitán América, Hércules, Quasar, Sersi, e Rabia y la Visión, se van a unir además de Crystal, el Hombre de Hierro, Hank Pym, el Caballero Negro, la Bestia o la Pantera Negra, y mientras un equipo trata de detener a la Cofradía, un grupo "científico" (es decir, Quasar, la Pantera Negra, la Bestia y Pym van a intentar descubrir el origen de la Cofradía, remontándose a sus tiempos como raza miniaturizada y capturada (por así decirlo) dentro de la colección de El Coleccionista. Con su primer arco en la serie, Harras va a devolver a los Vengadores a lo épico y cósmico, e incluso se guarda una sorpresa sobre el origen de la orgullosa Cofradía. Y la saga está bastante bien, la verdad... salvo el número de incorporación de Epting, que es un horror.
Y debe ser que Harras se implicó mucho en esta saga... o en la siguiente, porque en cuanto acaba La Obsesión por Coleccionar, vamos a tener un par de números de relleno, el primero con guiones de Michelinie y Lobdell y dibujos de Paul Abrams, protagonizado por el Capitán América y la Avispa y que es rellenazo, y otro que cuenta ya con el dibujo de Epting pero guionizado por Fabian Nicieza, que va a traer de vuelta a los Hijos de la Serpiente, y que va a centrar sus números en Rabia, estableciendo además una colaboración entre los Vengadores y los Nuevos Guerreros, colaboración que va a suponer la salida de Rabia de esta colección para convertirse precisamente en uno de los Nuevos Guerreros.
Y por último, con una nueva reestructuración del equipo (y van...), Harras y Epting van a empezar a preparar la saga siguiente a Tormenta Galáctica, que ya se les venía encima, y van a enfrentar a la nueva alineación (Viuda Negra, Capitán América, Visión, Quasar, Hércules, Caballero Negro, Crystal y el nuevo Thor), con un antiguo miembro del equipo, el Espadachín, que parece haber vuelto de entre los muertos para enfrentarse a ellos, y lo va a hacer acompañado de un nuevo personaje (Magdalena), y siguiendo las instrucciones de un tal Proctor, a los que ya conoceremos después de Tormenta Galáctica... pero que a priori, recuerdan mucho ya así de seguido a Maese Ector y su pareja. Pero para hablar de Proctor, aún tendremos que pasar por la Operación: Tormenta Galáctica.
En esta primera saga de Harras, los Vengadores se van a enfrentar a una raza de enemigos extraterrestres que parecen decididos a conquistar la Tierra y acabar con toda la humanidad y por supuesto, con los Vengadores. Liderados por un caudillo militar llamado Maese Ector (que cuenta con una especie de bufón demoníaco como compañía... con girito), la Cofradía llega para abrumar y prácticamente deshacer a los Vengadores, que se ven obligados a recurrir a ayudas y suplentes, por lo que vamos a tener un equipo bastante amplio, con Harras comenzando a introducir aquí a una nueva incorporación para el equipo... aunque ya clásica en el Universo Marvel: Crystal, de los Inhumanos. Así a la Viuda Negra, el Capitán América, Hércules, Quasar, Sersi, e Rabia y la Visión, se van a unir además de Crystal, el Hombre de Hierro, Hank Pym, el Caballero Negro, la Bestia o la Pantera Negra, y mientras un equipo trata de detener a la Cofradía, un grupo "científico" (es decir, Quasar, la Pantera Negra, la Bestia y Pym van a intentar descubrir el origen de la Cofradía, remontándose a sus tiempos como raza miniaturizada y capturada (por así decirlo) dentro de la colección de El Coleccionista. Con su primer arco en la serie, Harras va a devolver a los Vengadores a lo épico y cósmico, e incluso se guarda una sorpresa sobre el origen de la orgullosa Cofradía. Y la saga está bastante bien, la verdad... salvo el número de incorporación de Epting, que es un horror.
Y debe ser que Harras se implicó mucho en esta saga... o en la siguiente, porque en cuanto acaba La Obsesión por Coleccionar, vamos a tener un par de números de relleno, el primero con guiones de Michelinie y Lobdell y dibujos de Paul Abrams, protagonizado por el Capitán América y la Avispa y que es rellenazo, y otro que cuenta ya con el dibujo de Epting pero guionizado por Fabian Nicieza, que va a traer de vuelta a los Hijos de la Serpiente, y que va a centrar sus números en Rabia, estableciendo además una colaboración entre los Vengadores y los Nuevos Guerreros, colaboración que va a suponer la salida de Rabia de esta colección para convertirse precisamente en uno de los Nuevos Guerreros.
Y por último, con una nueva reestructuración del equipo (y van...), Harras y Epting van a empezar a preparar la saga siguiente a Tormenta Galáctica, que ya se les venía encima, y van a enfrentar a la nueva alineación (Viuda Negra, Capitán América, Visión, Quasar, Hércules, Caballero Negro, Crystal y el nuevo Thor), con un antiguo miembro del equipo, el Espadachín, que parece haber vuelto de entre los muertos para enfrentarse a ellos, y lo va a hacer acompañado de un nuevo personaje (Magdalena), y siguiendo las instrucciones de un tal Proctor, a los que ya conoceremos después de Tormenta Galáctica... pero que a priori, recuerdan mucho ya así de seguido a Maese Ector y su pareja. Pero para hablar de Proctor, aún tendremos que pasar por la Operación: Tormenta Galáctica.
October 2, 2021
Bom, Vingadores lá por '91.
Os anos noventa não foram fáceis pra ninguém, gurizada.
Tem muita coisa que eu não lembro como foi traduzido, então eu vou usar o termo em inglês mesmo e azar.
Começamos com uma Graphic Novel com os Vingadores e a Força Federal enfrentando uma fuga em massa da prisão conhecia como The Vault, é uma história genérica com a intenção de dar mais foco para o Venom, o psicopata favorito da época, claro que o diretor da prisão esconde um terrível segredo que pode ser a morte de heróis e vilões. É divertido pelo clima de pancadaria e umas curtas lutas entre os vilões e heróis da época, e deixa claro que a Força Federal foi uma das ideias de jerico mais jericanas da história da Marvel.
Com o Roy e a Dann Thomas vamos para as Guerras Subterrâneas, um evento que envolveu os Anuais dos Vingadores, do Namor, do Hulk, do Homem de Ferro e dos Vingadores da Costa Oeste. O Toupeira, o Tyrannus - um dos personagens mais deploráveis de todos os tempos - e o Grotesko - quem? -, todos imperadores dos subterrâneos da Terra estão em guerra com os Deviantes e apanhando feio, os Vingadores acabam se envolvendo e resolvendo a situação através da violência super heroica de toda quarta-feira. A edição do Hulk é bem divertida, com o PAD fazendo boas piadas sobre o Tyrannus e a Fonte da Juventude; vale um destaque também para a edição do Namor, com a lenga-lenga do Scott Lobdell e a arte - muita bacana - do James Fry, e o Namor dando uma mão na orelha do Arraia porque é mais fácil bater nele do que explicar o que diabos está acontecendo. Quem é o Arraia fila do pão, né? Outro ponto interessante é que o Homem-Areia é um dos Vingadores dessa história, que também conta com o Rage e o Quasar, reunindo alguns dos piores vingadores numa única história.
Já com a fase do Bob Harras - em breve; jaquetinhas de couro - e do Steve Epting temos a Obsessão do Lombadei.. digo do Colecionador. Uma raça azulona - os Brethren - fogem da coleção do Colecionador e chegam na Lua e resolvem conquistar a Terra, por quê? Porque como a Terra derrotou Galactus, a Terra deve ser fodona e eles quem ser mais fodões que os fodões que derrotaram Galactus. Os Vingadores apanham por umas três ou quatro edições, enquanto um time - Hank Pym, Hank McCoy, Pantera e Quasar - explora a nave do Colecionador em busca de respostas. E as respostas são surpreendentes, os Bethren também foram criados pelos Celestias - o que explica o tesão do Líder Azulão pela Sersi.
Todo mundo sabe o que acontece quando o cara se apaixona por uma morena de olhos verdes, né? Ele se fode.
Enfim, nas últimas páginas a gente descobre a verdade e que tudo é um plano do Colecionador para colecionar humaninhos. Eu diria que é uma história dos Vingadores num estilo bem clássico, temos vários Vingadores de várias eras, um inimigo aparentemente invencível, questões morais, um Capitão América muito bem escrito naquela postura de retroceder nunca, render-se jamais caindo na porrada com o Líder Azulão. Eu achei tri.
Depois temos uma história com os Filhos da Serpente, os Novos Guerreiros, tensão racial em Nova Iorque e a avó do Rage - num esclarecimento que poderia ser bem mais divertido. Ah, tem o Monge do Ódio também, um daqueles personagens que eu nunca entendi direito.
E nas últimas páginas começa a função dos Coletores que eu acho uma das piores histórias dos Vingadores.
No geral, não é nada demais, vale para completar a coleção.
Os anos noventa não foram fáceis pra ninguém, gurizada.
Tem muita coisa que eu não lembro como foi traduzido, então eu vou usar o termo em inglês mesmo e azar.
Começamos com uma Graphic Novel com os Vingadores e a Força Federal enfrentando uma fuga em massa da prisão conhecia como The Vault, é uma história genérica com a intenção de dar mais foco para o Venom, o psicopata favorito da época, claro que o diretor da prisão esconde um terrível segredo que pode ser a morte de heróis e vilões. É divertido pelo clima de pancadaria e umas curtas lutas entre os vilões e heróis da época, e deixa claro que a Força Federal foi uma das ideias de jerico mais jericanas da história da Marvel.
Com o Roy e a Dann Thomas vamos para as Guerras Subterrâneas, um evento que envolveu os Anuais dos Vingadores, do Namor, do Hulk, do Homem de Ferro e dos Vingadores da Costa Oeste. O Toupeira, o Tyrannus - um dos personagens mais deploráveis de todos os tempos - e o Grotesko - quem? -, todos imperadores dos subterrâneos da Terra estão em guerra com os Deviantes e apanhando feio, os Vingadores acabam se envolvendo e resolvendo a situação através da violência super heroica de toda quarta-feira. A edição do Hulk é bem divertida, com o PAD fazendo boas piadas sobre o Tyrannus e a Fonte da Juventude; vale um destaque também para a edição do Namor, com a lenga-lenga do Scott Lobdell e a arte - muita bacana - do James Fry, e o Namor dando uma mão na orelha do Arraia porque é mais fácil bater nele do que explicar o que diabos está acontecendo. Quem é o Arraia fila do pão, né? Outro ponto interessante é que o Homem-Areia é um dos Vingadores dessa história, que também conta com o Rage e o Quasar, reunindo alguns dos piores vingadores numa única história.
Já com a fase do Bob Harras - em breve; jaquetinhas de couro - e do Steve Epting temos a Obsessão do Lombadei.. digo do Colecionador. Uma raça azulona - os Brethren - fogem da coleção do Colecionador e chegam na Lua e resolvem conquistar a Terra, por quê? Porque como a Terra derrotou Galactus, a Terra deve ser fodona e eles quem ser mais fodões que os fodões que derrotaram Galactus. Os Vingadores apanham por umas três ou quatro edições, enquanto um time - Hank Pym, Hank McCoy, Pantera e Quasar - explora a nave do Colecionador em busca de respostas. E as respostas são surpreendentes, os Bethren também foram criados pelos Celestias - o que explica o tesão do Líder Azulão pela Sersi.
Todo mundo sabe o que acontece quando o cara se apaixona por uma morena de olhos verdes, né? Ele se fode.
Enfim, nas últimas páginas a gente descobre a verdade e que tudo é um plano do Colecionador para colecionar humaninhos. Eu diria que é uma história dos Vingadores num estilo bem clássico, temos vários Vingadores de várias eras, um inimigo aparentemente invencível, questões morais, um Capitão América muito bem escrito naquela postura de retroceder nunca, render-se jamais caindo na porrada com o Líder Azulão. Eu achei tri.
Depois temos uma história com os Filhos da Serpente, os Novos Guerreiros, tensão racial em Nova Iorque e a avó do Rage - num esclarecimento que poderia ser bem mais divertido. Ah, tem o Monge do Ódio também, um daqueles personagens que eu nunca entendi direito.
E nas últimas páginas começa a função dos Coletores que eu acho uma das piores histórias dos Vingadores.
No geral, não é nada demais, vale para completar a coleção.
September 27, 2019
Part 3 of The Collection Obsession--Avengers #336--was among the first parcel of comics I ever had, and something about it was very striking. The image of Captain America, half out of uniform, sitting in a a darkened room, his wounds from some previous battle bound, gesturing as he discusses current affairs with the president--the Beast, whom I only knew as an X-Man, on some bodacious microscopic journey with Quasar and Black Panther, watched over by the gigantic blue eye of Dr. Hank Pym--Sersi, a captive, transmuting her manacles into a wreath of roses--this was interesting stuff. I never read the full storyline until now. It's not the best example of 1990s comic book storytelling, but it's far from bad. There's a decidedly (and I think intentional) Shakespearean cast to the storyline's supposed antagonists, the Brethren, with their leader Thane Ector (Macbeth, anyone?) cursed with the knowledge of their race's origins, shared only with his brother, the wiser-than-appearances Fool. Creatures of muck and mire living under an illusion of greatness, and all pawns of a greater power.
The Vault storyline is pretty awful, a bad disaster movie pastiche with clunky dialogue and unbelievable situations, even for a comic book. The Subterranean War is okay, but disjointed and with too much variation in quality of of art; plus, despite its seeming purpose to bind together the continuity of the various underground kingdoms, it seems to leave things just as muddied as ever. The Hate-Monger/Sons of the Serpent two-parter is surprisingly relevant, and not at all badly executed, for all that it leans into the philosophy of rising above our own hatred of hatred that I find so facile and unworkable in the real world. (The reveal of Rage's secret in underdeveloped but an interesting turn of events that I assume was followed up on in the New Warriors comic). The tidbit with the Gatherers is a good setup for coming ur-90s storyline with Proctor and the rest, but seems sort of extraneous here (though I guess with the next volume dedicated to Operation: Galactic Storm, there wasn't much of a choice).
Avengers #340 may be the worst single issue of a comic series I've ever read. Holocaust survivor turned gun runner uses his own children as private security guards, all with laughably bad art. The giant bald and oh so bland "most dangerous assassin alive" who makes about a three-panel appearance is just icing.
The Vault storyline is pretty awful, a bad disaster movie pastiche with clunky dialogue and unbelievable situations, even for a comic book. The Subterranean War is okay, but disjointed and with too much variation in quality of of art; plus, despite its seeming purpose to bind together the continuity of the various underground kingdoms, it seems to leave things just as muddied as ever. The Hate-Monger/Sons of the Serpent two-parter is surprisingly relevant, and not at all badly executed, for all that it leans into the philosophy of rising above our own hatred of hatred that I find so facile and unworkable in the real world. (The reveal of Rage's secret in underdeveloped but an interesting turn of events that I assume was followed up on in the New Warriors comic). The tidbit with the Gatherers is a good setup for coming ur-90s storyline with Proctor and the rest, but seems sort of extraneous here (though I guess with the next volume dedicated to Operation: Galactic Storm, there wasn't much of a choice).
Avengers #340 may be the worst single issue of a comic series I've ever read. Holocaust survivor turned gun runner uses his own children as private security guards, all with laughably bad art. The giant bald and oh so bland "most dangerous assassin alive" who makes about a three-panel appearance is just icing.
October 13, 2023
For the most part, this book suffers from the same problems as the previous 3. The inconsistent writers and cast make these stories unremarkable and forgettable. Although they aren't bad stories, they're nothing special.
The book starts with the Avengers: The Vault graphic novel where Venom has taken over the vault. The Avengers need to stop the prison riot, while at the same time finding and disarming a bomb inside the prison. After that, there's a 5 part crossover called the Subterranean War that runs throughout 5 different Annuals at the time. Its not a bad story, with the Avengers (and other Marvel heroes) getting involved in a war between the underground kingdoms.
Next is the Collection Obsession, which is 6 issues long and has the Earth being invaded by an alien race called the Brethren, who have just escaped from the Collector (an Elder of the Universe who "collects" races). There's some good twists in this story and is a fairly entertaining read.
There's a couple of short story arcs afterwards which close out the volume. There's a 2 issue story involving the Sons of the Serpent, who are a group of white supremacists. The Sons of the Serpent are causing riots which are being exacerbated by the Hate Monger.
There is a big tonal shift in the final 2 issues of this book. Bob Harras writes these and it's the start of his long Proctor Saga run. The Avengers revolving door roster was addressed, with Captain America wanting the Avengers to be more stable. There are immediately some great character moments and developments, which is something that has been lacking for a while. If the rest of the volume was the same quality as the final 2 issues, this would have gotten a higher rating. I know Bob Harras stays on the title for a while, so I'm looking forward to the next few Epic Collections.
The book starts with the Avengers: The Vault graphic novel where Venom has taken over the vault. The Avengers need to stop the prison riot, while at the same time finding and disarming a bomb inside the prison. After that, there's a 5 part crossover called the Subterranean War that runs throughout 5 different Annuals at the time. Its not a bad story, with the Avengers (and other Marvel heroes) getting involved in a war between the underground kingdoms.
Next is the Collection Obsession, which is 6 issues long and has the Earth being invaded by an alien race called the Brethren, who have just escaped from the Collector (an Elder of the Universe who "collects" races). There's some good twists in this story and is a fairly entertaining read.
There's a couple of short story arcs afterwards which close out the volume. There's a 2 issue story involving the Sons of the Serpent, who are a group of white supremacists. The Sons of the Serpent are causing riots which are being exacerbated by the Hate Monger.
There is a big tonal shift in the final 2 issues of this book. Bob Harras writes these and it's the start of his long Proctor Saga run. The Avengers revolving door roster was addressed, with Captain America wanting the Avengers to be more stable. There are immediately some great character moments and developments, which is something that has been lacking for a while. If the rest of the volume was the same quality as the final 2 issues, this would have gotten a higher rating. I know Bob Harras stays on the title for a while, so I'm looking forward to the next few Epic Collections.
May 8, 2020
The writing is generally good. The opening vault story and the collection obsession are good stories. However there is too much filler and side stories, I wish the volume was a bit more concise. Which is to say I wish these story runs weren't punctuated with throw away intermissions.
June 2, 2020
Who are these people?! I don't recognize anyone but Cap. Even Thor is not Thor.
April 27, 2023
Not my favorite collection. The subterranean wars were ok but really did not enjoy the Bretheren plot line.
September 15, 2025
3.5 ⭐️
read avengers #341 - #344
read avengers #341 - #344
June 11, 2022
This book has a lot going on it.
Deathtrap - The Vault is where it starts with a Supervillain jailbreak and the Avengers and other heroes going in along with a somewhat more dodgy group of ex-Supervillains including the Blob and Mystique. You don't hear much about this graphic novel and that's a shame because it's good. No, it's not an all-time classic, but it gives you what you want with a giant group of heroes and villains doing battle, some good moments and plot twists.
The Subterranean War storyline collects five annuals of slightly interlinked stories and it's a bit inconsistent with some fairly good issues and some weaker ones. Still it makes me appreciate the sort of crossover event that brings heroes together across annuals as opposed to derailing multiple books.
The Collector's Obsession Storyline is actually very good. While the art already is showing some classic 1990s touches, there's a good sense of who each of the Avengers are and there are some really good twists on who the villains are and what's really going on.
After that, the book continues for another several issues of the Avengers when some issues both good and bad including a take on police brutality that would have been released right after the Rodney King beating.
Overall, this is a bit of a sleeper collection with some fun and unnderatted comics.
Deathtrap - The Vault is where it starts with a Supervillain jailbreak and the Avengers and other heroes going in along with a somewhat more dodgy group of ex-Supervillains including the Blob and Mystique. You don't hear much about this graphic novel and that's a shame because it's good. No, it's not an all-time classic, but it gives you what you want with a giant group of heroes and villains doing battle, some good moments and plot twists.
The Subterranean War storyline collects five annuals of slightly interlinked stories and it's a bit inconsistent with some fairly good issues and some weaker ones. Still it makes me appreciate the sort of crossover event that brings heroes together across annuals as opposed to derailing multiple books.
The Collector's Obsession Storyline is actually very good. While the art already is showing some classic 1990s touches, there's a good sense of who each of the Avengers are and there are some really good twists on who the villains are and what's really going on.
After that, the book continues for another several issues of the Avengers when some issues both good and bad including a take on police brutality that would have been released right after the Rodney King beating.
Overall, this is a bit of a sleeper collection with some fun and unnderatted comics.
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