Avengers: Legends of Marvel

by Peter David, Roger Stern, Dale Keown (Illustrator)

Legendary storytellers come together to tell new tales featuring classic Marvel heroes from the world of the Avengers! As Peter David and Dale Keown reunite with their signature icon, Bruce Banner is tired of life and about to lose all hope, until a miracle occurs: a fight worthy of the Incredible Hulk! In the wake of his classic saga of the siege of Avengers Mansion, Roger Stern reassembles Earth's Mightiest Heroes to face their oldest foe, Loki - with reality itself at stake! Roy Thomas returns to World War II with the ever-valiant Invaders: Captain America, Namor the Sub-Mariner and the original Human Torch! And experience the myth and majesty of immortal Asgard - and the mighty Thor!

COLLECTING: INCREDIBLE HULK: LAST CALL (2019) 1, AVENGERS: LOKI UNLEASHED (2019) 1, THOR: THE WORTHY (2019) 1, CAPTAIN & THE INVADERS: BAHAMAS TRIANGLE (2019) 1

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels

128 pages, Paperback

Published March 24, 2020

About the author

aka David Peters

Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book collects four Avengers-related one-shots, and they were all pretty good, as you might well expect, considering the talent on display:

The Invaders: Bahamas Triangle – 4 stars
The Avengers: Loki Unleashed – 4 stars
The Incredible Hulk: Last Call – 4 stars
Thor: The Worthy – 4 stars

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvel brings back some of its biggest creators for these 80th anniversary one-shots. The shining star here is the return of Peter David and Dale Keown for an untold Hulk tale from the era they worked on the book. Peter David's time on the Hulk was legendary and the book looked glorious while he was teamed up with Keown. Then Roger Stern returns to tell a Loki tale set during his Avengers run from the 80's. In the Thor book, three different Thor writers including Walter Simonson return even though none of the stories include Thor. Finally, legendary Marvel writer Roy Thomas teams up with Jerry Ordway for an untold story of the first meeting of Captain America and the original Human Torch, Jim Hammond.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a serious comic book person, so I felt a little like I was missing something as I read . There are a lot of references to stories from out side this book; I think a broader understanding of the Marvel Universe may have helped me with the various story lines. There are several stories in this collection featuring various Marvel characters (The Hulk, Thor, Captain America, the Human Torch, and Dr. Strange among others) as well as a coterie of villains. The stories remind me of the comics I used to read standing at the drug store (We were too poor to buy comic books, and my dad thought they were a waste of time.) back in the late seventies. The stories are pretty simple, the art is mostly tight suits and muscles, and the characters are fairly one-dimensional. Still, I like the nostalgia inducing aspect.

The last story is my favorite. Captain America, the Human Torch, and the Submariner save FDR, the Duke of Windsor, and the Duchess of Windsor from the evil Nazi Zemo. That one is fun.

Worth noting that there was some pretty good vocabulary in this one.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marvel threw together some unwanted tales from classic creators and it was, for the most part, extremely boring. Peter David pens a very good Hulk tale as Banner calls a suicide hotline. It works on many levels and was very good. The other three stories, Avengers, Captain America, and Thor by a handful of writers were all incredibly tedious. They all were written to take place in a very specific moment of time and were so limited. None of them had any heart. Overall, this was mostly pointless except the exceptional Peter David/Dale Keown reunion.

[mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun to read little stories about the different avengers! This comic made me want to read more Bruce Banner ones!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poor Hulk. The Living Tribunal is an intimidating creature. Trolls and Gargoyles. Many dead Americans in the Bahamas.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Borrowed from Motherwell Library. Nothing exceptional.
Extra 1/2 star for a Golden Age style Captain America story.