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The Amazing Spider-Man (1963-1998) #Annual #23
Atlantis Attacks: The Original Epic
Evil undersea monarchs Ghaur and Llyra plot to summon the elder god Set — and the surface world’s greatest heroes must unite to stop the demonic creature from rising! The Atlantean villains quickly dispatch Namor, and kidnap seven super-powered women — including She-Hulk, Storm and the Scarlet Witch — to become enthralled “brides” for Set’s seven serpent heads. As Atlantean forces assault the surface world, Earth’s heroes must act quickly to stop every facet of the villains’ complex plot! Can they turn the tide, or will a wave of ancient evil drown the world?
COLLECTING: New Mutants (1983) 76; material from Silver Surfer Annual (1988) 2, Iron Man Annual (1970) 10, Avengers West Coast (1989) 56, Marvel Comics Presents (1988) 26, Avengers West Coast Annual (1989) 4, X-Men Annual (1970) 13, Amazing Spider-Man Annual (1964) 23, Punisher Annual (1988) 2, Spectacular Spider-Man Annual (1979) 9, Daredevil Annual (1967) 5, Avengers Annual (1967) 18, New Mutants Annual (1984) 5, X-Factor Annual (1986) 4, Web of Spider-Man Annual (1985) 5, Thor Annual (1966) 14, Fantastic Four Annual (1963) 22
COLLECTING: New Mutants (1983) 76; material from Silver Surfer Annual (1988) 2, Iron Man Annual (1970) 10, Avengers West Coast (1989) 56, Marvel Comics Presents (1988) 26, Avengers West Coast Annual (1989) 4, X-Men Annual (1970) 13, Amazing Spider-Man Annual (1964) 23, Punisher Annual (1988) 2, Spectacular Spider-Man Annual (1979) 9, Daredevil Annual (1967) 5, Avengers Annual (1967) 18, New Mutants Annual (1984) 5, X-Factor Annual (1986) 4, Web of Spider-Man Annual (1985) 5, Thor Annual (1966) 14, Fantastic Four Annual (1963) 22
552 pages, Paperback
First published January 19, 2011
7 people are currently reading
146 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 - 21 of 21 reviews
April 21, 2020
Across the 1989 annuals of The Silver Surfer, Iron Man, X-Men, the three Spider man annuals, Daredevil, both Avengers', the New Mutants, X-Factor, Thor and the Fantastic Four, Deviant Ghaur and Lemurian Llyra attempt to raise Set, using the big Serpent Crown and manipulating Attuma to attack the United States. Although well put together to a degree, a pretty lack lustre affair. Recommend that this is never paid for, it's that bad!, I read this via a library. 2 out of 12.
November 30, 2017
This volume collects all of the Marvel Annuals from 1989 in one volume. It involves a quest for the serpent crown and the return of the serpent god Set to Earth. This wasn't great, but I enjoyed it more than the Evolutionary War Omnibus which collected 1988's annuals. This series was a much more cohesive story and the parts fit together much better. The saga of the Serpent Crown was an additional story included and that was so wordy and confusing I didn't finish that part. The Punisher Annual featured a Moon Knight/Punisher crossover that was probably the highlight of the volume. (Teaming those two together usually makes for a good story.)
So overall this was an okay story featuring the majority of Marvel's characters. It just felt too much like they came up with a story to fill the annuals, rather than a good story that needed the annuals to be told.
So overall this was an okay story featuring the majority of Marvel's characters. It just felt too much like they came up with a story to fill the annuals, rather than a good story that needed the annuals to be told.
May 21, 2018
I didn't love The Evolutionary War (the previous year's all-annuals mega-crossover), but there were some fun issues scattered throughout it. Atlantis Attacks has a slightly more focused story, but it's pretty dire. Some of the issues are acceptable; others are so bad as to be incompetent. And the overall plot is incredibly ill conceived with too many sub-plots and betrayals.
Silver Surfer Annual 2 is all dull and confusing set up. Iron Man Annual 10 is a basic and functional super-hero story with a lot of 80s cliches (Panama canal, super drugs, etc.) but it's enjoyable enough. Namor dies in this issue, but it's in one single line of dialogue in one panel so I missed it on my first read. When characters referred to Namor's death later in later issues, I was very confused.
Marvel Comics Presents 26 is a lightly related issue where Hulk fights a whale. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
X-Men Annual 13 is a pretty basic Australia-era X-Men story that only lightly ties in. It's pretty confusing and has some offensive body switching stuff that doesn't make much sense. Amazing Spider-Man Annual 23 is just awful. The art is early Rob Liefeld and it has his incompetence but none of his fun. Spidey & She-Hulk fight the Abomination for some reason. Punisher Annual 2 is a team-up with Moon Knight where they fight some snake-men. Again, only a light tie-in, but it's fun.
The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 9 has a drug cure scam plot that is pretty cliched and mostly unrelated to Atlantis. But it's enjoyable enough because Gerry Conway is a pro. Daredevil Annual 5 finishes up the drug scam plot and is also decent. Again, these are only loosely related.
Avengers Annual 18 is just absolutely terrible generic super-hero crap. This is what people who look down on super-hero comics imagine they all are. It's a ton of heroes that are all poorly written and poorly drawn and the plot is just punching invading Atlanteans.
New Mutants 76 and New Mutants Annual 5 focus on a monster horn introduced in NM 76. There's some confusing gap of time between the two issues and I couldn't make heads or tails of it. The New Mutants meet Namor in 76 but he's considered dead in Annual 5. NM 76 is acceptable, but Annual 5 is just awful. Rob Liefeld's art is awful and you can really see all his failures right there: terribly drawn feet, women who all make the same sexy pose, new characters introduced with dumb names, dumb powers and dumb designs. It's literally a team of Atlantean mutants named S.U.R.F. What that's an acronym for is never mentioned.
X-Factor Annual 4. This might be the best of the bunch. Byrne wrote it and did layouts, but Walt Simonson did finishes. It's a weird combo, but it works. On the one hand, it's a pretty good Beast/Jean Grey story with actual character motivations, sensible plot beats, a logical connection to the main Atlantis Attacks story and well done art. But on the other hand, it's a creepy rape story that brings in a larger creepy rape story (7 brides for set) that didn't seem to be present in the earlier issues (or if it was, I totally missed it). John Byrne everyone!
Web of Spider-Man Annual 5 is the (second) actual invasion of NYC by Atlantis and it’s competent at best. Gerry Conway is a pro but the art is meh and there just isn’t much here. Spidey & the Fantastic Four fight Atlanteans until a confusing deus ex machina ends everything. Avengers West Coast 56 is a flash-back to the reunion of Captain America and the original Human Torch. It's fine, but not necessary. Avengers West Coast Annual 4, being written by Byrne, unsurprisingly brings back the creepy sex stuff. It's competent otherwise and begins the main battle with Set.
Thor Annual 14 is probably the second best issue. Thor, Dr. Strange, the Thing and Quasar go through Set's mouth to fight an inside out Set in an alternate dimension. It's totally goofy and has some really funny jokes from the Thing. It ends with Thor becoming the God-Eater for reasons and defeating Set. It's insane and stupid and I enjoyed it. I also liked Al Milgrom's art.
Fantastic Four 22 wraps up the final bits (like saving the seven brides) but it's dull and dumb. An appropriate way to end the dull and dumb Atlantis Attacks.
Silver Surfer Annual 2 is all dull and confusing set up. Iron Man Annual 10 is a basic and functional super-hero story with a lot of 80s cliches (Panama canal, super drugs, etc.) but it's enjoyable enough. Namor dies in this issue, but it's in one single line of dialogue in one panel so I missed it on my first read. When characters referred to Namor's death later in later issues, I was very confused.
Marvel Comics Presents 26 is a lightly related issue where Hulk fights a whale. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
X-Men Annual 13 is a pretty basic Australia-era X-Men story that only lightly ties in. It's pretty confusing and has some offensive body switching stuff that doesn't make much sense. Amazing Spider-Man Annual 23 is just awful. The art is early Rob Liefeld and it has his incompetence but none of his fun. Spidey & She-Hulk fight the Abomination for some reason. Punisher Annual 2 is a team-up with Moon Knight where they fight some snake-men. Again, only a light tie-in, but it's fun.
The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 9 has a drug cure scam plot that is pretty cliched and mostly unrelated to Atlantis. But it's enjoyable enough because Gerry Conway is a pro. Daredevil Annual 5 finishes up the drug scam plot and is also decent. Again, these are only loosely related.
Avengers Annual 18 is just absolutely terrible generic super-hero crap. This is what people who look down on super-hero comics imagine they all are. It's a ton of heroes that are all poorly written and poorly drawn and the plot is just punching invading Atlanteans.
New Mutants 76 and New Mutants Annual 5 focus on a monster horn introduced in NM 76. There's some confusing gap of time between the two issues and I couldn't make heads or tails of it. The New Mutants meet Namor in 76 but he's considered dead in Annual 5. NM 76 is acceptable, but Annual 5 is just awful. Rob Liefeld's art is awful and you can really see all his failures right there: terribly drawn feet, women who all make the same sexy pose, new characters introduced with dumb names, dumb powers and dumb designs. It's literally a team of Atlantean mutants named S.U.R.F. What that's an acronym for is never mentioned.
X-Factor Annual 4. This might be the best of the bunch. Byrne wrote it and did layouts, but Walt Simonson did finishes. It's a weird combo, but it works. On the one hand, it's a pretty good Beast/Jean Grey story with actual character motivations, sensible plot beats, a logical connection to the main Atlantis Attacks story and well done art. But on the other hand, it's a creepy rape story that brings in a larger creepy rape story (7 brides for set) that didn't seem to be present in the earlier issues (or if it was, I totally missed it). John Byrne everyone!
Web of Spider-Man Annual 5 is the (second) actual invasion of NYC by Atlantis and it’s competent at best. Gerry Conway is a pro but the art is meh and there just isn’t much here. Spidey & the Fantastic Four fight Atlanteans until a confusing deus ex machina ends everything. Avengers West Coast 56 is a flash-back to the reunion of Captain America and the original Human Torch. It's fine, but not necessary. Avengers West Coast Annual 4, being written by Byrne, unsurprisingly brings back the creepy sex stuff. It's competent otherwise and begins the main battle with Set.
Thor Annual 14 is probably the second best issue. Thor, Dr. Strange, the Thing and Quasar go through Set's mouth to fight an inside out Set in an alternate dimension. It's totally goofy and has some really funny jokes from the Thing. It ends with Thor becoming the God-Eater for reasons and defeating Set. It's insane and stupid and I enjoyed it. I also liked Al Milgrom's art.
Fantastic Four 22 wraps up the final bits (like saving the seven brides) but it's dull and dumb. An appropriate way to end the dull and dumb Atlantis Attacks.
June 23, 2024
This was Marvel’s second attempt at the big company wide crossover Annual Event, one that featured a single narrative arc that run through all of the company’s Annual specials that year. Like the first one, collected as The Evolutionary War Omnibus, this is more than a bit uneven. Different writers and artists approach the topics and themes with different levels of commitment and enthusiasm. It shows. Some chapters integrate better than others, but the narrative is still surprisingly cohesive and entertaining. If you’re a fan of Marvel it’s a fun read, and “Marvel Zombies” would get even more out of it. But I wouldn’t recommend this to any one who isn’t a Marvel fan. I haven’t read the whole story in its entirety since the original publication and my thoughts now, 25 years later? Well …
Silver Surfer Annual #2 - This story nicely sets the stage in bringing some of the major baddies together and offering some crucial background and context for the story to come.
Iron Man Annual #10 - Iron Man and Namor team-up as their very different objectives momentarily merge. Another well thought out chapter that helps build the tension as the war begins.
Avengers West Coast #56 (second story) - This really has nothing to do with the actual “war” between the surface dwellers and the subsurface antagonists, but it does offer a glimpse at a reunion that will play out a bit different in another chapter. It also feels very out-of-sequence here (perhaps just before the Avengers Annual would have been better).
Marvel Comics Presents #26 (only the Mr. Fixit / Hulk story) - Mr. Fixit, aka the Gray Hulk, is out playing debt collector and he smells something fishy. It’s funny little aside, but again the placement in this volume seems odd.
Avengers West Coast Annual #4 (second story) - But not as odd as this one. Firebird encounters a group of lost Atlanteans in the desert and send them packing. Apparently she knows all about this “war” even though we only seen one skirmish between Iron Man, Namor, and some ill prepared Atlanteans. Hardly the start of a “war” but then the warmongers (aka FOX “News”) always have to embellish and exaggerate. But this short is also filled with some of the most appalling and offensive out-of-character depictions I’ve ever seen. This one is a real low-point for this crossover event. The humor is not only not funny, but it’s demeaning and dismissive in the most condescending ways imaginable. Clearly the Atlantean forces are a complete and utter joke and this whole thing should just be ignored. So, I’m guessing I should stop reading now, except I’m a glutton for punishment. Unfortunately, this was the direction Marvel was heading toward as it moved into the 1990s. A period I usually refer to as the Dark Age of Marvel.
X-Men Annual #13 - Uh. Wow, this is bad. From the perspective of the Atlantis Attacks storyline, this is just dumb. From the perspective of the Uncanny X-Men, I’d venture this is an all-time low. And this from one of the lowest eras in the team’s history. It is not well developed at all, the motivations make no sense, the body-swapping storyline reads at about the level of fan-fiction. This is just a disaster from start to finish.
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #23 - Much better than the previous chapter, but not great. This one deals with Spider-Man and She-Hulk cleaning up a tangential mess created by those in control of the growing conflict. Elements are put into play, that will pay off later in the saga. There’s a laughable sequence where all the “Lemurian-looking” individuals look like Ghaur, clearly the artist did absolutely no research on Deviants or Lemurians. Sometimes you just can’t win.
Punisher Annual #2 - Another nice, tight little tale that deals with the tangential aspect of the growing conflict, not the total war. This is a very effective way to progress the story without sacrificing the integrity or continuity of the characters. I’m not a fan of the Punisher, but I’m a huge fan of Moon Knight, so that helped me enjoy this story more.
Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #9 - Another good one. This one also works very well in terms of the larger crossover arc, as well as within the framework continuity of Spider-Man. Cloak & Dagger’s presence only made it even better.
Daredevil Annual #5 - Daredevil is disillusioned and on the run. Spider-Man is brainwashed and under the thrall of Tyrannus. Doctor Strange is dead, or at least everyone thinks he is. This is the weirdest grouping of the Defenders ever. Or is it? An interesting chapter, but not great.
Avengers Annual #18 - Embarrassingly bad. Seriously. Any good that previous chapters had been able to elevate this crossover event above mediocrity just evaporated. Just awful.
New Mutants #76 - The junior X-Men are just as weird and wacky as they always were, although a lot of time is spent on the spin-off group of teens hanging out with the X-Factor ship … this is literally from the era of X-books when you desperately needed a scorecard to keep up on all the changes. Fun and entertaining, but lacks substance.
New Mutants Annual #5 - There’s a lot of art in the Atlantis Attacks crossover that is, well let’s just say rushed and leave it at that. Many of the artists involved have had spectacular careers and some really wonderful contributions to the industry, and then there’s this guy (I won’t honor him by typing his name) who can’t draw feet. For him this one actually isn’t too bad, at least at the beginning but it gets progressively lazy and rushed as the pages flip by. Nothing special here, just another tangential subplot to consume time.
Iron Man Annual #10 (second story) - This short really should have been printed in this volume before the previous story. Just another example of chapters being misplaced, or inexplicably swapped. And not much happens here anyway, Andromeda confronts her father, Attuma, and then runs off. Whatever.
X-Factor Annual #4 - This isn’t really a whole X-Factor team affair, it’s really just the Beast desperately trying to save Marvel Girl from being a damsel in distress. Still, it’s a great chapter. Actually one of the better ones, even if the continuity of some aspects of the narrative don’t quite jive with other chapters. Still, in all fairness, I am a Byrne-victim (don’t blame me, I didn’t coin it) as I’m a big fan of John Byrne so this one is definitely right up my street. We also get to see a small New Defenders reunion as the Beast encounters his former teammate, Andromeda, that he’d previously thought was dead. Good stuff, definitely one of the better chapters.
Web of Spider-Man Annual #5 - Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four defend Manhattan from the Atlantean invasion, with the most comedic (read: most unbelievably unprofessional and awful) news coverage/commentary. The FF are depicted acting like amateurs and the whole farce is rather embarrassing and painful to read. No, it’s not nearly as bad as either Avengers Annual #18 or X-Men Annual #13, those two still hold the spots as the worst chapters (so far) in this crossover chaos.
Avengers West Coast Annual #4 - Another superb chapter, and again I am forced to admit to my bias as a Byrne-victim. Byrne is definitely a storyteller that is sync with my tastes. Here we get the Avengers attempting to rescue the woman that have gone missing: Marvel Girl, Storm, She-Hulk, Dagger, Scarlet Witch, Invisible Woman, and Andromeda. Information from the Beast and the telepathic talents of Sersi, of the Eternals, enable the team to track down Ghaur to his headquarters, where his horrible plans are about to come to fruition. Byrne is top form, giving just about everyone a chance to shine, even the superhero damsels in distress. These chapters from Byrne make up for a lot of lost narrative cohesion of earlier chapters, but will it be enough as we move headlong into the final two chapters?
Thor Annual #14 - Our penultimate chapter begins rather sedated fashion with Thor taking Quasar and the Thing to see a Doctor. Well, Doctor Strange to be precise. Even though the Doctor was presumed dead. But then that’s pretty common right now in Marvel at the time of publication. Let’s see, those presumed dead include but are likely not limited to: Doctor Strange, Colossus, Dazzler, Havok, Jubilee, Longshot, Psylocke, Rogue, Wolverine, Andromeda, Ghaur, & Namor. It’s all kinds of stupid. But the real problem with this little chapter is: deus ex machina and I don’t mean Thor. Jeez, is this what we get? The combined might of the heroes of earth and it takes an elder deity to kill an elder deity? Lame. Oh, and the art is lame too. Double lame.
Fantastic Four Annual #22 - And now the big finale, the ultimate culmination this crossover chaos. One would think that everything would be put into making this one go out in a blaze of glory. One would think. Unfortunately, not so much. This is too much for such a few number of pages. Not really enough to show or even to explain what’s happening, only the briefest of explanations and then on with the all but mindless action. The Avengers are only even here to keep the armies of the Lemaurians at bay while the Fantastic Four and Namor tackle the big baddies. And the captured women, the seven brides of set, are left to their roles of damsels in distress. It’s all rather sexist and revolting. Not at all a satisfying conclusions, just a big wham, bam, thank you mam, and we’re outta here.
Except:
The Saga of the Serpent Crown - This is a 14-part story highlighting the history of Set and the Serpent Crown through the entirety of Marvel history. These chapters were included, one in each, of the above listed annuals. The chapter appearing from Punisher Annual #2 prominently featured depictions of Conan, a character Marvel had lost the rights to print at that time, so it is abridged. There’s not much impact to this story, but it does provide some excellent background material for readers who are not familiar with the intricacies of Marvel’s interwoven history.
Silver Surfer Annual #2 - This story nicely sets the stage in bringing some of the major baddies together and offering some crucial background and context for the story to come.
Iron Man Annual #10 - Iron Man and Namor team-up as their very different objectives momentarily merge. Another well thought out chapter that helps build the tension as the war begins.
Avengers West Coast #56 (second story) - This really has nothing to do with the actual “war” between the surface dwellers and the subsurface antagonists, but it does offer a glimpse at a reunion that will play out a bit different in another chapter. It also feels very out-of-sequence here (perhaps just before the Avengers Annual would have been better).
Marvel Comics Presents #26 (only the Mr. Fixit / Hulk story) - Mr. Fixit, aka the Gray Hulk, is out playing debt collector and he smells something fishy. It’s funny little aside, but again the placement in this volume seems odd.
Avengers West Coast Annual #4 (second story) - But not as odd as this one. Firebird encounters a group of lost Atlanteans in the desert and send them packing. Apparently she knows all about this “war” even though we only seen one skirmish between Iron Man, Namor, and some ill prepared Atlanteans. Hardly the start of a “war” but then the warmongers (aka FOX “News”) always have to embellish and exaggerate. But this short is also filled with some of the most appalling and offensive out-of-character depictions I’ve ever seen. This one is a real low-point for this crossover event. The humor is not only not funny, but it’s demeaning and dismissive in the most condescending ways imaginable. Clearly the Atlantean forces are a complete and utter joke and this whole thing should just be ignored. So, I’m guessing I should stop reading now, except I’m a glutton for punishment. Unfortunately, this was the direction Marvel was heading toward as it moved into the 1990s. A period I usually refer to as the Dark Age of Marvel.
X-Men Annual #13 - Uh. Wow, this is bad. From the perspective of the Atlantis Attacks storyline, this is just dumb. From the perspective of the Uncanny X-Men, I’d venture this is an all-time low. And this from one of the lowest eras in the team’s history. It is not well developed at all, the motivations make no sense, the body-swapping storyline reads at about the level of fan-fiction. This is just a disaster from start to finish.
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #23 - Much better than the previous chapter, but not great. This one deals with Spider-Man and She-Hulk cleaning up a tangential mess created by those in control of the growing conflict. Elements are put into play, that will pay off later in the saga. There’s a laughable sequence where all the “Lemurian-looking” individuals look like Ghaur, clearly the artist did absolutely no research on Deviants or Lemurians. Sometimes you just can’t win.
Punisher Annual #2 - Another nice, tight little tale that deals with the tangential aspect of the growing conflict, not the total war. This is a very effective way to progress the story without sacrificing the integrity or continuity of the characters. I’m not a fan of the Punisher, but I’m a huge fan of Moon Knight, so that helped me enjoy this story more.
Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #9 - Another good one. This one also works very well in terms of the larger crossover arc, as well as within the framework continuity of Spider-Man. Cloak & Dagger’s presence only made it even better.
Daredevil Annual #5 - Daredevil is disillusioned and on the run. Spider-Man is brainwashed and under the thrall of Tyrannus. Doctor Strange is dead, or at least everyone thinks he is. This is the weirdest grouping of the Defenders ever. Or is it? An interesting chapter, but not great.
Avengers Annual #18 - Embarrassingly bad. Seriously. Any good that previous chapters had been able to elevate this crossover event above mediocrity just evaporated. Just awful.
New Mutants #76 - The junior X-Men are just as weird and wacky as they always were, although a lot of time is spent on the spin-off group of teens hanging out with the X-Factor ship … this is literally from the era of X-books when you desperately needed a scorecard to keep up on all the changes. Fun and entertaining, but lacks substance.
New Mutants Annual #5 - There’s a lot of art in the Atlantis Attacks crossover that is, well let’s just say rushed and leave it at that. Many of the artists involved have had spectacular careers and some really wonderful contributions to the industry, and then there’s this guy (I won’t honor him by typing his name) who can’t draw feet. For him this one actually isn’t too bad, at least at the beginning but it gets progressively lazy and rushed as the pages flip by. Nothing special here, just another tangential subplot to consume time.
Iron Man Annual #10 (second story) - This short really should have been printed in this volume before the previous story. Just another example of chapters being misplaced, or inexplicably swapped. And not much happens here anyway, Andromeda confronts her father, Attuma, and then runs off. Whatever.
X-Factor Annual #4 - This isn’t really a whole X-Factor team affair, it’s really just the Beast desperately trying to save Marvel Girl from being a damsel in distress. Still, it’s a great chapter. Actually one of the better ones, even if the continuity of some aspects of the narrative don’t quite jive with other chapters. Still, in all fairness, I am a Byrne-victim (don’t blame me, I didn’t coin it) as I’m a big fan of John Byrne so this one is definitely right up my street. We also get to see a small New Defenders reunion as the Beast encounters his former teammate, Andromeda, that he’d previously thought was dead. Good stuff, definitely one of the better chapters.
Web of Spider-Man Annual #5 - Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four defend Manhattan from the Atlantean invasion, with the most comedic (read: most unbelievably unprofessional and awful) news coverage/commentary. The FF are depicted acting like amateurs and the whole farce is rather embarrassing and painful to read. No, it’s not nearly as bad as either Avengers Annual #18 or X-Men Annual #13, those two still hold the spots as the worst chapters (so far) in this crossover chaos.
Avengers West Coast Annual #4 - Another superb chapter, and again I am forced to admit to my bias as a Byrne-victim. Byrne is definitely a storyteller that is sync with my tastes. Here we get the Avengers attempting to rescue the woman that have gone missing: Marvel Girl, Storm, She-Hulk, Dagger, Scarlet Witch, Invisible Woman, and Andromeda. Information from the Beast and the telepathic talents of Sersi, of the Eternals, enable the team to track down Ghaur to his headquarters, where his horrible plans are about to come to fruition. Byrne is top form, giving just about everyone a chance to shine, even the superhero damsels in distress. These chapters from Byrne make up for a lot of lost narrative cohesion of earlier chapters, but will it be enough as we move headlong into the final two chapters?
Thor Annual #14 - Our penultimate chapter begins rather sedated fashion with Thor taking Quasar and the Thing to see a Doctor. Well, Doctor Strange to be precise. Even though the Doctor was presumed dead. But then that’s pretty common right now in Marvel at the time of publication. Let’s see, those presumed dead include but are likely not limited to: Doctor Strange, Colossus, Dazzler, Havok, Jubilee, Longshot, Psylocke, Rogue, Wolverine, Andromeda, Ghaur, & Namor. It’s all kinds of stupid. But the real problem with this little chapter is: deus ex machina and I don’t mean Thor. Jeez, is this what we get? The combined might of the heroes of earth and it takes an elder deity to kill an elder deity? Lame. Oh, and the art is lame too. Double lame.
Fantastic Four Annual #22 - And now the big finale, the ultimate culmination this crossover chaos. One would think that everything would be put into making this one go out in a blaze of glory. One would think. Unfortunately, not so much. This is too much for such a few number of pages. Not really enough to show or even to explain what’s happening, only the briefest of explanations and then on with the all but mindless action. The Avengers are only even here to keep the armies of the Lemaurians at bay while the Fantastic Four and Namor tackle the big baddies. And the captured women, the seven brides of set, are left to their roles of damsels in distress. It’s all rather sexist and revolting. Not at all a satisfying conclusions, just a big wham, bam, thank you mam, and we’re outta here.
Except:
The Saga of the Serpent Crown - This is a 14-part story highlighting the history of Set and the Serpent Crown through the entirety of Marvel history. These chapters were included, one in each, of the above listed annuals. The chapter appearing from Punisher Annual #2 prominently featured depictions of Conan, a character Marvel had lost the rights to print at that time, so it is abridged. There’s not much impact to this story, but it does provide some excellent background material for readers who are not familiar with the intricacies of Marvel’s interwoven history.
October 31, 2025
Oof. Talk about a shitshow of an event. This feels totally unnecessary and probably is for the most part. Maybe there are some actual plot ramifications to other titles, but coming at this from the perspective of someone reading X-Men related titles and Daredevil, I probably should have just skipped it for how little it matters. It kinda gets started in New Mutants and might have an effect on that going forward, but I don't see how as of this writing.
I think my biggest complaint outside of the lack of need for the thing is just how much it feels like an extended version of Mephisto VS. The whole plot is some weird mystical garbage that eventually involves kidnapping female heroes meant to marry the big bad. Not compelling reading in this day and age, and probably not much better 35 years ago.
The backup stories that tell a sort of origin story of the Serpent Crown start off kinda interesting, but it's pretty clear that it was padded out to cover the many annuals it ran across as you near the end of the event. Too many of the entries read more as recaps of some other comic that doesn't actually exist, giving details that don't end up mattering at all. I can almost certainly say that these stories can be skipped unless you are one of the few that actually enjoy this event.
And yeah, I've hit some low points with Marvel in the past. I think this is the worst thing of theirs I've actually read though. It feels more like an event written because they needed to have an event rather than because there was any good reason to tell the story (or at least a good story to tell). There's no heart in it, which is more evident when you read some of these annuals with the non-Atlantis Attacks stories included.
There are so many great, relevant stories in the ones I read. The Jubilee story in the Uncanny X-Men annual stands out for me, as do the interwoven stories of The Wild Boys and the street kids in Daredevil's annual. The former fleshes out a then new character and the latter is just a good example of storytelling with heart and clever plot twists. Far more than I can say for Atlantis Attacks.
I think my biggest complaint outside of the lack of need for the thing is just how much it feels like an extended version of Mephisto VS. The whole plot is some weird mystical garbage that eventually involves kidnapping female heroes meant to marry the big bad. Not compelling reading in this day and age, and probably not much better 35 years ago.
The backup stories that tell a sort of origin story of the Serpent Crown start off kinda interesting, but it's pretty clear that it was padded out to cover the many annuals it ran across as you near the end of the event. Too many of the entries read more as recaps of some other comic that doesn't actually exist, giving details that don't end up mattering at all. I can almost certainly say that these stories can be skipped unless you are one of the few that actually enjoy this event.
And yeah, I've hit some low points with Marvel in the past. I think this is the worst thing of theirs I've actually read though. It feels more like an event written because they needed to have an event rather than because there was any good reason to tell the story (or at least a good story to tell). There's no heart in it, which is more evident when you read some of these annuals with the non-Atlantis Attacks stories included.
There are so many great, relevant stories in the ones I read. The Jubilee story in the Uncanny X-Men annual stands out for me, as do the interwoven stories of The Wild Boys and the street kids in Daredevil's annual. The former fleshes out a then new character and the latter is just a good example of storytelling with heart and clever plot twists. Far more than I can say for Atlantis Attacks.
September 6, 2015
Event roku 1989, který se táhnul přes annualy 14 různých sérií (od Punishera přes X-Meny po Avengers). Čekal jsem, že to bude příšerná blbost, překvapivě mě to bavilo.
Útok Atlanťanů kupodivu není ani tak o útoku Atlanťanů jako o mimozemském záporakovi jménem Ghaur, který chce vyvovat prastaré božstvo zla jménem Set. A protože rituál je náročnej a pozemští hrdinové by mu v tom dělali bordel, rozhodne se je zaměstnat. Spojí se s Lemurií a Atlantidou a zatímco bude provádět své čárymáry, jejich armády zaútočí na USA. Dál nebudu spoilovat.
Event samozřejmě není žádnej zázrak a při struktuře 14 různých sérií jsem nic takového ani nečekal. Zápletka se mi ale líbila, jen se mohla se mnohem víc točit kolem pořádné atlantské invaze. Té je tu docela málo a Atlanťané jsou zobrazeni jako strašní nýmandi. Scénáristům taky došlo, že hrdinové jako Daredevil nebo Punisher nejsou úplně ideální typy pro nějaké epické podvodní dobrodružství, a tak se asi 4 nebo 5 sešitů táhne zbytečná boční linka o protidrogové klinice, která z lidí dělá hadí vojáky. Nebylo to špatné, jen to byl offtopic. Nejvíc mě tak zklamal až závěr, kdy jsem čekal o trochu víc akce a lepší využití sedmi Setových nevěst. A vůbec jsem nevěděl, že je Conan oficiální součástí marvelovského univerza =).
Útok Atlanťanů kupodivu není ani tak o útoku Atlanťanů jako o mimozemském záporakovi jménem Ghaur, který chce vyvovat prastaré božstvo zla jménem Set. A protože rituál je náročnej a pozemští hrdinové by mu v tom dělali bordel, rozhodne se je zaměstnat. Spojí se s Lemurií a Atlantidou a zatímco bude provádět své čárymáry, jejich armády zaútočí na USA. Dál nebudu spoilovat.
Event samozřejmě není žádnej zázrak a při struktuře 14 různých sérií jsem nic takového ani nečekal. Zápletka se mi ale líbila, jen se mohla se mnohem víc točit kolem pořádné atlantské invaze. Té je tu docela málo a Atlanťané jsou zobrazeni jako strašní nýmandi. Scénáristům taky došlo, že hrdinové jako Daredevil nebo Punisher nejsou úplně ideální typy pro nějaké epické podvodní dobrodružství, a tak se asi 4 nebo 5 sešitů táhne zbytečná boční linka o protidrogové klinice, která z lidí dělá hadí vojáky. Nebylo to špatné, jen to byl offtopic. Nejvíc mě tak zklamal až závěr, kdy jsem čekal o trochu víc akce a lepší využití sedmi Setových nevěst. A vůbec jsem nevěděl, že je Conan oficiální součástí marvelovského univerza =).
October 14, 2017
A long convoluted storyline that roughly looks at how a bad guy takes over Atlantis and tries to free a very powerful bad alien. As this was done as an event to try and persuade the reader to buy every comic, it doesn't really gel that much as a series. Some interesting individual stories but overall it feels a bit stuck together.
February 12, 2024
Woe to me, and my never ending obsession with high end hardcovers. Had this been solicited as a softcover or an Essential (as was discussed over on the Masterworks Message Board years ago), I would have griped “Why not in hardcover??” I got my wish, for better or for worse. I bought several of these steaming piles of crap off of the stands in the summer of 1989, and didn't realize until after I bought this 544 page book that this crossover was one of the main reasons that I dropped comic books in late '89/early '90. I disliked the shyster “gotta buy 'em all for the complete story” crossover gimmicks which started several years prior with Secret Wars II. I disliked the then new breed of comic book “artists” like Rob Liefeld, and even the writing by veterans like Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway was overwritten and uninspired.
This book has it's share of solid entertainment value, but much of it is overwritten and clunky. I love old comic books, but there are aspects to them that I find annoying, such as when someone is about to get hit with a beam or something, and the antagonist telegraphs it in their dialogue. “I shall hit you with this laser beam, which will...” or other such nonsense.
The artwork by Rob Liefeld can never be badmouthed enough as far as I am concerned, and it was he who inspired me to quit buying comic books in the final months of 1989. If this was what was going on now, then I wanted nothing to do with it. I couldn't have fathomed how much worse things would get with the ensuing Image boom. Thankfully, I sat all of that holo-foil variant nonsense out.
The gist- Ghaur, high priest of the Deviants, conspires with Llyra of Lemuria to use Attuma and the Atlanteans as a catspaw in an attempt to bring about the return of Set, the Serpent God. Attuma and his Atlantean army are tricked into attacking the surface world, with Ghaur knowing full well that the armies of Atlantis will slaughter innocent civilians, fail against the surface world's superheroes, and will result in a blood sacrifice to bring Set back to this dimension. When Attuma withdraws his armies, Ghaur goes with his plan B: kidnapping seven super-heroines to offer to Set as brides. (Set has seven heads.)
The best part of this book are each Annual's back-up stories, the 14 chapter The Saga of the Serpent Crown by Marvel historian Peter Sanderson and then newbie artist Mark Bagley. They go so far and so deep into continuity that it'll make your head spin. I love continuity, but there is a point where those hippies writing comics in the '60s and '70s made things ridiculously complicated. I am looking at you, Roy Thomas and Steve Englehart. Still, our host Uatu the Watcher clearly explains things, and by the end of those back-ups, you feel like you have a solid grasp on the subject. They are all collected in the back of the book, so that they can be read in exact order rather than in their proper printed location at the back of each annual. It didn't make my OCD twitch, but your mileage may vary.
The original series editors were terrible, with countless typos and word balloons attributed to the wrong character on numerous occasions. While typos can be somewhat forgiven when you think back to the pre-spell check era, the errors that I caught were glaringly obvious. Now, here is a chance for the collected edition obsessives to get their own o-fish-al Junk Food For Thought no-prize. They used to do paste-ups over the word balloons on the original art with spelling corrections which often fell off or became lost. I no longer own the floppies of these issues, so if someone wants to go issue by issue, page by page, and determine if they were indeed corrected for print and we have superior, pre-correction file sources here, shoot me an email. Snap a picture (or scan) of them side by side, and I will post your name and picture in this blog. Wow! Fame and fortune can be yours too.
The restoration is generally excellent, with two exceptions: Pages 512-517, the back-up story from Web of Spider-Man Annual No. 5, where the linework is dropped out in several spots, and the re-coloring on New Mutants Annual No. 5, which has shoddy re-coloring, looking “airbrushed” due to the computer filling in the shapes rather than doing it “by hand” on the computer. The latter isn't that big of a deal, however, as it has art by Rob Liefeld. Even Cory Sedlmeier and Michael Kelleher couldn't make his art look good.
This book has it's share of solid entertainment value, but much of it is overwritten and clunky. I love old comic books, but there are aspects to them that I find annoying, such as when someone is about to get hit with a beam or something, and the antagonist telegraphs it in their dialogue. “I shall hit you with this laser beam, which will...” or other such nonsense.
The artwork by Rob Liefeld can never be badmouthed enough as far as I am concerned, and it was he who inspired me to quit buying comic books in the final months of 1989. If this was what was going on now, then I wanted nothing to do with it. I couldn't have fathomed how much worse things would get with the ensuing Image boom. Thankfully, I sat all of that holo-foil variant nonsense out.
The gist- Ghaur, high priest of the Deviants, conspires with Llyra of Lemuria to use Attuma and the Atlanteans as a catspaw in an attempt to bring about the return of Set, the Serpent God. Attuma and his Atlantean army are tricked into attacking the surface world, with Ghaur knowing full well that the armies of Atlantis will slaughter innocent civilians, fail against the surface world's superheroes, and will result in a blood sacrifice to bring Set back to this dimension. When Attuma withdraws his armies, Ghaur goes with his plan B: kidnapping seven super-heroines to offer to Set as brides. (Set has seven heads.)
The best part of this book are each Annual's back-up stories, the 14 chapter The Saga of the Serpent Crown by Marvel historian Peter Sanderson and then newbie artist Mark Bagley. They go so far and so deep into continuity that it'll make your head spin. I love continuity, but there is a point where those hippies writing comics in the '60s and '70s made things ridiculously complicated. I am looking at you, Roy Thomas and Steve Englehart. Still, our host Uatu the Watcher clearly explains things, and by the end of those back-ups, you feel like you have a solid grasp on the subject. They are all collected in the back of the book, so that they can be read in exact order rather than in their proper printed location at the back of each annual. It didn't make my OCD twitch, but your mileage may vary.
The original series editors were terrible, with countless typos and word balloons attributed to the wrong character on numerous occasions. While typos can be somewhat forgiven when you think back to the pre-spell check era, the errors that I caught were glaringly obvious. Now, here is a chance for the collected edition obsessives to get their own o-fish-al Junk Food For Thought no-prize. They used to do paste-ups over the word balloons on the original art with spelling corrections which often fell off or became lost. I no longer own the floppies of these issues, so if someone wants to go issue by issue, page by page, and determine if they were indeed corrected for print and we have superior, pre-correction file sources here, shoot me an email. Snap a picture (or scan) of them side by side, and I will post your name and picture in this blog. Wow! Fame and fortune can be yours too.
The restoration is generally excellent, with two exceptions: Pages 512-517, the back-up story from Web of Spider-Man Annual No. 5, where the linework is dropped out in several spots, and the re-coloring on New Mutants Annual No. 5, which has shoddy re-coloring, looking “airbrushed” due to the computer filling in the shapes rather than doing it “by hand” on the computer. The latter isn't that big of a deal, however, as it has art by Rob Liefeld. Even Cory Sedlmeier and Michael Kelleher couldn't make his art look good.
July 29, 2024
A collection of Marvel Annuals from the 1980s- the second golden age of comics - which are linked by an invasion of the surface by Atlantis, Lemurians, and Deviants, while simultaneously attempting to recreate the Serpent Crown. The book claims that it is a complete edition, but I swear there were a few issues missing - an issue of Captain America and one of Spider-Man. As each chapter jumps from series to series and protagonist to protagonist, without a main series guiding the action - like Inferno- the story is disconnected and jumps all over the place. But it is still a fun read, using a lot of Marvel lore and wonderful characters. In addition to the main story, the book contains an interesting history of the serpent crown, retconning a few details, and putting the entire thing in perspective. Though considering some of the events of the story, they might have wanted to put that in the front of the book.
December 16, 2024
another major event in the chronology, another series of annuals. this seems to be the crossover era where the editors were so preoccupied with whether or not they could do a crossover, they didn't stop to think of they should, to paraphrase jurassic park.
it was fine, but strikes me as one that really could've been pared down into fewer characters and more detail. and the whole kidnapping/brainwashing of major female characters really does it no favors. maybe "fine" is overselling it, actually.
it was fine, but strikes me as one that really could've been pared down into fewer characters and more detail. and the whole kidnapping/brainwashing of major female characters really does it no favors. maybe "fine" is overselling it, actually.
January 6, 2024
Otro crossover descoordinado con tramas que se contradicen unas a otras y argumentos que se resuelven en ex-machinas sin sentido. Los episodios individuales no son gran cosa, pero combinados terminan siendo menos que la suma de sus partes.
April 20, 2025
Despite the light-hearted theme of this comic book, I found it difficult to read and long. This crossover event touched almost every title in the Marvel library. This still did not make it any better.
March 23, 2019
I applaud the ambition of what Marvel was trying to do by creating a huge crossover event that spanned across the 1989 annuals, but the actual story was a bit of a hot mess.
May 31, 2025
*Rating is more 4.75/5* Definitely worth the read for any comic book nerd since it’s such an iconic crossover event. Gotta knock the rating down a bit because of the title’s false advertisement.
March 24, 2017
L'idea è decisamente debole per sostenere una quindicina di annual. Alcuni sono anche ben scritti, ma la quasi totalità presenta disegni veramente scadenti. Si salva solo l'ottimo annual disegnato da John Byrne. Nel complesso uno dei punti più bassi dei cross-over tra annual della Marvel.
October 15, 2024
This was a missed opportunity. Could have been so much better. The cross team event, through all the annuals, was good in parts but I felt very disjointed. Almost as if the various writers didn't speak to each other, and missed the central theme. Also, I was expecting a much stronger Namor thread, but he was largely absent through much of the issues.
April 8, 2016
For all its flaws, I’m surprised that “Atlantis Attacks” isn’t at least as well remembered as its predecessor “Evolutionary War”. It has a tighter, more consistent story, a solid build-up, and a better realized big bad. It’s just about everything you could want in a big-scale crossover like this. Up until the end when it fantastically peters out.
The plot goeth thusly: When the cosmic deviant Ghaur is accidentally resurrected by the Silver Surfer, he makes his way to Earth ready to tear some shit up, mainly by triggering a civil war in Atlantis and resurrecting Set, all of which leads to a classic confluence of Marvel superpowered heroes fighting to stop him.
It all comes to a head in Fantastic Four Annual #22, where the Avengers and the FF (no room on the boat for X-Factor?) team up for the final rush to shut down Ghaur and liberate the captured brides of Set.
Right there we come to the most troubling aspect: the brides. Seven female heroes are captured and mind-controlled by the villain to be married off to Set in some vague way (apparently it’s one for each head). Wondering what casual misogyny in comics looked like in the late 80s? How about taking a handful of popular and powerful heroines and robbing them of their agency, forcing them to stand around in a dead-eyed trance while the other (mostly male) heroes do all the real work.
The back-up stories lay out the full history of Set and the Serpent Crown, and at no point were any “brides” required to help bring about his conquests.
While most of the crossover storyline still holds up well, I’m just going to spend the rest of the review discussing that last issue, because boy howdy is there a lot that needs to be said. Perhaps the fact that it was one of the first comic issues I ever bought makes its shortcomings a tad more personal for me.
This particular FF Annual has not aged well at all. On their way to the battle, even the heroes mention that the whole thing seems like a formality and that the true decisive victory happened in the previous comic.
First there’s the sloppy manner in which Namor returns from the dead; any reader with half a brain cell could guess that he would be making a comeback, but suggesting that he was observing from the sidelines while his kingdom was at war? With such a classic Marvel character presumed dead, I would’ve expected that to be the main driving force for many of the heroes. And when he returns, all of his people that have surely perished in this conflict take a backseat to making his grand entrance.
After he shows up again, the Avengers give up banging on the door to the impregnable fortress and the story nearly drops them all together so that Namor and the FF can save the day all by themselves. Ghaur and his lady friend Llyra reveal powers that were never set up before, and it turns out that on top of the seven brides, they also have Namorita who was captured between chapters. Imagine how much simpler it would’ve been if instead Namor had been the prisoner all along, while everyone else thought he was dead. You’d only really have to re-write the last issue.
It would be the worst chapter of the lot if not for the installment featuring the Uncanny X-Men, which amounts to little more than the team going on a fetch quest for some artifacts and tangling with the Serpent Society.
Overall, the mini is a pretty fun affair, with lots of sweet action and some cool crossover bits, but if you get a chance to check it out, maybe skip the last issue.
The plot goeth thusly: When the cosmic deviant Ghaur is accidentally resurrected by the Silver Surfer, he makes his way to Earth ready to tear some shit up, mainly by triggering a civil war in Atlantis and resurrecting Set, all of which leads to a classic confluence of Marvel superpowered heroes fighting to stop him.
It all comes to a head in Fantastic Four Annual #22, where the Avengers and the FF (no room on the boat for X-Factor?) team up for the final rush to shut down Ghaur and liberate the captured brides of Set.
Right there we come to the most troubling aspect: the brides. Seven female heroes are captured and mind-controlled by the villain to be married off to Set in some vague way (apparently it’s one for each head). Wondering what casual misogyny in comics looked like in the late 80s? How about taking a handful of popular and powerful heroines and robbing them of their agency, forcing them to stand around in a dead-eyed trance while the other (mostly male) heroes do all the real work.
The back-up stories lay out the full history of Set and the Serpent Crown, and at no point were any “brides” required to help bring about his conquests.
While most of the crossover storyline still holds up well, I’m just going to spend the rest of the review discussing that last issue, because boy howdy is there a lot that needs to be said. Perhaps the fact that it was one of the first comic issues I ever bought makes its shortcomings a tad more personal for me.
This particular FF Annual has not aged well at all. On their way to the battle, even the heroes mention that the whole thing seems like a formality and that the true decisive victory happened in the previous comic.
First there’s the sloppy manner in which Namor returns from the dead; any reader with half a brain cell could guess that he would be making a comeback, but suggesting that he was observing from the sidelines while his kingdom was at war? With such a classic Marvel character presumed dead, I would’ve expected that to be the main driving force for many of the heroes. And when he returns, all of his people that have surely perished in this conflict take a backseat to making his grand entrance.
After he shows up again, the Avengers give up banging on the door to the impregnable fortress and the story nearly drops them all together so that Namor and the FF can save the day all by themselves. Ghaur and his lady friend Llyra reveal powers that were never set up before, and it turns out that on top of the seven brides, they also have Namorita who was captured between chapters. Imagine how much simpler it would’ve been if instead Namor had been the prisoner all along, while everyone else thought he was dead. You’d only really have to re-write the last issue.
It would be the worst chapter of the lot if not for the installment featuring the Uncanny X-Men, which amounts to little more than the team going on a fetch quest for some artifacts and tangling with the Serpent Society.
Overall, the mini is a pretty fun affair, with lots of sweet action and some cool crossover bits, but if you get a chance to check it out, maybe skip the last issue.
December 8, 2014
Another big event from marvel where the story was all done in that years annuals.
Kind of straight forward, the story is in the title.
Motivation for why they attack never felt very strong to me and the story had some fun team ups, but felt very disjointed and clunky.
Not one of marvel's better events.
Kind of straight forward, the story is in the title.
Motivation for why they attack never felt very strong to me and the story had some fun team ups, but felt very disjointed and clunky.
Not one of marvel's better events.
November 21, 2021
Tan interesante como aburrido. Intenté con todas mis fuerzas, pero no lo pude terminar de leer, se hace super denso. Los diálogos son larguísimos, toda la información se brinda a través del texto y poco o nada a través del dibujo.
Los dibujos son horrendos, propios de la época, pero igualmente malos. Quizás en otro momento le de otra oportunidad, pero por ahora me rindo.
Los dibujos son horrendos, propios de la época, pero igualmente malos. Quizás en otro momento le de otra oportunidad, pero por ahora me rindo.
Want to read
December 27, 2010¡Vamos, buena gente de Panini España! Yo sé que ustedes van a reeditar este tomo en algún Gold, o en la Colección Marvel Héroes. Hasta entonces, quedará como to-read esta.
September 23, 2015
Might have been better rated if not for the reminders of just how overdone & silly comics art of the 1990s seems now.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews