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Essential Avengers #5
Essential Avengers, Vol. 5
From the Sentinels and the Savage Land Mutates to Loki, Dormammu and Thanos, the Avengers prove the universe's worst is no match for their best! Magnetic mayhem and nuclear nostalgia! Featuring Golden Age guest-stars, mythic menaces and more! Plus: the Avengers-Defenders War and Hawkeye vs. Daredevil! Includes rare Marvel work by best-selling author Harlan Ellison! COLLECTING: Avengers #98-119, Daredevil #99, Defenders #8-11
600 pages, Paperback
First published January 10, 1974
5 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
Roy Thomas
4,478 books271 followersRoy Thomas was the FIRST Editor-in-Chief at Marvel--After Stan Lee stepped down from the position. Roy is a longtime comic book writer and editor. Thomas has written comics for Archie, Charlton, DC, Heroic Publishing, Marvel, and Topps over the years. Thomas currently edits the fanzine Alter Ego for Twomorrow's Publishing. He was Editor for Marvel comics from 1972-1974. He wrote for several titles at Marvel, such as Avengers, Thor, Invaders, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and notably Conan the Barbarian. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes — particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America — and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.
Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.
Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 23, 2020
The low-quality curse of early-'70s Marvel doesn't curse the Avengers quite as much as it did most Marvel titles at this time. Saying that, this volume does get rather silly at times and there are a number of stupid mistakes which would have been caught if the editorial team hadn't been asleep at the wheel.
The major events covered in this volume are the addition of the Black Widow and Mantis to the team, the cementing of the Scarlet Witch and the Vision's romantic relationship and the Avengers/Defenders war. Most of this is highly entertaining; I'd've liked the Black Widow to hang around for a bit longer than she did though. Oh, well; she'll be back...
One of the oddest parts of this volume is that Iron Man starts acting a little hysterical. If he'd carried on in this vein, they'd've needed to change the name of his book to Tony Stark: the Delirious Drama Queen!
The major events covered in this volume are the addition of the Black Widow and Mantis to the team, the cementing of the Scarlet Witch and the Vision's romantic relationship and the Avengers/Defenders war. Most of this is highly entertaining; I'd've liked the Black Widow to hang around for a bit longer than she did though. Oh, well; she'll be back...
One of the oddest parts of this volume is that Iron Man starts acting a little hysterical. If he'd carried on in this vein, they'd've needed to change the name of his book to Tony Stark: the Delirious Drama Queen!
February 5, 2023
When it is good, it is really good. When it is bad, it is horrible. And it often depends on the art.
December 18, 2019
The Avengers/Defenders war was a hoot and with the consistently better stories I'm going to be generous and give this an extra star.
September 24, 2023
Lots going on here, as is the norm with massive volumes containing about 30 issues of content.
First issue of note is the milestone 100th issue. I wasn't a HUGE fan of the Olympian story, but it was good to see every single Avenger to date working together. Then there are the issues involving the Sentinels, the Grim Reaper and the Space Phantom. These were very enjoyable to me, as the whole Grim Reaper/Vision/Wonder Man subplot is one I like a lot. The next important story is probably the one featuring Magneto. I don't really like it when Avengers writers try to handle Magneto though. It never really works for me. It just doesn't feel right. Black Widow does join the team briefly though. Next, the Swordsman returns to begin his redemption arc, bringing Mantis along for the ride. I really like this, as their return leads into the Celestial Madonna and Kang War arcs, which are in my opinion some of the finest and most interesting Avengers storylines. The volume finishes off with the Avengers/Defenders War, which is good fun if a bit predictable these days.
Roy Thomas finishes his lengthy Avengers run in issue #104, leaving Steve Englehart in charge for the foreseeable future. He does a great job as replacement, for the most part.
There are a huge number of artists working on these issues, but the majority of them are done by Don Heck, who makes a brief return to the title, as well as Bob Brown. Special mention goes to Rich Buckler, who does some nice, clean work, even if it's not that unique.
Definitely an enjoyable volume overall.
First issue of note is the milestone 100th issue. I wasn't a HUGE fan of the Olympian story, but it was good to see every single Avenger to date working together. Then there are the issues involving the Sentinels, the Grim Reaper and the Space Phantom. These were very enjoyable to me, as the whole Grim Reaper/Vision/Wonder Man subplot is one I like a lot. The next important story is probably the one featuring Magneto. I don't really like it when Avengers writers try to handle Magneto though. It never really works for me. It just doesn't feel right. Black Widow does join the team briefly though. Next, the Swordsman returns to begin his redemption arc, bringing Mantis along for the ride. I really like this, as their return leads into the Celestial Madonna and Kang War arcs, which are in my opinion some of the finest and most interesting Avengers storylines. The volume finishes off with the Avengers/Defenders War, which is good fun if a bit predictable these days.
Roy Thomas finishes his lengthy Avengers run in issue #104, leaving Steve Englehart in charge for the foreseeable future. He does a great job as replacement, for the most part.
There are a huge number of artists working on these issues, but the majority of them are done by Don Heck, who makes a brief return to the title, as well as Bob Brown. Special mention goes to Rich Buckler, who does some nice, clean work, even if it's not that unique.
Definitely an enjoyable volume overall.
June 22, 2017
I was never a serious reader of comics, even as a child. I occasionally would get some hand-me-down comic books from an older cousin, and I enjoy them, but I didn't follow the characters or storylines. It wasn't until Hollywood began bringing the Marvel universe to the big screen that I began to develop an interest.
That exposure to the movies and television shows served me well as I read this, especially since this is the fifth "Essential" volume about the Avengers.. While there are distinct differences between the Hollywood portrayals and the original characters in these comics, I had enough familiarity with the characters to not feel lost.
There isn't a single coherent storyline that runs through this entire volume, but instead, we have several plots that overlap and weave together, culminating in a epic conflict that involves the Avengers, the Defenders, and others. Overall, I have to say that it was an exciting ride, even if no one is ever going to call this great literature. For some easy, escapist fun, this certainly fits the bill. And for those of us who didn't read the comics when they were first published, but have come to enjoy their stories later in life, this is a great way to experience the original incarnations of these characters.
That exposure to the movies and television shows served me well as I read this, especially since this is the fifth "Essential" volume about the Avengers.. While there are distinct differences between the Hollywood portrayals and the original characters in these comics, I had enough familiarity with the characters to not feel lost.
There isn't a single coherent storyline that runs through this entire volume, but instead, we have several plots that overlap and weave together, culminating in a epic conflict that involves the Avengers, the Defenders, and others. Overall, I have to say that it was an exciting ride, even if no one is ever going to call this great literature. For some easy, escapist fun, this certainly fits the bill. And for those of us who didn't read the comics when they were first published, but have come to enjoy their stories later in life, this is a great way to experience the original incarnations of these characters.
December 4, 2023
Englehart's run on the Avengers is overall pretty good. This portion of it though... well... the problem is the Essentials is while they will often give you crossovers with other books if they were 100% necessary for the story, it didn't include ALL of them. Of course, if they had done that it is doubtful the book would have included more than five months of material as it simply assumes you read not only Avengers but Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and jungle Adventure as those were the other titles the main cast are coming from. Not as bad as it is today, because they at least have a short recap but still...
On the plus side there are a lot of good stories here. My biggest complaint is probably that late Silver Age-Early Bronze Age Hawkeye is kind of an incel. Oh yeah, and the Tiger God story goes on a tad too long.
On the plus side there are a lot of good stories here. My biggest complaint is probably that late Silver Age-Early Bronze Age Hawkeye is kind of an incel. Oh yeah, and the Tiger God story goes on a tad too long.
October 11, 2020
Where most other essentials have a steep decline in quality around this time, the avenger ones keep actually getting better. The conflict with the Grim Reaper was interesting. Lots of development for vision and the scarlet witch (and for each other). It was about time for Scarlet to show us some of her amazing abilities. In earlier volumes she was mostly passive save the lost hexbolt here and there.
Hawkeye getting fed up and joining the Defenders and causing a 'war' between the fractions was over-dramatic but really fun. It makes way for a positive change in his dickisch attitude.
All with all a really enjoyable read!
Hawkeye getting fed up and joining the Defenders and causing a 'war' between the fractions was over-dramatic but really fun. It makes way for a positive change in his dickisch attitude.
All with all a really enjoyable read!
September 4, 2015
I was pretty damn impressed at how readable this was! I mean, I Always enjoy the essentials, but these older ones can be a slog sometimes. They can be overly wordy and sometimes hard to read more than an issue at a time. But this? This comic was in a golden age! It was highly readable, super fun, and full of classic moments that still reverberate through the Marvel universe.
Yes, it is a little campy and sometimes simple and childish. But you can see the beginning of the mediums eventual maturity. The eggs of comics becoming not just "kids stuff".
Yes, it is a little campy and sometimes simple and childish. But you can see the beginning of the mediums eventual maturity. The eggs of comics becoming not just "kids stuff".
April 29, 2012
More fun with the Avengers. The highlight of this volume is the Avengers/Defenders War which has some fun moments, particularly when the two teams fight each other. This volume also has the first issues of Steve Engelhart's run, which is one of the more popular Avengers runs. The only downside is that the art is nowhere near as strong. The art certainly tells the story well enough, but it isn't as exciting as the work by Neal Adams or John Buscema. The book is still worth reading however.
July 5, 2013
Un altra raccolta di ottime storie, spesso ottimamente disegnate. Questo è il periodo del passaggio di testimone da Roy Thomas a Steve Englehart, con l'introduzione di nuovi personaggi (Mantis) ed il recupero di vecchi (Spadaccino) e con una brusca virata delle storie rispetto all'ultimo periodo di Thomas.
May 8, 2011
Lots more fighting. Some character development, the will they/ won't they romance of the Vision and the Scarlet Witch is sweet.
December 10, 2013
Oh my, that was a labour to get through....
December 30, 2013
A great run, including the gorgeous Avengers #100. Classic stuff.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews