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Penguin Classics Marvel Collection #5
The Avengers
The Penguin Classics Marvel Collection presents the origin stories, seminal tales, and characters of the Marvel Universe to explore Marvel’s transformative and timeless influence on an entire genre of fantasy
Collects The Avengers #1-4 , 9 , 16 , 26 , 28 , 44 , 57 , 58 , 71 , 74 , and 83. It is impossible to imagine American popular culture without Marvel Comics. For decades, Marvel has published groundbreaking visual narratives that sustain attention on multiple as metaphors for the experience of difference and otherness; as meditations on the fluid nature of identity; and as high-water marks in the artistic tradition of American cartooning, to name a few.
Starting in 1961, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and their collaborators transformed the Super Hero genre with a series of new creations, including the Incredible Hulk, the Mighty Thor, and the Invincible Iron Man. In 1963, Lee and Kirby brought these characters together for the first time in a new magazine called The Avengers —adding a resurrected Captain America shortly after. Over time the Avengers’ roster would frequently change, mirroring transformations in the Marvel Universe and the society that it reflected. This unique collection gathers key issues from the first few years of the series.
A foreword by Leigh Bardugo, a scholarly introduction and apparatus by José Alaniz, and a general series introduction by Ben Saunders offer further insight into the enduring significance of The Avengers and classic Marvel comics.
Collects The Avengers #1-4 , 9 , 16 , 26 , 28 , 44 , 57 , 58 , 71 , 74 , and 83. It is impossible to imagine American popular culture without Marvel Comics. For decades, Marvel has published groundbreaking visual narratives that sustain attention on multiple as metaphors for the experience of difference and otherness; as meditations on the fluid nature of identity; and as high-water marks in the artistic tradition of American cartooning, to name a few.
Starting in 1961, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and their collaborators transformed the Super Hero genre with a series of new creations, including the Incredible Hulk, the Mighty Thor, and the Invincible Iron Man. In 1963, Lee and Kirby brought these characters together for the first time in a new magazine called The Avengers —adding a resurrected Captain America shortly after. Over time the Avengers’ roster would frequently change, mirroring transformations in the Marvel Universe and the society that it reflected. This unique collection gathers key issues from the first few years of the series.
A foreword by Leigh Bardugo, a scholarly introduction and apparatus by José Alaniz, and a general series introduction by Ben Saunders offer further insight into the enduring significance of The Avengers and classic Marvel comics.
400 pages, Hardcover
Published September 12, 2023
5 people are currently reading
196 people want to read
About the author
Stan Lee
7,563 books2,342 followersStan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 25, 2025
A bundle of heroes
By this time, book 5 of the Penguin Classics Marvel Collection, it has become obvious that author Stan Lee was a master of marketing, and King Jack Kirby, the artist he worked most with, was himself no slouch in that area. When I say that Lee was good at marketing, I am NOT saying he wasn't also a creative writer. After all, the first of the 4 P's of marketing is "Product", and Lee and Kirby's product was comic books -- if they hadn't produced good stories, the market wouldn't have been there.
That said, Lee was not above a little (or even a lot) of crude manipulation of his customers. Bundling is one of the oldest tricks in marketing -- you offer your customers something they want only as part of a bundle with a bunch of other stuff they aren't really interested in, and make them pay for the whole bundle. (Think Adobe Creative Suite, or cable entertainment packages.) That's essentially what The Avengers was: a bundle of superheroes.
In her Foreword, Leigh Bardugo describes explicitly how she succumbed to the allure of bundling. She was a regular Spider-Man reader, and one day at her regular newsstand she saw a cover showing Spider-Man surrounded by a bunch of unknown heroes
And so it goes through the years. Heroes drift in and out of the team with very little attempt at coherent reasons. Eventually Lee and Kirby hand the series off to younger and more creative artists, with an immediate uptick in the quality of the stories and the art.
In this volume the final two issues are #74: "Pursue the Panther" and #83: "Come On In... The Revolution's Fine". Ish 74 is a serious attempt to deal with racism in America, and it is, in my opinion, fairly well done for 1970. Ish 83 is an attempt to deal with Women's Liberation, as feminism was generally known in 1970, which it does mostly by making fun of it -- so, Not Great.
The Avengers is definitely not one of the best of the Penguin Classics Marvel Collection. They're too transparently a marketing ploy.
Blog review.
By this time, book 5 of the Penguin Classics Marvel Collection, it has become obvious that author Stan Lee was a master of marketing, and King Jack Kirby, the artist he worked most with, was himself no slouch in that area. When I say that Lee was good at marketing, I am NOT saying he wasn't also a creative writer. After all, the first of the 4 P's of marketing is "Product", and Lee and Kirby's product was comic books -- if they hadn't produced good stories, the market wouldn't have been there.
That said, Lee was not above a little (or even a lot) of crude manipulation of his customers. Bundling is one of the oldest tricks in marketing -- you offer your customers something they want only as part of a bundle with a bunch of other stuff they aren't really interested in, and make them pay for the whole bundle. (Think Adobe Creative Suite, or cable entertainment packages.) That's essentially what The Avengers was: a bundle of superheroes.
In her Foreword, Leigh Bardugo describes explicitly how she succumbed to the allure of bundling. She was a regular Spider-Man reader, and one day at her regular newsstand she saw a cover showing Spider-Man surrounded by a bunch of unknown heroes
My willingness to pick up that first Avengers comic was sparked by three vital factors: the familiarity of my beloved web slinger, the promise of a bargain (a veritable buffet of heroes for one low price), and the intrigue of the two women at the bottom of that cover, ...The problem with the Avengers is that they were a marketing ploy with no coherent artistic or plot rationale. This lack of coherence shows up in the incoherence of the team, which is never the same from one issue to the next. In Issue 1 the team consists of Ironman, Thor, Antman and the Wasp, and the Hulk. (Kirby's first Ironman concept has to be seen to be believed -- he's a yellow can with bulbous legs, arms, and head protruding from it. Fortunately, he gets a makeover in Ish 3.) In Ish 2 the Hulk leaves the team. In Ish 4 we have the famous Captain American retcon -- World War II hero Captain American is revealed to have been frozen for 20 years and is revived by the Avengers. Cap joins the team, and is soon the leader, and an obnoxious martinet he is, too.
And so it goes through the years. Heroes drift in and out of the team with very little attempt at coherent reasons. Eventually Lee and Kirby hand the series off to younger and more creative artists, with an immediate uptick in the quality of the stories and the art.
In this volume the final two issues are #74: "Pursue the Panther" and #83: "Come On In... The Revolution's Fine". Ish 74 is a serious attempt to deal with racism in America, and it is, in my opinion, fairly well done for 1970. Ish 83 is an attempt to deal with Women's Liberation, as feminism was generally known in 1970, which it does mostly by making fun of it -- so, Not Great.
The Avengers is definitely not one of the best of the Penguin Classics Marvel Collection. They're too transparently a marketing ploy.
Blog review.
April 22, 2024
Here was have another fun Marvel compilation, this time focusing on 'The Avengers' team-up comics. Just like with the previous three books I have read from this Penguin Classics collection, the comics are bright, colourful and gorgeous to look at it. All of the art is so vibrant and exciting to look at. The only reason I have rated this a little lower than the other three is because of the selection of comics they chose.
For the most part the 'Spider-Man' book was chronological, and when it skipped some issues they described what had happened within them. 'Black Panther' focused on one long storyline that was immersive and detailed. Here with 'The Avengers' the focus seemed to be on showing as many different characters as possible. It was fun to see all the heroes that I know from the MCU films coming in and out, but we would just forward a year or so at a time with no description of the events we are missing. Some comics would end mid-story but then the following comic would be from 8 months later. It made it harder to become invested in what was going on.
The stories themselves were fun for the most part, I enjoyed the variety of different situations that the Avengers found themselves in as well as the different villains they had to fight. It is obviously a product of the time but but only issue with the contents of the comics themselves is how useless The Wasp constantly is. She is a founding member of the group but is always sidelined, pointed out as being the weakest and becoming a damsel in distress. There is one comic later on that has the female heroes team up and discuss the way they are treated which shows that the writers became aware of it and improved over time, but it was still a little rough to read those early comics.
I've said it in all my previous reviews of this collection but I love that Penguin published these, they are so different from what you expect Penguin to be publishing. I still hope that they continue to explore other classic comic books.
For the most part the 'Spider-Man' book was chronological, and when it skipped some issues they described what had happened within them. 'Black Panther' focused on one long storyline that was immersive and detailed. Here with 'The Avengers' the focus seemed to be on showing as many different characters as possible. It was fun to see all the heroes that I know from the MCU films coming in and out, but we would just forward a year or so at a time with no description of the events we are missing. Some comics would end mid-story but then the following comic would be from 8 months later. It made it harder to become invested in what was going on.
The stories themselves were fun for the most part, I enjoyed the variety of different situations that the Avengers found themselves in as well as the different villains they had to fight. It is obviously a product of the time but but only issue with the contents of the comics themselves is how useless The Wasp constantly is. She is a founding member of the group but is always sidelined, pointed out as being the weakest and becoming a damsel in distress. There is one comic later on that has the female heroes team up and discuss the way they are treated which shows that the writers became aware of it and improved over time, but it was still a little rough to read those early comics.
I've said it in all my previous reviews of this collection but I love that Penguin published these, they are so different from what you expect Penguin to be publishing. I still hope that they continue to explore other classic comic books.
January 14, 2025
A 3.5 out of 5. The stories contained within do a good job highlighting key events in the early years of The Avengers. The very first issue of the book sees the team form to battle Loki and its full of wild antics.
The character work in each story is fairly minimal but thats to be expected of early 60s comics, the action is dynamic and the team banter is generally fun. Though not everyone is highlighted well, the Wasp is woefully underused and unappreciated, characterised in the early years as either,
1. Pining after literally any man she meets (other than her literal partner)
2. Damsel in distress
The collection of stories vary in terms of enjoyment. For instance issue #2 with the Space Phantom is classic camp sci-fi fun while issue #26 is a fairly uninteresting read featuring the villain Attuma (arguably one of the teams more boring foes) and also aims to give Wasp more to do yet generally underwhelms.
The best stories in my mind are issues #4, 16, 57 and 58. Each one offering unique and compelling narratives. Issue #4 revolves around the awakening of a frozen Captain America and his mental anguish over the trauma he experienced in his final days in war. Cap himself is often seen as brooding in early stories, I admire the choice to characterise him this way as it makes him seem a more real and emotionally tense character in the book though this would lessen in time.
The Vision two parter in issues #57 and 58 is a masterful handling and introduction of the hero. I've never been a huge fan of Vision (even the movie version) but his intro here is handled exceptionally well starting with a thrilling battle as Vision is initially meant to deceive the team before turning against his creator Ultron and joining up. Issue 58 expands upon this by focusing on Hank Pym's creation of Ultron and ultimately exploring Vision's humanity ending in the incredible panel of Vision shedding a tear. Wonderful stuff.
Overall I appreciate this collection but I'd argue it doesn't get truly good until the late 60s/early 70s when Roy Thomas gets involved in the writing. Though the Lee era has some underrated gems encased within. The latter half really falls flat with stories diving into social issues that feel at best a bit flat. We didn't really need the Serpent Society as the villains in a story about race. Odd pick but to each their own.
An enjoyable yet flawed read.
The character work in each story is fairly minimal but thats to be expected of early 60s comics, the action is dynamic and the team banter is generally fun. Though not everyone is highlighted well, the Wasp is woefully underused and unappreciated, characterised in the early years as either,
1. Pining after literally any man she meets (other than her literal partner)
2. Damsel in distress
The collection of stories vary in terms of enjoyment. For instance issue #2 with the Space Phantom is classic camp sci-fi fun while issue #26 is a fairly uninteresting read featuring the villain Attuma (arguably one of the teams more boring foes) and also aims to give Wasp more to do yet generally underwhelms.
The best stories in my mind are issues #4, 16, 57 and 58. Each one offering unique and compelling narratives. Issue #4 revolves around the awakening of a frozen Captain America and his mental anguish over the trauma he experienced in his final days in war. Cap himself is often seen as brooding in early stories, I admire the choice to characterise him this way as it makes him seem a more real and emotionally tense character in the book though this would lessen in time.
The Vision two parter in issues #57 and 58 is a masterful handling and introduction of the hero. I've never been a huge fan of Vision (even the movie version) but his intro here is handled exceptionally well starting with a thrilling battle as Vision is initially meant to deceive the team before turning against his creator Ultron and joining up. Issue 58 expands upon this by focusing on Hank Pym's creation of Ultron and ultimately exploring Vision's humanity ending in the incredible panel of Vision shedding a tear. Wonderful stuff.
Overall I appreciate this collection but I'd argue it doesn't get truly good until the late 60s/early 70s when Roy Thomas gets involved in the writing. Though the Lee era has some underrated gems encased within. The latter half really falls flat with stories diving into social issues that feel at best a bit flat. We didn't really need the Serpent Society as the villains in a story about race. Odd pick but to each their own.
An enjoyable yet flawed read.
February 4, 2024
A very nice reproduction of the early Avengers comics. Its page size is slightly larger and the paper quality is more similar to the original comics (less shiny) than the reproductions I own in Marvel Masterworks. The coloring is also slightly different.
I read and found interesting the Forward by Leigh Bardugo (personal reminiscence) and the Volume Introduction by Jose Alaniz (scholarly with footnotes). I had already read the Series Introduction (Ben Saunders) repeated from the Spider-Man collection.
This includes 14 issues (ranging from #’s 1-4 to #83) representing select moments of importance either in the titular heroes adventures or changes in the creative team.
I read and found interesting the Forward by Leigh Bardugo (personal reminiscence) and the Volume Introduction by Jose Alaniz (scholarly with footnotes). I had already read the Series Introduction (Ben Saunders) repeated from the Spider-Man collection.
This includes 14 issues (ranging from #’s 1-4 to #83) representing select moments of importance either in the titular heroes adventures or changes in the creative team.
May 3, 2025
2.5/5
This book was an awesome glimpse into the history and origin of the Avengers! Also super cool to see the quality of both artwork and story improve as the comic became more popular. Some of the comic choices for the collection weren’t as amazing as I would’ve hoped. But most had tons of action and spectacle and MCU characters. Really loved the issue where they fuck up the white supremacist Serpent Society. Inspiring to see how these comics grappled with social issues! But overall the writing and drawing was meh!
This book was an awesome glimpse into the history and origin of the Avengers! Also super cool to see the quality of both artwork and story improve as the comic became more popular. Some of the comic choices for the collection weren’t as amazing as I would’ve hoped. But most had tons of action and spectacle and MCU characters. Really loved the issue where they fuck up the white supremacist Serpent Society. Inspiring to see how these comics grappled with social issues! But overall the writing and drawing was meh!
December 12, 2024
It was perhaps The Avengers that solidified what intrigued audiences about Marvel during the 60s. It was a sense of a lived in world, one in which things that happened in one title would be referenced in another. Other characters would drop in and out. Yes, the idea of a shared universe is well known now. But way back when, it was new. So The Avengers - which begins with Iron Man, Thor and The Hulk all teaming up to battle Loki - did seem fresh and exciting.
This Penguin Classic collection of Avengers titles contains all the classic Stan Lee bombast - the exposition remains clunky but the Shakespearean turn of phrase has an unapologetic air of the grandiose that sweeps everything along. And, of course, the gorgeous art from the likes of Jack Kirby.
Stories seem to be mainly chosen for introducing characters familiar to audiences who know the MCU: but whilst the stories are somewhat samey (big villain rocks up, there's a bit of an argy bargy and then we head to the end) but there's fun to be had wading through pop culture history.
Though, even for it being 'of its time', the treatment of female characters is more than paper thin - The Wasp in particular simpers and fawns over 'hunky' male characters. The treatment did get better over time. It was just a very, very long time
With a very good intro and foreword contextualizing the work and delving deeper into the 'Marvel Method', this is an excellent addition to the Penguin Classics Marvel Collection
This Penguin Classic collection of Avengers titles contains all the classic Stan Lee bombast - the exposition remains clunky but the Shakespearean turn of phrase has an unapologetic air of the grandiose that sweeps everything along. And, of course, the gorgeous art from the likes of Jack Kirby.
Stories seem to be mainly chosen for introducing characters familiar to audiences who know the MCU: but whilst the stories are somewhat samey (big villain rocks up, there's a bit of an argy bargy and then we head to the end) but there's fun to be had wading through pop culture history.
Though, even for it being 'of its time', the treatment of female characters is more than paper thin - The Wasp in particular simpers and fawns over 'hunky' male characters. The treatment did get better over time. It was just a very, very long time
With a very good intro and foreword contextualizing the work and delving deeper into the 'Marvel Method', this is an excellent addition to the Penguin Classics Marvel Collection
October 25, 2023
Book two of this year’s three-part release of Marvel’s original super-team books features the Avengers in all their early (1960s) glory (the other two volumes for 2023 are Fantastic Four and X-Men). Avengers 1-4 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby are presented, as are issues #9, 26, and 28 (Wonder Man and the return of the Wasp and Giant Man becomes Goliath, all with art by Don Heck), #16 (“The Old Order Changeth!” wherein Iron Man, Thor, and Giant Man and the Wasp leave the group, to be replaced by Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye—I felt gypped as a kid, to be honest), as well as some really fine Roy Thomas, and John and Sal Buscema work, including issues #44, 57-58 (the origin of the Vision), 71, 74, and 83. Of the three volumes of the Penguin Classics Marvel Collections that I own (including Fantastic Four and Captain America), this is my least favorite, though. Editor Jose Alaniz puts all his text info upfront, while the other volumes I own seem to have more articles scattered throughout the books, a format I enjoyed more. Also, a side effect of having academics edit and write about pop culture is the plethora of mystifying notes in the text like "(Howe, 2012, 112-116)," which I know means Sean Howe's Marvel Comics: The Untold Story book, but many people don't (I was in the dark on many of Alaniz's other parenthetical notes, too). It's a book reprinting comics, not your doctorate thesis, dude. As with the other Penguin Classics Marvel Collection volumes, Avengers is available in both hardbound and paperback editions, but the pricier hardbound ones have great production value and perks like gold leaf covers and sprayed edges.
April 1, 2024
If you're looking for a collection of some of the early iconic moments in Marvel comics (specifically Avengers) history, this is a great resource. If you're looking for a cohesive story, significantly less so--there are some big jumps between issues and cliffhangers go unresolved (I wanted to see them figure out how to get Hank back to his normal size!), characters change costumes and code-names and get married off panel (I WANTED HANK AND JAN'S WEDDING, GODDAMMIT!) and I'm sure that some of the changes, namely Clint going from Hawkeye to Goliath as Hank goes from Goliath to Yellowjacket, would throw off a reader who picks this up to get into Marvel comics since Clint and Hank are drawn very similarly. However, if you--like me--adore the less-spotlighted avengers like Hank and Janet, this is a great collection, and it had a lot of really great moments with Clint and T'Challa too!
June 6, 2024
It's late so this'll be short but another really good entry in this series. I found this one slightly hard to follow cause the cast changes a little more frequently than the other teams I've read, but still super cool to see the origins of the Avengers.
Also, this issue didn't have any like critical analysis throughout the comics, only at the start, so that was a bit dissappointing
Also, this issue didn't have any like critical analysis throughout the comics, only at the start, so that was a bit dissappointing
June 16, 2024
It’s interesting to see such old comics but the novelty only sustains so much interest. Luckily, the quality makes a mighty leap when Vision shows up. And as a comic fan I did appreciate being able to see how the medium progressed in the visuals, plots, the characterization, etc. Even if that meant the first half or so dragged in comparison.
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March 2, 2025Ohhhh, this is why they still had the film rights to The Avengers in 2008.
Unlike the previous Penguin Marvel collections, the disjointed selection of stories here limits reading this book to an academic exercise.
Unlike the previous Penguin Marvel collections, the disjointed selection of stories here limits reading this book to an academic exercise.
February 29, 2024
The artwork is fantastic. just fantastic reading it now and comparing it to others is just awesome.
March 6, 2024
My least favourite of the currently released (6) Penguin Marvel books but has some great, excellently reproduced artwork and some great information for the comic book enthusiast.
June 18, 2024
Entertaining collection of early Avengers comics. I enjoyed seeing the differing styles of the artists shown in the book.
September 17, 2024
A collection of classic early Avengers stories, tales, and characters
September 26, 2025
Classic stories which bring back tons of great memories of reading Marvel Triple Action's reprinting of these early classics. Such a joy to relive one's youth through these digests.
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