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Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers #10
Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers, Vol. 10
Collects Avengers (1963) #89-100.
Caught in the crossfire, Earth has become the staging ground for a conflict of star-spanning proportions! For those eternal intergalactic enemies, the merciless Kree and the shape-changing Skrulls, have gone to war, and our planet is situated on the front lines! Can Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers, bring about an end to the fighting before humanity becomes a casualty of war? And what good are even a dozen super-powered champions against the vast military machines of two of the great empires of the cosmos? The key to victory lies with the expatriate Kree Captain Mar-Vell and his human host, honorary Avenger Rick Jones! Plus, a classic that assembles every Avenger from day one against the combined threat of Ares and the Enchantress.
Caught in the crossfire, Earth has become the staging ground for a conflict of star-spanning proportions! For those eternal intergalactic enemies, the merciless Kree and the shape-changing Skrulls, have gone to war, and our planet is situated on the front lines! Can Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers, bring about an end to the fighting before humanity becomes a casualty of war? And what good are even a dozen super-powered champions against the vast military machines of two of the great empires of the cosmos? The key to victory lies with the expatriate Kree Captain Mar-Vell and his human host, honorary Avenger Rick Jones! Plus, a classic that assembles every Avenger from day one against the combined threat of Ares and the Enchantress.
283 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
16 people are currently reading
142 people want to read
About the author
Roy Thomas
4,479 books270 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 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 12, 2025
Just read for the BWS illustrated 98-100. It's a wild ride, I have no idea what's going on here. Issue 100 has some really fantastic illustrations, especially the fantasy elements and The Hulk. It's a shame BWS didn't do more Thing and/or Hulk comics.
April 4, 2018
Oh boy oh boy oh boy...
after oh so many Boring stories.. with a few good stories... always or at the least most of the time great artwork, we finally come to the moment where Neal Adams starts drawing..
Look here. The stories are mediocre at best just for the single fact alone that it was so old and so naive(?) so.. simple.. back then. So most of the stories have that same thing that I said for on previous masterworks volumes, over-explaining what's happening currently on the pages from the characters, stating obvious facts as well.
"""IE: Ironman: Now that this villain did that to me (a page ago) I have to do this and that with my repulsors, and then if everything goes well, now that the villain is jumping around I will do this and that because 5 pages ago I did that, and the villain did another thing in the last 2 issues and for another 7 seven lines I'm going to explain what I want the reader to know in the stupidest way possible. """
See what I've had to deal with half the time for 10 volumes now? Yeah. That sucked.
And it wasn't once or twice, that kept happening again and again, and I'd always tell myself it was the start of superhero writing, it was a simpler time, don't be too harsh, but yeah... I'm not a patient man. Oh well.
And here we go, Neal Adams... oh man... Neal Adams in my honest opinion changed SO much, he changed the way artwork was in general in comic books and gave it something new, something fresh, something WOW! Yeah. I simply love his art. And you will too!
after oh so many Boring stories.. with a few good stories... always or at the least most of the time great artwork, we finally come to the moment where Neal Adams starts drawing..
Look here. The stories are mediocre at best just for the single fact alone that it was so old and so naive(?) so.. simple.. back then. So most of the stories have that same thing that I said for on previous masterworks volumes, over-explaining what's happening currently on the pages from the characters, stating obvious facts as well.
"""IE: Ironman: Now that this villain did that to me (a page ago) I have to do this and that with my repulsors, and then if everything goes well, now that the villain is jumping around I will do this and that because 5 pages ago I did that, and the villain did another thing in the last 2 issues and for another 7 seven lines I'm going to explain what I want the reader to know in the stupidest way possible. """
See what I've had to deal with half the time for 10 volumes now? Yeah. That sucked.
And it wasn't once or twice, that kept happening again and again, and I'd always tell myself it was the start of superhero writing, it was a simpler time, don't be too harsh, but yeah... I'm not a patient man. Oh well.
And here we go, Neal Adams... oh man... Neal Adams in my honest opinion changed SO much, he changed the way artwork was in general in comic books and gave it something new, something fresh, something WOW! Yeah. I simply love his art. And you will too!
September 19, 2023
Avengers Masterworks Vol. 10 essentially covers the Kree-Skrull War and the three-part story afterwards featuring Ares and his plan to invade Asgard.
I've said it numerous times before, but in my opinion the Kree-Skrull War was a huge milestone for Marvel Comics. I'm not sure that a story as lengthy as nine issues had been written for the company before, and, while it may be a little convoluted, it certainly does feel epic. Kree, Skrulls, Inhumans, S.H.I.E.L.D., Golden Age Heroes... there's a lot going on, and the Avengers are stuck right in the middle of it all.
John and Sal Buscema's art is nice, and Neal Adams' is gorgeous. As for the three-part Olympian story afterwards... well, it feels a bit cumbersome and anti-climactic in a way. Barry Windsor-Smith's art is also a bit uneven (I've always thought he was a little overrated.) Sometimes it looks fantastic, yet in some panels characters have weird elastic jaws and bug-eyes. It's like he couldn't always get faces right.
Either way, this collection is worth it for the Kree-Skrull War alone, although people used to modern age comic books might find this a little tough to get through.
Also, one cool thing about issue #100 is that every Avenger up until that point makes an appearance. Talk about star-studded!
I've said it numerous times before, but in my opinion the Kree-Skrull War was a huge milestone for Marvel Comics. I'm not sure that a story as lengthy as nine issues had been written for the company before, and, while it may be a little convoluted, it certainly does feel epic. Kree, Skrulls, Inhumans, S.H.I.E.L.D., Golden Age Heroes... there's a lot going on, and the Avengers are stuck right in the middle of it all.
John and Sal Buscema's art is nice, and Neal Adams' is gorgeous. As for the three-part Olympian story afterwards... well, it feels a bit cumbersome and anti-climactic in a way. Barry Windsor-Smith's art is also a bit uneven (I've always thought he was a little overrated.) Sometimes it looks fantastic, yet in some panels characters have weird elastic jaws and bug-eyes. It's like he couldn't always get faces right.
Either way, this collection is worth it for the Kree-Skrull War alone, although people used to modern age comic books might find this a little tough to get through.
Also, one cool thing about issue #100 is that every Avenger up until that point makes an appearance. Talk about star-studded!
July 21, 2018
The stories are still a little sweaty, but with most of the stories here being drawn by either Neal Adams, Barry Windsor-Smith or John Buscema, the art compensates more than a little.
September 26, 2022
Krull-Skree War (89-97) was entertaining. Old-school stuff, but entertaining. 98-100 I ended up just flipping the pages :D
August 6, 2022
the Scarlet Witch x Vision melodrama is 5 stars
June 29, 2024
Like the Mobile Fidelity Gold CDs/ Half-speed Master LPs, the Marvel Masterworks line is the best of the best, with the finest materials and craftsmanship available. I had the old Kree-Skrull War trade, but why settle for the shoddy equivalent of a 16-bit '80s CD when the deluxe 24-bit remaster is available?
The Kree-Skrull War was, and still is, a high mark in the annals of comic book storytelling. This was the longest running story 'arc' of its time, lasting 9 whole issues. Nowadays, this would take 9 trade paperbacks to tell this much story. Sure, Roy Thomas (Writer) has to back peddle to tie up some loose ends along the way, but that's just the way that things were done back then. They may have had ideas of how they wanted stories to go, but they didn't structure 6 issue arcs for each story idea and then fill it in with padding. They started with one issue, and if the story seemed to run over, it spilt into the next issue, so on and so forth.
Sal and John Buscema, along with Barry Windsor-Smith, handle some of the artwork, but the real star of the show is the god-among-men, Neal Adams. Adams pushed the medium to the limit on all counts. Panel layouts, colors, photo realistic artwork...these issues are a joy to behold. I have included several of my favorite images/ sequences from this book for you to drool over. Here we see Ant-Man trying to reactivate the android Vision by going inside of his body. LOTS of trippy, psychedlic-tinged Adams artwork in that issue.
Adams was a master of shading and angles. While know-it-nothings on the Internet might state that Triton's hand is too big, they miss the big picture. Triton's hand is coming TOWARDS you, thus giving the illusion of movement. He is pulling himself up out of the water. The water dripping off of him and spilling on the docks cements this intention. I'd like to see Jim Lee do anything remotely this kick-ass. Adams conveys more story information in one panel than many artist do in one page.
Adams used the highly limited four-color printing process and was able to do ingenious things with it. Here we see him add depth perception to 2-D pages by coloring the character at the forefront in a slightly different shade than those in the rear of the panel. Pure genius. Adams' images have a sort of kinetic energy. You can sort of see the movement. Many modern day comic artists may be technically "better" (i.e. composition of a panel), but their images are static, statue-like poses. Adams' characters move.
Neal Adams could knock out action sequences so convincing that you could hear and feel bones crunch. Take this cover for Issue 96, for example. You see the anger on the Vision's face, the trembling of his left fist as it's about to smash down immediately after the right cross, the Skrull's twitching, clutching hands showing his agony from this violent pummeling. Again, look at how much information is conveyed on the cover alone. Stunning.
Note the size of the Vision's fist in relation to his body. Smarmy community college art students would state how the Vision's arm looks too long. From a storytelling perspective, it gives the impression of the fist coming towards the Skrull. There is more to great comic book art than simply drawing a pretty picture. It is an artform largely lost on today's artistes looking for a movie option for their "graphic novel".
The Kree-Skrull War was, and still is, a high mark in the annals of comic book storytelling. This was the longest running story 'arc' of its time, lasting 9 whole issues. Nowadays, this would take 9 trade paperbacks to tell this much story. Sure, Roy Thomas (Writer) has to back peddle to tie up some loose ends along the way, but that's just the way that things were done back then. They may have had ideas of how they wanted stories to go, but they didn't structure 6 issue arcs for each story idea and then fill it in with padding. They started with one issue, and if the story seemed to run over, it spilt into the next issue, so on and so forth.
Sal and John Buscema, along with Barry Windsor-Smith, handle some of the artwork, but the real star of the show is the god-among-men, Neal Adams. Adams pushed the medium to the limit on all counts. Panel layouts, colors, photo realistic artwork...these issues are a joy to behold. I have included several of my favorite images/ sequences from this book for you to drool over. Here we see Ant-Man trying to reactivate the android Vision by going inside of his body. LOTS of trippy, psychedlic-tinged Adams artwork in that issue.
Adams was a master of shading and angles. While know-it-nothings on the Internet might state that Triton's hand is too big, they miss the big picture. Triton's hand is coming TOWARDS you, thus giving the illusion of movement. He is pulling himself up out of the water. The water dripping off of him and spilling on the docks cements this intention. I'd like to see Jim Lee do anything remotely this kick-ass. Adams conveys more story information in one panel than many artist do in one page.
Adams used the highly limited four-color printing process and was able to do ingenious things with it. Here we see him add depth perception to 2-D pages by coloring the character at the forefront in a slightly different shade than those in the rear of the panel. Pure genius. Adams' images have a sort of kinetic energy. You can sort of see the movement. Many modern day comic artists may be technically "better" (i.e. composition of a panel), but their images are static, statue-like poses. Adams' characters move.
Neal Adams could knock out action sequences so convincing that you could hear and feel bones crunch. Take this cover for Issue 96, for example. You see the anger on the Vision's face, the trembling of his left fist as it's about to smash down immediately after the right cross, the Skrull's twitching, clutching hands showing his agony from this violent pummeling. Again, look at how much information is conveyed on the cover alone. Stunning.
Note the size of the Vision's fist in relation to his body. Smarmy community college art students would state how the Vision's arm looks too long. From a storytelling perspective, it gives the impression of the fist coming towards the Skrull. There is more to great comic book art than simply drawing a pretty picture. It is an artform largely lost on today's artistes looking for a movie option for their "graphic novel".
October 8, 2021
I love this volume, as it includes the Kree/Skrull War.
The artwork is handled brilliantly by Buscema, Adams, Windsor-Smith. Incredible talents all.
The story itself is huge and ambitious and not always is it cohesive but it is an entertaining thrill.
It manages to glimpse into the concept of using paranoia and fear-mongering to harass our heroes, which is something they cannot simply punch their way through.
We go all around Earth: the frozen reaches of the Artic Circle, to the streets of New York, to Upstate New York, the Great Refuge of the Inhumans (resolving stories from Amazing Adventures), and the far-away galactic empires of the Skrulls and the Kree.
Nick Fury, the Fantastic Four, the Inhumans, all guest-appear as the story unfolds.
The Avengers cast is large, almost unwieldly, but not quite.
Not every Avenger truly shines, but several do ao very well.
Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) is well handled and his partnership with Rick Jones is moved along.
The individual issues can be somewhat wordy: exposition is often not necessary (although as a child it encouraged me to read more). This is simply the style of the day.
In all I love this volume, truly one of my favorites.
The artwork is handled brilliantly by Buscema, Adams, Windsor-Smith. Incredible talents all.
The story itself is huge and ambitious and not always is it cohesive but it is an entertaining thrill.
It manages to glimpse into the concept of using paranoia and fear-mongering to harass our heroes, which is something they cannot simply punch their way through.
We go all around Earth: the frozen reaches of the Artic Circle, to the streets of New York, to Upstate New York, the Great Refuge of the Inhumans (resolving stories from Amazing Adventures), and the far-away galactic empires of the Skrulls and the Kree.
Nick Fury, the Fantastic Four, the Inhumans, all guest-appear as the story unfolds.
The Avengers cast is large, almost unwieldly, but not quite.
Not every Avenger truly shines, but several do ao very well.
Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) is well handled and his partnership with Rick Jones is moved along.
The individual issues can be somewhat wordy: exposition is often not necessary (although as a child it encouraged me to read more). This is simply the style of the day.
In all I love this volume, truly one of my favorites.
February 16, 2016
The Marvel Masterworks volumes are fantastic reprints of the early years of Marvel comics. A fantastic resource to allow these hard to find issues to be read by everyone. Very recommended to everyone and Highly recommended to any comic fan.
December 30, 2013
Beautiful. Featuring remastered work by Barry Windsor Smith, Neal Adams, Buscema, and some of Roy's best stories. And Avengers #100 beautifully reprinted. Must see.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews