Essential Avengers - Volume 2

First attempt at shipping, item was lost. Unsure the problem, but seller made it all good re-shipping an excellent condition item as soon as possible.

This volume collects issues #26-46 (plus King-Sized Annual #1) of Marvel Comics' Avengers series that were originally published between February 1966 and November 1967. Stan Lee and Don Heck continue their writer/artist pairing through issue #34. Lee moves to editor and Roy Thomas becomes the writer for #35. John Buscema starts his long run of Avengers penciling in #41-44 and #46. This version of the team features Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Giant-Man returns as Goliath in #28 and the Wasp rejoins the masthead in #32. Hercules first appears with the team in issue #38 and becomes a regular. The superspy Black Widow emerges in this run. Toward the end Cap disappears for several issues but reappears in #42. The original lineup returns for the underwhelming annual. Some topics echo recent headlines (the right of a US enemy to speak at the UN, suicide bombers, flooding of tidal cities) while some references are charmingly dated (a villain's laser beam offers him flight powers and is the 'deadliest weapon imaginable!'). On a side note, current US senator Robert Byrd appears in #33. I prefer the Avengers DVD-ROM for its complete collection of the entire Avengers run in full color PDFs. However, the Marvel Essentials series offers convenient, inexpensive access to these 40-year old Avengers comics without needing a computer. At over 500 pages this is a tremendous value and offers hours of reading.

The Essential Avengers, Volume 2 is an apt but not quite equal followup to the first volume. If fractions could be allowed, I would give Volume 2 three-and-a-half stars. There are some great issues in the mix, especially those where just as Hawkeye is trying to get his Russian girlfriend, the Black Widow, to be voted in as an official member of the superhero fighting team, she is working for Shield where a primary mission is to act as a double agent and give the impression that she is on the Communist side of the Cold War, thus pitting her at odds specifically with The Avengers and, in general, with the free world. Among the best stories are indeed the ones that strongly center around the Black Widow. The rest of the volume, by and large, has recurring themes of trying to regain or maintain lost superpowers. For instance, for a few issues, Hank Pym is doomed to remain ten feet tall as a result of a freak accident in one of his encounters and thus cannot alternate between his Ant Man and Giant Man states without endangering his health. Also prevalent and quite problematic are the issues focusing upon Quicksilver, with his declining speed, and The Scarlet Witch, with her weakened spell-casting abilities; in these storylines, nothing substantial explains why they were losing their powers from the start or how, after retreating back to their homeland, they were able to fully recover them. To their credit, the writers did try to pose challenges that would make the Avengers seem more human, that is, where they have to use more ingenuity to remain a team, especially with Thor and Iron Man having already exited the picture for personal reasons. I do think that they got a bit carried away, but I believe that the series of storylines was their way of making Captain America seem, to the mind's eye, like a more relative and relevant leader and member of the Avengers. So far, this bound volume has the most verbage of any of the Essential volumes I have read. There are several frames per page and in quite a few of them are at least four dialogue or thought balloons. At best, this inclusion does try to get the reader to understand the thought processes and proposals of each hero and villain. At worst, however, are the syrupy statements, worse than the cornball, Scout's Honor phrases that Hawkeye accuses Captain America of overutilizing; long before you reach the last issue will you be sick of the "my darling" accolades between Janet van Dyne, aka The Wonderful Wasp, and Hank Pym, aka The Giant Man, Goliath, Ant Man, etc. All in all, this is a good volume but one with quite a bit of filler material. And it will take you a while to get get through each issue.

This is a must have for Comic book fans everywhere. While it lacks some of the excitement of the first volume this book contains some great work by Stan Lee and Roy Thomas, two of the most gifted writers of all time. Plus you get the first appearance of Goliath. Hawkeye becomes more likable as he stops being a thorn in Captain America's side, but he still plays his role as the team wise guy reall developing into the character he is today. These are the stories that put the Avengers on the map. They began to reclaim their title of Earth's Mightiest heroes, with the addition of Goliath and Hercules after the departures of Thor, Iron Man, and Giant-Man. So read this book and thrill to the pulse pounding excitement of the classic Avengers tales.