By various (Marvel)
ISBN13: 978-0-8713-5760-1
In the 1960s Jim Shooter was a child-prodigy of comics scripting who was writing the Legion of Superheroes and Superman before he’d finished High School. After college, when he returned to the industry and gravitated to Marvel Comics it seemed natural to find him working on a comic with just as many characters as that fabled future super-team.
His connection to The Avengers, although episodic, was long-lived and produced some of that series’ best tales, and none more so than the cosmic epic collected here. This sprawling tale of time-travel and universal conquest originally ran in The Avengers issues #167-168 and 170-177.
In the Gods-and-Monsters filled Marvel Universe there are entrenched Hierarchies of Power, so when a new player mysteriously arrives in the 20th Century the very Fabric of Reality is threatened. It all begins when the star-spanning Guardians of the Galaxy, 31st Century Superheroes, arrive in Earth orbit in hot pursuit of a Cyborg despot named Korvac. Even after teaming with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes they are unable to find their quarry, but a new and unique being named Michael is lurking in the background, subtly altering events as he gathers strength in secret preparation for a sneak attack on those aforementioned Hierarchies. His entire plan revolves around his not being noticed before he is ready…
Spread through a series of lesser adventures with such long-term foes as Ultron and The Collector, lesser luminaries like Tyrak the Treacherous and even Federal Watchdog-come-Gadfly Henry Gyrich, the larger story ponderously and ominously unfolds before finally exploding into a devastating and tragic Battle Royale that is the epitome of superhero comics. This is pure escapist fantasy at its finest.
Despite being somewhat let down by the artwork when the magnificent George Perez gave way to less enthusiastic hands such as Sal Buscema, David Wenzel and Tom Morgan, and cursed by the inability to keep a regular inker (Pablo Marcos, Klaus Janson Ricardo Villamonte and Tom Morgan all pitched in), the sheer scope of the plot nevertheless carries this story through to its cataclysmic and fulfilling conclusion. Even Shooter’s reluctant replacing by scripters Dave Michelinie and Bill Mantlo (as his editorial career advanced) couldn’t derail this juggernaut of adventure.
If you want to see what makes Superhero fiction work, and can keep track of nearly two dozen flamboyant characters, this is a fine example of how to make such an unwieldy proposition easily accessible to the new and returning reader.
©1977, 1978 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
For my money, Shooter is one of the better writers in comics. Clearly he creates controversy wherever he goes, but his scripting has always been rock solid. He was taught the basics by Mort Weisinger and those rules have stood him in good stead ever since. These Avengers tales are some of the best stuff he did, full of his trademark characterization and storytelling ‘rules’.
After more than a decade in the wilderness, Shooter is now back in comics — and once again writing the comic that started it all for him: the Legion of Super-Heroes. The man’s still got it.
Yep, Yep, Yep!
I also eagerly look forward to seeing what he’s going to do next. It’s a mark of his ability that my usual gripe about too many characters being daunting for new readers doesn’t even apply to group books he’s written, like the Korvac book here.
I think I’m going to unearth a bunch of his Valiant and Broadway collections in the near future, and give us all a treat…