{"id":28100,"date":"2023-06-03T09:00:14","date_gmt":"2023-06-03T09:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=28100"},"modified":"2023-06-02T17:10:06","modified_gmt":"2023-06-02T17:10:06","slug":"mighty-marvel-masterworks-the-avengers-volume-3-among-us-walks-a-goliath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2023\/06\/03\/mighty-marvel-masterworks-the-avengers-volume-3-among-us-walks-a-goliath\/","title":{"rendered":"Mighty Marvel Masterworks The Avengers volume 3: Among Us Walks a Goliath"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy Stan Lee<\/strong> & Don Heck<\/strong> with Frank Giacoia<\/strong>, Wallace Wood<\/strong>, Dick Ayers<\/strong>, John Romita<\/strong> & various (MARVEL)
\nISBN: 978-1-3029-4895-5 (PB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Probably Marvel\u2019s biggest global franchise success,<\/em> The Avengers<\/strong><\/em> celebrate their 60th<\/sup><\/em> anniversary in 2023, so let\u2019s again acknowledge that landmark and offer more of the same\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

These stories are timeless and have been gathered many times before but here we\u2019re enjoying an example of<\/em> The Mighty Marvel Masterworks<\/em><\/strong> line: designed with economy in mind and newcomers as target audience. These books are far cheaper, on lower quality paper and smaller <\/em>– like a paperback novel. Your eyesight might be failing and your hands too big and shaky, but at 152 x 227mm, they\u2019re perfect for kids. If you opt for digital editions, that\u2019s no issue at all.<\/em><\/p>\n

After a period of meteoric expansion, in 1963 the burgeoning Marvel Universe was finally ready to emulate the successful DC concept that had cemented the legitimacy of the Silver Age of American comics. The notion of putting a bunch of all-star eggs in one basket had made the Justice League of America<\/strong> a winner and subsequently inspired the moribund Atlas outfit – primarily Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko – into conceiving \u201csuper-characters\u201d of their own. The result – in 1961 – was The Fantastic Four<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

After 18 months, the fledgling House of Ideas had generated a small successful stable of costumed leading men (but still only 2 sidekick women!), allowing Lee & Kirby to at last assemble a select handful of them into an all-star squad, moulded into a force for justice and soaring sales\u2026<\/p>\n

Cover dated September 1963, and on sale from early July, The Avengers<\/strong> #1 launched as part of an expansion package which also included Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos<\/strong> and The X-Men<\/strong>. This edition collects The Avengers<\/strong> #21-30 (cover-dates October 1965 to July 1966): groundbreaking tales no lover of superhero stories can do without\u2026<\/p>\n

Here the team consists of Captain America<\/strong>, Hawkeye<\/strong> and mutant twins Quicksilver<\/strong> and The Scarlet Witch<\/strong> who had replaced big guns Thor<\/strong>, Iron Man<\/strong>, Giant-Man<\/strong> and The Wasp<\/strong> and were already proving a firm fan-favourite. Spectacle had been nudged aside in favour of melodrama sub-plots, leavening the action through compelling soap-opera elements which kept readers riveted.<\/p>\n

After debuting insidious infiltrator Swordsman<\/strong> in the previous volume, scripter Stan Lee and illustrators Don Heck & Wally Wood launched another soon-to-be big-name villain in the form of Power Man<\/strong>. \u2018The Bitter <\/em>Tas<\/em>te of Defeat!<\/em>\u2019 <\/em>(#21) depicted his origins and a diabolical plan hatched with evil Asgardian archfoe The Enchantress<\/em> to discredit and replace the quarrelsome quartet. The scheme was only narrowly foiled in a cavalcade of cunning countermoves in concluding episode \u2018The Road Back<\/em>\u2019<\/em>\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

An epic 2-part tale follows when the turbulent team is shanghaied into the far-future to battle against – and eventually beside – Kang the Conqueror<\/strong>. \u2018Once an Avenger<\/em>\u2026\u2019 <\/em>(Avengers<\/strong> #23 with, incidentally, my vote for the best cover Jack Kirby ever drew) is inked by slick John Romita (senior), and pits the heroes against an army of fearsome future men. The yarn explosively and tragically ends in \u2018From the Ashes of Defeat!<\/em>\u2019<\/em> with inker Dick Ayers backing up Lee & Heck.<\/p>\n

The still-learning but ever-improving squad then face their greatest test yet after being lured to Latveria and captured by the deadliest man alive in #25\u2019s \u2018Enter<\/em>\u2026 Dr. Doom!<\/em>\u2019 <\/em>and forced to fight their way out of the tyrant\u2019s utterly cowed, hyper-militarised kingdom…<\/p>\n

As change is ever the watchword for this series, the next two issues combine a threat from subsea barbarian Attuma<\/em> to drown the world with the epic return of some old comrades. \u2018The Voice of the Wasp!<\/em>\u2019 <\/em>and \u2018Four Against the Floodtide!<\/em>\u2019 <\/em>(pseudonymously inked by Frank Giacoia as Frank Ray) form a superlative action-romp but are merely prelude to the main event – issue #28\u2019s revival of founding Avenger Giant-Man in a new guise. \u2018Among us Walks<\/em>\u2026 a Goliath!<\/em>\u2019<\/em> was an in<\/em>stant classic that reinvented the Master of Many Sizes whilst also introducing the villainous – and ultimately immortally alien – hobbyist dubbed The Collector<\/em> whilst extending the company\u2019s pet motif of heroic alienation. After rushing to save Wasp from the cosmic kleptomaniac and his stooge The Beetle<\/em>, the team are unable to prevent Hank Pym<\/em> becoming tragically trapped at a freakish ten-foot height, seemingly forever\u2026<\/p>\n

As Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch briefly bow out – returning to Europe to reinvigorate their fading powers – Avengers<\/strong> #29 features \u2018This Power Unleashed!<\/em>\u2019<\/em>: bringing back Hawkeye\u2019s lost love Black Widow<\/strong> as a brainwashed Soviet agent tasked with destroying the team.<\/p>\n

Despite recruiting seasoned foes Power Man and Swordsman as cannon-fodder, her plan fails due to her incompletely submerged feelings for Hawkeye\u2026<\/p>\n

This titanic tome terminates on a cliffhanger as \u2018Frenzy in a Far-Off Land!<\/em>\u2019 <\/em>sees dispirited, despondent colossus Dr. <\/em>Pym<\/em> heading south to consult with his old college mentor Professor Anton<\/em>. He never expected to find a hidden South American civilisation or become embroiled in a high-tech civil war that threatened to destroy the entire planet\u2026<\/p>\n

To Be Continued\u2026<\/p>\n

Supplementing the narrative joys is a single behind-the-scenes treasure: a Tee-shirt design by Jack Kirby & Wally Wood\u2026<\/p>\n

These immortal tales defined the early Marvel experience and are still an unbounded joy no fan should deny themselves or their kids.
\n\u00a9 2023 MARVEL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Stan Lee & Don Heck with Frank Giacoia, Wallace Wood, Dick Ayers, John Romita & various (MARVEL) ISBN: 978-1-3029-4895-5 (PB\/Digital edition) Probably Marvel\u2019s biggest global franchise success, The Avengers celebrate their 60th anniversary in 2023, so let\u2019s again acknowledge that landmark and offer more of the same\u2026 These stories are timeless and have been … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Mighty Marvel Masterworks The Avengers volume 3: Among Us Walks a Goliath”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[222,237,74,317,54,247],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ant-man","category-black-widow","category-captain-america","category-doctor-doom","category-fantastic-four","category-hawkeye"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7je","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28100"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28104,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28100\/revisions\/28104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}