Loki is angered by his imprisonment to the Isle of Silence and seeks revenge on the being responsible, his step-brother Thor. He uses his mental abilities to trick the incredible Hulk into destroying a train trestle with the illusion that dynamite has been placed on the tracks. As a train approaches Hulk realizes that with the track down the train will surely crash, so standing on a massive boulder he holds the track on his shoulders allowing the train to pass over the crevasse. The conductor sees no dynamite and only notices the mangled track and Hulk standing below it, his conclusion is that Hulk is rampaging again, and attempting to destroy the train. As the manhunt for Hulk begins, Loki uses his powers to prevent the Fantastic Four from hearing the call to assist in locating the Hulk and instead tries to force the signal to reach only Dr. Don Blake (The human persona of Thor.) While initially the signal does not reach the Fantastic Four, it does reach Thor, Iron Man, and Ant-Man (along with Wasp). Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four eventually receives the signal on another band but is unable to assist. After the battle and after defeating Loki, the five heroes decide to team-up and then start The Avengers.
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Innovative Key Issue |
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Back in the early 60s, Marvel had a great cast of characters that it wanted to bring together in a supergroup to compete against teams like the justice league. Avengers #1 does exactly that by bringing Thor, Iron Man, Ant Man, Wasp and the Hulk together to fight the menace of Loki, god of mischief. I really like the way these characters interact with each other but they seem a little immature and vain at first glance. In reading this issue you would think that these characters are way too different to come together and work as a team. The hulk just wants to be alone and I have never figured out why he wanted to be a part of the avengers in the first place other than the chance to strike a blow at Loki. Thor really seemed out of place on this team being from Asgard and all, I would think he would rather hang out with his powerful godhood friends rather than with mere mortals with everyday problems. Ant Man and Wasp seem a little over their heads on such a superpowered team and the Wasp comes off looking a little empty headed making flirtatious comments throughout the whole story. Iron Man was the one member who truly seemed at home with such a superpowered team. His aromor and gadgets look primitive but his character even back then had alot of potential. The characters pictured on the front cover eventually succeded in forming a super team and I have enjoyed the Avengers ever since. Reading this issue gives you a sense of history and it makes you realize how far these characters have come in the marvel universe. Long live the Avengers!!
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Earth's Mightiest Heroes |
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There Came A Day... |
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Avengers Being Assembled |
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The Coming of the Avengers |
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You know I thought that maybe Stan and company might have gotten their supergroup fix when they introduced The X-Men earlier this month to mimic the success of The Fantastic Four, but apparently not it would seem. So they'd been teasing us with it for months, testing ideas out and trying a mixture of characters together, but it's here with the arrival of The Avengers that Marvel truly goes all-out with their interconnected universe. Featuring a whole handful of characters so far inducted into the Marvel superhero pages thus far (all with the exception ofSpider-Man, Doctor Strange and The X-Men), Lee and company go ahead and offer readers what they'd be hoping for; the Marvel equivalent (or better) of DC's Justice League. Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, Wasp & eventually The Hulk unintentionally cross paths and team up to take down the mischievous God and brother of Thor, Loki. If you've been reading the Journey into Mystery series so far, you know the score—Loki can pretty much do anything (with renders his physical escapes pretty much superfluous if he can just cause havoc from Asgard) and wants to spoil his brother's day whilst having as much fun as he possibly can at the same time. So it's probably little surprise that reading the issue is pretty much like reading either of the central character's solo books in that it's fairly mediocre in comparison toThe Fantastic Four or Spider-Man.
So yeah, ostensibly it's a pretty lame plot yet taken as a whole with theHulk sideplot thing going on (but seriously, The Hulk joins the circus and we don't get to see how that transpires? Come on!) and all this crossover madness, the issue distils some awe as you read it knowing that things would irrevocably be changed from here on in. So while it may not be as momentous on its own as, say, an origin issue, The Avengers is nevertheless just as significant in its boldness and change of direction for the company. Some will argue that it was a mistake, but most will agree that much of Marvel's success comes directly from this very issue. In that regard the issue is worth a read, despite the fact that much of it (like many origin stories thus far) is plainly middling and standard-set whilst the writers really get a feel for all these new toys they get to play around with.
For full reviews complete with digitally recovered covers and art work, visit http://manicmarvel.tumblr.com/
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| Added by: | Galamoth |
| Date Added: | June 24, 2009 |
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| Date Added: | June 24, 2009 |
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| Date Added: | June 6, 2008 |