Essential Avengers, Vol. 3

Volume 3 of Essential Avengers sees yet more roster changes. BIG SHOCK there. The King of Wakanda and the android Vision joins the ranks of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. With that last inclusion, that also means we're introduced to the robotic menace: Ultron!

This volume covers issues that first debuted from 1968-70. I knew that the Vision makes his debut during this period of time. But I thought we were at least 5 years, maybe more, away from Ultron coming into being. So having him pop up was a real surprise. Too bad that Ultron is probably my least favorite Marvel villain of all-time. Here's a character perfectly designed to destroy humanity and yet, Ultron always loses- seemingly destroyed. But no! Ultron keeps coming back in a new, bigger and badder upgraded body. Why won't he just die?! 

The addition of T'Challa adds a touch of royalty along with a heavy hitter to the ranks of the Avengers. Why the Black Panther doesn't use his political clout more during this time period is beyond me. Instead, T'Challa takes on the secret identity of Luke Charles, a inner city school teacher. Towards the end of this volume, we do experience the struggles of the Civil Rights movement through the Panther's eyes when those slimy racist goons of the Serpent Society rear their ugly heads back onto the seen. They're not as scary as the original version of the group seen in the previous volume. Still, it doesn't make their message of hatred and bigotry any less palatable. Beating DC Comics to the punch with relevant comics by almost a full year, I don't know if making the Black Panther the champion of the battle of inner city racism and inequality was Roy Thomas' idea or that of editor Stan Lee. Whomever it was, they were visionaries whose contribution should never be erased from bookshelves!

Another major character undergoes a change; although their metamorphosis is less internal and very much overt! Clint Barton hangs up his purple tights and arrows and takes on Dr. Henry Pym's mantle of Goliath, the giant Avenger. No, Hank hasn't retired from superheroing. But now a married man and operating as the schizophrenic superhero Yellow Jacket, Pym doesn't have time for seeing the sites of the Big Apple from 20 feet in height. After the death of his brother, Barton needs a change. Losing the love of his life, the Black Widow, to her career as a SHIELD operative may have something to do with the change in identity...

Compared to the last volume, there's a lot more of original members Thor and Iron Man as well as Captain America in this book. They're all still on reserve status. But it's nice to see them in action when things look their bleakest like in the alternate reality thriller of Avengers, Annual #2 in which the original Avengers killed off all of the other heroes in order to usher in a Golden Age of Peace and tranquility under the benevolence of the Scarlet Centurion. 

It seems that with the loss of new recruits balanced with the assistance of the Big Three, the more things change for the Avengers, the more things stay the same.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Pseudoscience: An Amusing History of Crackpot Ideas and Why We Love Them by Lydia Kang, MD & Nate Pederson

Myths and legends. The unexplained. The macabre. The paranormal. These are all subjects that I like to read about. This book by Lydia Yang, MD and Nate Pederson looks at an assortment of strange and unusual phenomena and attempts to disprove it through scientific fact. Your usual suspects are explored here: UFOs, ghosts, cryptids and the Bermuda Triangle. Then you have your lesser known unsolved mysteries like spontaneous combustion and ley lines. Then you have things that even a lifelong lover of all things this side of Ripley's Believe It Or Not have never encountered such as the all but forgotten 20th century school of thought/cult of Lawsonism.

For the most part the writers are fair and even a touch open minded. Right off the bat, they promise to not disprove any mainstream religions. Things like Atlantis could be real and while the authors destroy the concept of astrology based on the fact that Pluto is no longer a major planet in our solar system, they admit to sometimes reading their horoscopes because 'its fun.'

One subject that I felt did show a bias was the chapter on climate deniers. Personally, I agree that something is wonky with our weather. But I don't blame it solely on the human race. I really think something is off with our planet's axis because I don't remember it still being sunlight at 9:30pm during the summer when I was a kid. Yet, while the authors expressed hopes that maybe there really is a Loch Ness Monster, they both seem to close the door on any other explanation to climate change than it's all because of fossil fuels and deforestation. I agree that has something to do with it. But I feel like there's an unspoken element out there that is also contributing to climate change and that it's being kept hush-hush.

The authors have a pair of similar books that I actually have been wanting to read for some time now. After reading this 2025 book, I am still open to getting those sister volumes. There is a light-hearted element to (most of) this book. Mostly, it's relegated to the captions for the photos and some were really funny. I liked how the majority of the chapters details events and happenings as factual before going back and tearing down the subject matter with a scientific approach. It helps to give this book a very open minded feel to it because who knows, maybe one day we will be visited by aliens flying around in a flying saucer. It's doubtful. But it's not a concept that has been 100% disproven yet.

If only the authors had kept this approach to every chapter. I wouldn't have felt like I was tricked into a promise of scientific exploration of the unknown and wound up attending a very fierce-toned TED talk on climate change.

Grateful Dead Comix #1 (2025 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Despite the cover indicating that this is #1 of Grateful Dead Comix, it's actually the 6th issue in the series. Issues #1-5 were originally published by Kitchen Sink Press in a larger magazine sized format. Sales were fairly decent and Deadheads, fans of the world famous Grateful Dead, loved seeing their favorite songs brought to life in 4-color form. However, rising costs in the production of the book, especially in terms of multicolored ink and paper, resulted in editors needing to shrink the size of the book done to the standard comic book size of 6.625 inches x 10.25 inches. 

Unfortunately, the new format as well as renumbering of the book couldn't keep the book from becoming a victim of the dramatic drop in overall sales of comics in the early 90s. The retooled Grateful Dead Comix was cancelled in April, 1994 after just 2 issues. It didn't help that it took nearly a full year for issue #2 to see print. Knowing how some fans are picky about their collection of hardcover and softcover collected works all looking uniform, the format change was probably met with some level of complaint as well.

The issue contains full comic adaptations of 2 Dead songs. Reed Waller and Kate Worley interpret Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter's 'Ripple' as a woman remembering a lost love through the items she finds in her attic. Paul Ollswang's depiction of Hunter's 'Attics of My Life' seems to stay away from the bowels of the sky parlor; instead focusing on a strange man with antlers who battles fierce beasts in a land of feminine-looking sprites. 

This issue also continues a project by Tim Truman. Based off of the never produced 6 song concept album 'Eagle Mall', Truman crafts a story full of creatures and characters that look like they were taken straight out of the animated cult classic film Heavy Metal, engaging in an epic war on an unknown battlefield. This segment features songs #4, 'Lay of the Ring' and #5, 'At The Pass'. Songwriter Robert Hunter worked with Tim Truman in this attempt to finally see his passion project come to fruition. The following issue promised to bring 'Eagle Mall' to an stunning conclusion. 

Grateful Dead Comix didn't just cover visual representations of the band's songbook. Previous issues covered legendary sets performed by the Grateful Dead, including their 1967 performance at the Monterey, CA fairgrounds. Cartoonist (and Deadhead) Terry LaBan, contributed to a frequent series called 'True Life Experiences of a Reluctant Deadhead'. Another segment was on tap for the next issue. Other future plans for Kitchen Sink's franchise license included a special edition hardcover collection of issues #1-4. Limited to 500 copies, it included a bookplate autographed by guitarist Jerry Garcia.

Completing this review completes Task #34 (With a Three Word Title) the 2025 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.