Marvel Action Classics: Spider-Man Two-In-One #1 (A Family Comic Friday Extra)

Some weeks there is just so much great stuff that you can’t contain it in one article. For this Family Comic Friday Extra, we take a look at the triumphant return of the House of Idea’s Marvel Adventures line in a series of reprint one-shots from IDW!

Marvel Action Classics: Spider-Man Two-In-One #1
Written by Marc Sumerak, Peter David
Art by David Nakayama, Mike Norton
Published by IDW Publishing
Pages: 46
Retail: $4.99

From 2005-2011, Marvel Comics was your place for all-ages comics. Under the Marvel Adventures line (formerly Marvel Age), all of your favorite superheroes and villains came alive in exciting exploits that captured the heart of classic Marvel while exploring unimaginable new plot-lines. Where else could you find the Hulk and Wolverine switching brains? Or Mole Man turning into a giant thanks to some Pym particles?

The essence of Marvel Adventures was that the comics were fun. They also happened to be quite funny. With a slew of amazing talent such as Darwyn Cooke, Aaron Lopresti, Skottie Young and Tommy Lee Edwards, the sky was the limit! And in some cosmic themed stories, that limit extended into the furthest reaches of the cosmos!

Unfortunately, with the coming of Disney XD’s line-up of animated series based on the Avengers, Incredible Hulk and Spider-Man, Marvel Adventures’ day were numbered. By 2012, the line was defunct. Instead of issues filled with original art and stories, Marvel Comics replaced Marvel Adventures with picto-comics. Here, stills from the cartoons were placed into order, word bubbles added, and put into comic book form. With a couple of pages of fun and games stuff, these comics took over for the Adventures line. Even the digest collections of Marvel Adventures stories were discontinued abruptly, immediately going into out-of-print status.

Sadly, the Marvel Adventures line was all but forgotten. Unless you got lucky at a used book store or maybe a dollar box at a comic book show, it was almost impossible to find anything from this imprint. Well, that’s all about to change!

This week, IDW Publishing was granted access to the Marvel Vaults in order to present some of the most exciting tales from the Marvel Adventures line. First up was a pair of Spidey stories in which the wall-crawler joins forces with some of Marvel’s powerhouses.

In the first story, Spider-Man falls under the spell of Amora, the Enchantress. With the sorceress now claiming the throne of Asgard, Spider-Man has unwittingly become her champion. That all might change when Thor, the god of thunder, arrives on the Asgard scene!

Then Spidey must enlist the help of the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange! When Flash Thompson is attacked by a fierce beast, Spider-Man comes to the rescue. Seemingly, Flash is okay. That is until the moon gets full and the bully turns into a werewolf!

Both stories were great. But Peter David (The Incredible Hulk) is a master at storytelling and his werewolf narrative just has something magical about it. The artwork of both stories is very good. However, it’s the art that has always been the one thing that I wasn’t a huge fan of with Marvel Adventures.

I love thick ink lines. I think it’s a throwback to the 60s and 70s comics that I grew up on. The Marvel Adventures books always featured ultra-modern artwork with characters made up of heavy muscles and pencil-thin inking. There’s nothing wrong with this style of artwork. It’s just not my cup of tea.

That being said, I’m excited that Marvel is giving a new generation of superhero fans a chance to discover Marvel Adventures. In the next few weeks, IDW will be releasing 2 more one-shots under the Marvel Action Classics banner- one starring Captain America and a second featuring The Hulk. The Hulk issue is due in stores on June 5th. Cap’s issue is currently TBA. But until then, you’ll just have to settle for your friendly, neighborhood, Spider-Man!

Marvel Action Classics: Spider-Man Two-In-One #1 debuted in print on May 29th, 2019.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Adventures: Hulk #11

  The first ever crossover in Marvel Universe history occurred way back in Fantastic Four #12. In that epic issue from the early 60s saw the Thing tussling with the Incredible Hulk. Buildings were destroyed, bystanders were hurt, and a legend was born.

   Over the next 5 decades, the two titans would continue to tussle. But thanks to that dynamic two-part story, the Thing and Hulk would become uneasy friends. Often they'd team-up together and then due to some misunderstanding (usually on the Hulk's part) the two heroes would battle it out until that fragile truce could be reestablished. The same is no different in this all-ages friendly story from 2008.

   Here, Bruce Banner comes to the Baxter Building along with his teenage pal Rick Jones. The duo are looking for Reed Richards to assist the good doctor in finding a cure for the gamma radiation that turns him into the big green machine. The only member of the Fantastic Four at home is lovable Blue Eyed Benji.

     Not one to let a friend down, Thing gives Bruce free reign over Reed's lab. But when a squad of Doombots invades the lab, an errant laser blast angers Banner and he turns into the Hulk. Naturally instead of the attacking robots, the Hulk assumes the Thing attacked him and another classic battle between the two heroes is born!

   One again, Marvel crafted another all-ages classic in their Marvel Adventures line. It was fun and funny and full of action and adventure. The art was very good as well though it might have been just a little too clean for a battle royale between the Thing and the Hulk. Still this was an excellent story that isn't very expensive if you can find it. Plus, I just loved the last page- especially the very last panel.


  Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10

Marvel Age Spider-man #18 (Family Comic Friday)

Cover to Marvel Age Spider-man #18. Library edition has a red spine and is titled "Spidey Strikes Back."

  Little treasures like this issue can be found at your local library true believers…

 From 2005, when Spider-man suddenly disappears, newspaper editor J Jonah Jameson declares victory that the Spidey menace is over. A slew of criminals also believe that the city is ripe for their plucking and having been attacking the city in droves. Eager to find out why Spider-man disappeared, the Human Torch has been making rounds hoping to catch up with the wall-crawler during one of these crime sprees. But the Sandman and the Enforcers have also been following the arachnid-clad hero’s routes and now have a member of the Fantastic Four in their sights. Now it’s Johnny Storm who needs saving by his friendly neighborhood Spider-man.

Marvel Age was the first attempt by Marvel to create all-age friendly comics that could appeal to young readers, new-comers, and the comic book connoisseur, Marvel, unlike DC, was more open to this in the early 2000s and I think with the slew of movies and cartoons based on Marvel properties, they won the battle for that generation of new readers.

The one thing the Marvel Age books were missing was a link to the past while being relevant and creative. For example, the first 5 or so issues of Marvel Age Fantastic Four are a near verbatim recreation of the first 5 issues of the original series published in the 1960s. Why, even the lingo was archaic. Thankfully, Marvel got the message and was a little looser with the reins on later series, such as Spider-man. However, there was very little continuity in the Marvel Age books until the imprint was almost complete.

I prefer the Marvel Adventures series that came afterwards. Those books were lots of fun. There was a smidgen of continuity without making readers wait till next month for the conclusion. 4 weeks is a life-time for kids to wait to see what happens next to their favorite super-heroes and I give Marvel major props for understanding this. Generally, Marvel would instead have a theme for their titles that would spend about 4 issues. For example, the Marvel Adventures Avengers would spend 4 issues getting to know each other better, then the next 4 issues fighting mythical creatures, and then another 4 issues adding new members to their ranks. This made for easy reading by having each issue self-contained and yet easy to combine in digest form for binge-reading.

The digest reprints are generally the way to go if you want to collect these issues easily. Single issues do pop up in bargain bins but most comic book stores shy away from all-age titles and thus it’s difficult to find unless you are willing to spend hours searching for these series. A digest is normally retailed at $6-9 bucks and can still be ordered through Amazon and other book dealers. The glue in these is horrid and can easily shed pages like a cat in summer, so treat with care.

As I said earlier, these books can also be found at the library. For Marvel Age titles, they are usually found in a single bound hard-back library edition whereas the Marvel Adventures stuff is almost always on a shelf in digest form with additional binding to stand up to multiple readings. I’ve found these books in several libraries in North Carolina and I am sure you can find these nationwide at libraries that devote attention to graphic novels.

Next week, I’ll explore the Guardians of the Galaxy and talk more about teaming with your local library to get it to be more graphic novel friendly.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Captain America: The Fighting Avenger, Vol 1

This collection of Captain America tales was a pleasant surprise. With the exception of the title story, I was certain that I had read the other three stories published within. Thankfully, having just devoured this awesome anthology, I was wrong.

Captain America: The Fighting Avenger takes place during the awkward stage of Steve Rogers’ career. He’s just gotten the super-soldier serum and finished basic training. But he lacks combat experience. I9n fact, he’s been paraded so much selling war bonds that he’s looked at more like a mascot than a solider. In this story we get a glimpse of Cap’s first combat mission. However, war is more ho-hum than hell as his platoon makes him play look-out than actually do any fighting. It’s interesting to see a less than confident Cap struggle to be seen as a symbol of freedom much less be able to use his shield properly.

Along with Captain America: the Fighting Avenger, this volume also reprints a team-up tale from Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #5. In that story, Cap and Rhino hope of saving an endangered rhino baby from experimenting Hydra scientists. I’m pretty sure that that story was only a segment from issue #5 and not the whole comic as the story was too short. However, it was a thrill-a-minute read and unique having Rhino play the good guy role for a change.

The last two stories are from the classic Marvel Adventures Avengers series (issues 7 and 37 are reprinted.) In the first story, Baron Zemo kidnaps Captain America in revenge for past defeats during World War II. But all is not as it seems with this Zemo as he’s too cunning than he was in the 1940s. It will take all of the super powers, ingenuity, and tricks up the sleeves of Steve Roger’s teammates in order to save the Sentinel of Freedom.

I’m not sure how I missed this issue. I thought I had read the entire run of MA: Avengers. Btu like I said earlier, I was pleasantly surprised and thrilled to have an all-new adventure starring my personal favorite Avengers line-up. 

I had read issue 37 before. It stars the Puppet Master finding a way to drag the Invaders through time and turning them into his new army of warriors. When Cap is faced with his past he must decide whether to stay with his new team or return to the friends and time he holds so dear. Thanks to my readings of the Timely 75^th Anniversary one-shots, I was able to reread this tale with a new perspective and enjoy some of the inside jokes a little more.

This collection is a great treasury starring my all-time favorite super hero. I highly recommend this book. Sure, ¾ of the book is geared toward the all-age crowd (IE kids under 13) but seasoned veterans of Cap’s adventures, adults, and youngsters alike will love this collection. I also consider it a good primer for someone wanting to get their toe wet in comics starring Captain America and the Avengers.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Universe Thor Comic Reader (2013), volume 1

This small reader is geared towards young readers as a sort of primer. It contains a couple of stories from the Marvel Adventures line; an all-ages imprint that I just adore. It’s classic, wholesome and captures the Marvel Age of Comics beautifully.

  The first story gives a very good introduction of the characters of Thor, his alter-ego Don Blake, his unrequited love Jane Foster, as well as his father Odin and evil step-brother Loki. It also gives a brief synopsis of Thor’s origin while also telling a very good and action packed original story. I’ve read this story before and thanks to it being both wonderfully written and dynamically drawn, I read it again. If a parent came to me saying that their child wanted to get into Thor but did not know where to start, I would select that tale and thus, this issue.

   However, this reader does something that I HATE- it has a cliffhanger. I mentioned earlier that this book had two stories. Well, the second tale has Thor facing both and Ice Giant and a Fire Demon. Unfortunately, before Thor can really get his thunder rolling, the story ends with a “To Be Continued.” Even worse, the library doesn’t have volume 2, so I’ll have to wait to see how this story unfolds.

   I don’t think that tale originally was a two-part story. The few pages printed were just too short. If this was Marvel’s idea of gaining a younger audience for the God of Thunder, leaving the book with a cliff-hanger wasn’t a smart idea. $4.99 is a lot for a child to pay for a comic book-even if it is a primer. It’s even more of a stretch to expect that child to A) be okay that their book ends with a cliff-hanger and B) expect that child or mom and dad even to shell out another $5 plus tax for the second book.

   Maybe I’m just a spend-thrift. But I think parents should be aware of this. It just makes good dollars and sense to make potential readers aware of such a format. Marvel, I suggest in the future taking these matters into account if they truly want to engage and capture the next generation of readers.

Worth Consuming (but only for the first story!)

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four Vol. 6: Monsters & Mysteries

WORTH CONSUMING!

Marvel Adventures are just the best! Sure, there geared for Kids, but the cover says “All-ages”!

This volume has the FF solving a Whodunnit in Atlantis, Fighting a Skrull invasion by what could only be summed up as the only foursome dumber than the guys in “Tropic Thunder”, The Thing becomes the King of the Mole-people, and the group is sent back in time to met Rama-Tut.

 

 The Tut story is the best. Alicia gets her sight back and Thing finally gets an answer as to whether the girl would still love her if she wasn’t blind. Sadly, it all gets ret-conned at the end and the event never really happens (try explaining this all to my wife and watch her head explode.)

"Marvel Adventures The Avengers Volume 4: The Dream Team Digest (Marvel Adventures)"

WORTH CONSUMING!

Finally, some info on the origin of Giant-girl and a little clarity about her place in Marvel Canon.

   Some really good stories in this volume. Thor was grossly underused. The Kang story was very clever. And Wolverine’s reaction when Capt. gives him temporary leadership of the Avengers was hilarious.

"Marvel Adventures: the Avengers Volume 6 "

WORTH CONSUMING!

Well, the ever growing roster of Avengers keeps growing in this volume. However, based on how Marvel works to prevent the roster from losing its chemistry- they present a wonderful closing tale involving current and new members working together. The chemistry works, with Spidey being the wise-guy and Capt. America providing the soul leadership.

 

 Thankfully, the story ends with the newbies getting place on an inactive roster and the Super 7 remaining together. I hope this trend continues.

Marvel Adventures: The Avengers Volume 5 Some Assembling Required

WORTH CONSUMING!

I really enjoy the Marvel Adventures series. I know they are more geared for younger readers. But, like a Disney movie, it also has something to offer for the adults. This series, while not canon, culls from the vast 50 years of Marvel Comics lore to create some fantastic stories featuring classic Avengers such as Hercules, Hawkeye, and many others, which appear fresh for kids and a welcome friend for us “old fogies”

However, I must complain as to why Marvel feels that the need to add to the cast of MA: Avengers. The lineup of Giant Girl, Wolverine, Storm, Spider-man, Capt. America, Iron Man, and The Hulk is the best line-up I’ve ever had the privilege to read about. Their powerful, witty, and have great chemistry. Now, I am afraid with these new members, that’s going to change. Only time will tell if this series thrives or fails.

Until then, it’s worth consuming!