Avengers #239 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

This comic book came out with a cover date of January, 1984. I was 5 years of age. To say that by the time I was 5 that this comic book was my introduction to David Letterman would be a good guess. But you would be wrong.

My parents were on the young side when they had my in 1977. By 1983, neither were the age of 30 yet

 My mom, a nurse, worked nights. My dad was in college. They were night owls. They were hip-ish. To say that the exploits of David Letterman, his musical sidekick Paul Shaffer and the rest of the Late Night crew was already a nearly nightly session at my home would be an accurate description. The infamous interview between Jerry Lawler and Andy Kaufman in a cervical collar, was an early childhood memory for me. A traumatizing one. But one that I remember fondly. That's for sure.

This is one of those issues that I owned in my original childhood collection. The one that I foolishly allowed to be stolen when I was in middle school. I don't remember where I bought it. Heck, my dad might have bought it and then it ended up in my collection. But I could guess 3 possible locations that it was bought at: the Grocery Boy Jr., 7/11 or Tales Resold. All from the Raleigh Brentwood area. 

The story is a classic. Wonder Man's movie career has stalled. To help jump start it, Simon's agent gets him booked to Late Night With David Letterman. Unfortunately, since Wonder Man is currently on reserve status with Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the show's producers are wanting some more well known Avengers to tag along as well. With heavy hitters Captain America and Thor away on personal missions, Hawkeye and the Vision call in as many favors as they can to support Simon's big break. 

Along with Hawkeye, the Beast, Black Widow and Black Panther are all able to make. (I just realized that it appears that Clint Barton and Vision only made it to the letter B of the Avengers roll call!) Also in attendance is Fabian Stankowicz, a recent lottery winner who's been creating ways to attack the Avengers in order to make a name for himself. Using his knowledge of mechanics, Stankowicz turns Letterman's studio into an arena of death! 

This story also features the SHIELD super heroine Mockingbird. Fresh from their honeymoon, Hawkeye introduced her to his teammates and it's a good thing too because Stankowicz hadn't planned on Mockingbird being in attendance and she pretty much is the catalyst that saves the day! Though Letterman and Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band lend hands as well. 

This issue was part of Marvel's notorious 1984 Assistant Editor's Month event.  In 1983, Shooter and his editors went to the West Coast for Comic-Con and left the junior editors to take over the reigns for a month. As a result, some of the most off-the-wall stories and ideas were brandied about, such as the canon story where Aunt May temporarily becomes a herald of Galactus! I've got a few of these issues. I'd love for Marvel to reprint all of those issues as an omnibus. Though with GI Joe, Conan the Barbarian and other titles not being licensed by Marvel anymore, such a collection might be impossible. Perhaps I will add them to my already rather large wish list...

A fantastic issue that I am more than excited to have back in my collection!

Script by Roger Stern. Art and cover by Al Milgrom and Joe Sinnott. Michael Carlin is the editor to blame for this story!

Completing this review completes Task #9 (An Avengers Comic from the 1980s) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch #2

In West Coast Avengers #2, Ultron kidnapped his 'father', Dr. Hank Pym. Then as the Scarlet Witch joined up with the Avengers of the Pacific in their quinjet, Ultron unleashed an assault on the plane and it's going down!

Now in Vision and the Scarlet Witch #2, as the plane is crashing, Hawkeye is contacted by his wife, Mockingbird who has been away from the team, assisting SHIELD in a mission. This is fortuitous because when Grim Reaper's minions kidnap the crash's survivors, it's Mockingbird who saves the day.

Look, this book is over 30 years old. If you haven't read it now, you're probably not going to read it later. Although, if you're wanting to read the inspirations behind Disney+'s WandaVision, maybe you will read this book. Don't worry, I've not really spoiled anything. If anything, the big revelations that could spoil this issue involve Vision, Wonder Man and Grim Reaper. Let's just say that what transpires explains a lot of the villain's motives and why Simon Williams went from being Baron Zemo's lackey to an Avenger. However, I think in the past 30 years of Avengers stories, what happens to the trio has been retconned and distorted to the point that any spoiler I were to reveal wouldn't have any long-term repercussions to your knowledge of this corner of the Marvel universe.

A bit of a mess. Steve Englehart does manage to keep me from being lost in the material that was covered in the West Coast Avengers issue I've not read. Nor own. A lot of the action on the Quinjet seemed unnecessary. It's almost like Englehart needed to add that scene as filler in order for this issue of Vision and the Scarlet Witch to meet minimum page count requirements.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Avengers Spotlight #26 (2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Acts of Vengeance; Marvel's massive crossover that occurred in books dated December 1989-February 1990 begins here! 

These first two chapters (this issue is broken into 2 parts) of the beginning of Acts of Vengeance were crafted by the great Dwayne McDuffie (DC's Milestone imprint, Marvel's Damage Control). Acts of Vengeance itself was a company-wide crossover that focused on the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. The previous 3 summer crossovers were mutant heavy and Marvel's editors felt it was time for a shift in focus in order to not get stale. 

Along with this issue, the following 3 editions of Avengers Spotlight highlighted the Acts of Vengeance story line. Each issue was broken into 2 parts with Howard Mackie (Ghost Rider) spinning his tales around featured character Hawkeye and his lady fair, Mockingbird. McDuffie would feature other Avengers members, usually ones who didn't have their own series or would be considered B or C list material.

In the super-villain maximum security prison, The Vault, new procedures and protocols have been enacted as the result of Tony Stark's 'Armor Wars'. No longer equipped with Stark Tech, the guards at The Vault are armed with far less superior Stane machinery. As a result, new inmate The Wizard is able to overload the armor of the chief of security and initiate a full inmate escape! (Though to be honest, the mysterious guy in a trench coat might have also helped with the outbreak...)

Avengers Spotlight wasn't the only entry Dwayne McDuffie made to the Acts of Vengeance story line. Because of the widespread destruction that occurs in the Big Apple, McDuffie utilized the resources of the superpower disaster repair company Damage Control. Created by McDuffie in 1988, Damage Control was a tongue-in-cheek miniseries that continues to operate in the Marvel Universe to this day. The Acts of Vengeance 4-issue mini was the second volume of Damage Control.

Dwayne McDuffie is considered a pioneer to other black writers and creators in the comics field today. Though others came before him, McDuffie opened a ton of doors due to his amazing career. Shortly after Acts of Vengeance, McDuffie along with several other comic creators of color established Milestone Media to create a line of books that features a more honest representation of minorities in the comic book industry. 

During this time, Mcduffie created fan favorite Static, a black teen who gains electric based powers after being accidentally doused in chemicals during a gang war battle the youth was caught in the crossfire of.  After Milestone folded, McDuffie brought the character back with his own Cartoon Network series Static Shock! Static would even have crossovers with members of the Justice League in both the Static Shock series and Justice League Unlimited. Though not the first cartoon to star an African American, the show, which ran for 4 seasons, has been cited as an influence for other minority focused animated series like Boondocks and The Proud Family.

The legacy of Static and others lives on as in the past couple of years, DC has revitalized the Milestone universe with several new series, albeit slightly rebooted for a 2020's audience. Sadly, Dwayne McDuffie did not get to experience this new found revival of his Milestone. McDuffie passed away due to complications from emergency heart surgery in February, 2011. He was 49 years old.

Completing this review completes Task #9 (From an African American author/artist) of the 2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge. 

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Volume 1: The Coulson Protocols

Art imitates art in this series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., based on the ABC television show of the same name. In this volume, a villain bearing stolen Stark Iron Man tech has broken into the Pentagon. Making off with a set of contingency plans to take out superheroes that go rogue, the good guy community is on high alert! For this mystery baddie looks to auction the so-called Coulson Protocols off to the highest bidder!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has some great elements as well as a few that put me off. All of your favorite characters from the show are here- Coulson, May, Daisy, Fitz and Simmons. Only there's no Fitzsimmons here. The two characters aren't a couple. Heck, they're so far apart from each other, I highly doubt these two even went to the Academy together. 

One thing I love in the comic that I wish they did in the TV series was to include the Henry Hayes Deathlok as a permanent member of the cast after the completion of season 1. They missed a great chance to do that on the show. But here in the comic, I could not be more happier that he's used in great length and not just as filler. 

Bobbi Morse, Mockingbird, is also a part of this S.H.I.E.L.D. team. But she wears a costume instead of looking like Adrianne Palicki's version on the show.

It's at this juncture, I must point out that this 2015-2016 series is not a continuation of the live action show.Though masterfully written by S.H.I.E.L.D. screenwriter Marc Guggenheim, you can't expect this book to cover the gaps in-between the show's summer hiatuses. Instead, this book is Marvel's way of integrating the Cinematic Universe with the comics. I don't mind that. But I am so behind on Marvel's new stuff from the past 3 years that there were some plot points involving the Fear Itself and Civil War II story lines that kinda flew over my head.

For one reason or another this series only lasted about a dozen issues. I don't know if that was Marvel's plan or if sales were just that bad. (Marvel has this new habit of running titles for only 12-issues, so that could be the case.) But this was one of Marvel's better current titles. I'm sad to see it didn't succeed. But thankfully, there's one more volume full of story left out there for me to read and consume!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.