Essential Avengers Vol. 3

There's a singular reason to own this book. Sure, if you've got volumes 1-3, you're going to want volume #4. But even if you weren't interested in the material of Essential Avengers Volume 1-3, if you are a fan of the Marvel universe, and you don't mind your reprints in black and white, you will want to own this book because of the Kree-Skrull War!

There have been several cosmic brouhahas in the multitude of pages coming from Marvel Comics. But to truly understand the origin of those conflicts, such as Annihilation, you've got to delve into the adventures of Earth's Mightiest Heroes from 1969-1971. 

Never to be an Avenger Rick Jones finally gets a chance to be a hero. Only because of a strange twist of fate, the one time Hulk sidekick isn't allowed to be his own man. Instead, a pair of cosmically powered bracelets force Rick to become bonded to the Kree warrior Mar-vell. Whenever trouble arrives, Rick activates the bands and he switches places with Earth's newest hero, Captain Marvel- into the Negative Zone!

Jones and Mar-vell's occupation in that inter-dimensional Hell sparks the attention of the Negative Zone's tyrannical leader Annihilus. With the Fantastic Four away, it's up to the Avengers to monitor any disturbances in the Zone. As a result, Jones and Mar-vell's link is severed. Now both can exist on Earth-616 at the same time. This the wheels that will cause an intergalactic war between Kree and Skrull- with Earth in the exact center crosshairs- begin to turn.

Roy Thomas does it yet again! With art by Sal Buscema and Neal Adams, this really is a volume not to be missed. That is if you can find it.. Out of print for over a decade and highly sought after by collectors, the Essential Marvel books are increasing difficult to find. Especially for a good price. But if you happen to come across one in decent shape that's affordable, you should grab it without question! Though you might ask why the editors included an issue of The Incredible Hulk in this volume. While you are supposed to read that issue after a crossover of sorts in the pages of The Avengers, the super team don't even appear in the Hulk book except for a cameo in the recap section of the tale. A good story but really could have been avoided if they just included some sort of blurb that the Avengers didn't have any active role in the Hulk's adventure in a pocket universe in the sub- atomic realm.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Essential Thor Volume 5

I'm not really as big of a fan of the cosmic Thor stories. The ones I adore are those that delve into Norse myth or are the run-of-the-mill tussles with super powered baddies. I'm not sure why that is. But I really hated Thor: The Dark World and if it wasn't for the humor and use of the Asgardian goddess, Hela, I probably would've hated Thor: Ragnarok too!

Speaking of Ragnarok. The end of Asgard occurs at least twice in this book. One sees the fall of Odin. The other occurrence is a reprinting of a classic Stan Lee/Jack Kirby foretelling of the end of all things. 

Gerry Conway, one of my all-time favorite Superman creators, pens all of the original stories. Some instances were very good. But Conway sends Thor and company into space quite a bit in this huge 500 page plus volume. So, it was difficult to enjoy this collection thoroughly. 

I really got a kick out of the Marvel/DC crossover. Yes, 4 actual characters from the DC universe crossover into Marvel territory in a two-parter some 5 years before the Man of Steel will meet The Amazing Spider-Man. For some, this crossover might seem that much of a big deal. But if you were an avid reader of Justice League of America and The Brave and the Bold around 1968-1972, you'll get a kick out of the appearance of several minor but oh so import figures in DC history. 

Oh, wait, now that I think of it, there were 5 characters who crossed over!

The art by Sal Buscema, his brother John , Len Wein and others was amazing stuff. It's interesting how much the characters change when crafted by other artists and yet they still manage to look iconic too! 

An enjoyable read of Thor stories. However, it's just not my favorite collection of them either. With only 1 Marvel Essential collection of Thor stories, I am thinking that I am not going to ever get to the Walt Simonson era. I guess I am going to have to start looking for color collections or possibly start collecting Thor single issues in order to get to that and close out the Odinson's original series of tales.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

ROM #23

Continuing from Power Man and Iron Fist #73, ROM the Spaceknight has followed a Dire Wraith into the Baxter Building. Now, ROM is convinced that one of the first family of Marvel is secretly one of his most deadly foes in disguised. Knowing that the fortress of the Fantastic Four is heavily guarded by the top security systems in existence, the Heroes For Hire decide to assist ROM in his quest. It helps that Luke Cage still has a security access card from his days as a security consultant and back-up to The Thing when he was stuck as Ben Grimm. 

Bill Mantlo takes over for Jo Duffy on this issue as the writer with Sal Buscema on art. Al Milgrom did the cover and I was a bit nonplussed with his offering compared to what Frank Miller did on the Power Man/Iron Fist opener. 

This issue was quite funny. Very exciting. And proof that despite the fact that I probably don't have very many companion issues to the ROM series from Marvel, it's worth finally reading!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.