Random Longbox

TITLE: The Avengers #150

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: August 1976

COVER PRICE: $0.25

18 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

As I mentioned on the last post, I just recently reread this issue so the events are pretty fresh in my mind. It doesn't help, that this issue serves as a vehicle for reprinting bits and pieces of stories that any Avengers or Marvel fan should know by heart. And honestly, if you don't know what happened in Avengers #4, you should probably just hang it up.

I'll cut the non-Avenger reader some slack if they're unfamiliar with Wonder Man's introduction in #9, and I might even be lenient about ignorance with the first big wholesale line-up change in issue #16 if you catch me on a good day.

And you know what? Today is a good day, because this issue reprints those exact issues. So while we don't get a new Avengers line-up until the next issue, we are treated to some highlights of the first year and half of Avengers history, courtesy of Messrs. Lee and Kirby. If that wasn't enough, we also get a framing sequence by Steve Englehart and George Perez.

Let's get right to it, and in the interest of still having something to say when and if the Randomizer picks issue #9 or 16, I'm going to forgo the full on review and just geek out for the remainder of this issue and soak up all that Lee, Kirby and Perez have to offer.

Since this was the anniversary of 150 issues of The Avengers, let's see if I can find 150 things to geek out about in these eighteen pages. Everybody synchronize your watches, and we're off...

1. Awesome cover by Ron Wilson and Frank Giacoia! That right there is just about the perfect Avengers line-up. Swap out Hawkeye for Hellcat, and I could read about these guys all day long.


2. It only cost two bits!


3. Great issue title. Avengers Assemble! It's also a great catch-phrase, but why does it work as well as it does? It's not like assemble is the most action-packed verb around, and it definitely doesn't translate to other super-hero teams nearly as well. Champions Congregate! Fantastic Four Forgather! Metal Men Muster! It's a true mystery for the ages.


4. Stan Lee


5. Jack Kirby


6. George Perez

I'm probably cheating by listing the creative team separately, but I gotta get to 150 somehow. Besides, those guys are legends and deserve the honor. And while I've acknowledged that I'm playing fast and loose with the rules, these guys ain't nothing to sneeze at either...


7. Steve Englehart


8. John Tartag


9. Duffy Vohland


10. Dick Ayers


11. Denise Wohl


12. Artie Simek


13. I love time travelling villains


14. Irene Vartanoff


15. Archie Goodwin


16. Avengers Trope #41: The assembled mass of people and reporters outside of Avengers Mansion. I love this visual, as it really drives home the accessibility of these heroes. You couldn't do this with a moon base.


17. Yellowjacket. You can keep your Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Wasp, Scientist Supreme, or Dr. Pym identities. To me, Hank Pym will always be Yellowjacket (although I do kinda like the sound of that Scientist Supreme one).


18. Crazy wild coincidence! That just happens to be the 150th different costume that the Wasp has worn in her tenure with the Avengers so far.


19. Another crazy wild coincidence! I think I may have just made that last fact up out of thin air.


20. It's not named here, but one can only wonder if that is Korr that Yellowjacket is riding on.


21. The Wasp's fiery streak! She's come a long way in the past 118 issues.


22. A bonus shout out for referencing continuity from the previous year...and in a Marvel book, no less. Those were the days.


23. Jarvis' striped pants and tails. There's a butler who dresses for success.


24. Avengers Trope #81: Monogrammed chairs! Nothing says super-hero headquarters like monogrammed chairs.


25. Although, for each of them supposedly having chairs "especially reserved for them", it would appear that the Beasts and Hellcats are pretty interchangeable. One can only assume that their decals are waiting if they make the cut into the new line-up.


26. Appropriate that Iron Man's symbol is that of both iron and man.


27. Avengers Trope #68: Overly dramatic resignations!
    
    But I guess when you're dealing with the god of thunder, you should expect a little bluster every now and again.


28. Thor's abrupt announcement leads us to our first flashback to Avengers #1 and the formation of the team, helpfully recapped by the local newscaster reporting from outside. It was pretty awesome that the news station had Kirby on staff to provide some artist's renderings of the action.


29. It turns out, it's actually George Perez that they had on staff. I just checked the panels that I assumed were reprinted from Avengers #1 with the actual issue, but they're not the same. So there you go, a little Perez after Kirby for you. Here's another...


30. I like how Iron Man keeps his options open. You know, just in case this whole Avengers thing doesn't pan out.


31. This was obviously the Hulk from his more verbose, catch-phrase spewing youth.


32. Overly officious membership by-laws.


33. Wait a minute...isn't everyone here? Couldn't you just do a show of hands and get the new chairman installed with an actual mandate behind him? We all know what happens when a leader gets appointed, rather than elected.


34. Here's Perez' take on Kirby's classic scene of a frozen cap from Avengers #4.


35. Followed shortly by a nice Perez ala Heck re-imagining.
    
    
36. There's something right about George Perez drawing Wonder Man. He's one of the few that can make his myriad of questionable costumes seem not quite so questionable.


37. With the flashbacks coming this quickly, it's only a matter of time until we're at the formation of the new Avengers in Avengers #16. And with it, our first glimpse of actual Kirby art.
    
    And not a moment too soon, as the old Avengers seem to be in a spot of trouble!


38. Avengers Trope #92: Nothing says let me onto your team more than an "I just kicked your teams ass" introduction!



39. Hawkeye!


40. Flashbacks within flashbacks. Were there no editors back then. But it's Hawkeye, so we'll give him a pass.
    
    


41. And what of old Jarvis tied up in the corner? No hard feelings I'm sure, but we'll see how quickly your tea and biscuits gets delivered the next time your feeling a bit peckish, eh Hawkeye?


42. ZZZZZZZIT!


43. TWANNNNNG!


44. SSSSSSST!


45. Three arrows loosed from the same bow at the same time, and only one of them sounds like an actual arrow. Although in all fairness, I think that last sound effect is actually coming from the snake that Hawkeye used to tie up Jarvis' legs with, so we're all good. It's probably a good thing he was around to get that snake before something drastic happened, eh?


46. More by-laws! Good thing there's an employee manual to get the new members up to speed.


47. Watch that wandering eye, Jan! You know your man is a bit of a loose cannon, right?


48. One reformed villain joined up, so why not offer a spot to Namor, The Sub-Mariner?


49. Denied!


50. He'd come around in about a hundred issues or so, and end up palling around with the Avengers for a good few years. I actually have a lot of love for Namor in the Avengers as his arrival came right around the time I started reading the books on a regular basis.


51. Don't fret Iron Man, there's plenty of b-list villains hanging around that are just dying to join up.


52. Old-timey social networking at its finest. I long for the days when you could have a membership drive using the want ads.


53. Quicksilver's hair, the beta-testing for Logan's hairdo.


54. Self-deprecating Stan.
    
    I guess even Stan gets tired of Magneto boasting in those early issues, as we have yet another flashback in a flashback dealing with the origin of Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch.


55. Old-timey social networking at its finest, part two.
    
    I guess the equivalent today would be tweeting your request for membership to #avengersmemberdrive.


56. Quicksilver has lovely penmanship for someone who, and I'm only assuming here, writes really fast.


57. Captain America fighting jungle beasts! Why? Who cares, as we've had a real lack of action in this issue.


58. If only he would've fought a gorilla, we would've come full circle from our last post.


59. I guess this is still early in Cap's career, as he hasn't mastered the art of ricocheting his shield back to him with every throw. There's nothing more foolish than a super-hero picking his shield up off the ground.


60. Back in the states, Cap is still on his jungle high and looks to avoid the assembled reporters in true, man of action style.
    
    Surely there has to be a secret door somewhere, eh?


61. Reunions!
    
    Just because the other Avengers are kid-sized to Giant-Man, shouldn't give him permission to treat them as such.


62. Time-travelling villains! Although isn't there some sort of paradox being violated by having two disparate versions of the same character commenting about the same thing in real time?


63. Did I mention that I love time-travelling villains? Maybe I'll go back in time and mention it there too!


64. The drama...oh, the drama!


65. Really Rick Jones? I mean really? (with apologies to Seth and Amy)


66. Tip for Rick Jones on getting into the Avengers. Try robbing a bank or subjugating mankind first. It seemed to work out all right for the new line-up.


67. I think Tony Stark is the poster child for personal reasons.


68. Overly dramatic exits...


69. ...and new beginnings!

And that brings the 150th issue extravaganza to a close. Let's see how we did on our quest to find 150 interesting things about Avengers #150. After totaling up the judges scores, it looks like we got to 69...so close, so close.

Lucky for you, you won't be going home empty-handed. That's right, along with the home version of the Random Longbox board game, every reader will also be going home with the identity of the new line-up that was teased in this very issue, but never revealed.

Here it is, enjoy...

(oh, and spoilers I suppose, for those of you not up on your 34 year old continuity)

As far as line-ups go, it doesn't get much better than that.

So I'm reading Superman (Vol. 2) #65 for the upcoming review, and I came across this nice looking splash page.

And as nice as that image is, it instantly reminds me of this one from Crisis On Infinite Earths #5.

George Perez is the undisputed master of massive super-hero group shots, and from looking at his shot here, it's easy to see why. The design work in that image is nothing short of amazing. From the angled perspective, to the circular border, to the varying levels of depth...there's something new to see each time you look at it.

That's reason enough that this image has stuck with me for the last twenty-five years, as there are plenty of iconic images that came from this series, but this one is one of my favorites. I had just started reading comics earlier the year and was mainly a Marvel guy, yet I vividly remember staring at this splash page again and again wondering just who everybody was.

Ahhh, to be a kid again.

TITLE: Action Comics #600

PUBLISHER: DC Comics

COVER DATE: May 1988

COVER PRICE: $2.50

70 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

So this book is the official celebration of 50 years of Superman stories in Action Comics! Coincidentally enough, we have the landmark issue Superman #600 coming out this month as well. You gotta love the timing of the Randomizer when it comes to picking the books to review. The skeptics among you might actually think that this whole random thing is a gimmick. Fear not, true believer, as it's all on the up and up.

Anyway, back to the issue at hand, and we're in for a real treat. We'll look at the first story from this issue today, and included within we have three firsts here for the Random Longbox.

First, while we've reviewed books by John Byrne before, this is the first time we've looked at his Superman relaunch.

Second, this is the first time that we've been graced with the artwork of George Perez. He did do the cover to The Defenders #51 which we read sometime last year, but it was such an average looking cover that I initially didn't even realize it was drawn by Perez. Rest assured, we're gonna get the good stuff now.

Third, Wonder Woman finally makes an appearance on the blog.

And now that I think of it, we have a fourth first as well. Darkseid is the big baddie in this one, making this his first full (non-Tangent-ized) appearance at the RL.

With all of that said, let's not waste anymore time meandering around a preamble and lets just get to it.

Different Worlds

• Story/Breakdowns: John Byrne
• Finishes: George Perez
• Letters: John Costanza
• Colors: Tom Ziuko
• Assistant Editor: Renee Witterstaetter
• Editor: Mike Carlin

So we have Byrne and Perez teaming up for a story that features the two characters they were instrumental in relaunching post-Crisis, and they don't waste anytime throwing us into the middle of the action...so to speak.

Easy there Superman! It's obvious to us at least, that the lady just isn't all that into you. Unfortunately this is a powered-down post-Crisis, and he apparently left his powers of super-perception back in the silver age.

Luckily for Supes, he finally realizes that maybe Wonder Woman is not quite into the kiss as he is. She explains that she has only been in man's world for a short time, and the feelings and emotions that accompany that come with much trepidation. She acknowledges that she has thought of Superman as something more than friend, but she is going to need some time, as this is their "first date" after all.

It's encouraging to know that even Superman gets shot down on occasion, as that proves there is hope for the rest of us mere mortals.

So they agree to take it slow and easy, when Superman suggests that they go to his place. I'm sure his intentions are entirely innocent, but that doesn't necessarily seem like slow and east too me.

While they're flying to Supes' place, Hermes appears and summons Wonder Woman to Olympus as he is in grave danger.

Sure he is! It's more like Wonder Woman called him off panel and said, "Hermes, you gotta help me out here. This Superman is a real horndog! You gotta appear in front of us and pretend that there's some sort of emergency or something. Athena lost her owl, Zeus stubbed his toe, anything! Just get me outta here!"

So Wonder Woman is summoned to Olympus, but Superman is not ready to let his date slip through his fingers, and he follows her through the wormhole.


On Olympus, Superman and Wonder Woman are now separated as each of them gets transported to a different area. Superman is lost in the ruins, as the "up is down, left is right" nature of the place has him at a disadvantage. Wonder Woman, on the other hand, finds Hermes as he explains who has done this to him...Darkseid!

Instead of being worried that Superman and Wonder Woman have mysteriously appeared on Olympus so shortly after he has conquered it, Darkseid sees only opportunity and goes about scheming a plan to capture them as well.

Seeing as how the two heroes are separated, he sends Amazing Grace and Kalibak out to find them, masked as Wonder Woman and Superman respectively. He will take advantage of their confusion to gain the upper hand with his disguised warriors.

Since the real Superman and Wonder Woman have just spent seven pages awkwardly explaining their feelings for each other, they are not so easily fooled by the dopplegangers. It matters little to Darkseid that the deception is uncovered so easily, for that was part of his plan. He has Amazing Grace and Kalibak lead the two heroes to the same spot, so when next they meet they will destroy each other, thinking that they are still being fooled!

And here's where John Byrne and George Perez really get to show off, as they give us three beautiful pages of silent fighting with a grinning Darkseid enjoying the show.

Unfortunately for Darkseid, the player just got played. Superman and Wonder Woman could tell that they were actually fighting each other and used the slobber-knocker as a ruse to search for Darkseid's command center without him catching on.

Breach it they do, but instead of taking the fisticuffs directly to him, they clue him in to something that he has overlooked...Olympus is empty. There are no other gods here, and all he has captured is an empty rock. Conveniently enough, a Parademon captain arrives to confirm their observations.

Olympus is empty.

Realizing that the only victory left is of the scorched earth variety, Darkseid and Desaad disappear into a boom tube as Darkseid activates explosives that he has planted throughout Olympus.

No worries though, as Olympus is eternal and will not be destroyed until the gods themselves wish it to be so.

Back on earth, Superman comes to the realization that the "real" gods just play too rough for him. He is, after all, just a boy from Kansas. The two heroes decide to just be friends from here on out.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

There's really only one flaw with this issue, and that's the romantic tension between Superman and Wonder Woman. Maybe it's the fact that twenty years worth of stories with Lois and Clark married have colored my perceptions, but I don't ever remember there being a whole lot of sexual tension between Superman and Wonder Woman before.

I realize that it makes for a great vehicle with which to get Perez and Byrne together on the same story, but the fact that the whole romantic subplot gets introduced and resolved within thirty two pages just seems a little ham-handed to me.

Even with that, I still enjoyed the heck out of this issue as the real draw is seeing George Perez and John Byrne working together. These were two artists at the top of their game, telling stories with two of the most iconic heroes of all time.

With Byrne scripting and doing the breakdowns, it give the comic a fluidity that moves the story along at just the right pace. Add in George Perez, and his unparalled sense of detail and design on finishes, and you have a seriously beautiful story definitely worthy of Superman's golden anniversary.

Follow along here for the next set of stories in the celebration.