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Author Topic: Busiek/Pérez AVENGERS Annotations: AVENGERS #1  (Read 5887 times)
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JulianPerez
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« on: August 18, 2006, 10:56:51 AM »

I wrote this article to send in the mail to Tom Brevoort and Kurt Busiek and see if I might get a No-Prize or something. They occasionally do that for people that make contributions; a person at my comics store once designed a new Daredevil masthead, and while they didn't use it he got a much-coveted No-Prize for his troubles.

But I thought I might post it here first before sending to them, so you guys can see how obsessed I am with this stuff. Cheesy

I'd like to thank my cousin and best friend, Eddie Michigan, who edited this, checked my facts, and helped a lot. Thanks, Eddie!

It's sort of one big "thank you" to Busiek and Perez for their AVENGERS. Let me explain something: when I was a kid, I loved to read my older brother's comics, when I could sneak into his room. He had tons of MARVEL TALES Spider-Man reprints, the Englehart, Shooter and Roger Stern-era AVENGERS, tons of Byrne/Claremont UNCANNY X-MEN, Steve Gerber DEFENDERS, weirder books like SON OF SATAN, STAR WARS, THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF INDIANA JONES, SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP, MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE, and GI JOE SPECIAL MISSIONS.

When my brother moved away, he got too cool for comics, and when he sold off the valuable issues, he gave me the rest of it. The day he left for college was the best day of my life! Now, I tried to start reading comics in the 1990s, but there was nothing out there I really liked except my first DC comics ever, STAR TREK and STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION.

Then, in High School, a fellow Moorcock loving friend recommended to me Busiek/Pérez's AVENGERS and THUNDERBOLTS, and the Chris Priest BLACK PANTHER (I thought it was by the British science fiction writer at first). I bought every single one, got all the back issues, and loved them.

It was the Busiek AVENGERS that made me the comics fan I am today. You made comics cool again for me. For that, Kurt, Tom and George, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.

(And eventually, I even bought some non-TREK DC comics. Cheesy )




BUSIEK/PÉREZ AVENGERS ANNOTATIONS: AVENGERS #1 (VOL. 1)


Think of it sort of like "Pop-Up Video" for your comics!


Page 2, Panel 1: Where in Manhattan could this "Eastern European community" be? The Lower East Side is historically possible, although presently it is mostly Dominican and Latino.

The restaurant is called "Café Transia." Transia is the Eastern European country that is birthplace to Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch (and also the Fantastic Four enemy, the Puppet Master). This is the first appearance of the Café Transia. This Café is returned to in later occasions, notably in AVENGERS


Page 2, Panel 2: Note the restaurant sells "Tyrolean Cuisine." Note also that Tyroleans (spelled Tyrolians) are a country in Busiek's ARROWSMITH (Tyrolians are another name for Austrians).

Note also that the color schemes of Quicksilver's civilian clothing, green and white, represent his original costume's color scheme.


Page 2, Panel 4: Crystal has gone back to her Silver Age look since her time as an Avenger in Avengers #334-339: almond eyes and pointy Spock eyebrows. Later on, she uses her Silver Age yellow costume.


Page 2, Panel 6: None of the Asgardian monsters seen in this issue are "new" creations; it's a credit to Busiek's knowledge of the Marvel Universe that all of them have shown up in THOR or JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY before. The Flying Trolls of Thryheim were first seen in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #125, in a "Tales of Asgard" backup. The Flying Trolls of Thryheim are insectlike, dwell in a "hive" shaped mountain, and have a beautiful queen (not shown) Ula, who is the wife of Geirrodur, King of Trolls...which accounts for why she was attempting to seduce Thor back in JIM #125! Cheesy


Page 3, Panel 1: The fact that Firebird is at a church is no surprise. Ever since Avengers West Coast she's been characterized as being a very religious Catholic and refused returning to the Avengers to continue her mission work. She even changed her name to "Espirita" for a time and displayed a cross as part of her costume.


Page 3, Panel 2: In Spanish, the sign in the background gives the restaurant's name as "Street Angel" (which incidentally, is an ASTRO CITY character created by Busiek) and beneath it, it reads "Latin Food."


Page 3, Panel 4: These monsters are called Silent Ones, a type of Troll first seen in AVENGERS #1 (1963) inhabitants of the Island of Silence where Loki was banished, appearing afterward in AVENGERS WEST COAST #55, their only two appearances apart from this one.


Page 3, Panel 5: Bonita Juarez's identity was secret, but here she transforms to Firebird in front of a lot of people. Perhaps now that she is a missionary, she doesn't care so much about the Secret ID? Then again, Firebird never wore a mask, anyway.


Page 3, Panel 8: Black Panther is in official garb as he is officiating a wedding; note the half-cape and collar.  


Page 3, Panels 9-11: The Black Panther guessed the name right: this monster is a Birdbeast, seen in MIGHTY THOR #149.


Page 4, Panel 2: Note that Hawkeye is seen for the first time in the outfit he would wear for this series: presumably he got a new one after Onslaught.

Mutaurus was first seen in MIGHTY THOR #146, in a "Tales of Asgard" backup as an ally of Mogul.

According to the OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE DELUXE EDITION, Hawkeye is using his Longbow in this panel, whose primary purpose is "distance shooting." Why would he use it close range? Possible explanation: Hawkeye was ambushed, and that was all he had on him. Note that on pg. 16, Panel 2, Hawkeye uses an all-purpose regular bow.


Page 4, Panel 4: The Swordsman and Magdalene are alternate universe versions of "our" Swordsman and Mantis, the Celestial Madonna.

The plants here are the Carnivorous Plants of Skornheim, from MIGHTY THOR #116. It should be noted this is not the first time that the Carnivorous Plants have been placed alongside a story featuring the Norn Stones: Loki used the Norn Stones to defeat them in the "Trial of the Gods."
 

Page 4, Panel 6: It should be noted that at this point, Hercules is not a Cincinnati resident, but was there because his story involved him going on a road-trip after leaving Heroes for Hire.

The dragon monster is Ulfrin the Dragon, from JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #101 as a mount for the Norn Hag, here shown hagless.


Page 4, Panel 8: Despite the Living Lightning's comments, the creatures he's fighting are not Gnomes, but Rock Trolls from MIGHTY THOR #128. Their king is Seidring the Merciless, who identified them as the most "bestial creatures of all" and was made their King by Odin as punishment when Seidring stole the Odinpower. Seidring, however, is nowhere to be seen.

Living Lightning left the Avengers in order in go to college in Avengers West Coast #89. Interesting to note that when he did so, he was going to USC. He may have since transfered to UCLA.


Page 5, Panel 4: Moondragon is fighting Gullin, the Boar God from the "Tales of Asgard" backup in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #103, who challenged Thor and was defeated when Thor shattered his mace. Gullin made a second appearance in THOR ANNUAL #11, when he encouraged the Boar-Gods to rebel against the Asgardians.

According to the "Secrets of Avengers #1" backup feature in the same issue, Gulin was supposed to be Ogur, Guardian of the Mystic Mountain. This had to be changed and the art redrawn, since Ogur was captured by Black Widow, Mach-1, and Songbird in Thunderbolts #9!


Page 5, Panel 5: Spider-Woman is facing the Vanna from the "Tales of Asgard" backup in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #105. The Vanna were originally seen as spies by Nedra of the Storm Giants, in the tale "When Heimdall FAILED!"

Morgan had a really good plan involving sending the Vanna after Spider-Woman. If they create whirlwinds, Spider-Woman's agility is useless.


Page 5, Panel 6: Namor's foe is the Rime Giant from the "Tales of Asgard" backup in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #101.


Page 5, Panel 7: She-Hulk is wearing a pair of torn purple pants - a reference to the attire of her famous cousin.

No word on which "law school chum" Shulkie is visiting in San Francisco. The original SAVAGE SHE-HULK series established Jen Walters as a Los Angeles resident, with her father as a local sheriff, however, she could have a few friends still in California. This is not her friend "Zapper," however, who was a medical school student, not law.

The Demon Riders were seen in the "Tales of Asgard" backup in MIGHTY THOR #144.


Page 5, Panel 8: These Trolls were first seen in the "Tales of Asgard" backup in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #99.

Interesting that Darkhawk should be here; he only really had ONE case as an Avenger, back in AVENGERS WEST COAST #93-95.


Page 6, Panel 9: The creatures here are Asgardian Dwarves, first seen in the "Tales of Asgard" backup in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #103.


Page 7, Panel 4: Perhaps telegraphing page 8 panel 16, Firebird's chest is hidden modestly by the hands of the Silent One she is blasting.


Page 7, Panel 6: Not sure which of Hawkeye's arrows this is. Explosive arrows generally have a long silo shape, as do his Smoke Arrows, Sonic Arrows, Bolo Arrows, and Flare Arrows. The triangle arrowhead shape and the blunt "red dot" tip may imply a type of exploding Rocket Arrow.


Page 7, Panel 10: Strange that Living Lightning's electricity can affect trolls made of rock...unless of course this implies that Rock Trolls are not actually stonelike beings, but just get that name because of their closeness to their habitat (like "mountain goats," for instance).


Page 8, Panel 10: George Pérez made a boo-boo here: though he drew Living Lightning in his yellow costume, the color scheme matches that of his original outfit.


Page 8, Panel 11: "By my Beard?" Hercules, you don't HAVE  a beard anymore!


Page 8, Panel 16: Firebird's fire powers appear to have burned off her costume, meaning she's naked here. UNSTABLE MOLECULES: never leave home without 'em.


Page 9, Panel 1: Note that there is snow on the ground. There was also snow back in pg. 2, panel 2 in the exterior of the Café Transia as well. This implies the growing power of Asgardian magic.


Page 10, Panel 2: Proving Busiek never ignores even the little details, this woman is Megan McLaren, last seen as the newscaster from THUNDERBOLTS #1.

According to HEROES RETURN, until now, Avengers Mansion had been used as the Manhattan headquarters of SHIELD.


Page 11, Panel 3-6: Note that the television shot of Avengers Mansion is the same in all of these panels.

Note too, that all the china and tea kettles are bronze/gold, just like the beersteins in Café Transia and the gates of Avengers Mansion. What, is anything silver colored exorbitantly expensive on Marvel-Earth?


Page 11, Panel 5: By "I've been overseas," Captain America means his recent trip to Japan, where he materialized after returning from the Heroes Reborn universe.


Page 11, Panel 6: Hank Pym and the Wasp, who were divorced, reconciled their differences several months prior to Onslaught. The villa in D'Antibes is the property of the Wasp, and it is commonly used by other Avengers that take time off to repair their relationships: Firestar and Justice used in AVENGERS (Third Series) #27, after Avengers membership put a strain on their relationship.


Page 12, Panel 9: Intriguingly, Hank Pym has a giant-sized teacup! Giant-Sized teacups have been a part of the Avengers Cupboard for decades.


Page 13, Panel 1: Note first appearance of Hank's Giant-Sized Ant-Man costume. Hank's changing costumes would be a big long-term plot point in the Busiek/Pérez AVENGERS.


Page 14, Panel 1: This is the first time we've seen Thor since he disappeared fighting Doctor Doom during Onslaught and was presumed killed.


Page 14, Panel 2: "My God, Man..." EXACTLY, Hank Pym. Not sure if this is a joke or not.


Page 15, Panel 4: Thor recovers easily from exhaustion of any kind. This was a plot-point back in GIANT-SIZED AVENGERS #2, where Vision and Iron Man were wiped out by powering Kang's Macrobots, but Thor bounced back immediately.


Page 17, Panel 2: Wanda is showing up in a Checkered Cab; apparently, Marvel New York is a little different than ours, as in 1998, only five checkered cabs were in service in NYC.


Page 18, Panel 3: What they're talking about here is the fact that Hawkeye had something of a crush on Wanda back in the Lee/Heck AVENGERS before the Black Widow showed up, and part of the reason Hawkeye wanted to be leader was so he could impress Wanda by being Top Dog. This subplot faded when the Black Widow showed up in AVENGERS #30.


Page 18, Panel 5: Quicksilver's comments are actually born out during his stint in the Peter David run on X-FACTOR, when under psychoanalysis by Doc Sampson it was revealed that part of the reason for Pietro's ornery personality is his frustration with a "slow" world.


Page 19-20, Panel 1: Pay attention to the paintings on the wall: the closest to the left is of the original Avengers, identical to the cover of AVENGERS #1 (Vol. 1). After this, the paintings were of Avengers that were dead at the time the book was printed: Jocasta, Wonder Man (in his original costume from AVENGERS #9).

Sersi, in the center, is in her original Kirby costume again. And she is talking things over with She-Hulk and Starfox, the Avengers bon vivants! Something tells me those three probably would find a lot in common...

Even Avengers not in the story get mentions: for instance, Quasar mentions to the Vision that Deathcry was a galaxy away and thus cannot participate. Deathcry and the Vision were friends, and so it makes sense she'd send regards to him.

Strange that a girl on the prowl like Tigra is talking to, of all the male Avengers, Living Lightning, who according to Dan Slott in GREAT LAKES AVENGERS #2, is gay.

Spider-Man is placed right above the three New Warriors. Appropriate, since he is only slightly older than they, and also because his clone, Ben Reilly, was a member of the New Warriors.


Page 19-20, Panel 2: Notice that Machine Man is looking at a painting of the original Human Torch, who was also an android.

Black Widow is talking about her checkered record as an Avenger; she started off as a villain, and even when she turned good back in the Roy Thomas/Heck/Buscema years, a running subplot was that the Avengers believed she had turned traitor, when in fact she had merely been acting as a double-agent to spy on the Communists. What she is most likely talking about is how, during her brief stint as Avengers leader, she cracked under the stress and disbanded the team after the Onslaught disaster. This is a new costume for her, seemingly related to her second costume.


Page 19-20, Panel 3: Actually, until Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch arrived, Hercules WAS the "earliest" Avenger in the room (after the Founding Members and Captain America in the other room, natch, and the dead Swordsman and Wonder Man).


Page 19-20, Panel 4: Note the three haughtiest Avengers: two Kings and a goddess, are sneering at homeless hero, D-Man. Namor's comments about the X-Men not being choosy come as ironic, considering Namor HIMSELF was approached for X-Men membership!


Page 19-20, Panel 5: D-Man, who first appeared in THING as a part of the extreme wrestling league, was a regular cast member in CAPTAIN AMERICA, which is how he got to be an Avenger on a rather unofficial basis in CAPTAIN AMERICA #349, though D-Man disappeared before it could become permanent.


Page 19-20 Panel 6: This is not Justice's first encounter with the Avengers. He tried out a while back, but was rejected, for his youth and checkered record. He is not the only New Warrior to have tried out for the roster, either: Speedball did so in CAPTAIN AMERICA #352.


Page 19-20, Panel 8-9: Beast and Carol Danvers were good friends, hence their camaraderie here.

Carol's overreaction to the Beast's statement is because she herself is losing her powers as Binary and is keeping it a secret, a running subplot in Busiek's AVENGERS. The reason for her power loss was not quite explained.


Page 21, Panel 1: Notice that the Wasp has changed costume; a recurring gag, because of her clothes-horse personality.

The "dead" Avengers here are (left to right, top to bottom): Captain Marvel (who was an honorary Avenger posthumously), Doctor Druid, Hellcat, Jocasta, Marrina, Mockingbird, the first Swordsman, Thunderstrike, the second Yellowjacket.

The "unavailable" Avengers are (left to right, top to bottom) Charlie-27 from the Guardians of the Galaxy (in a possible future), Deathcry (in a different galaxy), Martinex (in a possible future), Two-Gun Kid (in the 19th Century), Vance Astro (in a possible future).

The "inactive" Avengers are (left to right, top to bottom) the original Human Torch (who lost his powers), and presumably the one to the right of Vance Astro is War Machine, who has retired to run his own business.

The two "Unknowns" are the Mantis (who is off being the Celestial Madonna), and Masque (who, astonishingly, was abducted in AVENGERS #399 and wasn't seen again when writers changed and that subplot was dropped entirely).

The only Avenger not shown is presumably the Whizzer, who would be last in alphabetical order. Intriguingly, the Whizzer is omitted from any kind of visual representation in this issue.


Page 22, Panel 2: Note that Hawkeye looks pissed off. This is because he was not invited to stand with the founders. He expresses a similar sentiment a page later.

Hercules has his arms wrapped around the Black Widow and She-Hulk - two women he was romantically involved with. The Black Widow, in the CHAMPIONS series by Bill Mantlo, and with the She-Hulk in SHE-HULK's second ongoing series.


Page 23, Panel 7: "Legal difficulties" is really, really putting it mildly. Spider-Man was accused of murder and was seeking to clear his name. At the time of the issue, Spider-Man was seeking to clear his name.


Page 23, Panel 8: Note that Sandman used to be a Spider-Man foe!


Page 24, Panel 4-6: Thor's Hammer can create portals to other dimensions, notably Asgard, by his spinning it. Also, note the similarities between this situation and what many consider to be the worst episode of the original STAR TREK, "The Alternative Factor."


Panel 25, Panel 2: Thor has got a five o'clock shadow, implying some time after he woke up.


Page 25, Panel 3: Some Asgardian landmarks visible in this picture: the horned head is from a Giant Bust of Odin, and in the distance of the top right corner, one can see the top of Valhalla.


Page 25, Panel 6: This is not the first time that Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge has been broken; it was shattered previously in a battle between Surtur and Odin in MIGHTY THOR #350-353. The fact it has broken a second time implies that Bifrost is quite fragile in construction.


Page 26, Panel 1: The heads in the back are Thor's supporting cast (from top to bottom, left to right): Heimdall, Fandral the Dashing, Balder the Brave, Hogun the Grim, Lady Sif, and Odin.


Page 26, Panel 2: The bare, dead trees would indicate that this is Skornheim, but this is not explicitly stated.


Page 26, Panel 5: Iron Man has indeed dealt with magic before. Notable occasions include the Avengers/Defenders War and the first battle with Morgan Le Fay.


Page 27, Panel 5: Notice who is asking about the Twilight Sword - the Black Knight, Dane Whitman, no stranger to magic swords.


Page 27, Panel 9: Thor's ability to sense the Norn Stones was not pulled out of thin air. The Thunder God used it in MIGHTY THOR #117, and explained the power in that issue this way: "The uru powers of my hammer shall be attracted to the enchantment of [the Norn Stones]!" No word is given as to how Thor could have guided several others, since the power was not a "radar," but rather (to quote) "his magic mallet soon changes direction, attracted by the invisible field of energy!" In other words, his ability to detect the Norn Stones was more like a dowsing rod.


Page 28, Panel 5: The Avengers have been banned from flying Quinjets in New York City limits, however, judging from this panel, this no longer appears to be the case.


Page 29, Panel 2-3: To quote Dan Slott: "Being an urban legend only works for the first two years of continuity, tops."


Page 30, Panel 4: Note that D-Man and Quicksilver were the only ones not wearing their seatbelts.


Page 32, Panels 4-7: Busiek deliberately left vague what it was the Scarlet Witch did that ended the cyclone. Quasar describes it as "unnatural," which would imply Wanda's "true magic" would not be effective against it. In GIANT SIZED AVENGERS #4, we learn that the Scarlet Witch's magic is more effective against natural things, less effective against unnatural things like metal. It was a part of Wanda's recurring characterization after, that she really liked being around flowers and nature as a true witch.


Page 33, Panel 5: For those of you not up on Greek Mythology, the Stables of Augea were one of Hercules's Twelve Labors, which involved Hercules cleaning stables that hadn't been washed in years by redirecting a river to do the work for him.


Page 33, Panel 6: Note the camaraderie here between Cap and D-Man.


Page 34-35, Panel 1: To my knowledge, these Rock Trolls have not been seen before.


Page 36, Panels 1-5: Quicksilver can be a very dangerous Avenger when angry.


Page 37, Panel 3: As this giant Morgan Le Fay actually picks up and uses the Twilight Sword on pg. 41, this is not an illusion, but actually Morgan, with her magic grown to huge size, in a manner similar to Mordru.


Page 38-39, Panel 1: The monster here is the Midgard Serpent, whose first appearance was in the "Tales of Asgard" backup in MIGHTY THOR #127, but has since been used many times, including one notable issue comprised of naught but splash pages.

Morgan explains that the Black Widow was loathe to lead an Avengers team again, however, as others have noted, if Captain America made the selection, it would make sense he'd put her in charge.


Page 38-39, Panel 2: The Fomor were first seen in BLACK KNIGHT #4, fought the Avengers in AVENGERS #225-226 with Morgan LeFay, and those seen here are: Taramis, Morrigan, Cernunnos, Lug, and Belanos.


Page 38-39, Panel 3: The attackers here are Frost Giants, who have made numerous appearances. These should not be confused with Immortus's personal servant, who looks very similar.


Page 38-39, Panel 4: Uncertain if the conquistador skeletons seen here were seen before, however, very similar ones were fought in IRON MAN #150.


Page 40, Panel 2: By her "Heritage," Morgan refers to the fact that she is at least partially fairie, which accounts for her hair color and her immortality.

This panel is rather intriguing in its implications for how magic in the Marvel Universe works, which the story itself does not completely go into. For instance, the fact that Morgan, a fairie, cannot use the Twilight Sword, because it is too "different" from her Celtic fairy magic. Is it possible there are "traditions" of magic that require learning, just like a spoken language, and one can hear but not "understand" magic from other mystic "languages?" It is known, for instance, that the Enchantress's magic weakens if she spends a long period away from Asgard, for instance. Also, it possible that Morgan can manipulate the Witch's Chaos Magic powers because she was in former possession of Chthon's book, the Darkhold?


Page 40, Panel 3: Wanda isn't the only being in the Marvel Universe that uses Chaos Magic. Another is Chthon, an Elder God that sleeps beneath Mt. Wundagore who is responsible for Wanda's hex powers, though understandably Morgan did not want to call him: she was, after all, part of the Cult of Darkholders that buried him in Wundagore Mountain during the 6th Century!


Page 40, Panel 4: If it was all a ruse to get Wanda, why is it that, of the five areas where the stones were kept to lure the Avengers, the Twilight Sword and Mordred happened to coincidentally be at the place that Wanda headed? One possible explanation: the Norn Stones were teleported all to a single location. Could Mordred and the Twilight Sword not have teleported there as well, to wherever the Scarlet Witch was?

Also it's a very, very good thing for Morgan that Iron Man was not a part of the group attacking Morgan Le Fay, because like all fairies, Morgan Le Fay is vulnerable to iron.


Page 41, Panels 5-10: The fade to whiteout: Note the similarities to CRISIS (also done by George Pérez) and SECRET WARS II #9.
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« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2006, 10:46:33 AM »

I'm not sure the word "obsessed" even begins to cover your condition, Julian...  :wink:
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« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2006, 04:53:46 PM »

Deja vu.

http://www.avengersassemble.us/emacont.html
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« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2006, 03:15:29 AM »

Good job.

Reminds me that I started reading that series in back issue form one or 2 years after the first issue came out --I started with #2 and read up to #5, I think.  Never did read 1 but have now resolved to pick up a copy somewhere (there are still a few weeks left in summer so I can justify this blatant nostalgia trip (actually, not really nostalgia but nostalgia for nostalgia: "my" Avengers is the late-70s Avengers by Perez and Byrne)).  For this reason, I didn't read all the annotations what, no spoiler alert?).

Interesting that writerly-details can simultaneously be a sly, knowing reference (ie, restaurant name that is also the name of a Busiek-owned character published by another company) as well as an intriguing little bit of world-building that makes the reading experience fuller.

Also interesting that so much of the trivia and cameos in modern superhero comics (especially comics written by writers like Busiek) almost doesn't need annotation in the sense that you can take for granted that those details you don't recognize accurately reflect other aspects of the Marvel-verse.  A strength and weakness of many comics.
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« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2006, 08:23:46 AM »

This run arrived in Italy when I was 15. You know, someday arrives the moment when you think that you're too old for comics and you could drop them. With school, sports, girls and all the rest... Who does need comics?
Well, thanks to those AVENGERS issues and several other comics Marvel produced in the late '90s, the "drop comics" moment never arrived for me.

AVENGERS by Busiek, CAPTAIN AMERICA by Waid, the post-clone Spider-Man titles and the relaunch by John Byrne, SPIDER-GIRL, THOR by Jurgens, SILVER SURFER by DeMatteis, CAPTAIN MARVEL by David... That has been my last good moment with Marvel. I felt like I was 12 again!

Thank you for this thread, Julian, you made me remember several good memories.
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