|
|
 |
The Kree-Skrull war has gained new prominence in the Marvel Universe due to events such as New Avengers Illuminati and the Secret Invasion story. I have never read the original epic (it spanned 9 issues of the original Avengers series, from numbers 89-97) and when this trade was re-released I jumped on it.
I didn’t know really what to expect. It is very rare to see a story span 9 issues, especially in the early 70’s but as Roy Thomas writes in the afterword, it still stands up very well. The epic starts slowly enough, and quietly enough, with the Avengers (at this time Vision, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Rick Jones) confronting Captain Marvel. They fight, over a misunderstanding of course, and Marvel gets knocked out. They use Vision to help revive him when Ronan, from the Kree Empire, sends a Sentry after him. This leads to a battle where Mar-Vell is taken to the Antarctic where the Kree have set up a base to de-evolve the human race. The Avengers band together and stop them, but Yellowjacket and Wasp quit the team. The Avengers head back home, the scientists they save spill their guts and now the US, thanks to an overzealous senator, are in a which hunt against aliens, and the Avengers for harboring Mar-Vell. This starts the whole shebang, from Skrulls hiding out on Earth, attacking Vision, the Avengers needing to regroup, to the Kree and Skrull fighting over possession of Earth, which is in the middle of the two galaxies.
It isn’t the space-faring Annihilation type story that I was expecting (this being an alien war and all) but it is a wonderfully crafted storyline. I didn’t know what I was reading the first two issues but it tied in amazingly to the story. Neal Adams art on the issues he worked on is nothing short of breathtaking. The panels he uses, the poses he uses and his action shots were just spectacular and really different from what other artists were using at the time. Even now the art stands up very well. This is really an epic that is multi-layered. The Buscema brothers are no slouches either and they do their parts of the story admirably as well. John Buscema did the fill in art on the last issue due to delays, but if this came out now, you wouldn’t see that. Let it be delayed! I really can’t say enough about the story. Adams and Thomas collaborated incredibly on this story. No detail is left dangling (besides Goliath being lost, but that wasn’t a major deal) and everything just ties together to form an amazing story. I highly recommend this to any Avengers fan, or any fan of a good well-crafted story.
-The Bottom Line- This is action/adventure at its finest. Every chapter in this trade is relevant to the story. Every written word and drawn panel is relevant. There is nothing wasted. Immerse yourself in this world and you will find a true epic that tells a story. It doesn’t matter that this is over 30 years old; it is still as good now as it was then. Highly recommended.
|
|
|
|
|
Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
|
|
|
|