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This was a spectacular idea from Marvel. What better way to celebrate their 70th anniversary than by printing a trade paperback featuring some all-time classic stories from each decade it’s been in existence. It’s really clever because you have the 40’s and the Golden Age and the big three, the 50’s and the sci-fi/fantasy/horror stuff, and the 60’s with the dawn of the Marvel Age of Comics. Of course the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 00’s feature the advancement of these great characters. Of course, of the 19 stories presented here I’ve already read 15 of them (and reviewed many of them, too) so please excuse and copy and pasting!
Spoilers Ahead
The 40’s
-Marvel Comics #1- I read this in Golden Age Marvel Comics Vol. 1, but I never reviewed it. This only reprints the Sub-Mariner origin story which features Namor killing some divers thinking they were robots. It tells his origin (half-man, half-Atlantean) and his views of humanity are set right away. From the start you had a conflicted character that at times saw humanity as his greatest foe, or a powerful ally. The art of Bill Everett still stands up beautifully today.
-Captain America Comics #2- This is from my review of Golden Age Captain America Masterworks Vol. 1. This is actually interesting, featuring Cap and Bucky dressing in drag and actually confronting Hitler! Cap and Bucky win again, taking down the Fuerher in the process. This is a great Simon/Kirby story.
-Captain America Comics #3- The prose story is written by someone named Stan Lee. It is actually very good, with Cap having to knock down a vengeful soldier.
The 50’s
-Journey Into Mystery #6-This is a good short tale of a man marrying women and killing them for their money but he gets the tables turned on him at the end. This is a nice gem from JIM that featured the talents of Carl Wessler and Mort Lawrence.
-Tales to Astonish #13- I actually read this one recently in Annihilation Classic Vol. 1. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby worked this Silver Age classic of Groot, a tree alien, who wants to rule the world but falls victim to termites.
The 60’s
-Amazing Adult Fantasy #10- This is a great Lee/Ditko story about scientists messing with the past and facing the unforeseen consequences. I loved the twists these stories had at the end.
-Fantastic Four #13- This is a very interesting choice considering all the FF issues that could’ve been in here. But the reasoning given was convincing enough. (It has everything, Commies, the moon, and the first appearance of the Watcher…) So the Red Ghost and the FF race into space and end up in the Blue Area of the moon and meet the Watcher. The Red Ghost and his apes have all gained super-powers and the FF must deal with this newfound threat. This is just an awesome issue and anything from the Lee-Kirby run of FF is great.
-Strange Tales #115- This is the origin of Dr. Strange as done by Lee/Ditko. I think you know the story by now, a famous doctor is interested only in money but a crash ends his career. He looks for the Ancient One to cure his hands but finds the decency inside himself and decides to work with the Ancient One to learn the ways of the sorcerer.
-Spider-Man #50- This may be the most famous Spider-Man cover and this issue provided almost the whole story to Spider-Man 2. I read this in the John Romita Visionaries: Spider-Man series but I guess I never reviewed it. Basically Peter Parker calls it quits as Spider-Man to lead his life normally but realizes why he became Spider-Man in the first place – because he let Uncle Ben down. He dons the costume and just in time since the Kingpin had started taking over the underworld.
The 70’s
-Avengers #93- The Avengers had just been disbanded at the hands of the original members thanks to events that preceded this issue. All of a sudden the Vision stumbles in and collapses. Ant-Man must shrink down and save him. When he awakes he tells of being attacked by the Skrulls who were changed to cows way back in FF #2. Captain Marvel is already a captive of the Skrulls and the Avengers try to stop the Skrulls in time before they leave the planet but cannot. This started the epic Kree/Skrull war, an event that must be read. This was a great issue by the team of Roy Thomas and Neal Adams. Neal’s art especially is just amazing. This is one I’ve reviewed before in Avengers: Kree-Skrull war but it was an abbreviated synopsis so the one you just read was brand-spankin’ new.
-Iron Man #128- This is one I reviewed in Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle. Just a little background, Tony had been accused of murder but gets his name clear. Of course, in the eyes of the public things like that never go away. Tony gets lost in alcohol, gets places confused, snaps at Jarvis (causing him to retire) and is just a mess. The stress of everything (including the murder, SHIELD trying to take over SI, and the Hammer situation) has just gotten to him and the only place he can turn to is the bottle. He finally realizes he has a problem and seeks help from his friends. What a great story by writers David Michelinie, Bob Layton and artist John Romita Jr.
The 80’s
-Uncanny X-Men #132- This is one I’ve read before, since I’ve read every issue of Uncanny X-Men. This is in the midst of the awesome Dark Phoenix saga and this issue sees the X-Men investigating the Hellfire Club, Jean falling under the spell of Jason Wyngarde (who was really Mastermind) and joining the team and helping the inner circle just rout the X-Men. The image of Logan ready for revenge at the end of the issue is just great. This was by my second favorite writer/artist pair of all time; Chris Claremont and John Byrne.
-Daredevil #168- This is a classic that I’ve read in the Frank Miller Visionaries series. Miller introduces Elektra as a deadly assassin that has a long history with Matt dating back to their days in college. We witness Matt wearing a mask for the first time to save Elektra but when Elektra’s father dies she heads back home, leaving Matt. She returns and meets him by happenstance and all their old feelings for each other come flooding back. From the beginning you knew this was going to be a completely different character and comic-book relationship.
-Incredible Hulk #340- This is one of the few I’ve never read. It is written by one of the best Hulk scribes ever, Peter David, with art by Todd McFarlane. This is just your basic Hulk and Wolverine mash-up, with lots of blood being spilled and great action sequences.
The 90’s
-Marvels #0- This came out of nowhere in the early 90’s and is my favorite mini-series of all time. Busiek wrote this but the art of Alex Ross is the real star. This is just a retelling of the origin of the Human Torch and the start of the age of Marvels.
-Avengers #4- This came out during my break as a comics fan but I’m glad it is included here. Busiek penned this story and the great George Perez penciled it. So the Avengers bungle stopping Whirlwind because there are just too many members! So the originals get together and get the team down to a more manageable number. This was a great story, between the originals discussing who should be in and youngsters Firestar and Justice making their case by stopping Whirlwind.
The 00’s
-Ultimate Spider-Man #13- I’ve read this somewhere, I just don’t remember where. This Bendis/Bagley team-up is an all-dialogue issue where Peter Parker tells Mary-Jane that he is in fact, Spider-Man. This issue is a great introduction to how Bendis can take an issue with no action and just talking and make it extremely memorable.
-New Avengers: Illuminati #1- This was written by Bendis, and Brain Reed and illustrated by Jim Cheung. I read this, but never reviewed it. Basically we have the Illuminati dealing with the Skrulls right after the Kree-Skrull war and getting imprisoned. They escape but this was the start of the Skrull Invasion, though we didn’t realize it at the time.
-Captain America #25- This is an Ed Brubaker/Steve Epting collaboration and this set the comic book world on fire for a while and gained a level of mainstream attention I hadn’t seen since Superman died. Basically, this is the death of Captain America. The Sentinel of Liberty meets his end after he’s arrested in Civil War and Red Skull, who orchestrated this assassination, finally defeats his most hated foe. This is just an amazingly well-written story of the death of America.
-The Bottom Line- This was a great idea on the part of Marvel and I really want more. They showed a whole bunch of other titles that were in the running for this book but didn’t make it and I think a second (and even third or fourth) volume could be collected full of great tales. This was just awesome. True, I’ve read almost all of these titles already but re-reading these classics is always enjoyable. This is a great concept that should be continued. It’s pretty telling that Stan Lee is the most represented writer here (9 out of the 19 stories) though Busiek and Bendis were both represented twice. In terms of artists Kirby made three appearances here and Ditko made two. Like I said an awesome collection and sampler of great things that Marvel has issued over the last 70 years. Highly Recommended.
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