Longbox Junk - Iron Man: The End

Welcome to Longbox Junk, the blog absolutely STUFFED with comic book reviews nobody asked me to write!

SO. . .

Summer is FINALLY pretty much over.  Things are starting to settle down a bit at work, and I actually have a bit more time to write about some Longbox Junk!  Let's do this!

Marvel comics has had quite a bit of success telling tales of their heroes at the end of their careers. Starting with the wildly popular "Old Man Logan" Wolverine story and moving forward from there with many more tales of superheroes past their prime.  

One can argue that DC actually started the trend with their groundbreaking "Dark Knight Returns" story about an aging Batman returning for one final ride (let's just pretend the sequels don't exist, deal?), but that's neither here nor there.

What IS here is a series of one-shot comics (and mini-series) Marvel has occasionally published since 2002 that feature the final adventures of some of their most popular heroes. . .Hulk, Wolverine, Miles Morales Spider-Man, Captain America, Doctor Strange, among others.

The comic at hand is part of that "The End" series, and showcases the high-flyin', high tech Avenger Iron Man.  So, let's head into the future a bit and see what's in store for Tony Stark at the end of his days as a superhero, shall we?  WE SHALL!

IRON MAN: THE END

Marvel (2009)

COVER: Bob Layton

THE END

SCRIPT: Bob Layton & David Michelinie

PENCILS: Bernard Chang

INKS: Bob Layton

THE COVER:

A very nice homage to the classic cover of Iron Man's first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39.  In a reversal of the original cover, Tony Stark is putting away the Iron Man armor instead of putting it on.  I like the bookend feel of it all.  I also really like the colors on this one.  The green circuitry in the background perfectly complements the iconic red and gold Iron Man armor!  It's a real eye catcher.

It's a simple cover, but it's a winner!  Let's get inside this thing.

THE STORY:

We begin our tale 50 years in the future.  Tony Stark has spent more than half a century as a secret superhero and world-famous technology innovator, but now he's feeling the years bearing down. . .

Lately, Tony has been preoccupied by what may be his greatest project. . .Project Big Jump.  The world's first space elevator, which will allow orbital travel without having to use a rocket and is the first step in a solar power project that will provide the earth with unlimited energy. 

While working to complete the project as Iron Man, Tony is shocked when an unexpected earthquake threatens both the project and some of his workers.  Leaping into action, Tony manages to save the workers, but he realizes that he made several mistakes while doing so, and without a bit of luck on his side, things wouldn't have ended well. . .

Later, Tony confesses his questionable decisions during the earthquake to his wife, Senator Bethany Cabe.  He also reveals that he has a degenerative and incurable nerve condition brought on by his decades of constant neural connection to the Iron Man armor.  

Bethany suggests that maybe it's time for Tony to hang up the Iron Man armor for good before his condition gets worse.  Tony resists and his hostility to the idea pushes his wife away. . .

Knowing that his wife is right, Tony decides to concentrate fully on completing Project Big Jump while he can.  In order to accomplish this, he promotes a brilliant young protégé, Nick Travis, to Stark Universal's Head Technologist. . .taking Tony's place and allowing Stark to devote his attention to Big Jump.

Now freed of distractions, Tony throws himself into completing Project Big Jump, but as the weeks go on, an investigation of the strange earthquake at the project site reveals that it wasn't a natural accident at all. . .but was sabotage!  

Further investigation points suspicion, and then firm evidence proves that Stark's old adversary, Roxxon Energy was behind the attempted sabotage. It seems they don't like the idea of free and limitless energy.

 Tony reveals his findings to his wife and refuses to let her attempt a diplomatic solution.  He decides to take the fight to Roxxon as Iron Man!

Tony suits up as Iron Man and flies to Siberia, in the New Soviet Union.  His stealth technology allows him to penetrate the Soviet border, but as he arrives at a hidden research lab, his presence is discovered and he is confronted by the Soviet Union's own version of Iron Man, Arkady Vostok. . .The Ultra-Dynamo!

As the battle is joined, Iron Man quickly discovers that he is outmatched by Ultra-Dynamo.  His weapons and tactics are just too well known, and Dynamo's improved armor has counters to everything Tony can throw at him!

In the end, Tony takes such a savage beating that he is forced to run for his life!  Even worse, he later discovers that the battle has even further damaged his nervous system, accelerating his condition.

Disheartened and shaken by his defeat and the worsening of his nervous condition, Tony slides into a deep depression, so deep that he almost returns to the alcohol he left behind so many years ago.  But Tony remembers the strength it took to win THAT battle and realizes that he needs the same strength to quit his addiction to Iron Man.. .

Tony tells his wife that he's finally done being the hero, and it's time to rebuild their relationship, but he needs to find a replacement first, because the world still needs Iron Man.  And so, he throws himself into the search for the NEW Iron Man!

Finally, Tony realizes the answer was right in front of him all along. . .his protégé, Nick Travis.

But when he reveals his secret identity as Iron Man and makes the offer to Travis, he refuses.  

Nick protests that he's a scientist and not a superhero.  Tony doesn't take the refusal well and lashes out.  Nick tells Tony that he's not acting like much of a hero.  But he can see Tony's desperation and reluctantly agrees to undergo some training. . .for emergencies only.

And so, Tony begins to train Nick with his newest nano-particle armor, the most advanced design yet, and equipped with cutting edge weapons and technology the likes of which the world has never seen.  Tony is amazed at how quickly and naturally Nick takes to the training. . .

Unfortunately, Tony isn't the most patient teacher, and the stress of training causes a rift to grow between Tony and Nick.  Eventually Nick tells Tony he's done with it and leaves Tony hanging.

Fast forward a few weeks to the day Project Big Jump is finally finished and ready to activate.

Nick attempts to break the ice between him and Tony, but as they talk, security alarms blare and something is spotted flying in toward them!  It's Ultra-Dynamo!  The Soviet hero informs Tony that he is there to destroy him as a threat to the economy of the New Soviet Union.

Tony is unable to get to his Iron Man armor in time and is forced to run for his life. 

Nick, however, is able to quickly use the new nano-particle tech Iron Man armor and jumps to protect Tony.

Ultra-Dynamo is confident in his victory, but quickly discovers that the new armor is more than a match for him.  In the end, Nick uses the high-tech abilities of the new Iron Man armor and finally defeats Ultra-Dynamo.

Tony is impressed, as Nick has included new upgrades that even he didn't know about.  Tony and Nick make peace as they both realize they've misjudged each other.

Later, at the activation ceremony for Project Big Jump, Tony Stark publicly announces that he will be stepping down from Stark Universal and retiring with his wife aboard the space elevator's orbiting satellite station.  He also announces that the New Iron Man will remain his representative on Earth.

At the end of it all, as Tony and Bethany travel to the space station on the first orbital shuttle, Tony tells his wife that he came to realize that he was able to leave Iron Man behind for good because he finally understood that it was the man and not the machine that had accomplished all the good he had ever done.  

And so, we end the story with Tony and Bethany looking forward to a quiet future together in space.

The End.

THE REVIEW:

Okay then.  There it is.  The final days of Tony Stark as Iron Man.  Let's break it on down!

Not bad.  It's interesting to me that this hero doesn't go out with a bang, but just sort of quietly. . .retires.

He realizes he's not cut out for the job anymore and just passes the mantle and leaves it all behind.

I've read a few of these "The End" one shots and this one is probably the most low-key ending for a major Marvel superhero that I've seen yet (but to be fair, I haven't read ALL of them).  Overall, even though there's a few action scenes throughout, this was a surprisingly calm and quiet end for the hero,  with a story that focuses more on Tony Stark than Iron Man.

This is hardly surprising when you look at the creative team.  

David Michelinie and Bob Layton are credited with pretty much being the team that redefined and refined Iron Man during their long creative run on the title during the late 70s and through the 80s. 

 They brought the focus in on Tony Stark as being more than a prop mask secret identity for the superhero Iron Man and as a character in his own right, which led to critically praised storylines like "Demon in a Bottle" (which this story nods back to) where Tony Stark the man and not Iron Man the machine was in the spotlight.

Michelinie and Layton are regarded as being what many consider the definitive Iron Man creative team, and I REALLY like that Marvel brought them in on this project.  And not only that but let them pretty much ignore the 30+ years of stories that came after their run ended and tell the story of the end of THEIR Iron Man!

That's right. . .this issue is a callback to the Iron Man of the 80s.  No secret Invasion, no Avengers Dissembled, no Civil Wars. . .none of that.  This story is a direct continuation and conclusion to the Iron Man story that began in 1978 and ended in 1989!  As such, it's an unexpected treat for fans of old-school Iron Man like myself.

It's a really bold and interesting move and I give Marvel credit where it's due. . .especially since the first Iron Man movie had hit big the year previous and this version of Iron Man would have been pretty much unrecognizable to movie fans looking for Iron Man comics, and maybe even to (then) current Iron Man comic fans!

 A round of applause for Marvel letting a story like this NOT tie into their hugely popular Iron Man movie and letting something be for the fans of Iron Man past. Say what you will about Disney/Marvel, but this just sort of feels special.

CONCLUSION

Overall, I found Iron Man: The End to be a surprisingly enjoyable read, especially given that the creative team was allowed to put the cap on a story that ended over 30 years ago.

 If you are a fan of old-school Iron man stories from the late 70s to the end of the 80s and you aren't aware that this issue exists or haven't read it yet. . .I say do yourself a favor and pick this one up!

It's not the greatest Iron Man story ever told, but it IS well-written, has nice art, and just feels like something special that Marvel gave to their Iron Man fans of days gone by.  

I give Iron Man: The End a Longbox Junk Gold Seal of Approval!  It's a very nice bargain bin surprise.

Up Next. . .

I just picked up a handful of Jungle Action comics from an antique store last weekend, so how about I crack one open and we head back to the 70s for a retro review?  Yeah, that sounds nice.  Let's do it!

Be there or be square!

Longbox Junk Retro Review - Avengers #58 (1968)

Welcome to Longbox Junk, where I write comic reviews even though nobody asked me to!

Every now and then here at Longbox Junk, I like to delve a bit into the corners of my collection that aren't so. . .well. . .Longbox Junk-y.  Those comics I own that are a little older and "worth" a little more to collectors than most of the bargain bin finds that are the meat and potatoes of this blog.

Case in point:  Avengers #58 from 1968.  It's regarded as a minor "Key" comic because it's the second appearance (and origin) of The Vision.  According to various sources it's "worth" a bit north or south of $200 in the condition mine is in (which is really good, considering where I got it from).  So it's not the most "valuable" comic in my collection, but it ain't nothing, either.

I paid five whole bucks for my copy at an antique shop, where it was hiding unbagged and forgotten among a stack of old Archie and Richie Rich comics, so how 'bout dat?  

The Longbox Junk price I paid for this comic just goes to show that there ARE still great old comics to be found out in the wild, and not just at the click of a mouse on the internet.  Finding this one was a very nice surprise, and really made my day.

ANYWAY. . .

Every now and then I delve into those corners of my collection that hold the older and more "valuable" comics, and this is one of those times!  Step this way to the Longbox Junk paper time machine, if you please. These goggles are for your safety.  Make sure to fasten your seat belts securely.

*Lowers ridiculous steampunk goggles and takes hold of gigantic lever with both hands*

Everyone ready?  Let's do this!

*Pulls giant lever. . .the number "1968" flashes on a screen above*

WEEEEEEEEEEE-OOOOOOOOOO-WEEEEEEEEEEEE-OOOOOOOOOO!!

And here we are! 1968. . .right in the middle of the "Mighty Marvel" era of comics!  Please remove your goggles and watch your step as you exit the Longbox Junk paper time machine.  To our left is Avengers Headquarters, where the call has gone out for Earth's mightiest heroes to assemble and ponder the possibility of adding a mysterious new member to their ranks.  

Follow me, please, and let's listen in. . .

THE AVENGERS #58

MARVEL COMICS (1968)

EVEN AN ANDROID CAN CRY

SCRIPT: Roy Thomas

PENCILS: John Buscema

INKS: George Klein

COVER: John Buscema

THE COVER:

By the beard of Odin! Are there any among us who will deny the greatness of this John Buscema masterpiece? I SAY THEE NAY! The stark white (well, sorta cream-colored on my copy) background perfectly frames the colorful assemblage of Avengers!  It's an almost perfect example of what makes up a classic "Team Shot" comic book cover.  When it comes to old-school superhero comic covers, it doesn't get much better than something like this, in my humble opinion.  Let's get inside!

THE STORY:

We begin our tale with a fantastic splash/title page featuring Black Panther answering an "Avengers Assemble" summons and making his way to Avengers Headquarters.  There's several great splash pages in this issue and you can bet I'm going to feature them all in this review!  This one reminds me of Eisner's Spirit title pages. . .

Panther is sort of new to the Avengers (he hasn't even met Iron Man or Thor yet) so he's surprised to find a room packed full of Earth's Mightiest Heroes (and we get a great half-page mini-splash group shot).  He's even more surprised to find The Vision among them, because the last Panther heard, Vision was fighting AGAINST the Avengers.

Vision informs Black Panther that he's there because he wants to join the Avengers.  Henry Pym (AKA Goliath) gathered the Avengers together to consider the strange request.  Panther is on board with Vision joining up, but Iron Man and Thor are hesitant.  Membership in the Avengers is a privilege not to be taken lightly and they know little about Vision's powers and nothing about his origin.  Captain America decides to put Vision to the test by attacking the mysterious android. . .

As several of the Avengers attack Vision, he easily defeats them without harming anyone by using his fantastic strength and power to alter his body structure from insubstantial to super-dense.  The battle ends before it gets out of hand by Goliath telling everyone that Cap had attacked in order to give a demonstration of Vision's powers.  The Avengers all agree that Vision is definitely a heavy hitter, but are still reluctant to let him join without learning more about his background.

Thor calls the meeting to order for a formal vote by reading the Avenger's scroll of membership and briefly describing the honor and distinction becoming a member of the Avengers brings to an individual. . .and in doing so, we get yet another fantastic group shot splash page!  Yeah, I know.  This review is a little more picture-heavy than usual, but just LOOK at that Buscema art!

Realizing that the Avengers need more information about his origin, Vision struggles to remember, and then with a mighty push of willpower, he manages to break through a mental block and he clearly remembers the moment of his awakening by his "Master", Ultron 5!

Ultron teaches Vision about his powers and that he has been created for one purpose. . .to destroy the Avengers!  Vision struggles against Ultron's commands, but his newly-created will is no match for that of the malevolent machine that has created him.

Even though Vision has remembered more of his origin, there is still some mystery surrounding him.  Henry Pym (AKA Goliath) remembers working on a similar sort of android, but is frustrated because he can't remember.  Thinking maybe he has the same kind of mental block that was preventing Vision from remembering his past, the Avengers decide to investigate Pym's abandoned laboratory and try to learn more.

At Pym's lab, he finds a memory recording machine and using it, he remembers that it was HE who created Ultron!  At first, Ultron was merely a crude robot, but it quickly learned and transformed into an intelligent mechanical terror!

Ultron attacked its creator, taking Pym by surprise and easily defeating him.  The evil robot then erased Pym's memory of the incident by using his own memory recorder on him.

As the Avengers further investigate Pym's abandoned lab, he realizes that there is a missing memory tape of Wonder Man (AKA Simon Williams).  We then get a recounting of the Avenger's earlier run-in with Wonder Man, who was secretly working with Baron Zemo when he enlisted the help of the Avengers to help him find a cure for the deadly disease he was dying of.  

Turning on his new allies, Wonder Man was able to defeat the Avengers before learning that Zemo planned on murdering them.  He then turned against Zemo and freed the Avengers, helping them to defeat Zemo's team of villains.

Unfortunately, his turning against Zemo sealed his fate.  Zemo had the only cure to Wonder Man's disease.  Knowing he was dying, the Avengers rushed him to Henry Pym's lab and made a recording of his brain patterns before he died.

Vision is shocked by the realization that his brain is actually the stolen pattern of Wonder Man!  The mystery of Vision's origin now mostly solved, the Avengers return to their headquarters to finally determine if Vision is worthy to join them.

After a short meeting, Goliath delivers the good news to Vision. . .he has been found worthy to join Earth's Mightiest Heroes!  As the other Avengers welcome the android onto the team, he remains stoic before asking for a moment to himself.

And as Vision cries with happiness out of the sight of his new comrades, the reader learns that the artificial being has more humanity in him than he is letting on, and there are still mysteries surrounding The Vision.

The End. . .

THE REVIEW:

Part of the fun of doing these "Retro Reviews" is learning a bit about the comic at hand and increasing my general knowledge of the wonderful world of comic books.  So bear with me a bit.

A little research tells me that there was an editorial edict at the time preventing Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor from being regular characters in The Avengers, due to them headlining their own titles. Because of this, the appearance of the three heroes together in this issue was a bit of a special event.

Because the three heaviest hitters in the Avengers couldn't really be IN the Avengers on a regular basis, The Vision was the first character created specifically to be a member of the Avengers instead of appearing elsewhere and then joining up.  So there's a pretty interesting story behind the story to be found here, if you feel like looking into  it.

But enough of that.

Look, I'm gonna be honest here and admit that, comics or movies, Vision is my LEAST favorite Avenger.  I guess he just seems like a bit too much of a stretch for my comic book suspension of disbelief. Once I realized that this issue was going to be centered around the origin of The Vision, I almost didn't even want to read it.  But then there was that great John Buscema artwork waving me in and asking me to give this a fair chance. . .if only for some great pictures.

And guess what?  I found myself liking this story a LOT more than I thought I would.  

Okay, I'll admit that Vision's origin IS pretty convoluted (and it gets worse going forward through the years), especially the part about Wonder Man.  That just sort of came in out of nowhere, and reads almost like something that was thrown in at the last minute. . .but even that was sort of interesting in how they tied in a minor character from years before into the introduction of Marvel's new heavy hitter Avenger.

But convoluted origin aside, I found this story to be well-written and engaging.  It's told in an unusual manner, with no "villain of the month" to be found except in flashback, and delivering (what must have been pretty shocking at the time) several surprise revelations.  

A story like this would take twelve or more issues to tell these days, but the compressed storytelling of Roy Thomas gives the reader basically FOUR short stories in ONE issue!  Thomas doesn't waste a single word from cover to cover on this one.  It's amazing to me that so much story can be packed into so few pages.

And then there's the art.

That fantastic John Buscema cover drew me in, and his wonderful superhero art kept me in to the last page.  Every panel on every page of this comic is simply a joy to look at to begin with, and THEN Buscema threw in several awesome splash pages that you just want to keep turning back to!  Simply put, the art in this issue is classic.  It's colorful, it's expressive, it's everything I could have ever asked for in a superhero comic.

CONCLUSION

It's sad to say, but a lot of older comics seem to not have much effort put into them.  It's pretty clear to see that they were written for kids and meant to be disposable.  This is not the case with Avengers #58.

From the amazing cover to the final splash page of Vision hiding his emotions from his new teammates, you can see that Roy Thomas and John Buscema were creating something that they KNEW would stand the test of time. . .something that could still bring joy to a comic reader in the far off future year of 2021.

Up Next. . .

Back to the bargain bins!

May is Star Wars month, so how something from that galaxy far, far away?

Be there or be square!

Longbox Junk - Captain America: Marvels Snapshots

Welcome back to Longbox Junk, where comics are worth more than money.  That's my way of saying that if someone broke into my house to steal my comic collection, they'd find it more trouble on their back hauling them out than what the job would be worth  . . .BUT I DIGRESS!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. . .I'm a sort of patriotic guy.  I come from a long line of military men, and as a proud veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps myself, I tend to be a bit of a flag waver and I ain't ashamed to admit it. And with times the way they are, maybe we need to wave the flag just a little.

Wait! Wait. . .don't go!  I'm not gonna get political.  I'm just introducing the Longbox Junk "theme" for July!  It's Captain America, okay? I'm going to be looking at some Captain America comics through this month. 

BUT. . .

It IS Captain America, so if you aren't the kind to tolerate a little "AMERICA, %$#& YEAH!" in your funny books, then maybe you might want to skip the next few posts. But come back in August!

Okay, everyone in that's staying in?

Let's start this off by stepping outside of the usual Longbox Junk bargain bin finds with a little something brand new and on the shelves right now.

DC gets a bit of flak for squeezing every possible drop out of their seminal "Watchmen" series by constantly trying to add to something that doesn't really need anything added to it. But never let it be said that Marvel isn't just as guilty of the exact same thing with their own critically acclaimed series, "Marvels".

What we have here is the first of a new series of one shots trying to capitalize on what little magic is left in Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross' masterwork of seeing superheroes through the eyes of the common man.

The series is called "Marvels Snapshots", and the first one out of the gate features Captain America (and The Falcon) in a continuation of Jack Kirby's 1970's "Madbomb" storyline. . .the first issue of which (Captain America #193 from 1976) got a a fine Longbox Junk Retro Review  HERE .

SO. . .

We've got a one shot walking the tightrope of adding to a fan favorite series that doesn't really need anything added to it AND trying to continue a classic Bronze Age story from one of the giants of the comic world.  It's got some work cut out for it.  Let's take a look!

CAPTAIN AMERICA:

MARVELS SNAPSHOTS

MARVEL (2020)

SCRIPT:  Mark Russell

PENCILS: Ramon Perez

COVER: Alex Ross

THE COVER:
Marvels was the series that put superstar artist Alex Ross on the mainstream map, so it's a good call in my book getting him on board to do the covers of the "Snapshots" one shots.

As far as the cover itself, it's a great portrait shot of Cap painted in Ross' trademark hyper-detailed and realistic style.  I love the determination in Cap's eyes and the grim set of his jaw!  I don't know who's about to get punched, but I can see by the look on Cap's face that they definitely deserve it.  Alex Ross is a fantastic visual storyteller and in this simple shot of Cap getting ready to deliver a New York Special, there's a story being told.

It's not the greatest Captain America cover ever, but this is definitely worthy of a turn up on the rotating "Wall O' Covers" in my office at work.  Let's get inside and see what else is going on here.

THE STORY:
Felix Waterhouse is a teenager living in a poor South Bronx neighborhood.  Extremely gifted with electronics, he's working in his father's television repair shop and trying to earn enough money to escape poverty and go to college.

BUT THEN. . .

The Madbomb attack hits Manhattan.  Felix's neighborhood is on the edge of the attack, but it is still devastated by the ensuing riots before Captain America manages to destroy the device causing people to go mad and attack each other.

In the aftermath of the Madbomb attack (during which Felix's mother kills his little brother), life returns to normal for most of the city.  The superheroes of New York turn their attention to new threats as the city begins to rebuild.

Unfortunately, conditions in Felix's neighborhood only get worse as the devastation of the Madbomb causes businesses to leave and gangs to move into the blocks of  abandoned and burnt out buildings.  Crime is rampant and even worse, loss of business at the T.V. repair shop means that Felix has to spend his college savings just to keep his family going.

Things are looking bleaker and bleaker for Felix until one day a mysterious man comes into the shop with a strange offer. . .he represents an organization interested in Felix's talents with electronics and will give him a good job, as well as pay for his college education.  The catch is that the organization he represents is A.I.M.  A well-known part of the villainous Hydra!

Felix declines at first, but as he sees repairs being made to the wealthier sections of the city while neighborhoods like his are ignored, he decides to take the man up on his offer.  He is taken to an elaborate secret research base hidden beneath Manhattan to begin his new life.

Felix quickly fits in with his new A.I.M. colleagues and his extraordinary talents with electronics gain the attention of his superiors.  Because of this, he is one day taken to the most restricted level to assist with problems plaguing an ultra-secret project.  When he arrives, Felix is amazed to see that A.I.M. is trying to build a massive Madbomb of their own!

As he joins the Madbomb project, Felix slowly begins to realize that by helping to create a weapon of mass destruction, his talents aren't helping make a better future for anyone, and that his whole life is now built on lies.  He decides to sabotage the Madbomb, but is caught in the act.

After Felix is informed that he knows too much and has to die, he desperately activates a pulse meant to destroy the Madbomb, but his unfinished device is stronger than he expected and the resulting effect is enough to attract the attention of Captain America, The Falcon, and Iron Man, who quickly make their way to the hidden A.I.M. base and attack!

During the battle, the Madbomb is destroyed and Felix is rescued by the superheroes.  He informs them that he is the one who disabled the bomb and Iron Man is impressed by the young man's technical know-how.  A few days later, Felix is surprised to receive a job offer from Stark Industries.  

In the end, Captain America and The Falcon help with the long-overdue reconstruction of Felix's devastated neighborhood after realizing that simply defeating a problem and then ignoring what comes afterward doesn't solve anything and sometimes makes things worse. 

Lesson taught.  Lesson learned.  The end.

THE REVIEW:
What we have here is less of a Captain America story and more of a Felix Waterhouse story. . .which is a little disappointing right out of the gate considering the giant picture of Captain America on the cover and the fact that this is sold as a Captain America story.

SO. . .

Let's look at this from the angle of it being the story of a young man seduced by Hydra with Captain America and friends in a supporting role.  On THAT side of the coin, it's not a bad story.  I do like the way that it looks into the aftermath of the original Madbomb attack from Captain America #193, so as an epilogue to "Madbomb" I think this story actually does a good job.

Felix is a pretty interesting character. Seeing him put his morals aside to try to make things better, realizing that he's been seduced by lies, and finally trying to make things right is a pretty good character arc.  Yeah, it's been done before and done better, but sometimes a little "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is okay if it's done well.  Here, it's done well.

The story DOES get a little preachy toward the end as we get a healthy dose of "Superhero is forced to realize that the little people count too" moralizing.  It's not QUITE to the point of being cringeworthy, but it's pretty close to that edge.

So this story works as a sequel to Madbomb that digs in and takes a close look at the consequences of the original 1976 story from the perspective of one individual. . .but as a "Marvels" expansion, not so much.

The story of Marvels is rooted in an ordinary man's lifetime of observing Godlike beings around him without his really understanding them.  Here, the ordinary man understands MORE than the heroes.  It sort of defeats the whole point of Marvels in that these are extraordinary beings in the world of ordinary people when the ordinary person is ALSO the extraordinary in this story.

Marvels put the reader in the shoes of an ordinary person.  It made us feel the awe and wonder of seeing a man fly, or throw a car.  This story has none of the magic of Marvels and makes Captain America feel small and unimpressive as a teenager teaches him a lesson.  Maybe it was the writer's intention to make Captain America seem small instead of the powerful force rushing through an ordinary world he appeared as in Marvels. . .

I said at the top that I wasn't going to get political, but it seems to me like Captain America being humbled by a black teenager about what parts of the city got repaired first after an attack has a definite whiff of recent social justice trends to it.  It makes Captain America less of a hero and more of a representative of "privilege".  This perspective might not sit well with some readers.

CONCLUSION

In my introduction I said that this one shot had some pretty heavy work cut out for it.  Not only is it expected to add to a fan favorite story that doesn't really need anything added to it, but it ALSO is trying to be an epilogue to ANOTHER fan favorite story.

As an epilogue to "Madbomb" it works pretty well as it tells a story set in the aftermath of the original attack and after the heroes turn their attention elsewhere.  It has an interesting main character and follows a pretty good arc for a one issue story.

BUT. . .

As a "Marvels" supplement, it doesn't stick the landing.  Where Marvels is a timeless story about the awe and wonder of superhumans in the ordinary world, THIS story is firmly rooted in this particular moment in time by reducing Captain America to a representative of "privilege" that needs to be taught a lesson in social justice by the teenage protagonist.

It's not a BAD story.  But it certainly won't sit well with many Captain America fans that prefer to see the Star Spangled Avenger painted in a more heroic light.  If you are one of those fans. . .I'd say steer clear.  But if you are of the mind that there's some room in your superhero stories for a little social justice agenda, then definitely check this one out.  

Up Next. . .

More Captain America!

Steve Rogers is America's only "Super Soldier", but he hasn't been tested in the field yet.  Join me as I take a look at the story of Captain America's first Nazi-Bustin' combat mission in 2011's Captain America: Fighting Avenger one shot.  SPOILER: Everything goes wrong!

Be there or be square!

Longbox Junk - Avengers: Millenium

Let's get this out of the way right off the top. . .I'm not an Avengers fan.

I'm not a big fan of The Avengers for the same reason I'm not a big fan of The Justice League.  That being I like individual characters on both teams (and on other team books), but it just seems like a failing proposition to keep coming up with stories that can present a challenge to a combined team of the mightiest heroes on Earth.  To me, it all just sort of reeks of fan service, and really I just prefer lower-key super heroics concentrating on fewer characters.

BUT. . .

I seem to be in the minority when it comes to comics starring laughably overpowered super-teams, and that's okay. . .I just pass 'em by and read what I like.  But I occasionally make an exception.  Case in point being the 4 issue Avengers: Millennium series at hand. . .

My local comic shop had all four issues bundled for 5 lousy bucks with that SWEET cover for issue #1 on top.  I may not buy Avengers on the regular, but 4 issues for 5 bucks with at least one cover to make my office wall comic art rotation was a deal I couldn't refuse.

And so here we are.  Let's do this!

AVENGERS: MILLENNIUM
MARVEL (JUNE 2015 - Published Weekly)
ISSUE ONE

SCRIPT: Mike Costa

PENCILS: Carmine Di Giandomenico

COVER: Leinil Yu

When The Scarlet Witch senses something very wrong with a seemingly-insignificant Hydra base in Japan, she sends Quicksilver to gather The Avengers to help her investigate. After easily defeating the Hydra forces guarding the base, they discover an open time portal in the tunnels below. . .

First off, the awesome cover by Leinil Yu is definitely frame-worthy. One thing, though. . .Thor is there in the cover's group shot, but don't go looking for him inside. For some reason this Avenger series is Thor-less.

It's a pretty simple story in this first issue, basically getting The Avengers assembled and in Japan for an extended fight scene and a cliffhanger ending. . .but even though it's pretty much all setup, it's well written, with some clever moments in the dialogue, especially Hawkeye and Spider Man's running debate about cheeseburgers.

I'm a fan of Carmine Di Giandomenico's quirky art style, but he's one of those "Love it or hate it" sort of artists. I felt that his extremely kinetic and cinematic style added a lot to the book. I think that with a more mainstream artist, the pretty flimsy story would have really been magnified and suffered for it.

Overall, this was a great opening issue, setting things up nicely with witty dialogue and fantastic art.

ISSUE TWO

SCRIPT: Mike Costa
PENCILS: Carmine Di Giandomenico

COVER: Mike Deodato Jr.

Dr. Bruce Banner (AKA The Incredible Hulk) determines that the open time portal the Avengers discovered leads to two different time periods (prehistoric and WWII) and that Hydra has hidden something in one of them.

The Avengers split into two teams and go to investigate, but something goes wrong and they end up scattered, with Quicksilver, Captain America, and Hawkeye ending up in prehistory, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Black Widow in WWII, and Scarlet Witch and Hulk finding themselves in a post-apocalyptic future.

Captain America's team discovers that whatever Hydra has hidden, it was in prehistoric times, but a captured Hydra agent tells them that the portal is a one way trip. Oops. . .

This second issue is more setup. It separates the large cast of characters into smaller groups and presents them with a major problem in that they are seemingly trapped in time. Worse, the team that lands in the future discovers that Hydra's plan was a success. 

The writing remains snappy and moves the story along without dragging. The writer does a good job of making the extremely thin story interesting.

Di Giandomenico's cinematic art style is a big help in propping up what little story there is here. Unfortunately, his style doesn't lend itself well to the animals Hydra controls and uses in battle in the prehistoric scenes, but that's only a few panels over a couple pages, so it doesn't take away too much from the book.

Speaking of prehistoric animals. . .the cover on this one is deceptive to say the least. There's not a dinosaur in sight inside. 

Overall this issue was good. . .not as good as the first issue, but still going strong.

ISSUE THREE

SCRIPT: Mike Costa

PENCILS: Paco Diaz

COVER: Mike Deodato Jr.

In Japan near the end of WWII, Iron Man, Black Widow, and Spider-Man infiltrate a Hydra base and discover that whatever Hydra is hiding, it needs the seismic activity and radiation of the soon to be dropped atomic bomb.

Meanwhile, in the far future, The Hulk and Scarlet Witch are attacked by Hydra forces. After defeating them, Scarlet Witch decides it's time to get to the bottom of the mystery and discovers not only that whatever was once hidden is gone, but also finds Captain America in a stasis tube!

First off. . .how about that boob-tastic cover? Like the rest of the covers for this series, it doesn't really represent what happens in the issue, but it certainly represents Black Widow VERY nicely. 

*ahem* ANYWAY. . .

After an extremely strong start and second issue, things start to take a turn for the worse in this lead up to the big finish.

Where the jokes and witty banter of the first couple of issues pretty much hit the mark, the humor falls flat in this one, with clunkers like Spider-Man dressing in drag to get past Japanese guards. The whole scene is a little embarrassing and pointless. Thankfully, it's only a few pages.

Beyond the failed attempts at humor, there's also the fact that both of the stories at hand are basically repeats. . .heroes infiltrate base, heroes are attacked by a lone superior Hydra soldier during the larger battle, the superior Hydra soldier is defeated by surprise attack, heroes discover surprising revelation pertaining to plot. Both the WWII group and the far future group follow that exact same outline. 

That's not to say it's BAD. . .the ending cliffhanger with the discovery that Captain America put himself in stasis in prehistory so that he could help the team in the future was pretty clever. There's also some nice dialogue between Scarlet Witch and Hulk.

There's also an artist changeup in this issue that knocks things down a notch. 

In the reviews of the first two issues, I wondered if a more mainstream artist would magnify the flimsy story and I got my answer in this issue. The answer is no. 

The art in this issue looks amateurish compared to Carmine Di Giandomenico's unique style, and without that extra layer of eye candy it's pretty obvious that this mini is really a story that could have been told in two issues.

Overall, this issue isn't bad. . .it's just not as good as the first two. The humor falls flat, the two stories basically copy each other, and the art is disappointing.

And finally. . .

ISSUE FOUR

SCRIPT: Mike Costa

PENCILS: Carmine Di Giandomenico

COVER: Mike Deodato Jr.

Iron Man manages to re-open the time portals and reunite the scattered Avengers back in the present, only to be forced into battle against a time-travelling Superior Hydra Soldier riding a giant monster hatched from the egg that had been buried for 12,000 years and bent on destroying a Japanese city for. . .reasons?

And now for the big finish!
No. Actually it's pretty weak.

This series has been declining at a fairly even pace since the first issue, and this final issue is definitely the worst of the bunch.

The 12,000 year time travel puzzle basically boils down to a discount Godzilla that needs punching and a strangely random Hydra soldier who also needs punching. It's an extremely weak payoff for all the setup. 

Even worse, the way that Hawkeye comes up with a solution to the problem of the egg never hatching and therefore Godzilla. . .er. . .KAKARANTHARIAN that is. . .not needing to be punched, but vanishing back into the timeline, is laughably vague and feels like the writer was sort of desperate to figure out a way to end the story quickly. . .like there might have originally been 5 issues planned for this series.

On the good side of things, Carmine Di Giandomenico is back on art and the issue at least LOOKS great. The double page spread of the Avengers re-assembling is a real standout. The cover is also fantastic, but I want to know why the hell the Statue of Liberty is in the middle of the goddamn city. Doesn't Mike Deodato know the Statue of Liberty is on a friggin' island?

ANYWAY. . .

Overall, except for the art and cover, there's not much good about this issue. It's a damn shame that a decent little story about The Avengers trapped in time and trying to solve a puzzle came down at the end of things as just another "Heroes Punch A Giant Monster" comic book cliche.

CONCLUSION

I'm not really a fan of The Avengers, but I found this min-series to be entertaining. . .at least until the final issue where it basically turned into a "Punch The Giant Monster!" cliche.  The art was great, for the most part.  There were a few funny moments scattered throughout, and the simple framework of "The Avengers Trapped In Time" propped up a story that really should have been two issues pretty well for four.  

Overall, it's not a bad mini. . .but it's really not that great either.  If I had to describe it in one word, that word would be "Forgettable".  It's one of those things you read once and never really think about it again.

Up Next. . .

Star Wars! Vampires! Star Wars AND Vampires! How can it NOT be good?

Star Wars: Screaming Citadel 5 issue series.

Be there or be square!