Classic Review: Marvel Masterworks- Avengers Vol. 15
Quick Summary
Pros: Many of the stories here are exciting and interesting. Hellcat’s entrance to the Marvel Universe is interesting from a historical standpoint. The artwork looks good, especially when it comes to George Perez’s contributions.
Cons: The opening chapters are subpar. Transitions between arcs are poorly handled and damage the collection.
Overall: This collection sees the Avengers series lose a bit of steam but not enough to do any serious damage. The stories collected here are still entertaining and manage to evolve the series in ways that are interesting to see play out. The book’s problems are certainly disheartening but are nowhere near as bad as the problems seen only a few volumes ago. Readers who enjoyed the previous collection should continue reading here.
Story
Avengers Vol. 15, by Steve Englehart with Tony Isabella, isn’t quite as strong as its immediate predecessor but still contains an array of entertaining stories. The highlights here involve a battle between the Avengers and corrupted heroes from another dimension, a great message about corporate greed, and the transformation of a mundane character into a genuine superhero. These highlights are enjoyable and are great examples of what the Avengers series was capable of in this era. However, the collection is also hampered by a few lackluster opening chapters and transitions that disrupt and damage the overall narrative. Though this collection still ends up being a pleasant read, it is disappointing to see that it had the potential to be even better.
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Avengers Vol. 15 opens up by expanding the Avengers while also pitting them against a few problems. The new members of the team are a welcome addition and a few of the issues faced here are exciting, particularly Yellowjacket’s struggle. However, the villains here are all subpar and the actual narrative ends up being only moderately exciting. Overall, this portion of the book feels like a bit of a dip in quality, especially when compared to the previous volume.
Luckily, things start to pick up a bit from this point forward. The following story arc really ups the stakes by having the Avengers face off against malicious corporate overlords and corrupted superheroes from another dimension. The resulting battle is full of exciting moments from almost all of the characters and also delivers a great message about the problems surrounding corporate greed and its potential to corrupt politics. Even the interlude story, which centers around an assassin’s attempt to kill the Avengers, is great to see play out. It is made even better by the twists the story takes. In the end, the stories in this portion of the book, like the stories in the previous volume, are solid examples of the Avengers’ activities in this era.
In addition, the entire concept behind Patsy Walker’s introduction to the world of superheroes is incredibly interesting to see. This is a character who, for decades, spent her comic book career participating in normal activities and worrying about boys. Modern readers may miss out on how dramatic of a change this was (which would have made this even more interesting for readers in the 1970s) but they can still appreciate its spot in history.
The big problem with the second batch of stories is that the transitions are all pretty poor and disrupt the general narrative. The story goes from a fight against the head of an evil corporation, to a fight for freedom on another world, then back to the fight against the corporation. There is even a completely unrelated story arc in the middle of this, created due to time constrictions during the original writing process. In addition, Hawkeye’s entire time-travel arc feels out of place and, when it is brought up, the storytelling suffers. All of this makes it seem like the entire larger narrative is flying by the seat of its pants, which really damages portions of the comic.
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Art
Avengers Vol. 15 starts out with a few chapters from George Tuska that look pretty average for the series. There are moments where action-packed pages generate some great excitement and the Avengers look as good as one would hope they would look. However, there are also pages where the cross-hatching on a character’s face makes them look downright strange or where the flow of the page doesn’t work quite right. Luckily though, in the end, these positives and negative tend to balance out and produce a volume that still manages to get the job down.
Avengers Vol. 15 also sees the addition of George Perez to the Avengers series. Perez’s work on Avengers will go on to be one of the most memorable artistic contributions to the team’s history. This makes witnessing the origin of this legendary artist’s impact on the series and watching it evolve from chapter to chapter fantastic on its own. It also helps that Perez’s work simply looks great, even in these early years.
Continuity
Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 15 continues the story from Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 14 (Review).
The story here continues in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 16 (Review).
This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:
- Hank Pym recently worked with the Defenders in Giant-Sized Defenders #4, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Defenders Vol. 3.
- He ended his time with them in Defenders #25, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Defenders Vol. 4, which takes place before this volume.
- Wasp mentions fighting the Lunatic Legion in Captain Marvel #35, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Captain Marvel Vol. 4 (Review).
- Wasp also mentions discovering something about her and Ant-Man’s condition. This is detailed in Marvel Feature #4 and #6, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Ant-Man/Giant-Man Vol. 3.
- The Black Knight was trapped in the Twelfth Century back in Defenders #11, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Defenders Vol. 2.
- Dr. Doom’s time machine was last used in Avengers Annual #2, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 6 (Review).
- A number of Hank McCoy’s recent actions are shown here.
- He left the X-Men in X-Men #66, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men Vol. 6.
- He fought against a spy plot in Amazing Adventures #11, collected in Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Vol. 7.
- He changed into a real beast in Amazing Adventures #11, collected in Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Vol. 7.
- Thor met the Stranger in Thor #178, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Thor Vol. 9. Beast met him in X-Men #11, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men Vol. 2.
- Iron Man mentions the “Thanos-War”. See our “Thanos-War Reading Order” to see which issues this event encompasses.
- Yellowjacket mentions a previous adventure in which a “miracle doctor” was used. This happened in Avengers #14, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 2 (Review).
- A number of pieces from Toad’s history are mentioned here.
- He rebelled against Magneto in Avengers #53-54, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 6 (Review).
- He met the Stranger in X-Men #11, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men Vol. 2.
- He was deserted by Magneto in X-Men #18, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men Vol. 2.
- He was captured by Sentinels in X-Men #59, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men Vol. 6.
- He was part of the Arkon story arc in Avengers #75-76, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 8 (Review).
- Hank and Jan’s chauffeur was fired in Marvel Feature #9, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Ant-Man/Giant-Man Vol. 3.
- The Whirlwind started fighting Ant-Man and the Wasp back in Tales to Astonish #50.
- Moondragon mentions her recent platonic relationships. She spent time with Daredevil from Daredevil #105-107, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Daredevil Vol. 10. She spent time with Captain Marvel in Captain Marvel #32-33, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Captain Marvel Vol. 3 (Review).
- Iron Man mentions the last time the Avengers used Doctor Doom’s time machine. This took place in Avengers #56, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 6 (Review).
- A flashback with Beast references his adventures in Amazing Adventures #16 and Incredible Hulk #161, collected in Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Vol. 7.
- The Vision mentions a time when Hank Pym saved his life. This took place in Avengers #93, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 10 (Review).
- In Avengers #141, Captain America references saving someone while in his Nomad disguise, which happened in Captain America #181. He also references that person doing something for him as repayment, which happened in Captain America #185. He also references a fight at Red Skull’s hideout, which happened in Captain America #186. All of these issues are collected in Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 9.
- Hank and Janet’s wedding is mentioned. This wedding took place in Avengers #60, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 7 (Review). Also, make sure to check out ComicBookWire’s “From the Comics” exploration into this wedding.
- Reed Richard and Sue Storm’s wedding is mentioned. This wedding took place in Fantastic Four Annual #3, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 5 (Review).
- Patsy Walker’s connection to Beast is explained in Amazing Adventures #13-16, collected in Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Vol. 7.
- The Squadron Supreme/Squadron Sinister played a large role in Avengers #69-71, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 8 (Review), and then in #85-86, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 9 (Review).
- Hawkeye took on the Golden Archer disguise in Captain America #179, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 9.
- Iron Man fought Dr. Spectrum in Iron Man #63-66, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man Vol. 9.
- This history of the Cat is told in The Cat #1-4 and Marvel Team-Up #8. Her eventual fate is detailed in Giant-Size Creatures #1. All of these issues are collected in Tigra: The Complete Collection.
- Patsy Walker mentions her husband’s return from Vietnam in Patsy Walker #123.
- Captain America mentions the unfortunate situations surrounding Roscoe. His fate is shown in Captain America #183, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 9.
- In Avengers #145, a number of flashbacks are show. These include adventures from:
- Avengers #120, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 13 (Review).
- Avengers #108, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 10 (Review).
- Thor #224, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Thor Vol. 13.
- Captain America #175, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 8.
- Iron Man #63, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man Vol. 9.
- Avengers #110, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 11 (Review).
- Hulk #166, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk Vol. 9.
- Hawkeye reminisces about his entrance to the Avengers. This took place in Avengers #16, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 2 (Review).
- Vision reminisces about a time when Captain America trusted him. This took place in Avengers #108, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 11 (Review).
- Iron Man’s heart abnormalities are explained in Iron Man #19, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man Vol. 6.
- The Serpent Crown was last seen in Captain America #181, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 9.
- Captain America mentions breaking up a White House scandal. This happened in Captain America #175, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 8.