Classic Review: Marvel Masterworks- Avengers Vol. 5

Quick Summary

Pros: Black Widow’s journey in this collection is great. Some minor aspects of certain issues are well done and the changes to the status quo are interesting. The artwork looks great and is an improvement for the series.

Cons: Many of the stories end up being forgettable or generic, more so than they were in previous volumes.

Overall: This volume is good but not quite as good as the previous two volumes. It still manages to depict some great action and do some terrific things with the Avengers as individual characters. However, there are more mediocre moments in this book than there were before, which takes away some of the appeal. This comic will be entertaining for those reading through this series but isn’t exactly the best example of high-quality Avengers escapades from this era.

Story

Though Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 5, by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, is still very entertaining, it does not quite capture the high levels of success seen in the past two volumes. Instead, about half of this volume feels pretty average and many of the story arcs don’t stand out as anything that memorable. However, there are still a couple of great arcs in this volume, such as Black Widow’s secret mission or the fight against Magneto. These give the volume some appeal and prevent it from being wholly forgettable.  

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The best story arc in Avengers Vol. 5 involves the secret mission Black Widow embarked upon back in the previous volume. Here, readers see her brave both torture and imprisonment in order to destroy a weapon that has the potential to wreck havoc on the world as a whole. In addition, interesting details about her backstory are revealed, further developing her as a unique character. All of this then leads up to a climactic finish in which the heroes are victorious, albeit at a steep cost.

Other positives here come from smaller moments throughout the book. Magneto’s nefarious interactions with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are suspenseful, the departure of Captain America is a solid twist for the series as a whole, and the annual issue is packed with some exciting confrontations. These smaller positives and some of the development taking place across the team as a whole keeps things compelling and makes me excited to see what the next volume will be able to do with the changes in the status quo.

Unfortunately, alongside these positives, Avengers Vol. 5 also contains a lot of mediocrity. The opening story arc features a fight against Diablo and Dragon Man that is pretty instantly forgettable. Then, later on, the fight against Whirlwind ends up being one of the least appealing arcs in this series thus far. There are always moments in these arcs that manage to be fun but, as a whole, they are a little disappointing.

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Art

One thing that has improved, in the transition from Avengers Vol. 4 (Review) and Avengers Vol. 5, is the quality of the artwork. John Buscema enters the Avengers series by providing most of the visuals in this volume and, by the end of the book, manages to make a terrific first showing. Buscema presents crisp and clean looking takes on the characters, accurately conveying emotions and depicting some great fight scenes. In addition, Buscema’s work here is very creative and helps make the story more impressive. This allows the introduction of the Psychotron or various other scientific installations to look as magnificent as the narration makes them out to be. All in all, the artwork looks good throughout this collection and is a definite positive for this collection.

Continuity

Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 5 continues the story from Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 4 (Review).

The story here continues in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 6 (Review).

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• Dragon Man’s previous appearances are mentioned here. This occurred in Fantastic Four #35, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 4 (Review), and Fantastic Four #47, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 5 (Review).
• The Fantastic Four’s “vacation” takes place during Fantastic Four #65, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 5 (Review).
• Captain America’s entrance into this collection comes after his adventure in Tales of Suspense #91, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 2.
• The Super Adaptoid was last seen in Tales of Suspense #84, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 1.
• A narration bubble references Thor’s adventures in Thor #145, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Thor Vol. 5.
• Another narration bubble references Captain America’s actions in Tales of Suspense #95, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 2.
• Whirlwind was previously seen in Tales to Astonish #50.
• Magneto’s defeats in X-Men #11 and X-Men #18, collected in Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Vol. 2, are mentioned here.
• The death of the previous Black Knight occurred in Tales of Suspense #73, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man Vol. 3.
• A reference is made to the original Black Knight. This character appeared in the Black Knight series from the 1950s.
• Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch’s story continues from Avengers #49 in X-Men #43, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men Vol. 5.
• A reference is made to events from Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5.
• Ultimo, from Tales of Suspense #76-78, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man Vol. 3, is referenced in Avengers Annual #1.
• Iron Man mentions that the Mandarin survived an explosion in the past. This happened in Tales of Suspense #86, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man Vol. 4.