Classic Review: Marvel Masterworks- Avengers Vol. 9

Quick Summary

Pros: Most of the stories are entertaining and fun. A few of the stories stand out as something special, especially one involving heroes from another dimension. The artwork is positive throughout the book.

Cons: Some of the stories here are fun but are also pretty forgettable. The approach to feminism in one of the stories is poorly executed.

Overall: This collection of Avengers stories is fun but may not stand out quite as sharply as some of the volumes preceding it. It has exciting action, some great character moments, and even one or two stories that feel like something special. However, it also has a number of stories that are just alright; they are fun to read but don’t really feel like anything that will stick with the reader long after putting this book down. This volume is likely to appeal to readers already interested in the Avengers’ adventures from this era but might not be the best example of high-quality storytelling for a new fan to jump into.

Story

Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 9, by Roy Thomas, with Len Wein and Harlan Ellison, sees the classic Avengers series continue to deliver on entertaining adventures and exciting escapades. In this volume, the Avengers tangle with a variety of different threats, all of which have at least some appeal to them. However, outside one or two standouts, many of the stories here feel a bit forgettable and end up being just average when it comes to overall quality. In the end, the stories collected here are all entertaining but don’t necessarily stand out as much as stories from other collections.

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Avengers Vol. 9 mostly focuses on thrilling and exciting attempts by the Avengers to save the world in one way or another. This puts them at odds with a few familiar faces, leading to some satisfactory continuations of specific villain’s stories, and also a few new arrivals, leading to some great confrontations with creative new obstacles. Either way, the result is mostly positive.

Specifically, I really ended up enjoying one of the stories near this collection’s conclusion. This two chapter arc has the Avengers tossed into a different dimension, where the world is facing impending doom and the world’s heroes are remixed versions of DC Comics characters. Their exploits in this foreign dimension are fun all the way through and also have a great level of Silver-Age creativity and novelty to them.

In addition, this collection also contains a few more individualized stories that focus on specific Marvel heroes. One is an exciting venture into Black Panther’s past, a story that develops him as a character and adds additional importance to his position in Wakanda. The other is a touching story that has the Hulk reach some form of peace, only to have it ripped away from him at the last possible moment. Though these stories don’t contain much action from the main cast of the Avengers, they are still entertaining and work well on their own.

The negatives in Avengers Vol. 9 are typically mild. They mostly consist of stories failing to really stand out in ways outside of some moderately fun action. This is particularly problematic in the book’s first half, which contains stories that are fun to read but feel almost instantly forgettable. The only more dramatic failing in Avengers Vol. 9 is that the Women’s Liberation-focused story ends up being a noticeably poor approach to feminism that actually reinforces some negative female stereotypes. However, as a whole, the negatives in this book are not too significant and do not have a large impact on the overall quality of the collection.

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Art

Almost every chapter in Avengers Vol. 9 is penciled by either John Buscema or Sal Buscema. Both artists continue to bring the same attractive artwork and pleasing layouts that they have brought to all of their work in this series. Noteworthy visual moments in this collection can be seen in many of John Buscema’s splash pages or in his creative and captivating take on heroes from another comic book company. Other visual standouts can be seen throughout Sal Buscema’s work on the Black Panther-centric chapter, which has some impressive layouts that really contribute to the flow of the narrative in this chapter. All in all, this is another solid visual entry in the Avengers series where the quality of the artwork helps improve the quality of the storytelling.

Continuity

Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 9 continues the story from Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 8 (Review).

The story here continues in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 10 (Review).

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

• Daredevil and Black Panther’s team-up from Daredevil #69, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Daredevil Vol. 7, is mentioned in Avengers #82.
• In Avengers #83, Whirlwind mentions fighting Captain America back in Captain America #130, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 5.
• In Avengers #83, the Enchantress’s banishment from Asgard is retold. This story was originally told in Incredible Hulk Vol 1 102, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk Vol. 3.
• At one point, Black Panther mentions that the Fantastic Four were the first outsiders to visit Wakanda. This visit is detailed in Fantastic Four #52, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 6 (Review).
• Falcon started working with Captain America in Captain America #133, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 5.
• At one point, Iron Man recognizes something that reminds him of a scene from a “comic-mag” that takes place “at the end of an abandoned subway tunnel”. This is a reference to the statues of the Seven Deadly Sins that are shown in the first appearance of the original Captain Marvel, depicted in Whiz Comics #2.
• Hulk references the fact that Betty Ross had recently been turned into a crystal. This happened in Incredible Hulk #138, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk Vol. 7.