Released on June 10, 1971
After reviewing Road to Empyre: The Kree/Skrull War #1 yesterday, I figured I'd go and check out the original "Kree/Skrull War" story line that ran in The Avengers back in the early 70's. I've never read it, it's a classic, and it's so great that fifty years later they're re-doing it, so I might as well check it out. First off, The Avengers team is fucking horrendous in 1971. There's no Iron-Man, Thor, Hulk, or Captain America. There's The Vision. There's his wife. There's Quicksilver. And there's some musician named Rick Jones. There's also Captain Marvel, though he has his own book and is just making a cameo. While the team blows, the issue is fantastic. I realize that back in the golden age of comics not every issue or book was better than comics today, but this issue in particular feels light years better in quality than today's super hero books. Granted, this is the first part of a classic story line, so perhaps it's an outlier. The story isn't all that great but the way it's presented is stellar. The art and writing are both top notch. Roy Thomas wrote this issue and Sal Buscema did the art (Sam Grainger inked it). It starts off mid-story, with The Avengers chasing down Captain Marvel. Slowly the backstory about why they're chasing him is revealed. It's quite the intricate, compelling way to write a book. The story is also very complicated but also very engrossing. I could probably write for another five pages detailing the plot. The one interesting thing is that Captain Marvel was stuck in the Negative Zone. To get out he slowly had to trade atoms with someone outside the Negative Zone...and that was Rick Jones. This linked them together, even going so far as to Captain Marvel hilariously speaking inside Jones' head ("This is not a moment for wry sarcasm, Rick-- but for action!"). So there's also this big bad, Annihilus, stuck in the Negative Zone and trying to get out. Meanwhile out in space there's Ronan the Accuser who's up to something nefarious, and in Florida a Kree sentry robot thing wakes up and breaks through a wall at the end to attack The Avengers. Whew. Besides being word heavy, these old books pack so much into every issue that you not only feel like you get your money's worth but you also get heavily invested in the story and characters. These days, you don't really get that. Books are pretty quick to read now, they're not overly complicated or smart. And usually, they never seem to run long enough with the same writers and artists to create any kind of momentum. While this book does have its flaws (Ronan the Accuser is fucking silly and not menacing in the least, The Avengers team is pretty lame), it's still a total blast. ***
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