30 REVIEWS IN 30 DAYS (18): THE AVENGERS #94

Released on December 10th, 1971

     Well there's certainly a lot going on in this book. It's not really so much that it's confusing, it's just a lot to keep track of. Since I didn't read any of the books proceeding this (like Fantastic Four, Captain Marvel, or this book before #89), it kind of feels like I was thrown into a battle and have to catch up to speed on everything. And that, at least back then, is the problem. Super hero comic books are always better and more rewarding if you've read them for decades and know all of the history. They're still fun if you're new, but you definitely won't get everything out of them. So far in this story line there was a Kree story and now a Skrulls story. The two warring alien tribes haven't yet clashed, at least on the page (them being at war was mentioned). The other big thing going on in this is that the U.S. government has enacted an Alien Activities Commission, which is basically just trying to get rid of all the super heroes in an evil, cruel way. In this issue, the government sends off these robot warriors called Mandroids to take down The Avengers. In space, there's a Super Skrull that has all of the Fantastic Four's powers. He's an exile, though, so when he returns to the Kree galaxy, the Kree king tries to take him down (the Kree king's hot daughter is kind of against this). We end up with Captain Marvel eventually giving in to the Kree king and is ready to give him the logistics to some sort of death ray. I'm kind of hoping that the real Avengers like Captain America and Thor and Iron-Man head into space...because who the fuck cares about Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch? So there's a battle on Earth and in space. John Buscema, who I'm guessing is Sal Buscema's son, did some of the artwork in this issue. Neal Adams also penciled some of it. I miss Sal's art. And so far this story line hasn't exactly gotten better or more interesting, although it is mildly amusing. I think there's only three issues left. The funny thing is...none of these issues are even known as the "Kree/Skrull War." That moniker came later when people talked about it so much that it became a classic. I'm taking a wild guess that someone dies in this or there's some great ending on the horizon...otherwise, I'm pretty lost as to why this is so fondly remembered. **