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Post by Shiryu on Jan 31, 2006 9:31:20 GMT -5
What do you think of this story ? I had a chance to read it recently in its TPB and enjoyed it a lot, especially the final chapters with the desperate battle and the revelation at the end.
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Post by Van Plexico on Jan 31, 2006 13:02:07 GMT -5
One of the absolute greatest Avengers stories ever, IMO, and the high point of Jim Shooter's writing career.
I loved how it wove so many other great subplots throughout, including the Collector and the second half of the Bride of Ultron storyline.
Being ten years old when I read it didn't hurt, either. :-)
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Post by Shiryu on Feb 1, 2006 10:30:26 GMT -5
Totally agree, even though I must have been awful having to wait for a full month before a new chapter Funny enough (or sad enough), in Italy Shooter is considered as one of the worse Avengers' writers, and some of his work has been left unpublished for a long time.
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Post by asgardian on Feb 17, 2006 0:45:14 GMT -5
I missed this classic period as I was too young and in a remote area at the time, but was floored when reading Korvac's entry in the Marvel Handbook a few years later. "Slaying wave after wave of Avengers?" When I did buy the issues it was certainly worth the wait. The other big storyline it took a few years to track down was the second Thanos War (Avengers Annual #7 + Marvel Two In One Annual #2). Stories this powerful and dark were rare for the time. Curiously, while the Korvac Saga has been reprinted, nothing has been done with #158-166, which covers the fights against Graviton, Ultron and Nefaria. It would make for a good trade.
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Post by dlw66 on Feb 17, 2006 13:55:25 GMT -5
The Korvac Saga was about the last good Avengers story before I hit high school and decided comics weren't "cool". That passed when I got to college and had to buy a whole bunch of back issues on a tight budget!!
I really liked the way the story began with the Collector, who has always been one of my favorite Avengers villains dating back to the first appearance of Goliath, which I owned in a reprint. I also was a fan of the Guardians of the Galaxy from their appearances in Marvel Two-In-One and Defenders. Great stuff!! To be honest, I'd be hard-pressed to name an arc since that has approached this story... Most of what we've gotten lately is simply throw-away stuff. I would have to wonder how many of the recent trade compilations Marvel is selling.
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Post by asgardian on Feb 17, 2006 19:20:33 GMT -5
Not as many as they would like. Comics in general are fighting a losing battle against computer games, which get better and better...
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Post by dlw66 on Feb 20, 2006 12:23:41 GMT -5
I have some longtime favorite books, characters that I really care about -- but I can't really get into them anymore. That is disappointing to me. I don't read Spider-Man at all, nor the Fantastic Four. I swore off the X-Men shortly after the Jim Lee run began. I am trying really hard to like Mark Waid's Legion of Super-Heroes, and while I'll admit that I'm a few months behind in my reading, I can't seem to find the magic. We all know that what Bendis is doing with the Avengers is garbage.
While there are a few books I look forward to (Alex Ross' Justice, the Ultimates is a guilty pleasure, Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man seems to work for me in the paperback format, as does Geoff Johns Teen Titans stuff), I have pretty much resigned myself to picking up trade paperbacks of older storylines, and buying the Essential series (and I will probably try DC's version, the Showcase Presents series).
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Post by BoredYesterday on Feb 24, 2006 9:54:53 GMT -5
That story was about 5 years before my comic book buying time. I used to have the What If? Korvac had won. THAT was a great story. It was like the Alamo -- all the Avengers getting killed but dying nobly. I read that over and over, and always wondered who Korvac was. I just got the original issues ofthe Korvac saga last year, but haven't read them yet. I was impressed that you can get them for less than the price of a new comic if you shop around.
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Post by asgardian on Feb 24, 2006 17:47:30 GMT -5
Yes, that was always a tad odd. There are literally thousands of issues of Marvel titles - some with good stories - that are practically worthless.
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Post by oldavengersfan on Mar 2, 2006 11:07:45 GMT -5
Comparing the Korvac saga to comics around today is like comparing Chocolate Cake to dirt.
I still wonder why I'm still collecting.
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Post by capbritain on Mar 2, 2006 12:58:02 GMT -5
Guys do any of you know if this story will be re-printed again? essential guide vol 6? In Britain it was diificult to get all the issues, when they first came out. Thanks
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Post by dlw66 on Mar 2, 2006 13:13:18 GMT -5
I haven't heard any plans, but with New Avengers selling well (why, we continue to ask) there's always the possibility. Keep checking ebay in the meantime, I guess...
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Post by vision66 on Mar 13, 2006 17:32:57 GMT -5
Just picked up a bunch of avengers books this weekend at a convention and two of them are avengers 175-176.I have heard so many good things about this "korvac" storyline that i hope it lives up to it's billing.
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Post by Van Plexico on Mar 14, 2006 13:07:13 GMT -5
The Korvac Saga runs from 167-177. So I hope you can find a copy of the final issue!
I had every issue of the Dark Phoenix Saga from X-MEN, as a kid, except the final issue. I didn't get to read that issue until about two years ago, in fact-- though I'd long since heard how it all came out, many times over, in flashbacks. Ha.
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Post by ultron69 on Sept 22, 2009 8:39:27 GMT -5
A true classic. Probably my favorite Avengers arc.
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Post by Marvel Boy on Dec 1, 2012 22:18:59 GMT -5
As part of Jolly Ol' Christmas, I receive a small lump sum of money from a few family members and friends. (I guess the new perfect gift of the 21st century, but not the only gift I give or receive during the holidays)
This year, I decided to spend part of that sum on finally getting the TPB of the Korvac Saga, which I ordered from Amazon. This is one of those stories that I've always heard great things about yet never read. It's also one of those stories to receive sporadic collection. The edition I bought was one of the newer editions, which collects, I think, the Thor Annual story that kinda set-ups this arc.
Either way, I'm glad to see other members here agree about this being a great story. Really looking to forward to reading it when it arrives.
Curiously, while the Korvac Saga has been reprinted, nothing has been done with #158-166, which covers the fights against Graviton, Ultron and Nefaria. It would make for a good trade.
Actually, I think Marvel has now collected those issues in a TPB called the Bride of Ultron. In fact, during my Avengers search, it seems Marvel has collected issues from the late #140s all the way through the end of Korvac with #177.
The TPBs of those issues are The Serpent Crown, The Private War of Doom, Bride of Ultron and Korvac. Looks like I have more trades to buy.
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comaboy
Great Lakes Avenger
Posts: 34
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Post by comaboy on Dec 4, 2012 9:20:31 GMT -5
I'd like to respectfully dissent as I've never been a big fan of the Korvac story line. For whatever reason it just never engaged me, there was no hook. Sure he takes down all the Avengers but it was rather arbitrary to my way of thinking. I enjoyed the Serpent Crown, Ultron and Nefaria storylines from that period much more than I do Korvac.
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Post by tomspasic on Dec 5, 2012 5:22:00 GMT -5
Spoilage for the hundred year old comic follow. It's a bit of a stretch, but one can almost see a subtext in the Korvac story which reflects Shooter's tenure at marvel, or if not that, then at least some insight into his management and editorial styles. To begin with we have Korvac, originally a somewhat forgettable half-man-half-machine villain from the far flung future (and there is an echo of Tharok the half-robot LSH villain from the future created by a young James Shooter esq.). Korvac is elevated to near God-like power and omniscience (Shooter gets put in charge of Marvel). Korvac decides to use his powers to make great changes which will improve the lot of everyone. But he is opposed by both powerful Cosmic entities and by the Avengers. The Avengers are little more than ants to Korvac but he tries to be non-lethal with them, because he wants to be a Benevolent Dictator. Eventually Korvac is laid low and "What Might Have Been" is lost, due to the small mindedness of the Avengers. Now, if we see Shooter as Korvac, and the Bullpen and freelancers working for Marvel as the Avengers, we could posit other management figures as the opposing Cosmic Forces. Shooter wants to impose his autocratic vision of "How To Make Marvel Great" but is opposed and hamstrung by other management, and opposed by the "little people" in the Bullpen. Eventually the great tyrant/saviour is bought down by the somewhat treacherous opposition (think of Iron Man insisting the Panther kill Carina, Korvac's "girlfriend"). As I said at the start, it is a bit of a stretch, and hindsight can make us see faces in the clouds, as it were. But I thought it worth a mention.
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Post by humanbelly on Dec 5, 2012 5:50:14 GMT -5
Well-- the time-line alone clearly makes the allegorical comparison purely coincidental. Korvac Saga came out in 1977, loooooong before most of the office & industry political wrangling took place. Shooter's climactic "fall" didn't occur until 1987. Although I hadn't thought about it before, it occurs to me that the story is really based more on the conventions of good ol' Classical Tragedy (Agamemnon, Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, Lear, etc), with Michael/Korvac serving as the tragic hero. Charismatic, highly-elevated figure; a tragic or fatal flaw or vulnerability; ultimately brings about his own demise--- I'd have to go back and check my old textbooks to add to the list of conventional elements, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's what Shooter was using as his framework.
HB
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Post by Marvel Boy on Dec 9, 2012 11:26:39 GMT -5
Thoroughly enjoyed this story. I see many similarities between this and the Dark Phoenix Saga, in that you have a subtle, powerful threat slowly build amidst a more-known dangerous threat that leads to a tragic crescendo.
As you mentioned HB, plenty of classical elements at play here. Carina's betrayal of her father, Michael's motivations mis-understood, a deep love and bond that in the end, brought both of them down. The panel of their hands almost touching after Carina falls was really dramatic and moving.
As was that whole fight scene. Brutal, shocking, numbing, wow. I don't expect Cap to take a direct hit from a foe of this level and power and then get right back up to fight. Yet being just a man, he goes to fight anyway, displaying tremendous courage in this tragic scenario, as did every other Avenger.
I'm not sure if I agree with the four-page epilogue included in the TPB editions. It seems to undermine Michael's thinking and basically says he got it all wrong and now he has all eternity with Death to ponder his mistake.
I didn't know this was Gyrich's first appearance either. Nice to know he was a pain-in-the-butt from Day 1.
I've never been the biggest fan of the Guardians of the Galaxy, but it was fun reading of them. I think I'm going to adopt Starhawk's catchphrase to end my arguments on other forum boards, Accept the word of One-Who-Knows! ;D
Lastly, you can never have too much of Red-Sports-Jacket-With-Shades Wonder Man. Such a terrific look.
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Post by ultron69 on Dec 10, 2012 11:02:56 GMT -5
I loved it the first time I read it and in re-reading it a couple of years ago, I thought it held up very well. Like Shiryu I liked the final chapters with the desperate battle and the revelation at the end. I love the huge cast and of course the art, though I wish Perez had done the whole thing.
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