Vol. I, Issue 45 -- WOW!

[Bored Yesterday]

Anybody read this lately? I'm totally blown away! It's the Avengers versus the Super Adaptoid and it has everything that made the late Silver Age great.

Story by Roy Thomas, pencils by Don Heck, and I forget who did the inks, but it was some of the best finishing work on Heck that I've seen in preceding issues.

Plot synopsis goes like this -- The Avengers assemble for Avengers Day in Central Park. There's a lot of great character building among all the team mates (but Hawkeye still doesn't have a name for his alter ego). Hercules joins the team! Iron Man and Thor make an appearance, since this story takes place right after Annual 1 (which really is one of the best Avengers books ever printed). Roy is starting to build the mutant/human tension in Quicksilver's internal dialogs and conversations with Wanda. This is buildup leading to the Magneto story arc in issues 47-49, wherein QS and SW leave the Avengers in favor of Magneto's latest master plan.

I digress due to the greatness of this book. Anyway, Super Adaptoid hides himself in the crowd at the Avengers Day celebration so that he can secretly absorb the power of Iron Man and Thor by remaining in their vicinity. After Iron Man and Thor leave, Super Adaptoid attacks the Avengers with the intent of destroying Captain America in an old fashioned vandetta match.

The battle that ensues is among the best I have ever read. Each Avenger takes a turn and the battle lasts for the best of the book. We have Goliath, Wasp, Cap, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Hercules against the Super Adaptoid. One of the coolest scenes is when Goliath and Wasp are shrunken and Super Adaptoid shrinks too. These 3 carry on in a serious knockdown but are so small, the Avengers can't interfere for fear of stepping on and killing a teammate. Wasp grabs ahold of the Super Adaptoid and quickly returns to normal size, then hurls the Super Adaptoid at a tree! Super Adaptoid grows real quick and smashes through it!

Tell you what -- this is the slugfest of the century -- and lives up to scope of battles that Jim Shooter would concoct against ultra-powerful foes such as Graviton and Count Nefaria.

There are so many reasons to love this issue -- I urge everybody who misses the Avengers to read it on DVD or if you're lucky enough to have the paper copy, read that. It's a blast -- and it took me almost an HOUR to read it. Thanks Roy Thomas for putting words in the book!

[dlw66]

And for anyone currently reading EMH II, this is the precursor to that fine story!

[redstatecap]

boredyesterday said:

Thanks Roy Thomas for putting words in the book!

What, you mean...the Avengers used to be more than the two-minute read it is today? There was a story?

RSC

[sharkar]

OMG, Bored, I cannot believe you posted about this issue...reason is, I just posted about this on a different board. The subject on that other board is "Less Famous Stories by Roy Thomas" or something like that. Anyway, I wrote about #45 there, and I've also mentioned it on this board (months ago) as a favorite of mine, because this issue- - along with the contemporaneous FF #68- -were the first Marvel books I ever read.

Besides all the reasons you stated, this book is notable for a few more reasons. On a personal level, it was a great introduction for me as a new reader , because it included the older Avengers as well as the current team (as Bored says, it was supposed to take place right after the events in Avengers Annual #1, which also featured IM and Thor with the then-current roster)

It's the first time Jan sported a new costume that wasn't a variation of her red and black uniform. At that time, her new yellow sequined outfit with the side panels was considered quite "glitzy."

And (this is what I posted on the other board), this issue and #46 gave no hint of what was to occur a few short issues later: the dismantling of the Avengers team--it could be called Roy's version of "Disassembled."

#45 was truly a celebration of the Mighty Avengers, what with the inception of Avengers Day, the presence of IM and Thor, and the official induction of Hercules to the full-time ranks, which included Cap, Goliath, Wasp, Quicksilver, Wanda and Hawkeye. And in #45, it is revealed that Natasha was also going to be offered full-time membership but that she was choosing to retire from her BW identity. Natasha had been a prominent part of the book since #29 and Hercules since #38. So there were basically seven full time Avengers, and Natasha, with appearances by IM and Thor. Everything was looking good.

But it's the calm before the storm. In short order, Cap announced he was leaving (#47), Wanda and Pietro were captured by and joined Magneto (#47-#49), Herc left on a solo mission (#47) and decided to stay in Olympus when his year-long exile was up, and Natasha made only sporadic appearances. So by the end of #50, the ranks had dwindled to a mere three members (Hank, Jan and Hawkeye)...or, as Hank states, "two and half" members (since he's lost his growth power at that point). So this was the nadir for the team.

Of course, T'Challa and the Vision joined soon afterward, and Roy had Thor and IM show up much more regularly than they ever had before, so the team was soon back at full strength.

But as an impressionable child, to see the ranks reduced like that within a few issues...wow, nothing like this ever happened at DC (at that time)! It was a shock and I have never forgotten it.

Also, I often wondered why Herc was made an official member in #45 only to leave on a solo mission in #47. In fact, after he was made a member, Herc didn't even fight alongside the Avengers, except in #45 and briefly in #50 (when Hank, Jan and Hawk came to Olympus). I wondered why Natasha had figured prominently in the book since #29 (especially after #36), only to to become basically invisible after #46. But it was unexpected developments like these that made the book seem "real"...certainly not predictable like a DC book.

It was twists like these that convinced me to become a Marvel fan. Roy kept the readers on their toes. You never knew what would happen in a Marvel book.

Can you tell I LOVE #45?

[bobc]

Yeah--it was almost evil how writers could actually put a story in a comic back then AND there were battles too! And did I mention characterization? They threw that in too.

I am actually simmering with evil right now. I swore I wouldn't say anything hateful about Bendis for a whole day, but Boredyesterday is provoking me. I'm not sure how long my iron-like resolve can last in the face of this withering Silver Age assault.

[Bored Yesterday]

I remember Sharkar's recent post on this issue, but at that time I hadn't read it, and I'm devoted to reading the issues I have from 17 to 99 in order -- no skipping ahead.

Thanks, Sharkar, for extrapolating on some of the coolness of issue 45. It's too much for one post, isn't it?

And what's the deal with Hawkeye's secret id? It's a running theme in issues of this era that he has no secret id? Does anybody know in which issue Clint Barton is introduced as the alter ego of Hawkeye? -- no, don't tell me without a spoiler alert. I'm enjoying too much the suspense wondering each issue if it will be revealed.

[sharkar]

[quote author=boredyesterday board=classicavengers thread=1166454545 post=1166462058}

Thanks, Sharkar, for extrapolating on some of the coolness of issue 45. It's too much for one post, isn't it?
[/quote]

Yes, you see how excited I got because of your post! My all-time favorite issue. Thanks for reviving a discussion about it here.

Also, Bored, you'd asked who the inker was. The inker for #45 was Vince Colletta...he did a good job on Heck. He was also the inker for Buscema on #44. Unlike a lot of fans, I never minded Colletta's inks...I felt he imparted an effective "softness" to some pencilers, including Heck.

Hawkeye was always referred to as Hawkeye at this point...even by Natasha (at least on panel). I won't spoil the surprise by giving you the exact issue, but his real name is not revealed until...well, if you are reading in order, you have many more issues to go until you get to that issue.

[dlw66]

I think I know the Hawkeye issues you are referring to, and I believe the penciller of that 2-part story was Gene Colan. Am I right?

I heard a funny story about Colletta the other day. Seems in the trade he was called "6-hour Vinnie". I guess he figured that it should take him one day to ink a page. So, at the end of six hours, whatever he hadn't inked... well, let's just say he started erasing pencil lines! I guess the artists just hated having him on their work!

[sharkar]

Yes, you are correct, sir! The issues I'm referring to were drawn by Colan. I'll say no more about those issues (really a three-parter) so as not to spoil the giant surprise in store for Bored.

But I remember thinking, where was my beloved Buscema? I wasn't really familiar with Colan's work at that time...as my tastes matured, I grew to admire his style.

As you say, dlw, I don't think too many pencilers liked Colletta inking their work...the consensus was that he'd cut corners by erasing. I liked his work on some artists and on some books, such as Thor (over Kirby). In that book, he imparted a "fairy tale" feel.

[Van Plexico]

That was actually one of the first AVENGERS comics I ever read, shortly after #162 and Annual #7. So, as great a comic as it was, it was going up against some MIGHTY competition for my affections (as an eight year old)!

The reason I read it at that time: It was reprinted in the first issue of MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION I ever bought.

My first reaction at the time: "I don't like the art as much as this Perez guy on the current book... but it's not terrible."

My second reaction: "This Super-Adaptoid is COOL!!!"

Thus began my lifelong appreciation for all things Adaptoid, and for semi-lame Marvel villains in general...

[Bored Yesterday]

The Adaptoid is cool. His powers are far beyond even the ability of a comic book to explain -- and his tendency to acquire costume characteristics of those he mimics is a strange quirk too -- but he's totally awesome as a villain.

[spiderwasp]

bobc said:

Yeah--it was almost evil how writers could actually put a story in a comic back then AND there were battles too! And did I mention characterization? They threw that in too.

I am actually simmering with evil right now. I swore I wouldn't say anything hateful about Bendis for a whole day, but Boredyesterday is provoking me. I'm not sure how long my iron-like resolve can last in the face of this withering Silver Age assault.

Don't be to hard on yourself bob. I saw your post. You only promised to lay off Bendis if Doom sticks around which, unless I missed it, he didn't. That makes Bendis fair game.
Besides, you were really subtle about your slam. How could anyone possibly guess that you were criticizing Bendis just because you expressed amazement at someone including both characterization and action in the same book? Now if you had mentioned amazement at someone including both action and characterization in the same year, that would have been a giveaway.
And might I add that this is also one of my favorite issues. Ah, those were the days.

[bobc]

Hee hee--you're not exactly being a very good influence, SW!

[dlw66]

A few hours ago I polished off this book, DVD-ROM style, and it was a good read! I am not in love with it to the extent that my buddies sharkar and boredyesterday are, but it is good nonetheless. I'm just too much of a Buscema-zombie (take that, our new member bendiszombie!! ) to appreciate Heck's art -- particularly at this point when I consider his powers to be in decline. However, Thomas' pacing and Heck's storytelling (I would never take that away from him -- although his faces and figures were becoming very stiff, his ability to choreograph a battle remained very strong) do move this along at a frantic pace.

Of note, and not mentioned here but elsewhere in the thread appreciating #43, is Pietro's use of his recently-discovered "flight power". This is most notably depicted on the cover of X-Men #45 in a battle with Cyclops. Also of note is the contradiction to #43's declaration of Jan's inheritance -- somewhere along the way her accountant scrounged up another $2 million for her, bringing her take to $5 million! Chump change today!!

I think another factor of so many Avengers appearing in this issue, and perhaps a continuation of the large-scale battles in Annual #1 (as stated, the preceding story to this one), is that they don't immediately team-up to defeat the Super-Adaptoid. Despite the fact that they know his multi-faceted powers, they choose largely to attack him singly. I found it strange, but again useful Thomas foreshadowing, that it is Pietro who comes up with the strategy that in the end fells the foe.

Again, a strong issue, but not an out-and-out joyride for me. I still hold the first Swordsman two-parter, #28 when Hank and Jan return, and the Diablo/Dragon Man story that brought Buscema to the team in higher regard.