"AVENGERS CLASSICS!"

[thew40]

A new series, reprinting the old classic "Avengers" stories, with brand-new back-up tales, ala "X-Men Classics."

forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=105383

Looks like I'll be needing to add a new comic to my pull list!

~W~

[Nutcase65]

I'm not familiar with this format.

Is it simply that they re-write the original? Do they stay true to the original stroy or 'improve' upon it

Or is it just that they reprint the first story and just update the art?

[Doctor Doom]

AWESOME! Firstly, this shows just how strong the Avengers brand has become- the strongest team in comics today, I'd say. FOUR ongoings?

I know, I know what many of those who dislike Marvel today will say. That it's a pathetic attempt to throw a bone to older fans in the hopes of getting their business. But honestly, this is 100% totally and completely aimed at the likes of this very website and if you don't at least try out what's beiong offered, I'm convinced you're just unwilling to give a chance.

McDuffie is a fantastic writer and I missed out on so many of the best classics that this is literally a dream come true. Honestly, I think nothing more clearly spells out that Marvel DON'T want to alienate older fans.

d**n, this looks to be the best year for comics ever!

Nutcase, they just reprint the first story. No updating. Then there's a second bonus story of about 10 pages by McDuffie, then in issue 1 only, a third story by The Man.

[dlw66]

docdoom said:

I know, I know what many of those who dislike Marvel today will say. That it's a pathetic attempt to throw a bone to older fans in the hopes of getting their business.

No, you don't know, my friend. I for one will add this in a heartbeat to my pull list. I want so badly to have an Avengers comic in the traditional mold that I will sign up for this the moment I can. I was a huge fan of the Classic X-Men series with the Claremont/Bolton back-ups. I think what we have here is fall-out from the successful EMH minis of the past three years. This is a move toward an "untold tales" format and I am already greatly looking forward to it.

Now, Doom, so as not to disappoint you, I will add that I think it is a disgrace that the cover image prominently features Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Spider-Woman. Gilgamesh I got no problem with -- those other for-marketing-only-Avengers-imposters... blecccchhhh!

[Doctor Doom]

Dlw, you're doing it again! I apparantly have not made clear enough the abundant amount of respect I have for you. To address it another way from my previous comment, if we Assemblers were to have a "Big Three", you would be among it!

My comment was most certainly not aimed at you. It was aimed at others who I shall not mention- others who are slightly... shall we say slightly more anti-marvel than you?

I'm very glad to hear you're being pulled aboard... though I'm interested to see what anyone else coming aboard says, since every time there's a bad comic it's all; the editor's fault and Marvel as a whole, yet when we are given something we DID cry out for- and that's what this is- then it's suddenly attributed more to the individual writers...

[dlw66]

docdoom said:

Dlw, you're doing it again! I apparantly have not made clear enough the abundant amount of respect I have for you. To address it another way from my previous comment, if we Assemblers were to have a "Big Three", you would be among it!

And apparently my wry smile is not transmitting electronically. I was just distancing myself, I suppose, from those naysayer zombies. I'm not happy, but I don't consider myself a hater altogether. After all, I'm still giving to Marvel my cash in the tpb, DVD-ROM, action figure, and (some) new comics markets.

[Nutcase65]

So, even though it is basically a reprint, you guys feel it's worth a pull? I have always loved the Avengers,.. and maybe that's why they can suck me in with just about any Avengers title (at first)

So with people who usually sit on opposite sides of the fence on certain topics agreeing, I should think it's at least worth a look.

[The Night Phantom]

I’ve mixed feelings about this series. I have the reprinted stories from the early years already in various forms: some Masterworks editions, the DVD-ROM, even a few original issues. But these new reprints may offer a better presentation of the material than anything I already have. And the brand-new backups might be nice to read. If I were a new fan who didn’t already have a “classic Avengers” library, this new series would be a shoo-in. As things are, I’ll have to do some thinking about this one.

[dlw66]

nightphantom said:

I have the reprinted stories from the early years already in various forms: some Masterworks editions, the DVD-ROM, even a few original issues.

I can say the same, and add in my complete run of Volumes 1-3, too. But, as I said above, if the backstories are as good as what we got from Classic X-Men, then it may be worth the $3. Ultimately, I will buy the first 2-3 issues and then evaluate, but I am excited for some new material based on the original team(s).

[The Night Phantom]

dlw66 said:

But, as I said above, if the backstories are as good as what we got from Classic X-Men, then it may be worth the $3.

Note: the “oversized” (48-page) first issue is $3.99.

[Doctor Doom]

I think, though I may be wrong, that the writing of McDuffie may be to your taste. Don't ask me why, he just seems the type of writer many of you enjoy from my experience on this site and my limited experience of his writing.

[The Night Phantom]

For a quick rundown of McDuffie’s past credits, you can check out the summary I wrote shortly after he was announced as the new FF writer. A more comprehensive listing appears on Wikipedia.

It’s been batted about that J. Michael Straczynski is the first person since Stan Lee to be the regular writer on both Fantastic Four and Amazing Spider-Man simultaneously. Now McDuffie will be the regular writer on both FF and an ongoing Avengers series at the same time. Who else since Stan has had that honor? Roy Thomas, maybe? I think the latter part of Englehart’s West Coast Avengers run was contemporaneous with the early part of his FF run…

[The Night Phantom]

By the way, while the Newsarama article wavers between calling the series Avengers Classics (plural) and Avengers Classic (singular), Marvel is using the singular.

As I look at #1’s cover art, my mind fills with questions about who’s included and who’s excluded:

• Whose head seems to appear between Iron Man (Tony Stark’s golden armor), the Falcon, and Triathlon?
  
• Who is the Captain Marvel below Monica Rambeau? It looks most like Genis-Vell, who has never been an Avenger in mainstream continuity (Avengers: Forever revealed a future incarnation who was an Avenger). Is it an erroneous depiction of his father, who was named an honorary Avenger posthumously? Is it some sort of spoiler (e.g., Ronin is Genis-Vell, or Mar-Vell is joining the Mighty line-up with a new look)?
  
• Many of the Avengers not depicted are honorary members (Rick Jones [perhaps an unfortunate omission for #1!], Moira Brandon, the various Guardians of the Galaxy, Silverclaw), but some honoraries are (Yellowjacket [Rita DeMara], the Whizzer)—there seems to be no rhyme or reason. Some of the undepicted late-volume-three Avengers such as the second Swordsman (I’m assuming the Swordsman next to Mantis is the original), Magdalene, Deathcry, and Masque might be just honorary members—I don’t remember and don’t feel like looking it up right now.
  
• The very newest Avengers—Ares, Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Echo/Ronin, the other Ronin—are not shown, unless that’s part of Strange’s cloak between Hellcat’s head and the Hulk’s left armpit.
  
• Redwing is depicted; so far as I know, he’s never been an Avenger.
  
• Why the hell do I worry about this?

[uberwolf]

nightphantom said:

• Whose head seems to appear between Iron Man (Tony Stark’s golden armor), the Falcon, and Triathlon?
  

[/i][/li][/ul][/quote]

I'm pretty sure that is the face of Silverclaw.

[The Night Phantom]

nightphantom said:

• Whose head seems to appear between Iron Man (Tony Stark’s golden armor), the Falcon, and Triathlon?

[…]

• Many of the Avengers not depicted are honorary members (Rick Jones [perhaps an unfortunate omission for #1!], Moira Brandon, the various Guardians of the Galaxy, Silverclaw) […]

uberwolf said:

I'm pretty sure that is the face of Silverclaw.

Hmm…now that you mention it, I can see that as a likely contender. Thanks!

[Tana Nile]

It's both amazing and frustrating to see my favorite Marvel team suddenly become what X-Men used to be - mainly, the driving force of the whole line. Amazing, because I always thought they should be in this spot, and frustrating, because I'm not on-board with everythng that's happening with the team.

However I am very pleased to hear about Avengers Classics. I love the idea of a reprint book with the earliest stories being available. Like many of you, I already have those stories in one form or another. But many fans do not and this is a great way for them to learn the history of the group. It's the way I learned Marvel lore back in the days, with reprints like Marvel Tales and Marvel Triple Action.

I am not sure if I will buy it myself. Like I said, I have all these issues. And to be honest, the watercolor art we were shown does nothing for me. But I'll give the first issue or so a try. I really did enjoy Avengers 1.5 and the first volume of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. There's just something about seeing that surly Hulk in the team that I really like!

[dlw66]

tananile said:

However I am very pleased to hear about Avengers Classics. I love the idea of a reprint book with the earliest stories being available. Like many of you, I already have those stories in one form or another...

...And to be honest, the watercolor art we were shown does nothing for me. But I'll give the first issue or so a try.

I think an interesting aspect of this series as it unfolds is an issue we've discussed as to Silver Age art: will this book sell with half of it in a very outdated style and the other half in a very modern style? The advantage Classic X-Men had was that the first story was by Cockrum then Byrne. Bolton's art was not such a stark departure. I think once this book gets into the Heck and then certainly the Buscema era it will be "safe" for today's consumers. Kirby, I'm not so sure...

[Tana Nile]

very good question dlw. It would be ironic if the dated artwork drove away younger readers and only attracted the older readers who have already seen the stuff!

Perhaps having new covers by current artists will slightly offset that problem. It could be interesting to see new interpretations of the old covers.

[Shiryu]

This is a book I will be looking forward to. Unlike many here, I'm not enjoying Earth's Mightiest Heroes much, so this classic format may be more of my taste. Hopefully it will be good !

As for Doug's question, it's a valid point, because modern art and coloration are very different from the classic ones, and may not appeal new readers too much. I suppose a lot of it will depend on the quality of the new pages, on the team that will work on them and on the artistic techniques used.

[redstatecap]

I don't have any interest in getting a second print of a comic I already own, and a quickie backup story is not enough reason for me to spend $3.
The people buying it are welcome to -- I'm just totally indifferent to the concept.

RSC

[Yellowjacket]

I´ll buy it, for sure. In that I have most of the first 101 Avengers books only in form of German releases (I´ve got the four Essential Avengers trades, though) this is a nice opportunity for me.

But it´s questionable how long this kind of a series will hang on. I don´t think there´s a big audience for this kind of stuff. Hopefully the (hopefully good) backup stories can help selling this book. At any rate this is my most prefered publishing format.

[Shiryu]

Going OT for a second, in many posts I've seen references to the $ price comics have. However, due to the currency differences, I can't really quantisize how much comics cost over there in the USA. Is 3$ a fair bit for 22 pages of comic ? and how much would an average size book cost ?

[dlw66]

$3 = 2.26 Euro

As one who started buying comics when they were 25 cents (or 1/12 what the cover price is today), I struggle with justifying buying very many books -- it's one of the major reasons why I don't buy too much. By the time I purchase 4-5 standard 22-page books, plus a couple of the bigger ones (like Justice), it's starting to put a dent in my family's budget . Not that I couldn't afford more, but as I said, it's hard to justify.

[Shiryu]

dlw66 said:

$3 = 2.26 Euro

Hmm, I wonder if the actual "power" for lack of better word, is the same. 2.26 € is roughly what we pay in Italy for an issue of Vendicatori, containing NA, Cap, Ms Marvel and some Thor miniseries and about 88 pages. The fact that you pay the same for just 22 pages of comics suggests that, despite having the same official value, 3 $ is worth less than 2.26 € (i.e., the salaries on average are higher in USA than Europe, so it's easier to spend to 3$ than 2.26 €)