The dialogue is cringe-worthily chauvinistic when it comes to women, and treats every non-superhero as merely cardboard comedy relief, or caricatures. The one exception might be Moondragon. The only thing that kept me reading was "Michael's" humorous casual wear, shorts and all. Maybe he was showing off his quads once he got a new body? Who knows.

( )

Read for the Unofficial 75 Greatest Marvels Countdown podcast. I'll give my full thoughts on there, but in the meantime, that was a heck of a story. Kinda cluttered in the middle, but with good first and third acts. ( )

This volume collects a ten-issue epic from 1977, from issues of Avengers and a Thor Annual.

Korvac was a slave of the alien Badoon until he used their own technology to break free. Gathering power along the way, he travels from the 30th century to our time, intending to remake the world, bringing him into conflict with both the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

I never really liked Jim Shooter's writing much, even as a kid, and he handles most of this story arc (and seems to direct the rest, as there isn't a noticeable difference among the other writers who contribute.) There are too many attempts to be funny that just come off as embarrassing, too much petty, annoying bickering amongst the teammates and too many broad, hand-wavy explanations for everything. Korvac's origin is a particularly egregious example; he escapes from Thor and the Guardians and just happens to teleport right to Galactus' world-ship. There he plugs himself in and woohoo instant near-omnipotence. Honestly, I don't expect real, hard science from this but at least make something up that sounds plausible.

There is an odd sequence where the Avengers, needing to get somewhere but having their jet flight privileges revoked, take a bus--despite the fact that about half of them can fly under their own power.

Ultron makes a less-than-stellar showing around the middle of the volume, hiding out in a convent (!) We find that the Avengers have been "immunized" to his primary means of attack. How does that work, exactly? The Scarlet Witch's involvement in this battle was referenced when Ultron returned a couple years later, but this really dumb plot device is never heard from again. Nor is the deus-ex-machina way in which Thor finally defeats the robot.

And what on Earth is Nighthawk doing in here? He shows up at a fashion show, something he admits he wouldn't normally do, for no apparent reason.

I like a lot of 1970s Marvel, but the Avengers wouldn't reach greatness until about a half a year later. ( )

In retrospect this is one of the foundation stones that pointed the way to the future of modern comics. It’s clearly influenced by Claremont’s X-Men storylines, with a lot of soap operatic conflicts going on (a leader filled with self-doubt, Captain America taking a quite out-of-character Wolverine role of undermining him), panels here and there setting up later storylines so nothing ever quite feels tidily resolved, and epic battles stretching from the 31st century to New York’s Forest Hill Gardens neighbourhood.

It’s clearly a primitive form of the ongoing narrative which dominates modern comics – whilst the story builds to the last three issues here, the Korvac storyline itself doesn’t properly kick in until the last three issues or so. What saves it though, and marks it out from the majority of what’s followed is the enormous sense of fun behind it all. In the economically testing 70s the government interference and cuts storylines were very much on the nose (and read so again to a modern British reader like me). It culminates in the splendidly absurd way the Avengers eventually reach Korvac’s lair, a splendidly comic conceit that adds to the absurdity of the climax’s setting. And of course there are the requisite punch-ups, although Jim Shooter has the wit to undermine this in the climactic battle (it’s far better executed here than when he reused it for Secret Wars). This is ridiculous, epic and yet has room to ponder moral questions.

What also raises it above the usual superhero fare is the essentially tragic nature of the villain. Korvac is clearly one of the Avengers’ most powerful foes and even a combination of the world’s mightiest heroes wouldn’t match him. The answer is therefore rooted in character, lending a tragic air to proceedings. We’re not simply admiring the heroes and jeering the bad guys, instead we’re left with characters on both sides as flawed and complex as the medium would allow.

Of course, being forty years old a lot of the attitudes on display are out of date, as happens to all art over time. But this is a reminder of how inventive Marvel of the 70s was and how fortunate I was to be brought up on them. Tremendous fun. ( )

Ah classic comics, where else you you get a woman being belittled for being a feminist and another woman being praised for a ridiculous costume? And love conquering all, even common sense.

Not the best story but you do see some of the characterstics and stresses showing. Korvac wants all the power in the universe and the Avengers are determined to stop him. ( )