As I stated in my prologue to this series, Stan Lee’s original task from Marvel Publisher Martin Goodman was to create a team of superheroes that were comparable to DC’s “Justice League of America”. The difference was that DC had established those heroes – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman dated back to the 1930’s and 40’s, Flash and Green Lantern, concepts from the same era, were updated in the 1950’s with Hal Jordan replacing Alan Scott as the Green Lantern and Jay Garrick giving way to Barry Allen as the Flash. Martian Manhunter was the only “new” character to join the team and that summed up the problem: none of Marvel’s characters from 1940’s was still being published. Stan got with Jack Kirby, and they created the Fantastic Four, brand new characters[i] that were only featured in that title. Only once the Marvel Universe proper started moving, and Stan, Jack, and Steve Ditko were able to debut a slew of new characters, were Stan and Jack able to create a team more evocative of the JLA, the Avengers. I don’t know if it was planned that way or if it was a useful coincidence. Probably a little from column A and a little from column B.
Time to dive in.
Avengers #1 (September 1963) “The Coming of the Avengers!”
Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (penciller), Dick Ayers (inker), Sam Rosen (letterer)
Loki, brother of Thor, is trapped in the Isle of Silence, exiled there by Odin, their father. He uses his magic to find a way to defeat Thor, who is in his civilian identity of Dr. Donald Blake, MD, a lame surgeon. Loki doesn’t want to beat Don Blake, he wants to beat THOR, so he arranges for the Incredible Hulk to wreck railroad bridge. This draws the attention of the Hulk’s sidekick, teenager Rick Jones, who uses his network of HAM radio operators to try to contact the Fantastic Four in New York. Loki diverts the signal so that it goes to Don Blake, who taps his cane on the ground and becomes the Mighty Thor. It’s also intercepted by Ant-Man and the Wasp, and billionaire playboy philanthropist industrialist Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. The FF also get the message, but Mr. Fantastic lets Rick know that others have gotten it too.
Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and the Wasp all arrive to stop the Hulk’s “rampage”, but it’s just illusions cast by Loki. Thor realizes what’s happening and returns to Asgard to inform his father. Iron Man, Rick, and Ant-Man are sure they can find the Hulk, who’s hiding out in a circus, in disguise as a robot strongman named “Mechano”, who’s juggling an elephant, a horse, and what looks like an otter. Maybe a beaver. The heroes attempt to subdue the Hulk, who powers his way through their attacks. Meanwhile, in Asgard, Thor asks permission of Odin to visit the Isle of Silence and Loki to see if he’s behind the attacks. Odin allows it and Thor plows on through. He battles all of Loki’s traps, then overpowers a troll. Thor sees Loki and swings, but it’s just a mental image of him (is he ever not going to fall for that?). Eventually, Thor fights through the images and captures Loki.
Back on Earth, the Hulk is trying to get away from the others, winding up in an automotive plant. Because there were a ton of those in New Mexico in the early-60’s. Hulk throws a hunk of machinery at Iron Man, who catches and re-shapes it into some sort of grappling hook, pinning Hulk to the wall. Hulk breaks free, but as he’s about to attack, Thor appears with Loki, who tries to fight them off before being locked in a lead-lined tank. Ant-Man and the Wasp suggest that they combine to form a team, with Wasp suggesting they use the name “Avengers”.
Avengers Roster: Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Wasp, Ant-Man
Avengers #1.5 (November 1999) “The Death-Trap of Doctor Doom!”
Roger Stern (writer), Bruce Timm (penciller/inker/colorist), Comicraft (lettering), Tom Brevoort (editor)
(Obviously this one is retconned in between issues #1 and #2 – but since Marvel included it in continuity on Marvel Unlimited, I will also include it here.)
The story takes place a week after the Avengers defeated Loki “at an auto plant near Detroit” according to the newscaster narrating the first few pages (very obviously Walter Cronkite). I always assumed the battle took place in the far west, since that’s where the Hulk and Rick Jones were. We see reactions from various places about the Avengers – the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and Doctor Doom, who wants to stop them before they can get moving. It’s announced that Billionaire Industrialist Tony Stark has made his midtown Manhattan mansion available for the Avengers to use for their meetings. During their first meeting, the team is joined by a Major Bowman, of the NSC. Jarvis lets him know that the whole staff besides himself have resigned because of the presence of the Hulk.
Bowman and the NSC have concerns about Dr. Doom, referring to him as an “international terrorist”. Ant-Man had a run-in with him (in Fantastic Four #16). The FF have clashed with Doom several times, even seizing his giant airship. While they’re talking about it, Doom steals it back, causing the Avengers to come into action. They get transportation from the military in the form of a state-of-the-art jet copter that Iron Man notes must be brand new. The Avengers attack, but the Major knocks out the Wasp with a gas pellet, revealing that he’s under the control of Doctor Doom. Hulk is trapped in a frictionless room and spun around by air jets – a very passive way to defeat him. Thor is attacked by power-sapping spheres, and Iron Man is trapped and disabled by a robot that absorbs his armor’s energy – which could be fatal since its chest plate is the only think that keeps his heart beating. Ant-Man stumbles across the real Major Bowman, tied up in a chair. They get sealed in, and the Major that brought them to this ship is revealed to be the real Doctor Doom! He releases gas into the chamber, as the Wasp watches on helplessly.
Ant-Man takes off his helmet and takes a capsule, and the trap designed to defeat Ant-Man is beaten when he grows to 16 feet tall and becomes Giant-Man! He finds the Hulk pretty quickly, breaking him out of Doom’s innovative trap. Hulk stops to barf, then they find Thor. Thor eventually uses the power of his hammer to send the spheres to another dimension. Finally, they rescue Iron Man, destroying the robot. His armor is very weak, so Thor blasts him with lightning to recharge him. They burst into Doom’s control room, freeing the Wasp, Doom tries to escape, but the Hulk chases after him, grabs him, and pulls his head off, revealing this Doom to be a robot. They all escape the now-crashing ship (in suitably dramatic fashion), and the ship explodes. Wasp reveals that while Doom was ignoring her, she was transmitting everyone’s locations to Giant-Man. Thor wonders if they ever faced the real Doctor Doom.
I absolutely loved this story. Roger Stern wrote the Avengers as well as Stan, capturing the era perfectly. Bruce Timm’s art is evocative of Kirby, but still very much his own. He packed every panel with action but wasn’t a clone of Kirby.
I would absolutely pay for a framed print of Bruce Timm’s Avengers from this era.
Avengers Roster: Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Wasp,(Gi)Ant-Man
Avengers #2 (November 1963) “The Avengers Battle… The Space Phantom”
Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (penciler), Paul Reinman (inker), Art Simek (letterer)
The Avengers meet at Tony Stark’s New York (not yet Avengers) mansion, while the Space Phantom takes the place of a random man on the street. He knows that Tony Stark is Iron Man, and he comes into the mansion. He takes the place of the Hulk, sending Hulk to another dimension. The Phantom leaves the mansion, coming across the man he first impersonated, tearing up the sidewalk. He is met by Rick Jones, who realizes something is wrong. The Phantom reveals his true nature, bringing the Hulk back, then taking over for him again. Hulk Phantom wrecks a missile launch, trying to draw Iron Man out.
Iron Man zaps him, and the Phantom takes off. Rick calls Giant-Man using his “Teen Brigade”, so Giant-Man and the Wasp come to the city. Phantom takes over an actual Wasp, attacking the Wasp. Giant-Man charges off to save her and the Phantom takes over his body. Giant Phantom-Man fights the Hulk, then switches to Iron Man. Wasp flies off to get Thor by messaging Dr. Don Blake. Wasp waits outside while Blake “summons” Thor, who arrives so quickly you’d think that Don Blake was Thor. Imagine. They join the battle, with the Wasp shorting out Iron Phantom Man’s flight pack and Thor conjuring a rainstorm to rust him out. When the Phantom tries to take over Thor, he finds that Thor is too powerful and is sucked back into Limbo. At the end of the story, the Hulk, acting out of sheer paranoia, quits the team.
The Hulk quitting the team is probably the most important thing here – the Space Phantom would not return for years. Having the Hulk as an antagonist rather than part of the team opened up a lot storytelling options.
Avengers Roster: Iron Man, Thor, Wasp, Giant-Man; Hulk quits at the end of the story.
Avengers #3 (January 1964) “The Avengers Meet… The Sub-Mariner!”
Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (penciler), Paul Reinman (inker), Sam Rosen (letterer)
The Avengers are searching for now departed Hulk, who left at the end of issue #2. Iron Man projects his image to the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and the X-Men, none of whom have encountered the Hulk. Out west, Rick Jones finds the Hulk and zaps him with the Gamma Ray cannon to turn him back into Bruce Banner. Bruce sleeps, but wakes up and turns right back into the Hulk, going on a rampage. Rick gets to his HAM radio and contacts the Avengers, who locate and battle Hulk. Hulk starts throwing cars from a passing train at them, then tying Thor in steel cable. Hulk manages to escape, being dumped in the ocean, where he swims out to the Gulf of Mexico. He’s rescued by a ship, then he meets and battles Sub-Mariner. They come to an understanding – they both hate humans, and their first mission will be to defeat the Avengers.
Later, the Avengers get a message that they have been challenged by Hulk and Sub-Mariner to battle. They meet them at Gibraltar, and there’s a big fight. The whole time, Hulk and Subby are planning to betray each other. Wasp gets trapped by the Hulk causing an avalanche, because the only thing she’s good at is being captured. Hulk tries to steal Thor’s hammer, but it causes him to revert back to Bruce Banner. Namor has been out of the water too long, and he begins to weaken – he escapes, and the Avengers let him go, for now.
This was a transitional story – phasing out the Hulk as an ally, introducing Sub-Mariner as an antagonist, and setting him up to make important contributions to the story going forward. Lee loved Sub-Mariner, featuring him throughout the first few years of Fantastic Four and shoehorning him in wherever he could in the build to Fantastic Four Annual #1.
Avengers Roster: Iron Man, Thor, Wasp, Giant-Man
Avengers #4 (March 1964) “Captain America Joins the Avengers!”
Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (penciler), George Roussos (inker/colorist), Sam Rosen (letterer)
After fleeing the battle last issue, Sub-Mariner discovers that his race – the Atlanteans – have all vanished. Later, while he stands on an ice floe in the North Sea, he sees Inuits worshipping a man’s form, frozen in a block of ice. Namor takes the idol and hurls it into the sea, raging about the human race. The block of ice, however, begins to thaw. The Avengers, hot on the trail of Sub-Mariner in their >ahem< submarine, come across the frozen man in the ocean. Giant-Man grabs him and brings him aboard. Underneath his torn clothing is the red, white, and blue uniform of Captain America.
Cap awakens, calling for his sidekick, Bucky. He asks where he is, and who these people are. He confims what they thought – he IS the original Captain America, frozen all these years. He also reveals the final fate of Bucky – they were chasing a drone plane, laden with explosives. They leaped toward the plane, but Cap couldn’t hold on, plummeting into the ocean as the plane exploded, killing Bucky. The final thing Cap saw was Bucky exploding before the cold water of the North Sea interacted with the Super Soldier Serum in his blood, placing him in suspended animation.
The Avengers return to New York, where they’re swarmed by the press, but in a flash of light, they’re turned to stone. Captain America, having been resting, awakens to see the Avengers frozen. He wanders NYC, seeing how everything has changed since the end of World War II, being recognized by people with vague memories. He’s directed to a hotel and Rick Jones, apparently a dead ringer for Bucky, comes into the room. He wants Cap to help him find the Avengers, so they begin their search. They discover a man in the crowd that has a gun of some sort. Rick has his Teen Brigade scour the city for someone who looks like the man.
Eventually they find him, and Cap crashes through his window (it would be hilarious if it wasn’t him and Cap was just completely wrong). A bunch of goons come after him, but Cap dispatches them with ease, then unmasks the man as an alien. The alien reveals that he’s been on earth for centuries, eventually hiding in the Greek isles, giving birth to the legend of the Medusa. He attacked the Avengers at the behest of Sub-Mariner, who’d promised to free him. Cap has him free the Avengers, and Sub-Mariner watches them via his “undersea scanner”. He vows to work alone from now on.
The Avengers retrieve the alien’s spacecraft from the ocean, but they’re attacked by Sub-Mariner and his underwater goon squad. A battle ensues, with the Avengers trashing the Atlanteans. Subby tries to pick up Thor’s hammer, to no avail. Subby has taken Rick Jones hostage, raising the ire of Captain America, who attacks. The island they’re on starts to crumble as the alien’s ship launches into space. Sub-Mariner and the Atlanteans depart, and the Avengers welcome Captain America into their ranks. Rick has concerns about how the Hulk will react to Cap taking his place.
This is one of the most important comic stories ever – Marvel had an iconic character in Captain America, and now he was featured in one of their most important books. He’d go on to co-star with Iron Man beginning in Tales of Suspense #58 (October 1964).
Avengers Roster: Iron Man, Thor, Wasp, Giant-Man, Captain America (joins)
Avengers #5 (May 1964) “The Invasion of the Lava Men!”
Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (penciler), Paul Reinman (inker), Sam Rosen (letterer)
The Avengers are returning from a confrontation between the Thing and the Hulk over in Fantastic Four #26. The team all go their separate ways. A week or so later, at a Stark Industries lab, a computer is destroyed by a mysterious sound. They alert Stark, who rushes to investigate. Ant-Man and the Wasp are trapped by an avalanche in an anthill. Dr. Don Blake reads an article about a sound causing a train to derail. Blake taps his cane on the ground, turning into the Mighty Thor to investigate as well. Captain America is training, giving a bit of a lesson to Rick Jones and his Brigade of Teens.
Thor arrives, and they’re soon interrupted by the sound again. Soon, the rest of the team arrives, noting that the disturbances are centered around the American Southwest, coincidentally the region where the Hulk is usually located. Near Gamma Base, where the Hulk was created, a large dome erupts from the ground. Bruce Banner returns, getting an earful from Thunderbolt Ross. Bruce is badgered into examing the dome, and we peel away to reveal the king of the Lava Men and his subjects, using a machine to push “living rock” into the surface world. (We’ve seen one of the Lava Men before, battling Thor in Journey Into Mystery #97.)
The Lava People’s shaman is pushing the king toward war with the surface people, while on the surface, the Avengers arrive. They crack into the dome and head underground. Iron Man gets overwhelmed, but Thor is able to shrug off being immersed in lava. He has them take him to the king, Thor sees their machine, which is making “living stone” expand toward the surface. He can’t blast it, as any impact will cause a huge explosion. The Lava Men want to send it to the surface, but Thor won’t allow it. Cap blocks the Lava Men from heading to the surface, They capture him by “cinderizing” the air around him. Rick Jones tries to free him, and Iron Man leads them to safety. They block off the entrace to the cave, cooling the lava by having Giant-Man hold the helicopter in a way that cools the Lava. They encounter Thor, and plot to destroy the dome. Banner turns back into the Hulk,
The Avengers try to restrain him, but the Shaman appears. The radiation from his staff interacts with Thor’s hammer, turning him back into Don Blake. The Avengers, meanwhile, chase the Hulk to the top of the dome. They get him to hit the dome in just the right spot, and it collapses. Underground, Blake turns back into Thor and he chases the Lava Men away. The Hulk escapes, and Betty Ross runs off to look for Bruce. At the end of the story, there’s a “code red” emergency from Rick’s Teen Brigade.
Avengers Roster: Iron Man, Thor, Wasp, Giant-Man, Captain America
Avengers #6 (July 1964) “Meet the Masters of Evil!”
Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (penciler), Chic Stone (inker), Sam Rosen (letterer)
Captain America shows off his new magnetic gloves, designed to control his new shield, designed by Iron Man. Cap mourns the loss of his wartime partner, Bucky, killed when Cap plunged into the ice in 1945. The team tries to cheer him up, but Cap wants revenge. Meanwhile, in the South American jungle, a plane lands and the pilot is met by a man in a mask named Zemo. The pilot shows him a newspaper clipping regarding the return of Captain America. Zemo loses his shit – he was the one who was responsible for the rocket that caused Cap to disappear and Bucky to die. Cap shattered a tank of “adhesive X” and it caused Zemo’s mask to be permanently fixed to his head. He orders the pilot to recruit three people to his cause.
A short time later, the Black Knight, who recently fought Giant-Man and the Wasp (TTA #52), is on his winged horse, spraying adhesive all over the city, in an attempt to draw the Avengers into battle. The Melter (who last appeared battling Iron Man in TOS #47) is elsewhere, melting things and causing havoc. Finally, Radioactive Man (Journey into Mystery #93) wants to finish his fight with Thor. The Avengers encounter him first. Radioactive Man can repel Thor’s hammer, he uses Zemo’s adhesive spray to stick Cap and Giant-Man to the ground. Iron frees them by carving out a piece of pavement and stealing a tow truck to pull them away. Black Knight charges, but Thor stops him the Knight thinks to himself: “I’ve never seen such speed…such power!!”
The Avengers depart, right as Zemo arrives. Radioactive Man says that they need to find them before they find a solution for adhesive X. Zemo thinks that if they can, he will steal it, of course. At Tony Stark’s mansion, the Avengers can’t seem to find a way to free Cap and Giant-Man (why don’t they just take off their boots?) Wasp thinks to contact the police and try to make a deal with villain Paste Pot Pete (aka the Trapster). He tells them where his dissolver is stored. Iron Man leaves to get it, wondering why they were spreading the adhesive in the first place. He returns with the dissolver, finally freeing Cap and Giant-Man. They decide to switch foes. Zemo prepares a new assault on the city, using a vat of the adhesive. Zemo’s henchman is thwarted by Rick Jones and the Teen Brigade, who grab him and tie him up. (Lee’s script has an obvious typo here, as he calls him “Rick Brown”.) The Masters of Evil grab the cylinders containing what they think is Adhesive X and spread through the city.
Rick and his friends replaced the contents of the tanks with the chemicals from Paste Pot Pete, and the Masters of Evil are inadvertently freeing the people they trapped. Thor attacks the Black Knight, who’s honestly just a guy with some gadgets on a mutated flying horse. Giant-Man goes after Radioactive Man, growing a shrinking, until RM blasts at him and Iron Man deflects it and encases Radioactive Man in lead foil, then hoists him up in a balloon. Melter tries to get after iron Man, but Iron Man dodges his melting ray and Melter is taken out by an exploding fire hydrant.
Elsewhere, Zemo hypnotizes Rick and the Teen Brigade, but he’s confronted by Captain America. They fight, with Cap winning handily until Zemo’s henchman shoots at Cap from behind. He and Zemo try to escape, but the Avengers grab the guy while Zemo gets to his chopper. Zemo won’t get far, since the Teen Brigade swapped out his cylinder of the solvent with tear gas, and lo and behold, we see the hover-copter crash. They let the cops go gather him up. I love that Rick’s Teen Brigade is Rick and a gaggle of guys with no names.
Avengers Roster: Iron Man, Thor, Wasp, Giant-Man, Captain America
Avengers #7 (August 1964) “Their Darkest Hour!”
Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (penciller), Chic Stone (Inker), Art Simek (letterer)
The Avengers are gathered together in an official inquiry session, to determine why Iron Man ignored a call from them six days previously (in TOS #56). He can’t justify his absence, so they vote to suspend him for a week. Meanwhile, in Asgard, the Enchantress and the Executioner are banished to earth by Odin, the ruler of Asgard. Upon their arrival, they see a headline about Baron Zemo, who’s fled the country.
Later, Cap works out with a bunch of wrestlers, then Rick Jones comes in dressed as Bucky – and Cap has a breakdown because he couldn’t handle losing another partner like he did with the original Bucky. He blames Zemo, who has returned to his south American kingdom. Enchantress and Executioner appear to him, offering to help him against Captain America if he helps them against Thor.
The Avengers part for the time being, with Cap and Rick being approached by a man in a fedora and a monocle. He tells Cap that his name is Hans Grubervelt, formerly second in command to Zemo. (Lee keeps calling him “Dr. Zemo” in this story – the “Baron” part must have been a retcon.) He tells Cap that Zemo is ruling a kingdom in South America and gives him the location. Cap charges off, and “Hans” takes off his mask to reveal the Executioner. Later, Thor hears his name being called and spies the Enchantress on a rooftop. Before he can defend himself, she gives him a mystical whammy and then some enchanted mead to knock him out. While unconscious, Thor dreams that the Avengers have turned into dangerous menaces, and he must defend humanity from them.
Cap parachutes out over Zemo’s headquarters, avoiding the poison gas Zemo fires at him, taking out flunkies in loincloths, avoiding everything until he lands in a tiger tap. Back in New York, Thor sees Giant-Man and the Wasp’s jet copter and attacks them. Tony Stark sees the news report about it and flies off to intervene. Executioner and Enchantress see this going on, then look in on Captain America. Enchantress causes a cave-in, but Cap is able to protect himself and escape. Zemo tries to blast him with a weapon, but Cap wipes out the gun and Zemo’s goons. He uses the magnets built in to his shield to cling to Zemo’s drone plane as Zemo tries to escape.
Thor, still bamboozled by the Enchantress, is still battling the confused Avengers. Iron Man blinds him momentarily, causing the brainwashing to wear off. Zemo arrives in New York, and Enchantress casts a spell to cause his ship to head for the Avengers. Cap smashes into the cockpit but he’s subdued by an Executioner nerve pinch. They dump him from the plane, grab Zemo, and leave. Thor creates a space warp with his hammer, and the villains are carried off to another dimension.
Avengers Roster: Iron Man, Thor, Wasp, Giant-Man, Captain America
Avengers #8 (September 1964) “Kang, the Conqueror!”
Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (penciler), Dick Ayers (inker), Sam Rosen (letterer)
The Avengers have been summoned to a meeting with the Pentagon’s top brass for some sort of emergency. They head into Tony Stark’s midtown mansion. They connect via whatever Zoom would be for 1960’s superheroes and are shown video of a UFO landing in a field that it turned to glass. A cannon appeared and rattled each of the tanks that were guarding the perimeter to pieces. A door lowered, and a man, dressed in exotic purple and green body armor, appeared and announced himself. He is Kang, and he has some demands.
The Avengers head to Washington and see Kang, relaxing on an invisible chaise. They demand he state his business, but he’s able to subdue them easily. A defense department undersecretary arrives to take over with questions. Kang dismisses him and instead tells them that he’s from the future, the year 3,000. He traveled to the past and became the pharaoh Rama-Tut, then he came to this century and met Doctor Doom. (FF #19 and FF Annual #2). He tried to return to his own century but there was a disturbance in the timestream, and he overshot by a thousand years and landed in the 40th century. The world had plunged into chaos and barbarism, so Kang was able to use his scientific skills and conquer the world within weeks. He realized that he was ruler of a dying world, so he built a NEW time machine. He proclaims himself Kang the First, ruler of the 20th Century.
Giant-Man grabs him, but Kang zaps him and blasts the Avengers down. Thor has had enough and strikes his hammer on the ground. Kang uses his deflector screen to keep Thor’s hammer away from him and when the Wasp tries to get into the circuits of his armor, Kang grabs her. She reverts to full size, surprising Kang. Cap knocks him off his feet with his shield, and the Avengers pounce. Kang activates a tractor field, sucking the Avengers into his ship. Thor reverts to his mortal form, Don Blake, and they’re all trapped, except for the Wasp. She and Rick Jones head back to the mansion to find something to fight Kang with.
At the UN, the world’s nations agree to combine against Kang. Rick gathers his Teen Brigade, and they sneak through the security cordon. They feign obedience to Kang, so he sends them into his ship to familiarize themselves with it. He directs them to bring a cylinder to him. As they come out, they “accidentally” drop it, causing the energy inside it to leak out. Rick and a couple of the other guys find the Avengers and free them. Iron Man is down, as his chest plate isn’t carrying enough of a charge to keep him moving. Meanwhile, the Wasp prepares a special weapon to use against Kang.
They blast him with it, causing his armor to instantly rot. In a last-ditch effort, Kang fires a missile at them, but Iron Man, now recharged, zaps it away. Thor disables all the other missiles and deflects the radiation Kang is trying to poison them with. Kang runs and his ship disappears into the timestream.
Avengers Roster: Iron Man, Thor, Wasp, Giant-Man, Captain America
The Bottom Line:
These issues are 60 (!) years old, so they come across as a little dated. Make no mistake – they’re full of energy and innovative storytelling. Kirby’s art nearly leaps off the page at the reader, and Stan’s script is just as campy as you’d expect from him at this point. There are so many important moments: the formation of the Avengers; the return of Captain America; and the initial battles with the Hulk, Masters of Evil, and Kang. This is the foundation of what would turn into one of the great superhero teams.
Overall: 3.5/5
[i] Yes, I know there’s a lot of conjecture that Kirby just recycled Challengers of the Unknown – they’re similar, but Lee infused an energy in FF that wasn’t there with COTU. The constant bickering, the family dynamic, the constant deluge of new villains and ideas in FF lapped COTU a couple of times in the first few years of its existence.
From some other planet... 