Showing posts with label Quasar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quasar. Show all posts

Saturday, 15 October 2016

'Operation: Galactic Storm' (1992)


(I originally read these comics in mid December 2015)

Carrying on with my read-through of early '90s Thor with 'Operation: Galactic Storm,' a nineteen-part crossover comprising all the Avengers and related titles. (The final three issues here form an epilogue.)

The story concerns the Avengers' attempts to defuse a war between the Kree and the Shi'ar races. They split into three teams, two of which are dispatched to the Kree and Shi'ar homeworlds, with the third remaining behind to hold the fort. The Shi'ar have built a 'Nega-Bomb,' which is later stolen by Skrull agents who have infiltrated the Shi'ar council and have been working to escalate the conflict with the intention of wiping out their long-term enemies, the Kree. 

The story is notable in that (SPOILERS), despite their best efforts, the Avengers fail. The bomb is indeed detonated, wiping out 98% of the Kree race. 

Space opera isn't my thing... I found this mostly entertaining but overlong. Thor only gets two chapters, so I'm eager to get back to the title proper.


   
   
   
   
  
  


Captain America (1968) # 398/399, Avengers West Coast (1989) # 80/81, Quasar (1989) # 32/33, Wonder Man (1991) # 7/8, Avengers (1963) # 345/346, Iron Man (1968) # 278 and The Mighty Thor (1966) # 445 are collected in:

Softcover:

Iron Man (1968) # 279, The Mighty Thor (1966) # 446, Captain America (1968) # 400/401, Avengers West Coast (1989) # 82, Quasar (1989) # 34-36, Wonder Man (1991) # 9 and Avengers (1963) # 347 are collected in:

Softcover:



Sunday, 9 October 2016

'Acts of Vengeance' (1989) - 1


(I originally read these comics in early/mid October 2015)

So I just finished the 'Acts of Vengeance' crossover event, which ran through Marvel's titles for three months in summer 1989, with seemingly every hero getting roped in. The main body of what amounts to a pretty loose narrative runs through the Avengers books. This time, six major villains - Dr. Doom, the Red Skull, Magneto, the Mandarin, the Wizard and the Kingpin - are drawn together by a mysterious, Machiavellian mastermind (Loki. It's totally Loki.) to form a volatile cadre of mostly behind-the-scenes players with a novel M.O.: send super-villains to attack heroes with whom they have no prior history. This lack of familiarity will supposedly catch the heroes off guard and give the villains an edge. So we get the Avengers versus Freedom Force, Avengers vs. the U-Foes, Thor vs. the Juggernaut, Iron Man vs. the Wrecker and Cap vs. the Controller. Spidey, headlining three titles of his own at the time, has nine issues to himself where he comes into possession of the Uni-Power, making him virtually omnipotent and capable of taking on real heavy hitters like Graviton, Magneto and... the Trapster. 

Inevitably, the villains' union falls apart due to clashing egos. (Magneto has a special grudge against the Red Skull, for obvious reasons.) There's a continuity flub towards the end where the Red Skull appears after having been trapped in a basement and left to die by Magneto as retaliation for his part in the Holocaust. It's none-too-convincingly explained away in an epilogue. 

This was all pretty enjoyable. I have to admit, I love this period of Spidey with Erik Larsen drawing the Amazing Spider-Man title and the team of Gerry Conway and Sal Buscema on Spectacular. Conway's a great Spidey scribe!


   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  
  


Avengers Spotlight (1989) # 26-29, Amazing Spider-Man (1963) # 327-329, Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) 158-160, Web of Spider-Man (1985) # 59-61, Avengers (1963) # 311-313, Captain America (1968) # 365-367, Quasar (1989) # 5-7, Iron Man (1968) # 251/252, Avengers West Coast (1989) # 53-55, The Mighty Thor (1966) # 411-413 and Cloak and Dagger (1988) # 9 are collected in:

Hardcover:

Amazing Spider-Man (1963) # 327-329, Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) # 158-160 and Web of Spider-Man (1985) # 59-61 are collected in: 

Softcover:

Amazing Spider-Man (1963) # 327-329 are collected in:

Hardcover:

Captain America (1968) # 327 is collected in:

Softcover:

Quasar (1989) # 5-7 are collected in:

Softcover:

Avengers West Coast (1989) # 53-55 are collected in:

Hardcover:

Softcover:

The Mighty Thor (1966) # 411/412 are collected in:

Hardcover:

Softcover: