Featuring: Avengers
Release: August 10, 1965
Cover: December 1965
12 cents
Stan Lee, Rollickin’ writer!
Don Heck, prancin’ penciller!
John Romita, dazzlin’ delineator!
Sherigail, liltin’ letterer!
20 pages
| Previous | #439 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Modeling with Millie #44 | INTERLUDE | |
| Sgt. Fury #24 | Reading order | Avengers #24 |
| Avengers #22 | Avengers | Avengers #24 |
The crown is still yours by my leave only! ‘Tis Kang who is the power here! Though countless worlds have fallen before my banner, yours have I spared… but only because of love for you!
Serendipitous timing. We get to see a major battle between Kang and the Avengers just in time for Kang to make his big screen debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania this Friday, portrayed by Jonathan Majors. We had met Jonathan Majors as Kang before in the Loki series.
This story is particularly notable for introducing Kang’s great love, the Princess Ravonna. She was portrayed by Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the Loki series.
John Romita is a new name in the modern Marvel reading, but we’d seen him before in our looks back, as he was the Captain America artist in the 1950s. We’ll be seeing more of him, and have more to say soon.
Sherigail we recall is an alias for for Morrie Kuramoto. We haven’t seen him in a while, with Rosen and Simek dividing up most lettering between them. He married Gail Masuoka in 1955, and they had a daughter Sheri– hence the pen name. As a young adult, Morrie had seen his possessions confiscated and his family sent into prison camps by the US government for having Japanese ancestry. He was able to enlist in the military to escape imprisonment. He worked as a letterer after the war, and continued to do irregular lettering work until his death in 1985.
Kang wants revenge on the Avengers and decides this is his moment. Let’s talk about this because we’ve seen a lot of characters wanting revenge on the Avengers lately, and it never makes sense.
Kang specifically chose a moment when Captain America was gone, because the Avengers were weaker without him. But that also means the team consists of nobody he’s met before. Why does he want revenge on Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Quicksilver? Because they call themselves Avengers? Captain America was the only remaining Avenger he could possibly care about.
See also Enchantress and Mandarin. Mandarin had never met any of these people, but wanted revenge? Enchantress had only met Cap, and only incidentally while pursuing revenge plans against her enemy Thor.
Okay, admittedly Kang is a time traveler, so may know about future indignities he’ll suffer at the hands of these particular Avengers.
I appreciate that Kang has designed his ship to look like a new floor on top of Avengers mansion; and only after spending some time in the room, do the Avengers notice they’ve never seen it before. I’m reminded of the family not noticing their new hedge in the Tick comic we read.
Our exploration of Wanda’s hex powers continues. We learn her powers can be easily drained. It’s a strain to damage something large, and she needs time to rest before she can use another hex. Also, she seems to hex in rhyme this time.
“By the talent which lives in the heart of me, I hex this cage… let me be free!”
We recall Captain America had resigned the Avengers. He sought out a career as a boxer. Did he and Nick Fury never sort out their misunderstanding? When Captain America hears the Avengers are in danger, he runs back. That resignation didn’t last long.
This inspires the title of this issue, which has become a famous phrase associated with this superhero team and its revolving membership: Once an Avenger… they leave the ending of the phrase implicit.
We see a “softer” side of Kang this issue. This is the last kingdom from his time that Kang has not yet conquered, because he would prefer to marry the princess and become king. Princess Ravonna dismisses him as a commoner.
His legions surround the city have long had the kingdom surrounded. When she refuses him for the final time, he orders his legions to advance.
We’ve reached October 1965. Marvel debuts a new series, Marvel Collectors’ Item Classics. This series will come out quarterly and feature classic Marvel stories. I own a good many issues from this series, and we’ve seen scans from my copies throughout this blog. This inaugural issue reprints stories from Fantastic Four #2, Tales to Astonish #36, Journey Into Mystery #97, and Amazing Spider-Man #3.
Let’s peek at what else is out there this month.
Find even more great comics of the month at Mike’s Amazing World. As always, the Grand Comics Database is my main source of covers.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Significance: ★★★★☆
I read this story in The Avengers Epic Collection vol. 2: Once an Avenger. In fact, the collection is named for this story.
Characters:
- Hawkeye
- Quicksilver
- Scarlet Witch
- Captain America/Steve Rogers
- Kang
- Princess Ravonna
- Ravonna’s father
Story notes:
- Captain America gets job as sparring partner for boxing champ.
- Wanda’s Hex power can be drained. Breaking something hard to break is a strain. Needs time to build back up.
- Kang transports Avengers into future.
- Captain America uses recreator to deduce Kang had captured the Avengers, and challenges Kang from the past.
- Kang battles the Avengers, while Ravonna and the nobles look on.
- Kang has his armies surrounding the kingdom awaiting a signal; he demands Ravonna’s hand in marriage.
| Previous | #439 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Modeling with Millie #44 | INTERLUDE | |
| Sgt. Fury #24 | Reading order | Avengers #24 |
| Avengers #22 | Avengers | Avengers #24 |
