The Prince of Power shows off his might.
Hank Pym aka Goliath ends up on a solo mission that lands him in a civil war between an ousted prince and a man named the Keeper. He next learns that both of these men are dealing with something that neither can control and it’s only going to spell disaster. As an Avenger it’s his duty to put a stop to it. But can he do it alone? -summary
At some point after the Avengers team made their debut Stan Lee decided to experiment with team possibilities. He removed Iron Man, Thor, Giant-Man, and Wasp for a little while in favor of Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver with Captain America at the helm. Quite interesting when taking under consideration the first three were originally villains; the former feuding with Iron Man and the latter two facing the X-Men standing side by side with Magneto. I remember older comic fans mentioning their lack of interest at times with this combo, and after reading those issues myself I saw what they meant. In all fairness to Lee though, he did a well enough job developing these characters but they were definitely lacking in overall power and it showed, with villains like Powerman presenting a huge problem for this team. This TPB collecting Avengers issues 31 – 40 fixes this problem by bringing Hank Pym back as Goliath, returns the Wasp into the fold, and later introduces the Prince of Power, Hercules, as a de facto member.
For the most part I will still say these stories are pretty good reads after taking a look at them after so many years, and although some of the stories may not be that great. The villains such as the Enchantress, the Mad Thinker, and the Living Laser makes up for this.
The first story arc involving the conflict between Prince Rey and The Keeper are decent at best to me. There’s nothing really attention grabbing and it has all of the makings of pure filler. The next story arc is much better as the Avengers take on a growing organization called the Sons of the Serpent. This story is indeed very strong as it deals with racism and bigotry; the Serpents are built up as a group one would love to hate. The action really isn’t all that good, but it’s the other elements that makes it quite memorable.
Around issue #35 Roy Thomas takes over writing duties and the Avengers confront the Living Laser in a pretty tight encounter. The team roster receives another addition when Hercules makes it to the line up, and his appearance against this team originally is something to remember. Hercules’ addition to the team brought back that muscle they were lacking, and his presence is quickly felt when taking on Namor.
This TPB has an up and down feel at times but when things get good, it can be really good and this book can be difficult to put down. I especially love the dialog in regards to Hercules. He can be so full of himself sometimes and it brings out the fun in his character.
The artwork delivered by Don Heck with inks by Frank Giacoia, George Roussos, and Heck himself are alright at best. There are some heavy hitting moments involving Hercules, such as his fight with Goliath and the Mad Thinker’s men. Along with some good all out team action; there’s some rather annoying inconsistency with people apparently being hit by trees, but things are difficult to make out. On some occasions the dialog doesn’t quite work well with the artwork either due to this. The inks also take some of the blame.
Overall, this is still a pretty solid batch of Avengers stories that should be read at some point by Avengers and comic fans alike. It’s not the best out there, yet there’s enough excitement to be found, plus it’s not that bad of a starting point either.
Pros: Some really good stories at times, especially when Hercules shows up
Cons: Some decent stuff, artwork and dialog can be a problem some times