Avengers Annual #1 (Part 1)

 

cover art by John Buscema

(with alterations by John Romita)

The first Avengers Annual is cover dated September 1967 and its a doozy, with an imaginative script by Roy Thomas and outstanding art by Don Heck. And I'm not normally a huge Don Heck fan. But this particular issue looks great.

It's divided into 5 chapters, running from 8 to 11 pages each. So I'm going to make this a five-part review, so that we can look in detail at each of those chapters and how they move the overall story along.

The story begins in prison, where Tony Stark is demonstrating  new anti-riot weapons. But in a nearby cell, Arthur Parks (aka the Living Laser) is plotting his escape and has gathered the components he needs to built a wrist laser. 

Naturally, a fight between L.L. and Iron Man ensues. It's a short fight, but its well-choreographed and it serves its purpose in establishing the Living Laser as a legitimate threat when he comes very close to taking out one of the most powerful Avengers.

The villain then mysteriously disappears--apparently teleported away via a method that seems to indicate the master villain Mandarin is responsible. The Mandarin is supposed to be dead, but this a Comic Book Universe. That the Mandarin may have escaped the nuclear blast that was supposed to have killed him is a plausible theory.

Concerned, Iron Man calls the Avengers for an emergency meeting. 

In the meantime, the scene shifts to the Mandarin's secret headquarters. He's gathered together the Living Laser, Power Man, Swordsman, the Enchantress and the Executioner to carry out his as-yet unexplained plan.  Mandarin convinces the others of his power by pretending to summon up the Submariner (actually just an image of Namor) and easily "destroying" the Atlantian powerhouse. 

He then reveals to them a giant synthetic diamond, which is somehow central to his plan.

It's another effective scene, showing us one aspect of Mandarin's plan but leaving us largely in the dark. This was a good decision. It would have been totally in character for the Mandarin to egotistically explain his entire plans to his minions, but we simply find out that he DOES have a plan. We don't know what that plan it. It adds considerably to the overall tension of the story.

We then move to Avengers Mansion. Iron Man, not currently a member, gets into a brief tussle with new member Hercules, but Thor shows up to tell them to play nice. Thor also reveals that the Executioner and Enchantress have left Asgard. Captain America rounds this off by saying he's lost track of Power Man and the Swordsman since they last fought. Though the Avengers don't know for sure, they decide to work on the assumption that their enemies are teaming up to seek revenge against the Avengers.

Also present, by the way, are Hawkeye, Goliath, Wasp, Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver. It's a fun line-up with a nice variety of powers and personalities.

Before they can finalize plans, they get a call from Nick Fury, who tells them the villains are launching simultaneous attacks against targets in Africa, South America and Asia. Captain America assigns a team to each area, while he and Quicksilver remain behind as a reserve and to investigate the involvement of the Mandarin.

It's another great scene, with the Avengers exchanging information and making plans with dialogue that sounds natural, but still updates us with all the information we need to follow the story. This chapter runs 11 pages and contains a lot of exposition, but there enough action and cool visuals to keep the pacing fast. It's a great example of how to write a superhero comic book.

Next week, we'll visit South America with Iron Man and two other Avengers as we take a look at chapter 2.