Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are about to go through an expansion phase. It’s a new century, and time to go global! Your Major Spoilers Retro Review of Avengers #38 awaits!
AVENGERS #38
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Penciler: Alan Davis
Inker: Mark Farmer
Colorist: Tom Smith
Letterer: Richard Starkings/John Roshell/Albert Deschesne
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $1.99
Current Near-Mint Pricing: $3.00
Release Date: January 31, 2001
Previously in The Avengers: After the madness of Heroes Reborn, The Avengers returned to Earth and reformed their team, returning to deal with a resurrected Wonder Man, Ultron taking over the country of Slorenia, Earth being turned into a galactic prison, and more. That particular conflict has led Captain America to return to the team after a prolonged absence, insisting that The Avengers take a more proactive stance against threats domestic, international, and even intergalactic. The Wasp agrees, and together the two most tenured chairmen have begun to put together a strategy to take the team into the 21st century.
The Slorenian problems referred to here aren’t the result of Ultron’s taking over the country, but a subsequent mess wherein Bloodwraith, current wielder of The Black Knight’s cursed Ebony Blade, went mad and something something country-wide devastation. The seven-member Avengers team (Iron Man, The Scarlet Witch, Triathlon, The Vision, Warbird, Wasp, and Wonder Man) has had to expand their numbers, with Quicksilver and Thor returning to duty, as well as bringing in The Black Knight and Firebird to monitor the Slorenian situation. With Cap and founding member Goliath back in the fold, they’re up to thirteen members, but we’re not done yet. In addition to Bloodwraith, they’re keeping an eye on a number of criminals, including Thanos, MODOK, Apocalypse, Maelstrom, The Crimson Cowl, and even the Antarctic base of The High Evolutionary.
This marks the first appearance of Jack of Hearts as an Avenger and his return to his traditional costume, which Kurt Busiek and I agree is awesome. The team is also in the process of restoring and rebuilding Avengers Mansion for the third or fourth time, while Iron Man works in the basement on a special project for Captain America.
The idea is to have a system that would alert the team to interdimensional breaches, which is a pretty great idea, and one that I can’t see ever actually working for more than a minute. It’s actually the greatest weakness of superhero comics, especially those that embrace that oh-so-2000’s concept of “proactive superheroing.” If your systems actually WORK, you’ll negate a lot of story ideas. Busiek’s script actually calls that out textually, as well as meta-textually, as one of the Avengers has already been replaced by a duplicate IN THIS VERY ISSUE!
Also, if you ever wonder why I considered Kurt to be one of the best Avengers writers of all time, look no further than panel three, which brings back the modular back-mounted wheels not seen since Iron Man met Cleopatra in his sixth appearance back in ’63.
In addition to Jack’s debut and the return of Firebird and Black Knight, three more Avengers return to duty in these pages, manning the newly-minted Avengers monitoring station in the Asteroid Belt just beyond Mars. Though he was part of the West Coast Avengers during a particularly tumultuous period, Living Lightning gets his first real shot as an Avenger here. I only wish it meant something more than it ends up doing, but you know what they say about hindsight.
Oh, and speaking of hindsight, the very first panel of this issue featured a mysterious man (who future issues will reveal is the immortal alchemist Diablo) breaking open a green vial full of an unknown substance over a small town in Greece. As the Avengers find out, it’s… no longer a mystery.
It’s a city full of Hulks! There are those who will tell you that Volume 3 loses its steam after George Perez leaves the book, but Avengers #38 is one of those perfectly-crafted “housekeeping” issues that give the creators a moment to set the stage before the madness kicks off once more, with Davis and Farmer giving readers a visual feast earning 4 out of 5 stars overall. Knowing that things are gonna get worse for Earth’s Mightiest (and that Davis ends up being a short-term member of the creative team), it’s a little bittersweet to read this issue, but as those much-discussed jumping-on points go, it’s top-notch.
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AVENGERS #38
With a bigger team, a wider focus, and the art of Alan Davis on its side, this issue makes the loss of George Perez less daunting, and brings in a number of heroes who deserve their shot in the limelight.
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Writing8
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Once upon a time, there was a young nerd from the Midwest, who loved Matter-Eater Lad and the McKenzie Brothers... If pop culture were a maze, Matthew would be the Minotaur at its center. Were it a mall, he'd be the Food Court. Were it a parking lot, he’d be the distant Cart Corral where the weird kids gather to smoke, but that’s not important right now... Matthew enjoys body surfing (so long as the bodies are fresh), writing in the third person, and dark-eyed women. Amongst his weaponry are such diverse elements as: Fear! Surprise! Ruthless efficiency! An almost fanatical devotion to pop culture! And a nice red uniform.