Episode 1473 Talkback - BOMC: Avengers Forever (#1-6)
Adam_Murdough
Posts: 506
The Avengers' 50th Anniversary year may be over, but the fun continues as CGS follows through on its plans to discuss, in some detail, the Avengers Forever maxiseries, a sprawling, eras-spanning, action- and exposition-packed celebration of Avengers history! Download this 'Book of the Month' episode, covering the first half of the maxiseries, and learn why Avengers Forever is, in a peculiarly literal sense, one of the greatest Avengers stories of 'all time'! (2:37:30)
Listen here.
Listen here.
Comments
The Busiek/Perez run of AVENGERS remains my absolute favorite of all, and this project occupies the same lofty position as that amazing run. I routinely read and re-read it, always noticing new things that I've missed in previous go-throughs. And as Chris and Adam have mentioned, not only is the story itself dense and packed with historical minutia but the art is equally heavy with visual treats. For example, in re-reading the story for this BOMC episode, I noticed for the first time that when we first see Immortus in his Limbo stronghold in issue 1, he has his feet propped up on a Dire Wraith! I've truthfully never even noticed that before.
I know these types of stories are daunting at times, especially when you all get ready to tackle them in an episode, but I absolutely love hearing you do so. The nice, long discussion helps make my work day go along that much more pleasantly and quickly.
I'll be eagerly anticipating the next six issues when you rest up and decide to take them on.
EDIT: The one part of this story that I'm a little surprised Busiek didn't at least touch on in passing was the fact that the original Scarlet Centurion, foe to the Squadron Supreme, is supposedly another version of Kang. I know this wasn't exactly crucial to this story as a whole, but he did such an astonishing job lining everything else about the life of Rama-Tut/Kang/Immortus that it seems an interesting, if minor, omission.
Several comments come to mind:
-Carlos Pacheco's art has never looked better. Oh if only he could have frozen his style right here. You guys asked what he'd been doing lately. Well, he did a chunk of Age of Ultron (mentioned elsewhere in this episode), did he not? In recent years I've found his style to be relatively flat and lifeless and forgettable. The last thing he did that impressed me was an Ultimate Thor mini-series from about four years ago, with Jonathan Hickman writing -- very much worth checking out. But all throughout the '90s I think his art was great and dynamic and building steam, culminating in the masterpiece-quality work of Avengers Forever. He's an artist who will always be on my radar because of what he did here.
-It is wordy, but I find that Busiek's writing, text and dialogue, is almost always charming and worthwhile. Yeah, there is a recap/exposition page in every issue... but you can always just skim over that stuff. I don't have a problem with it. (Episode idea: Sometime I'd love for you guys to debate the pros and cons of wordy comic books, and reflect on the fact that, decades ago, twelve-year-old versions of us used to read these things without any problem. What's changed? Is it just that adults don't have as much free time?)
-The Nixon episode here is especially interesting (and maybe ironic?) because Nixon first came to national attention when investigating an alleged Communist in the government. Though the man (Alger Hiss) always denied it, he was eventually convicted of spying, and documents showed that most of the Truman State Department knew he was a Communist. Nixon fought like hell to get the conviction (and make a name for himself in the process), and in this case he was probably right. Somehow I think there's a parallel between the climates of fear and paranoia and disbelief that arise whenever accusations are made ("He's a communist!" "No he's not!" "They're ALL communists!" "NONE of them could possibly be!" "They're all ALIENS!" "No they're not!" "THIS ONE is!") and the rare but important cases when unlikely allegations prove true.
Anyway, great episode from start to finish, guys. I'm eagerly awaiting the follow up.
If memory serves, it was explained that Genis was transported to The Destiny War while on the Kree homeworld, looking for a way to reverse Rick's aged state. This was after Genis got to experience his own future a few issue beforehand. When he blinks out, Genis tries to change Rick's fate to try and make both of their lives better. Genis blinked back almost immediately after, unable to change that which had already been written in time, and the issue continues just about exactly where it left off.