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Episode 1419 Talback: Spotlight on The Avengers in the Chromium Age Part One

The late '80s / early '90s were something of a rebuilding period for Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and in this episode the CGS guys survey the damage, with much help from guest assessor Chris Eberle. Listen and learn how the Avengers endured the 'Acts of Vengeance' conspiracy; the cosmic conflagration that was "Operation: Galactic Storm"; the disassembly of the Vision; the brief, turbulent memberships of Dr. Druid, Marrina, and Rage; and the most roster turnover in the team's history. Plus, notes on the West Coast team and Solo Avengers! (1:36:02)

Listen here.

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    GregGreg Posts: 1,946
    edited September 2013
    The Under Siege arc is still one of my favorite Avengers stories. I wasn't happy with a lot a of the stories after that until Byrne started writing. I started falling out again after Nicieza jumped on. I would buy Avengers off and on up until the Crossing and that's when I abandoned all hope.
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    We're quickly approaching my actual knowledge period of Avengers! CRAZY!

    Listening to it now, looking forward to learning a bunch about the 80's and 90's, good and bad. ;)
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    I really hope you guys aren't to rough on the rest of the Bob Harris run. The stuff he did with Sersi, Crystal, and the Black Knight is great as is his treatment of the Vision and Herc. Sure Deathcry is his but there's some good stuff like the Gatherers too.
    As much as you guys talked about it I really think you undersold Operation Galactic Storm. It wasn't mainly in the Avengers main title. You really did need to read every part to get a full understanding of the story. Some of the Quasar, Wonder-man, Thor, Cap, and Iron-man issue did tons to further the story since the Avengers broke up into different teams to deal with the Kree and the Shi'ar. The aftermath issue which took place in Captain America did a lot to explain the complicated Cap/Iron-man relationship.

    I really appreciate these episodes btw and I'm not trying to be overly critical but this is my favorite title from the time I first got into comics.
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    Great episode. I agree with jmoney that you did undersell Operation Galactic Storm a bit. If you just read the Avengers and Avengers West Coast issues, you're missing big chunks of the story (some issues aren't as important, like early issues of the storyline that were in Wonder Man, but as the storyline progresses, the other titles become all the more integral.
    Love these spotlight episodes, both for Avengers and X-Men, and as always love when Chris joins the guys. I'm a big fan of his guest-appearances on the show.
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    John_SteedJohn_Steed Posts: 2,087
    Love The Chris Eberle Show :D
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    bralinatorbralinator Posts: 5,967
    edited September 2013
    These spotlight episodes are the reason I started listening to this podcast earlier this year and later became a member of thecomicforums.com ~ another excellent episode. The rapport between Adam and Chris is delightful and Jamie's dour perspective is very much welcome. I like to refer to this period of the Avengers as the "aluminum age" as I stopped reading the series for many, many years beginning around this time. I think the last story I read for quite some time was the epilogue of the Secret Wars II crossovers, Avengers issue #266 with the Molecule Man on the cover.

    image


    Regardless of my thoughts of the quality of the material during this era of the World's Mightiest Heroes, I just wanted to say that I really appreciate these spotlight episodes and hope you're privately discussing doing a Marvel Cosmic Spotlight soon! I'm confident that Adam and Chris Eberle would have PLENTY of insight on this facet of the Marvel U.
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    Great episode. I agree with jmoney that you did undersell Operation Galactic Storm a bit. If you just read the Avengers and Avengers West Coast issues, you're missing big chunks of the story (some issues aren't as important, like early issues of the storyline that were in Wonder Man, but as the storyline progresses, the other titles become all the more integral.
    Love these spotlight episodes, both for Avengers and X-Men, and as always love when Chris joins the guys. I'm a big fan of his guest-appearances on the show.

    I feel the same way about Acts of Vengeance. I was a little peeved it didn't get talked about more, but the more I thought about it, both Avengers (and Fantastic Four) seemed to go out of their way to not participate in meaningful ways, which was odd since the mastermind behind it all is a common Avengers foe. I know it often gets overshadowed by Cosmic Spidey, but I liked a lot of what went on in the other series and their match-ups: Incredible Hulk and Grey Gargoyle, Iron Man and the Wrecker, Thor and Juggernaut (introducing the New Warriors), and the conflict between Red Skull and Magneto in Captain America.

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    David_DDavid_D Posts: 3,881
    edited October 2013
    Great show, guys!

    PS- I loved the one-sound review: "Thud"
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    gothamkid said:

    Great episode. I agree with jmoney that you did undersell Operation Galactic Storm a bit. If you just read the Avengers and Avengers West Coast issues, you're missing big chunks of the story (some issues aren't as important, like early issues of the storyline that were in Wonder Man, but as the storyline progresses, the other titles become all the more integral.
    Love these spotlight episodes, both for Avengers and X-Men, and as always love when Chris joins the guys. I'm a big fan of his guest-appearances on the show.

    I feel the same way about Acts of Vengeance. I was a little peeved it didn't get talked about more, but the more I thought about it, both Avengers (and Fantastic Four) seemed to go out of their way to not participate in meaningful ways, which was odd since the mastermind behind it all is a common Avengers foe. I know it often gets overshadowed by Cosmic Spidey, but I liked a lot of what went on in the other series and their match-ups: Incredible Hulk and Grey Gargoyle, Iron Man and the Wrecker, Thor and Juggernaut (introducing the New Warriors), and the conflict between Red Skull and Magneto in Captain America.

    I adore Acts of Vengeance, enough that I purchased both Omnibi that were released to collect the entirety of the event. And the Avengers actually had more of a presence than was mentioned. It's true, though, that often the takeaways from the event have to do with the ancillary tie-ins to the crossover, which weren't the most overt tie-ins to the actual main plotline of the villains working together. To wit, Cosmic Spidey, and the transformation and major alteration to Psylocke, amongst many others.

    Loved the Red Skull and Magneto showdown, it was just what it should be, a tense, powerful moment, between he who took part in the slaughter of millions, and one who was one of the survivors of those selfsame slaughters.
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    The Acts of Vengence got me back into collecting comics after a 20-year hiatus. I'd stopped collecting in the late-60s (when prices went up to 15 cents and, I thought, the quality declined). In the late-80s, I picked up the Phoenix Saga paperback and got interested again. I bought the Marvel summer annual series, Atlantis Attacks, of 1989 and thought I'd just buy a few titles a month. Then, Acts of Vengence hit and I decided to go in whole hog and buy all the Marvel books that carried it - and eventually all the rest. The cross-over marketing hooked me. I haven't regretted it.

    I think you guys are great. I certainly can't listen to all your podcasts, but I love the historical summaries. It brings together overall themes and storylines and that's great. Keep it up.
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    alienalalienal Posts: 508
    These 80's Avengers were so-so for me, however I have to admit to enjoying them as they came out one-by-one. However, because of military moves and sometimes long vacations, I would miss issues occasionally. I do think my favorites were the Byrne written issues and the Epting drawn issues. Anyway, I didn't even mind Dr. Druid, Rage, or the leather jackets!
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    I finally had a chance to sit and listen to this podcast. A few notes and observations:

    The Galactic Storm epic was one of the best storylines during this period and was a shining example of how these crossover epics should be done. The story flowed almost seamlessly from one book to another (remarkable, given how many writers were involved), each chapter neatly marked in order on the cover, each chapter progressed the story, and, even if a given book slipped away to follow sub-plots important only to that specific title, didn't degenerate into a 'red sky' episode. It was an enjoyable space epic that utilized all of its characters and left a number of consequences in its wake.

    Captain America celebrated his 400th issue (double-sized) during the Galactic Storm

    It should also be noted that Thor was not himself during this story. He was, in fact, absent, and his role was filled by Eric Masterson, who would later become Thunderstrike and an Avenger in his own right. I wasn't following Thor at the time, so I'm not sure what became of Thor, but Masterson, with a little Asgardian magic, was endowed with Thor's power and hammer, and acted as a substitute, playing the role completely so that no one would know that Thor was AWOL.

    Wonder Man's attempt to stop the detonation of the Nega Bomb failed and exposed him to its full force, which left his ionic powers in a strange flux for years afterward, where he could only reach full power if he worked himself into a rage.

    I didn't hear any mention of Quicksilver's fall, which I'm pretty sure occurred during this period. There was a crossover between the two Avengers annuals with the first inter-team baseball match, wherein Quicksilver finally ran off the rails and turned against his former teammates, playing the role of the villain for a couple of years.

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    The two WCA/Avengers annual crossovers/baseball games are some of my favorite titles from that era
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    shroud68shroud68 Posts: 457

    The two WCA/Avengers annual crossovers/baseball games are some of my favorite titles from that era

    One of them had Ditko art and I remember thinking how out of place his art looked 20 years after his Spidey run. Felt the same way with his ROM work.
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