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.
Comments
Listening to it now, looking forward to learning a bunch about the 80's and 90's, good and bad. ;)
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.
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.
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.
PS- I loved the one-sound review: "Thud"
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.
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.
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.