Giant Size Review # 1: "Avengers" by Roger Stern ("Under Siege," "Assault on Olympus" and more)

Trying something new here. I have a lot of Roger Stern "Avengers" work to go through and thought it would be simpler to bunch everything together instead of spreading it out over time.

Review # 117: "Avengers: Absolute Vision Book 2"

At its heart, "Absolute Vision" is a pretty darn good - if basic - story. It has a slow burn that keeps you guessing, and paints Vision - a major character - in a way that makes him difficult to figure out. One moment he's stoic and robotic, the next he's smiling and speaking like a first-class politician. The synthezoid is clearly up to something, and while it's pretty easy to figure out on your own, reading as the Avengers clue in is entertaining.

Review # 94: "Avengers: Absolute Vision Book 1"

A funny thing happened to the "Avengers" series in the 80's: it became historically insignificant. While big things were happening in the pages of, say.... Captain America (the emergence of US Agent), Iron Man (the rise of Jim Rhodes), Thor (about a million things written by Walt Simonson), and even West Coast Avengers (Hawkeye becoming a leader) nothing that happened in the central line stuck. Monica Rambeau, the Black Knight, Eros, Wasp as a leader and Doctor Druid barely register a blip on the collective consciousness of the casual fan.

Review # 91: "Avengers Forever"

To borrow a phrase I read somewhere, picking up a copy of "Avengers Forever" is the closest you will ever get to taking a university course in Avengers appreciation. It's a monumental celebration of 35+ years of history, takes major cues from the likes of "The Kree-Skrull War" and "Celestial Madonna," and eclipses them both. It's my pick for the greatest Avengers story ever made, and I'm willing to give Kurt Busiek, Carlos Pacheco and Roger Stern that honour on ambition alone.

Review # 2: "The Trial of Yellowjacket"

Up until last year, my collection of comic trades and hardcovers was almost exclusively X-Men. Yeah, there was some Batman in there, "Watchmen," and a lot of company crossovers but outside of Marvel's mutants I hadn't really dabbled in very much else.