![]() I figure that comics writer Grant Morrison probably had this page in mind when they referred to “hovering armadas made of a thousand space warships” in the midst of waxing rhapsodically about the Kree Skrull War as a whole in their 2011 book Supergods. ![]() (Gee, I wonder how much that tech cost the U.S. That last bit about “…all at speeds beyond speed - into space which is not space…” seems to be Thomas’ way of informing us (without getting into any specifics, of course) that the Avengers’ S.H.I.E.L.D.-loaned spaceship is equipped with some sort of faster-than-light hyper-drive - which would seem quite necessary indeed, considering that it would take 2.5 million years traveling at the speed of light to get from Earth to the Andromeda Galaxy. (Incidentally, in that same month of October, 1971, Weiss had also appeared as a character in the lead story in DC Comics’ Batman #237, a tale which just so happened to be drawn by Adams.) 10, “…how could I have resisted naming one chapter… after the galaxy in which the Skrulls originated?”Īlso worth noting on this page is the credits box, which lets us know that customary inker Tom Palmer was assisted on this issue by the book’s penciller, Neal Adams, as well as by another artist, Alan Weiss, who had made his Marvel pencilling debut the previous month in Daredevil #83. Compared to the other “classic” SF works Thomas had alluded to so far, this one was of very recent origin still, as the author put it in his 2010 introduction to Marvel Masterworks - The Avengers, Vol. Writer Roy Thomas’ practice of referencing well-known works of science fiction in his titles for the individual episodes of the Kree-Skrull War storyline continues with “The Andromeda Swarm!” - a riff on the name of Michael Crichton’s 1969 novel The Andromeda Strain, as well as its 1971 film adaptation. (Evidently, it would also be virtually the station’s last appearance, at least under the auspices of S.H.I.E.L.D., due to its finding running dry in a few years. ![]() Space Station, for all the narration’s implying that it’s been around for a while (“to it have come dictators and dignitaries”, etc.). In case you’re wondering, this is the very first appearance of the S.H.I.E.L.D. As dire as the Avengers’ situation (and the Earth’s) had seemed at the conclusion of issue #95, things had obviously escalated since then. Still and all - as notable as those new design elements were, I doubt they had any greater impact on the readers of 1971 - including my fourteen-year-old self, of course - than did the actual cover image: Neal Adams’ powerful illustration of the allegedly “emotionless” android Avenger, Vision, brutally beating an alien warrior, while his three “star” teammates rush to try to stop him. From now on, that would no longer be the case. This had in fact been effectively true for some time but up until this point, there’d remained a tiny bit of daylight between the status of the Big Three and that of the “regular” Avengers (currently Goliath, Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, and the Vision) who didn’t have their own titles. And that job, of course, was to let readers know that Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man - all three of whom had been held at arms’ length within the series for years, due to an edict of editor Stan Lee that no superhero with their own solo feature could be a full-time active Avenger - were back to stay. This wouldn’t be nearly as lasting an innovation as the logo itself - indeed, the names would be replaced with the more generic (though ultimately iconic, even so) phrase “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!” within seven issues - but it lasted long enough to do its job. A previous attempt to replace the original logo in 1969 had lasted a mere eight issues this latter effort obviously proved a great deal more durable, as Saladino’s design, while undergoing multiple modifications over the years, has survived in recognizable form down to the present day.Īnother significant change to the book’s trade dress was the addition of a certain three Avengers’ names above the new logo. In November, 1971, the cover of Avengers #96 heralded a new era for the title, as a streamlined new logo created by Gaspar Saladino replaced the one that had graced almost every issue of the Marvel Comics series since its launch back in 1963.
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