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Avengers Historian #5: The Importance of Don Heck

By | May 22nd, 2018
Posted in Columns | % Comments

The early creative history of “Avengers” is more akin to planetary formation than the typical production process of a 1960s Marvel comic. Jack Kirby and Stan Lee smashed the necessary solar debris into a bubbling molten blob but then they quickly left the terraforming process to Don Heck and Roy Thomas.

Panel from 'Avengers' #37

I wouldn’t characterize Jack Kirby’s work on the first eight issues of “Avengers” as forgettable or insignificant. Those eight issues contain the stunning return of Captain America and the first appearance of Kang. But they also contain plodding battles against Namor and Hulk, and we see the Masters of Evil execute an evil plan that consists of covering the city in glue so people can’t move. So when you hold those issues up against the staggering heights of Kirby’s work on “Thor” or “Fantastic Four,” his work on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes just can’t compete.

This makes the contributions of Don Heck, who penciled every issue of “Avengers” from #9 to #40 (with the exception of issue #16) even more significant. He had the responsibility of fully establishing the visual language of the series. Heck drew a handful of other issues of “Avengers” but that 32-issue run was his greatest contribution to the title. In those issues, Captain America was established as the greatest leader in Marvel Comics, Kang returned in an emotional and sprawling epic, and interpersonal drama and roster changes became even more of a norm.

Panel from 'Avengers' #36

For a short time in the ’60s, Marvel covers boasted in the corner boxes that they were “Marvel Pop Art Productions.” This commitment to experimental and flashy mass-produced art is a hallmark of early Marvel comics, and Don Heck helped the Avengers to fully commit to this visual brand. His sketchy line imbued the insubordinate Hawkeye and the speeding Quicksilver with a loose kinetic energy; his version of Scarlet Witch was suitably mysterious and beguiling; and his take on Captain America did a lot to establish the character as a strong and honorable stick-in-the-mud who was somehow still loveable.

Panel from 'Avengers' #18

One of Heck’s greatest strengths on “Avengers” was his ability to provide clear storytelling despite an impossibly large cast and often convoluted plots. In “Avengers King-Size Special” #1, nine Avengers fight against six super-villains with a multitude of henchmen and supporting characters swirling around. Heck deftly handled this mess without ever compromising clarity.

Panel from 'Avengers Annual' #1

Heck also brought his past experience in romance comics into his Avengers work. For any team book to be effective, the interpersonal drama has to be an essential element of the plot. Heck always made sure that was possible. He approached every relationship with a skilled hand, whether it was the doomed romance of Kang and Ravonna or the espionage-filled interactions of Hawkeye and Black Widow.

Panel from 'Avengers' #24

If you were to ask an astute student of comics history to name the greatest Avengers artists of the 20th century, you could reliably expect to hear George Pérez and John Buscema named. I would agree that those two individuals tower above the rest due to the volume and quality of their contributions, but I also believe that to only focus on those two would be to miss out on an essential part of Avengers history.

Panel from 'Avengers' #32

This truncation of shared cultural history is natural and understandable. If you ask most people to name the greatest rock band of the 60s, you’ll hear a lot about the Beatles and the Stones. But if you stop your cultural exploration there, then you’d make the grave mistake of missing out on bands like the Zombies. Don Heck is the Zombies of Avengers history. So as the decades pass, and Pérez and John Buscema are enshrined as the greatest and the most important artists in Avengers history, I want to make sure we don’t forget the important contributions of Don Heck. If you want to learn more about the full scope of Heck’s contributions to the art form, I would highly recommend Nick Caputo’s fascinating and detailed profile.

Panel from 'Avengers' #23

//TAGS | Avengers Historian

Chris Russ

EMAIL | ARTICLES


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