Avengers Historian

Avengers-Historian-New-Avengers-1-Featured Columns
Avengers Historian #10: The Theme of Transformation in Al Ewing’s “New Avengers”

By | Nov 13, 2018 | Columns

Near the end of Al Ewing’s 18-issue “New Avengers” run, Roberto da Costa (Sunspot) pulls off a rubber mask as Mission: Impossible theme music plays and we dramatically discover shocking new layers of his heroic machinations. This of course got me thinking about the Mission: Impossible franchise and its remarkable consistency. Consistency serves the franchise […]

MORE »
Avengers 8 Featured Columns
Avengers Historian #6: Sculpting Continuity with Kang

By | Jun 19, 2018 | Columns

The Avengers are a self-obsessed franchise. Avengers plots are often at their best when they explore and expand wrinkles in team history ― think ‘Avengers Forever,’ ‘The Once And Future Kang,’ or countless Ultron stories that knot the Pym/Williams/Vision/Ultron family ties in increasingly nuanced ways. The Avengers are a super team that makes their members […]

MORE »
Don Heck Featured Columns
Avengers Historian #5: The Importance of Don Heck

By | May 22, 2018 | Columns

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. I wouldn’t characterize Jack […]

MORE »
Avengers Infinity Featured Columns
Avengers Historian #4: Eternity in an Hour

By | Apr 17, 2018 | Columns

Roger Stern’s tenure on the “Avengers” – which lasted for most of the 80s – is a masterful run of carefully interconnected issues. In a just world, Stern’s “Avengers” would be mentioned in conversations about essential comics with the same frequency that Frank Miller’s “Daredevil” or Alan Moore’s “Swamp Thing” now enjoy. In his work […]

MORE »
Avengers Annual #16 Featured Columns
Avengers Historian #3: The Avengers Are All Dead

By | Mar 20, 2018 | Columns

Despite the fact that it’s a reliable font of toxicity, lies, and harassment, Twitter provides a few benefits that I truly value. When something insane happens in the world of comics, you can watch fans reacting in real time across Twitter. When Captain America becomes a Nazi or when Thor can’t pick up his hammer, […]

MORE »
Uncanny Avengers Vol. 3 #9 Columns
Avengers Historian #2: Glitches – An Examination of Ultron’s Weirdest Forms

By | Feb 20, 2018 | Columns

Writing mainstream superhero comics is an iterative and collaborative process. Each new Avengers issue is informed by the characterization, history, and tone of the already-published cannon of Avengers comics. This style of never-ending storytelling can sometimes result in stagnant plots, but in my observation, it also frequently encourages innovation. A new Avengers creator knows that […]

MORE »