Essential Avengers, Vol. 3 (Marvel Essentials) [Paperback]

Roy Thomas (Author), John Buscema (Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

The Avengers have always represented strength through diversity. Among the ranks of Earth's Mightiest Heroes are Captain America, a hero out of time, t hawed from an icy sleep since the end of World War II; Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, wealthy and privileged industrialist; the mighty Thor, Norse God of Thunder; and the Black Panther, warrior-born king of the African kingdom of Wakanda. But now, they have a new member of the team, unlike any that has come before... His name is the Vision and he represents the greatest diversity of all... for you see, he's an android!

Collecting:

Avengers #47-68, Avengers Annual #2

Product Details

• Paperback: 568 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (November 3, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785107878
• ISBN-13: 978-0785107873
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 1.5 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #477,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best one so far, March 28, 2002

By 

Dave Huber (Delaware, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Avengers, Vol. 3 (Marvel Essentials) (Paperback)

Easily the best volume of the three Avengers Essentials to date, we now see Rascally Roy Thomas at the scripting helm, along with Awesome John Buscema doing most of the art chores. Say no more! This duo is one of the greatest in comics lore... and even demi-gods Barry [Windsor] Smith and Gene Colan show up to help out on art.

This collection contains the spectacular introduction of the Vision, the Avengers vs. the (old) X-Men, several battles with arch-foe Ultron, and the classic Avengers vs. Avengers thanks to the machinations of the time-spanning Scarlet Centurion. I'd give this compilation five stars, but the several issues featuring Hercules and the battles in god-ville are just plain dull. (Avengers #50 featured this crap? YEESH.) But don't let these few pages spoil the rest of the great fun.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Avengers become interesting once the Vision joins them, December 16, 2003

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Essential Avengers, Vol. 3 (Marvel Essentials) (Paperback)

Volume 3 of "The Essential Avengers" is where the Marvel superhero group finally starts to grow up. Part of the reason is because John Buscema became the resident artist (through issue #62), marking the first time that the artwork was a strong selling point, but the more important reason was that the group finally came up with an original group member with the Vision. At that point the group really crystalized for me, so scripter Roy Thomas gets a big part of the credit.

This trade paperback collects issues #47-68 of "The Avengers," along with Annual #2. I first seriously started reading "The Avengers" with issue #53, which is where the Avengers battled the X-Men, who were my favorite Marvel group in the Sixties. At that point the lineup for the Avengers had, once again, changed. At that point it was Golaith, the Wasp, Hawkeye, and the Black Panther. Getting rid of Hercules and the mutant tag team of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch was a good move, although I can never really think of it as the Avengers unless Captain America is in charge (he bolts in the first issue here). But I never liked Hawkeye and thought making him the new Giant-Man and making Goliath into Yellowjacket, was ill-advised. The only reason I kept reading the book was because of the Vision, so that even when other Marvel superheroes who were incapable of sustaining their own books (e.g., the Black Knight) joined up it was the android that held my attention. .

The Vision first popped up in issue #57, created by Ultron-5 to defeat the Avengers. Instead, he became their most interesting member, although it would be a while before the whole backstory on his creation came to be. At this point the idea that he was "an android...with the amnesiac brain patterns of a murdered man," Simon Williams a.k.a. Wonder Man, was enough. On top of that I liked the way Buscema drew the Vision with his eyes always completely shadowed. Buscema leaves the book during these issues, but he was replaced by Gene Colan, always a favorite, and then Barry Smith came in for a couple of issues drawn in the distinctive style that was still evolving and about to explode when he and Thomas started "Conan the Barbarian."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Avenging!, December 7, 2008

By 

Mark A. Domeier "Grammar Freak" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Essential Avengers, Vol. 3 (Marvel Essentials) (Paperback)

While the cover is a little misleading (Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor are hardly in this volume), Volume 3 of the Essential Avengers is still very good. This is not my favorite group of Avengers (Goliath/Yellowjacket, Hawkeye/Goliath, Wasp, Black Panther, and the Vision), but Roy Thomas does a great job of making the reader care about the characters, especially the Vision.
It's interesting to see the first appearances of Ultron, who is one of the ultimate bad guys in the Marvel Universe, and his creation in the Vision. It's also unique that the Black Panther has to occasionally deal with issues in his homeland. The great thing about the Avengers is that members come and go and have their own lives to deal with too, which is why Cap, Iron Man, and Thor aren't around much.
The art, as mentioned in other reviews, is excellent. John Buscema is the definitive Avengers artist. Throw in Gene Colan and some early Barry Windsor, and this is a very good group of stories to read.