Customer Reviews

Marvel's Greatest Superhero Battles

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The idea behind the issues of Marvel comics selected by Stan "The Man" Lee for "Marvel's Greatest Superhero Battles" is simply to answer those questions that have driven Marvel fans made for years: who is stronger, The Hulk or The Thing? Who talks funnier, The Silver Surger or The Mighty Thor? You get the idea.

Consequently, collected within these pages are the following: "Fantastic Four" #25, "The Hulk vs. The Thing!" by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, which continues in FF #26 "The Avengers Take Over!"; Daredevil #7, "In Mortal Combat with...Sub-Mariner!" by Lee and Wally Wood; "X-Men" #3, "Beware the Blob!" by Lee and Kirby; "The Silver Surfer" #4, "The Good, the Bad and the Uncanny!" by Lee and John Buscema, where Loki gets the Surfer to tangle with Thor; a three-part confrontation between Iron Man and the Sub-Mariner in "Tales of Suspense" #79, "Diaster!", #80 "When Fall the Might!" and #81 "The Power of Iron Man" by Lee and Gene Colan (with some help from Kirby); Dr. Strange versus Baron Mordo in "Beware...! Dormammu is Watching!", "The Pincers of Power!" and "Let There be Victory!" by Lee and Steve Ditko; and "The Amazing Spider-Man" #69, "Mission: Crush the Kingpin!" by Lee and John Romita (Sr.).

As you can see the collection gets off to a good start with the Hulk and the Thing getting it on, but the X-Men, Dr. Strange, and Spider-Man stories do not fit the spirit or the letter of the book's title. The idea here is supposed to be Marvel's superheroes fighting other Marvel superheroes. The Blob, Baron Mordo and the Kingpin do not count as superheroes. Granted, the Kingpin would go on to become one of the most intriguing villains in the Marvel universe this side of Victor von Doom, but there is no reason for any issue involving the Blob to be reprinted in color like this when there is an issue where the X-Men and the Avengers go toe-to-toe. Spider-Man has tangled with the Human Torch, the Hulk, and Daredevil, all within the first two years of his existence. The bottom line here is than Lee had a great idea and then somehow managed to make some mistooks in the execution.

The previous reviewer is 100% correct (in my opinion) in pointing out that a few of the stories in this collection don't really fit with the concept of this book.

What makes it sadder is that Stan Lee with Jack Kirby, John Romita, and Gene Colan did do other super hero vs. super hero stories that would have fit perfectly within the idea of "Marvel's Greatest Superhero Battles."

Did Stan Lee forget that he and Jack Kirby had Thor battle Hercules TWICE or that Johnny Storm battled the original Human Torch in FF Annual Number Four? How about when Gene Colan and Stan Lee had Daredevil battle Spider Man in a DD two parter or when DD fought Captain America? Lee and Kirby even had the FF battle Spider Man, Thor, and Daredevil in one FF issue...and yet that story is NOT included here, either.

All of those stories should have been included in this volume, rather than The X Men vs. The Blob or Spider Man vs. The Kingpin.

Don't get me wrong. Those stories are great too...but they're not "hero vs. hero" which was the concept behind this particular Fireside Press release. (Hence The Hulk vs. The Thing on the cover.)

All that said, for those of us who were children during the "Bronze Age" of comics (the 1970's) and who saw and read these Fireside Press "Origins" books by Stan Lee at the local mall's bookstores (which are fast becoming a thing of the past), "Marvel's Greatest Superhero Battles" is a fun piece of pure comic book nostalgia.