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Posts: 16415
Apr 4 09 1:28 AM
Golden Age
"Holy smoke! I must be stuck with a couple of mental cases!" - Jones And so we lay aside Avengers Masterworks Vol. 1. It's been a heck of a book, and these last two stories closed it out on a satisfying note. In fact, the final page of Avengers #10 makes for a great understated comedic ending to the whole Masterwork. The Wonder Man episode is referred to as having occurred "last month", although a month hasn't elapsed in between the previous two "Hulk" stories. I don't think Immortus comes off all that well in this story and I couldn't even find a particularly scanworthy illo of him. This "Master of Time" comes off as sort of weak. If he thinks he can defeat the Avengers single-handedly, why then does he desire membership in the Masters of Evil (a name Zemo retains for his "new lineup")? What use has Immortus for someone like Zemo or even two Asgardians, even if he himself were their leader? One of the Masters of Evil has heard of him (we have no way of knowing which one). The other thing that really detracts from this his first appearance is that he's not even seen after page 14! And apparently he didn't put up much of an argument when Cap demanded being returned to the present day on the grounds of "we had a deal". Interestingly, the story ends with the Avengers retaining no knowledge of Immortus's existence. His next appearance will still be his first as far as they're concerned, and we should be on the lookout for any slips from Stan where they refer to this meeting which seemingly never happened. This ending could be viewed as a cop-out and too easy, but I liked it because it was unexpected and a charming and funny way to wrap things up in one page (especially to round out an entire Masterworks volume), and anyway I think it's the first time Stan has used this plot device in the Silver Age. I don't think he'll make a habit of it. I did like this panel where Immortus begins reaching into the past to pluck foes for the Avengers to fight. What I like about this illustration is how the panel borders are missing, symbolizing the disappearance of temporal boundaries. Immortus's main strategy lies in using legendary figures to do his fighting for him. We thought that Paul Bunyan was a "tall tale". Not so. Bunyan, Goliath, Merlin, and Hercules were apparently all real people. I'm assuming Stan won't refer to this particular Hercules when he writes that character into Thor's own series - I doubt he'll want to make a case that they're the same being, especially since they look different. But if that's the case, who is this guy really? Continuity error. Thor thinks Hercules's strength is "truly the greatest I have ever faced on Earth". Okay I could maybe believe that Hercules is stronger than Hyde, but isn't Thor forgetting the Hulk at the end of Avengers #3?? Is this Hercules stronger than Hulk?? Say it ain't so. As for the Masters of Evil...the Exec claims to be an immortal again, after using the past tense when referring to his immoratlity in issue #9. Maybe he's using the term as more of a psychological state of mind (as in, an American) and he's been changing his mind about whether he wants to remain one of Odin's subjects. We learn that his gloves are made of meterorite metal.
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