"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.

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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.

There are a couple good Enchantress illos, as usual.
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How is it that she's able to break mental contact with Immortus on her second try (last page)? The first time it happened she'd said, "I - I cannot! The mental probe is too strong!" Maybe she got better with practice, or she just dug down a little deeper the second time after the confidence boost of her "undoing" spell. This second hypothesis is strengthened by the fact that her spell manipulated Time, so perhaps that had a residual effect, temporarily increasing her ability to stave off contact from the Master of Time.

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While the villians in this issue aren't all that memorable, the Avengers themselves are more so. As is often the case as of late, Cap is the focal point. Is he still having psychological problems (like his hallucination last issue)? I'd like to at least give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it's only his trauma over Bucky that allows him to think the Avengers would give Rick to Immortus. "Never again will a teenage boy come to harm if I can help it!" That seems like a tall order what with all the teenage boys running around loose in the world.

"But I'll save you for last, Zemo!" WHAAAT??!! This seems way out of character. Reading on..."First I see my fellow Avengers can use some help...I've got a lot of making up to do to the other Avengers..." So paradoxically, Cap's sense of personal honor is the only thing that can delay his revenge. And yet that same sense of honor hasn't impinged on his plans to execute people without trial, as can be seen in this nice illustration.
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A nice irony is that due to the Enchantress's time-reversal spell, Cap loses the memory of the experience of finding a way to overcome his bloodlust for Zemo. He's also robbed of the lesson he learned about jumping to conclusions and mistrusting his teammates.

The other more obvious irony is that Cap fought the Avengers in a practice session in the opening scene...

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...and then later fights them for real. These three panels were probably my favorite of the issue. Thor actually throws his hammer at Cap's head!!!

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The fight lasts exactly two pages. This is the second time in the last four issues that Stan and his artists have cooked up reasons to set the Avengers against themselves, but I feel like we keep getting gypped in the execution. Oh well, at least this time it lasted a little longer and was pretty rowdy, what with that hammer-throw and all. Giant-Man claims to be stronger than Cap (even though we learned recently that even Spidey is stronger than Giant-Man). I don't think there's been any indication yet in the Silver Age that Cap has enhanced strength. GM says Cap "relied on skill rather than strength." Was Cap already a "supersoldier" in the Golden Age, or was that eventually a new addition to his origin in the Silver Age?

The "Break Up" occurs in three senses. The most obvious meaning, and the one intended on the cover, is when Cap fights against the team and the implication is that he's no longer an Avenger, even though the team as a whole doesn't disband. Also, Immortus "breaks up" the Avengers by forcing them to fight singly against personal opponents. Lastly, Immortus kidnaps Cap into the past, and GM observes, "We've really been broken up now!"

All this results in a good moment when Cap returns to save the Avengers from the Masters. We even get a really good Thor closeup for the occasion.

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I especially liked how the pageturn revealed not Cap but his thrown shield.

Is this the first time "Avengers, Assemble!" is heard? Did Thor create that rallying cry on the spur of the moment?

The Wasp sports her new costume from TtA 62.

Good panel construction at the start of Iron Man's encounter with Merlin (didn't IM go back to King Arthur's time in a What If?).
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Merlin would be better served to turn up in Strange Tales.

Tony took a bit of a beating from the Executioner, and I was wondering how tough it was going to be for him to fix the dent and the busted transistors without ever taking the armor off, but then the Enchantress helped him out and fixed it all for him.

IM says, "Why don't we make Rick's membership in the Avengers official, by giving him some sort of uniform!?" LOL. What exactly did you have in mind, Tony? "How about Bucky's, Cap?"

Cap gets a classic line: "No one would place an ad like this...unless...it's a trap!" Immortus had lured Rick with a "super powers" ad in a...comic book. It's a cinch that Rick has also sent away for the bodybuilding book that keeps you from getting sand kicked in your face (as well as preparing you for Avengers membership). Rick probably even has the X-ray glasses that let you see through clothing.


"Now we're getting off focus." - the Elder Son of Storytime