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To Stand Alone!
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This is the final part of a three part story which began in Avengers #154 (which didn't feature Doctor Doom at all, so didn't feature here), moved into Super-Villain Team-Up #9, and now returns to The Avengers. This means we're treated to a Jack Kirby rendition of Doctor Doom for the first time in several years, as at this point he'd returned to Marvel and, as well as running is own series, was also doing covers here.
Sadly for Kirby, his style now looked somewhat old-fashioned to comics fans at the time, who made their objections known in letter columns. It's a shame, but you can see why they'd react strongly against Kirby's now rather clunky looking-later style on the outside of a comic which features the artwork of George Perez inside.
I distinctly remember having my tiny mind BLOWN when I first saw George Perez's artwork, when part of his Avengers run was reprinted in Marvel UK's "Marvel Superheroes" series.
I have a vivid memory of taking these two issues on holiday with me and just GAZING at them in awe - seeing the covers now I can SMELL the sunshine on them! It was so different to what I was seeing in British comics at the time, even in 2000AD, and I LOVED it. This is probably also why I reacted so badly to Jack Kirby at first - it does look weird and clunky compared to the smooth shiny gorgeousness of George Perez.
Anyway, this is meant to be a deadly serious peice of academic research, so let's get on with it. Let's look at the splash page, featuring Perez's first depiction of Doom.
Thanks George! The Avengers attack, and we get a lovely couple of pages showing fights between indiividual characters along the sides of the page while a recap goes on in the middle.
Doom and the Hydrobase characters beat up the Avengers (I suppose it's easier because they're wearing slave collars), and then discover that they were here to capture Namor under the orders of Attuma. Namorita tells Doom that he's the only person alive - apart perhaps from Namor - who can save them from Attuma, which Doom finds... intriguing.
We then go back to New York for some more of the subplot involving The Whizzer before heading back to Hydrobase, where the captured Avengers use their teamworking skills to escape from captivity. Namor, meanwhile, is heading for that research lab in Maryland that the talkative Russian pilots told him about last time. Attuma and his army have already arrived, however, only to find the aforementioned Whizzer, along with The Beast and Wonder Man, waiting for them. A big fight breaks out, as is tradition, but when Namor arrives he is tricked into believing the Avengers are on Attuma's side, thanks to some devilish cunning by his arch enemy.
This is, I think, an excellent trick, which actually works too! Further fighting ensues until Namor recognises The Whizzer as an old ally from his days in The Invaders. He's distracted for a moment, which gives Wonder Man the chance to knock him out.
The story ends with The Vision hurrying to make "a pact with the devil himself", or rather in this case an armed Doctor Doom.
Next time it's the finale, still within the pages of The Avengers but, sadly, not drawn by George Perez. Did I mention how much I like his artwork?
link to information about this issue
posted 28/8/2019 by Mark Hibbett
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