In December, Marvel is releasing the hardcover "Avengers: The Coming of the Beast" which reprints #137-140 and #145-146 (Jl-O'75) and (Ma-Ap'76). Those issues are vivid ones from my childhood so I will walk through them again with some comments. Of course, these are my feelings only and SPOILER ALERTS are up!
#137- I remember this cover demanding my 9 year old self to buy it! The dynamic image of the Beast about to leap off into me gave me no choice. It was the first of only a few times that I directly asked my father for money (a WHOLE quarter!!) to buy a comic. Strangely enough, I wasn't reading the current Avengers, only the reprints in "Marvel Triple Action". Well, any book you haven't read is a new book!
The Englehart/Tuska/Colletta team worked well and I lucked out because as Thor put it, "We do Seek out New Avengers!" With the departure of the Swordsman and Mantis and the honeymoon of the Vision and the Scarlet Witch, the others are feeling lonely so they ask former members to rejoin with limited success. Only Yellowjacket and the Wasp say yes. Iron Man nominates Moondragon (on a purely hormonal level, it seems) and Hawkeye storms off to travel to the 12th century to ask the Black Knight if he wants to re-up. Well, if he wants to stay in the past, I'd say no.
So the Avengers use the under-reconstruction Yankee Stadium as a test site for new applicants, after filming a TV spot to advertise the opening. Apparently heroes don't watch much TV because only one shows up: our blue-furred ex-X-Man, the Beast, disguised as Edgar G. Robinson! His make-up skills were a product of his "Amazing Adventures" days!
Unfortunately, the Avengers are soon attacked by the Stranger who, it seems, does watch TV. Thor and Iron Man are quickly taken out by deadly hover-mines. The Wasp is seriously injured, forcing Moondragon to knock out a frenzied YJ. So the Beast, with leaps and bounds and animal instincts, reaches the off switch and saves the day though the Stranger escapes.
My thoughts: Not only was this my first encounter with the Beast, but with Yellowjacket (my favorite Hank Pym identity) as well. I learned that the Hulk was a founding Avenger and that there was another team called the X-Men. Also Hawkeye hadn't mellowed from the "Marvel Triple Action" stories.
We got to see the Scarlet Witch in a bikini and the Vision in a bathing suit, which may have been the first time he wore anything else but his costume! Still why do you need more members if Vis and Wanda are only on their honeymoon? Indeed, they're back by #140.
The Stranger was an impressive villain though we soon find out things aren't always what they seem!
More to follow!
Replies
Why indeed? Why ask why?
Maybe by this point the other Avengers were aware enough to realize it was entirely possible that they would be captured by one of their enemies, or go off on an adventure of their own that would delay them.
Also, the Beast made such an impact on me that I HAD to buy Marvel Team-Up#38 which came out soon after!
I really like Marvel’s “Premiere Hardcover” format… for the most part, anyway. (I do have a few quibbles.) It’s funny: I could re-read any comic book in my collection at any time I wanted, but for the most part, for some reason I just plain don’t. I’ll often duplicate runs in one upscale format or another and re-read them then. I just like the collections.
I plan to post about Volume 54 (Thor: “If Asgard Should Perish” which reprints #242-253) when it’s released in November. Will you be buying that one?
I've recently read the storyline where the Beast become Blue and Furry, which I'd been curious about for ages, in Essential Classic X-Men #3, so this 'Coming of the Beast' sounds like a sequel to that.
What did the Vision look like in his swimmers? All red, I suppose? I've always thought his skin was his costume, like a plastic toy.
Hopefully he didn't have to do any heavy lifting on the beach if he'd removed his orthopaedic corset...
I don't have Essential Classic X-Men #3, did it reprint the Beast's entire Amazing Adventures run or just the first one? I do have Essential Avengers #6 which includes #136, an encore of Am Adv #12 where the Beast battles his transformation, two nosy women and Iron Man. It was to familiarize Avengers readers to the Beast though the story was only three years old!
You definitely should! You've never read the "Celestial Madonna" story? it features Kang, Immortus, time travel, the death of an Avenger, explains the Blue Area of the Moon and leads up to the Scarlet Witch marrying the Vision and Mantis marrying a tree!
The Avengers leave the hospital with the Wasp in very serious condition. The crowd outside murmurs about the weirdness of Moondragon and the Beast. Yellowjacket wants revenge against the Stranger. They head back to the mansion in a taxi!!
As they realize that Hawkeye hasn't returned from the past, they are probed by a mind-blast from the Stranger who is seeking out the Scarlet Witch, whose still on her apparently secret honeymoon with Speedo convert-hubby, the Vision. They decide to set a trap by pretending to fly off and warn Scarlet. Thor picks Moondragon to go with him, much to Iron Man's annoyance. It seems Shell-Head has a thing for Miss Bald-Head. Worse is Yellowjacket who is frantic, distraught and heading for (yet another) nervous breakdown.
The Stranger attacks Thor and Moondragon in the Florida Keys, only to be revealed as an illusion. However, IM, YJ and the Beast are able to track the energy signals to an orbiting spacecraft where they confront the Stranger who targets the Beast first while pinning down the others with laser beams striking at the four foot level.
The Beast eludes him and uses the classic "pretend to be Edward G. Robinson" ploy (made famous by Ike during the War) to startle the Stranger so badly that he is revealed to be ......the Toad! Give Englehart credit, he read a lot of back issues to come up with the Toad's plot, means and motivation. Long story short, he's mad Wanda married the Vision before he could propose to her. Yeah, if only he showed up earlier....
Yellowjacket, enraged, wants the Toad's blood but is stymied by the four foot high lasers. So he shrinks to under four feet tall, which he should NOT do (Please remember that for later) and pummels the Warty Whiner. So ends the Toad's romantic revenge.
Some thoughts: Yellowjacket is characterized much like Hawkman in the Bronze Age. When seperated from their wives, the big lugs fall apart, quickly and easily. YJ also shrinks which causes him much pain.
The banter between Thor and Iron Man over Moondragon may seem innocent but could she be manipulating them subtlely?
And the Beast wonders if there is truly a place for him in the Avengers. He sees them argue and rant and he hasn't even encountered Hawkeye yet!
So ends this new team of Avengers' first mission. Bigger things are to follow!
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