Here's a bright moment in the history of the Avengers. They had just defeated the machinations of their uber-opponent Kang the Conqueror, and they had just added The Black Knight, the hero of the day, to their valiant ranks.
The smiles on the faces in that poster-shot by Sal Buscema and Sam Grainger that wraps up Avengers #71 are shiny and genuine. Curmudgeon Clint Barton is grinning, and you can even get a hint that Tony Stark has a smile behind that mask.
Heroes today alas are all too often grim and overcome by life's cruel ironies. But in this moment at least we see happy heroes (the Vision's implacable visage excepted of course).
Here's the original to that dandy bit of work by Buscema and Grainger, and below is the cover for the Marvelmania Catalog that seems to be another version that captures this moment.
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There are the Avengers as I remember them!
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad that the Black Panther never had a bronze or modern age run on the Avengers.
I think they decided he didn't have enough in the way of flashy powers.
It was revealed I think some years ago that the Panther was using the Avengers for his own political purposes when he joined them originally. That's the retcon anyway now that the Panther is presented as a calculating somewhat cold-blooded hero.
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I believe the Marvelmania cover is the original version of the page.
ReplyDeleteIt's more detailed than the other version, and, more tellingly, The Wasp is in the same costume she wore during the three-part story (and never wore again)!