AVENGERS #168

Brevoort's History Of Comics
Tuesday, July 9
By Tom Brevoort

Avengers #168 - February, 1978

It's a perfect example of one of the problems apparent in many of the comics on sale today. AVENGERS #168 was the first issue of the series I read (after having encountered the group earlier in SON OF ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS) and I was lost.

This was the second part of the well-remembered Korvac saga, and as a result, more super-powered costumed characters were running around than normal. You got the full Avengers team, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and a guest appearance by Nighthawk. And all in all, I was confused, and uninvolved. This feeling was made worse by the fact that many of the characters seemed shrewish--an ongoing plotline that had Captain America and Iron Man at each other's throats made both characters look like assholes.

It's not a bad issue at all if you read it in context to the rest of the run. A long-time reader probably enjoyed it a great deal. But as somebody's first, it was a non-starter. I wouldn't look in on the Avengers again for three more months.

It's particularly ironic that this was the case in that this issue was written by Jim Shooter, who was a positive demon for new-reader-clarity during his tenure as Marvel's EIC.