"A Blast from the Past!" (1974/11/01) from Giant-Size Avengers 2 (November 1974)

Reader Rating: Above Average; Thunderbolts Interest: Medium

Summary: Kang the Conqueror’s convoluted plans involve using the power of captured Avengers to start World War III, thereby distracting humanity while he mates with the Celestial Madonna and becomes the most powerful man in the Universe. The Swordsman gathers allies, starting with Rama-Tut and Hawkeye, to stop him. The Avengers include Iron Man, Mantis, the Scarlet Witch, Thor and the Vision. Agatha Harkness appears.

Continuity: Don’t worry about the page 1 notice to "Read the first part of the story first!" – we join the tale with Hawkeye, in panel one of this installment, and get the backstory as he does, through more-than-adequate flashbacks. While the saga of the Celestial Madonna is fascinating, I’m not going to try to shoehorn it into T-Bolts continuity: Hawkeye’s return to The Avengers is the point.

Comments: There was a time when I wanted Steve Englehart to be writing everything. (This was, of course, when Kurt Busiek was in grade school.) Steve’s slam-bang script, coupled with lively pencils-and-inks from Dave Cockrum, make for a darn fun comic.

Previous Thunderbolts Next
Previous Barton Next
TOC * Home

This page was revised on May 14, 2001