Reprints Avengers #141-144 and #147-149.
Written by Steve Englehart.
Penciled by George Perez.
Inked by Vince Colletta, Mike Esposito, Sam Granger.
The Avengers are confronting the forces of evil in the present and the past, and on two different versions of Earth!
The Beast, formerly of the X-men, has joined the Avengers on a trial basis. His old friend Patsy Walker shows up and asks to tag along with the Avengers on their next mission.
Brand Corporation and Roxxon Oil are collaborating on some sort of corporate corruption, so the Avengers investigate them. It turns out Roxxon's boss Hugh Jones is under the control of the mysterious, mystical Serpent Crown. Brand/Roxxon hires the Squadron Supreme (a team of superheroes from Counter Earth) to defeat the Avengers. Complicating the matters, Patsy's ex-husband Buzz Baxter is working for Brand Corporation on this project! In the middle of this, the Avengers and the Squadron are teleported to Counter Earth.
The Serpent Crown has taken over Counter Earth! Even the President of the United States Nelson Rockefeller is under the Crown's command. Vision and Scarlet Witch manage to steal the Crown, but Rockefeller sends the Squadron Supreme to track it down, and an epic battle ensues between the two Super-Teams!
At the same time, the Avengers arch-foe Kang The Conqueror has trapped Hawkeye in the 1870s, during the "Wild West" era. Thor and Moondragon go back in time to save Hawkeye, but they will also have to save the world of that time from Kang. The Avengers team up with Marvel's wild west heroes Two-Gun Kid, Kid Colt, Rawhide Kid and Night Rider!
And just when things are looking up for the Avengers, they're attacked by Orka, the human Killer Whale!
Plus, the debut of a new Marvel superheroine, the Hellacious Hellcat!
Review:
This tpb features one of the first Bronze Age Avengers stories I ever read (#147). So I'll admit that I'm fighting nostalgia in order to give an objective review here. In case anyone doesn't know, the Squadron Supreme were created as stand-ins for the Justice League of DC comics. For instance, Hyperion = Superman, Lady Lark = Black Canary, Golden Archer = Green Arrow, etc. For a complete list of Squadders & their JLA counterparts, click here. When the Justice League visited Earth 2 and teamed with the Justice Society, we often got covers like this:
It's also worth noting that Patsy Walker first appeared in a Miss America Magazine #2, way back in 1944, which makes her one of the oldest characters in the Marvel Universe. She appeared in Marvel's humor titles (very similar to Archie Comics tales) like Patsy Walker and Patsy And Hedy that were published from the 1940s well into the 60s. Marvel later retconned these stories out their continuity, saying that Patsy's adventures in the stories were fictionalized accounts written by her mother.
Story:
Steve Englehart nicely juggles the multiple storylines. This tpb featurs non-stop action and great characterizations. There is a WHOLE LOT going on in this tpb, but it never feels convoluted.
Englehart had previously written the Beast and Patsy Walker in Amazing Adventures, he does a nice job wrapping up their stories here. I also really enjoyed the Vision in this story, I don't think he was ever more of a bada$$ than he is here. If you're not a fan of the Vision, this tpb will make you one.
Englehart also added some depth to the Squadron Supreme characters. Hyperion makes an aside about his "arch-foe Burbank" and mentions his home city Cosmopolis (a stand-in for Superman's Metropolis). And we get some nice interaction between Golden Archer and Lady Lark.
Avengers: The Serpent Crown shows why Englehart is rightly remembered as one of the premier scribes of the Bronze Age.
Art:
I have mixed feelings about the art. George Perez is an all-time great and one of my favorite artists, and this tpb features some of his earliest work. But the inking of Vince Colletta, Mike Esposito and Sam Grainger doesn't always compliment Perez's pencils. Still, the art isn't bad and sometimes the Perez art we know and love shows through the ink jobs.
How Does it look?:
It looks fantastic. Check the scanned pages above, and look at this splash page:
Extras:
In the back of the tpb, you'll find the entries for Patsy Walker and Two-Gun Kid from The Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe.
It also contains summaries of Avenges #145 & 146. These were fill-in stories published in the middle of the Serpent Crown storyline. They don't relate to the rest of the book, but they don't detract from it either.
Avengers: The Serpent Crown is a great tpb that features Steve Englehart at his Bronze Age best. The aforementioned inking prevents me from giving it the highest rating, but it's still recommended. I should mention this tpb has just been reissued to coincide with the release of the Avengers movie, pick it up at your local comic shop!
My rating:
.5 Sals!
The Avengers are confronting the forces of evil in the present and the past, and on two different versions of Earth!
The Beast, formerly of the X-men, has joined the Avengers on a trial basis. His old friend Patsy Walker shows up and asks to tag along with the Avengers on their next mission.
Brand Corporation and Roxxon Oil are collaborating on some sort of corporate corruption, so the Avengers investigate them. It turns out Roxxon's boss Hugh Jones is under the control of the mysterious, mystical Serpent Crown. Brand/Roxxon hires the Squadron Supreme (a team of superheroes from Counter Earth) to defeat the Avengers. Complicating the matters, Patsy's ex-husband Buzz Baxter is working for Brand Corporation on this project! In the middle of this, the Avengers and the Squadron are teleported to Counter Earth.
The Serpent Crown has taken over Counter Earth! Even the President of the United States Nelson Rockefeller is under the Crown's command. Vision and Scarlet Witch manage to steal the Crown, but Rockefeller sends the Squadron Supreme to track it down, and an epic battle ensues between the two Super-Teams!
At the same time, the Avengers arch-foe Kang The Conqueror has trapped Hawkeye in the 1870s, during the "Wild West" era. Thor and Moondragon go back in time to save Hawkeye, but they will also have to save the world of that time from Kang. The Avengers team up with Marvel's wild west heroes Two-Gun Kid, Kid Colt, Rawhide Kid and Night Rider!
And just when things are looking up for the Avengers, they're attacked by Orka, the human Killer Whale!
Plus, the debut of a new Marvel superheroine, the Hellacious Hellcat!
Vision & Scarlet Witch Tangle with Hyperion,Lady Lark & Golden Archer
Review:
This tpb features one of the first Bronze Age Avengers stories I ever read (#147). So I'll admit that I'm fighting nostalgia in order to give an objective review here. In case anyone doesn't know, the Squadron Supreme were created as stand-ins for the Justice League of DC comics. For instance, Hyperion = Superman, Lady Lark = Black Canary, Golden Archer = Green Arrow, etc. For a complete list of Squadders & their JLA counterparts, click here. When the Justice League visited Earth 2 and teamed with the Justice Society, we often got covers like this:
Cover of Justice League of America #38, from comics.org
In the Serpent Crown story, George Perez and Sam Grainger paid homage with this splash page:
It's also worth noting that Patsy Walker first appeared in a Miss America Magazine #2, way back in 1944, which makes her one of the oldest characters in the Marvel Universe. She appeared in Marvel's humor titles (very similar to Archie Comics tales) like Patsy Walker and Patsy And Hedy that were published from the 1940s well into the 60s. Marvel later retconned these stories out their continuity, saying that Patsy's adventures in the stories were fictionalized accounts written by her mother.
Story:
Steve Englehart nicely juggles the multiple storylines. This tpb featurs non-stop action and great characterizations. There is a WHOLE LOT going on in this tpb, but it never feels convoluted.
Englehart had previously written the Beast and Patsy Walker in Amazing Adventures, he does a nice job wrapping up their stories here. I also really enjoyed the Vision in this story, I don't think he was ever more of a bada$$ than he is here. If you're not a fan of the Vision, this tpb will make you one.
Englehart also added some depth to the Squadron Supreme characters. Hyperion makes an aside about his "arch-foe Burbank" and mentions his home city Cosmopolis (a stand-in for Superman's Metropolis). And we get some nice interaction between Golden Archer and Lady Lark.
Avengers: The Serpent Crown shows why Englehart is rightly remembered as one of the premier scribes of the Bronze Age.
Art:
I have mixed feelings about the art. George Perez is an all-time great and one of my favorite artists, and this tpb features some of his earliest work. But the inking of Vince Colletta, Mike Esposito and Sam Grainger doesn't always compliment Perez's pencils. Still, the art isn't bad and sometimes the Perez art we know and love shows through the ink jobs.
How Does it look?:
It looks fantastic. Check the scanned pages above, and look at this splash page:
Extras:
In the back of the tpb, you'll find the entries for Patsy Walker and Two-Gun Kid from The Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe.
It also contains summaries of Avenges #145 & 146. These were fill-in stories published in the middle of the Serpent Crown storyline. They don't relate to the rest of the book, but they don't detract from it either.
Avengers: The Serpent Crown is a great tpb that features Steve Englehart at his Bronze Age best. The aforementioned inking prevents me from giving it the highest rating, but it's still recommended. I should mention this tpb has just been reissued to coincide with the release of the Avengers movie, pick it up at your local comic shop!
My rating:
.5 Sals! 
I enjoyed these a lot. I'd probably give both story and art an A-. I am a sucker for the Squadron Supreme/Sinister. Perhaps the inking could have been better, but I still saw enough of Perez through them. Also, I think I liked Grainger's inks here a bit better than Colletta's.
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