The Avengers Epic Collection: Judgment Day - Softcover

Roger Stern; Tom DeFalco; David Michelinie; Steve Englehart; Bob Harras

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0785188940 ISBN 13: 9780785188940

Publisher: Marvel Enterprises, 2014

Synopsis

{AVENGERS EPIC COLLECTION VOLUME 17}

Roger Stern's fan-favorite run comes to a celestial conclusion! For the life of Hercules, the Avengers must storm the very gates of Olympus and take on an entire pantheon of all-powerful Greek gods! Do our heroes stand a snowball's chance in Tartarus? Then: Magneto's on trial, and he needs all the help he can get! The X-Men aren't sure what his scheme is, but they're positive they don't want the Avengers and the Soviet Super-Soldiers to find out before they do!

COLLECTING: Avengers (1963) #278-285 and Avengers Annual #16; PLUS: Marvel Graphic Novel #27: Emperor Doom; X-Men vs. Avengers #1-4; and West Coast Avengers Annual #2

Marvel launches the Epic Collections -- a new way for fans to collect their favorite series! Each super-sized volume in the Epic line presents a heaping helping of Marvel's greatest heroics in one handy, affordable and self-contained package. What's more, each Epic Collection TPB is also a piece of a grand puzzle: When all is said and done, the Epic volumes will fit seamlessly next to one another on readers' bookshelves, presenting a complete and unbroken run of each title! So be sure to get in on the ground floor! Marvel's most storied titles -- including Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Captain America, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and Thor -- are going Epic, and there's no turning back!

About this title

About the Author

"The culmination of Roger Stern's 5 year+ run on Avengers was the line up of Thor, Black Knight, She-Hulk, Sub-Mariner, his wife Marrina, Doctor Druid and their chairperson Captain Marvel. True, a far cry from the founders heavy early days when one would expect Iron Man, Captain America and either the Wasp or Yellowjacket on the team. But this colorful assemblage of heroes were more than able to hold their own, possessing a wide variety of skills, contacts and backgrounds in both scientific and mystical matters.

"Under Roger Stern (not to mention the consistent art team of John Buscema and Tom Palmer), the Avengers had continued to grow and evolve, culminating in the election of its first ever trainee recruit Captain Marvel to the position of chairperson. As one sees too often in group books, only two or three members get the chance to really shine, leaving the others as little more than glorified bitplayers forced to spout interchangeable, expositionary dialogue.

"Not this particular line up, though. Thor was appropriately godlike, She-Hulk sounded like her familiar, sassy self, the Sub-Mariner displayed his trademark pomposity while Black Knight showed he was first and foremost a scientist. Even new recruits like Marrina and Doctor Druid were valued, vital and instantly distinguishable members of the team. In many ways, that makes these "post Mansion Siege" era Avengers like Cap's Kooky Quartet, the first ever line up change that saw Captain America heading up a team that consisted of Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. One'd hardly consider them Earth's mightiest, but for the briefest of times, they were.

"Sometimes, history repeats itself." -- Jef Willemsen

Review

"Roger Stern had such a grip on the Avengers at that time ... [he] set a standard that was hard for many to follow, with only a couple succeeding." -- David E. Huston II

"Stern juggles long-running plots, character conflict and realism so well. His always-evolving team of regulars includes heavy hitters like Captain America and Thor alongside wild choices like Starfox and Dr. Druid, and yet the mix always seems right. He makes both the Wasp and Captain Marvel into heroines who sound like professionals in a dangerous business." -- Paul Cornell, writer of Doctor Who, Action Comics, and Wolverine

"Roger Stern's swan song on Avengers was another doozy, as the Avengers were kidnapped by the gods of Olympus and deposited in Hades as retribution for the injuries Hercules suffered during the Mansion Siege storyline. Things looked pretty bad, but only because Zeus hadn't yet learned the number one lesson of godhood: don't mess with the Avengers. By the time this ended, half of Olympus was in ruins, and all of comic fandom was left agog at Stern's awesomeness." -- Scott Harris

"Roger Stern went out in style with a fantastic storyline. It's one of the best Avengers tales ever ... reminding you why Earth's Greatest Heroes shine, even against the gods." -- Michael A. Weyer  

"Arc after arc, [Stern] nailed it. With the Avengers he didn't just create Under Siege, but went on to write the Olympic Saga ... and before that he reinvented the whole Kang/Immortus story, and created Nebula, Thanos daughter." -- Thomas Piperson

"The X-Men vs the Avengers #1-4. The Avengers decide to bring Magneto to justice, the X-Men declare that there's no way he can get a fair trial, hilarity ensues... Yeah, editorial took over the last issue but the characterization of all the super-heroes involved in the first three issues was gold." -- Emmanuel Seyman

"Emperor Doom ends on a huge downer, but still works for me.  Doctor Doom is played at just the right level of menace, the Avengers get their little moments of awesome, and Marvel continuity is present, but not overwhelming.  You don't spend the story wondering where the Fantastic Four or X-Men are ... you just enjoy the story." -- Matthew Peterson

Edition details

• Publisher: Marvel Enterprises
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0785188940
• ISBN 13: 9780785188940
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 438