I can’t tell you enough how nice it is to read the original Avenger stories in full living color! I’ve read the original Avengers stories before, but they were always in black and white on cheap paper. I just didn’t realize what I was missing from these black and white pictures until I picked up the Masterworks version. The color gives so much more life to the stories. Sure the pallet is limited (YRGB), but it does change its overall impact.

The stories themselves are of a different era, that’s for sure. The classic story telling is endearing. And I find the “out of balance” team line up amazing, compared with the carefully picked heroes you would find on a team nowadays. Think about it – there’s a guy who is green, strong, and durable; then there’s a yellow metal guy who is strong and durable (with zappers on his hands); then there’s a long haired guy who is strong and durable (and can zap with lighting); then with issue two there’s a guy who can grow big (making him stronger and more durable than regular sized men); and then there’s this gal who can shrink and fire annoying zaps. Whoa, how did this young missy get in here? Talk about male power fantasies! (This kind of reminds me of the Bruce sketch from Monty Python.)

But this isn’t a negative review, I really enjoyed reading this, and again the color really helps out!

My favorite story in this book is probably the one involving the Space Phantom, a character we only rarely see in the Marvel universe. (If you like this one too, then perhaps you should read Beyond! sometime.)

Again, I really enjoyed this book, and if you don’t buy it for yourself, then you should encourage your local library to do so. It’s a treat.