Epic Collection Avengers 21: The Collection Obsession Paperback – March 27, 2018

A lengthy (440+ pages) collection including the complete subterranean wars, the return of the Sons of the Serpent (white supremecist group) and the beginning of the return of the Swordsman, a former member thought dead, mow returned for revenge. The subterranean saga is quite good, spanning several issues, and making the Avengers allies of the Mole Man and Grotesk, giving them the excuse to dredge up some old but fun villains. There is a quick story about hate monger, a villain who feeds off hate, a bit heavy handed but no truer than now. The Swordsman tale leaves on a cliffhanger, of course they want you to buy the next volume.This is a period I missed, being busy raising my daughter, so many of the characters like Rage and the Sandman as an Avenger were knew. Fun read, quite a bit of stuff going on

The death trap arc with venom was awesome. However, collection obsession has a lot of goofs like Sirsi's eye or Captain America's instant beard over the course of 2 pages. If you can forgive these, the writing and plot twists are well done. I got this when on sale for $1 so I would give it 4 stars for that.

This took me back to the magic days of junior high school. I was hoping to see the Brethren in the MCU before we got to the infinity gauntlet. hopefully we may still see them and the new warriors in a netfilx series

Reading thru this Avengers Epic Collection the past few days, I'm reminded how hit or miss comics from the 1990s were. This volume is okay, nothing great. After reading the first 2/3 of the book, it became a real slog to finish.The beginning of the book features a typical Marvel early 1990s multi-part Annuals crossover. In this book it's the Subterranean Wars. The premise is okay, featuring all of Marvels underground villains (Tyrannus, Deviants, Mole Man, Moleoids, etc) taking on several Avengers related heroes. Included as part of the crossover are the 1991 Annuals of Avengers, Hulk, Namor, Iron Man, & Avengers West Coast. The highlight of the bunch is Peter David's Hulk Annual which was as well written and fun as any of David's other Hulk work. The Hulk chapter was a treat to read.Also included is the Avengers (or Venom depending on which printing you owned back in the day) Deathtrap the Vault graphic novel. This book has aged fairly well and I'm glad it was included in this collection. Basically Venom (and a thousand other bad guys) break out of the super-human prison, the Vault, in Colorado. It's up to the Avengers to capture them all before the whole facility explodes. Kinda cliche, but fun nonetheless. It's basically an Avengers riff on a 1990s Schwarzenegger movie.Next is the six part Collection Obsession arc, from which this Epic volume gets its name. The story was just okay. Not bad, not good. Just okay. The art is nice in spots (Andy Kubert does one chapter, others are by Steve Epting, some covers by Ron Lim), but also feels rushed and less detailed in some chapters. Like the rest of the volume, it's hit-or-miss.Story-wise, Thane Ector (sheesh what a 90s name) and the Brethren (ugh) are introduced as sort of a poor man's version of Mongul, Thanos, or Zod type villains. Essentially they escaped being trapped by the Collector (who ... cough ... collects ... civilizations ... geeze guys, Brainiac much?), then arrived on Earth (actually the moon first, so the Watcher could show up and watch) spouting nonsense like "We will destroy this planet and all will kneel before us for no discernible reason other than we say so!" Thankfully, Thane & the Brethren get some semblance of character development & redemption by the story's conclusion. The twist ending with the Collector was a little odd, but hey, it's the 1990s. Rad, man.In summary, this book gets a solid C for both art & story. It's not great, it's not terrible, just kind of meh.

One of the best! Never fail to amaze

Great item, happy with it

Yuck. Bad art. Bad writing. Logical inconsistencies that make your typical Star Trek episode look look extremely well reasoned. Sucked so bad that I searched for this review thing at the end to pop up so I could vent my spleen.Yuck <shudder>.

Mais um volume dos Vingadores com arcos dos anos 90 bons, mas não excepcionais. O destaque vai para a Graphic Novel "A Gruta: Armadilha Mortal", publicada no Brasil (na época) pela Abril Jovem. E é interessante ver os primórdios da arte de Steve Epting, antes do brilhantismo de sua famosa fase de Capitão América em parceria com Ed Brubaker.

The latest Avengers Epic is very much a book of three parts, and while none of the three are particularly inspiring, it's another chunk of Marvel history and as such, will still be of interest to completists and Avengers superfans. This particular volume collects stories from 1991 and 1992, and opens with the Vault graphic novel. This slight tale (later repackaged as Venom: The Vault when the villain grew in popularity) sees Earth's Mightiest Heroes and the mutant ex-villain squad Freedom Force grudgingly team up to shut down Marvel's super-prison after a break-out by the dozens of villains within. It's fairly inconsequential, but works well as a knockabout romp, brought to you by Danny Fingeroth and Ron Lim.The second chunk of the book is taken up by 1991's annual crossover, Subterranean Wars. Taking in the Avengers, Hulk, Namor, Iron Man and West Coast Avengers annuals for that year, the story by longtime scribe Roy "The Boy" Thomas brings all of Marvel's various underground societies together into one sprawling tale. Only problem is... it's not particularly good. There are a few good character moments scattered throughout, but the actual plot meanders along until a rather flat ending.The third, and largest part, of the Epic is reserved for the regular Avengers issues (334-344 to be exact), with the title story taking up most of that, as the alien Brethren attack Earth while the Avengers struggle to discover the part of The Collector in the mayhem. Bob Harras and Steve Epting make a good team, and the story has a few twists that raise it above a lot of similar invasion plots. There is also a semi-fill-in issue with Captain America and Wasp, a short Hatemonger arc focusing on recent Avengers recruit Rage, and the sudden return of a presumed-dead member from yesteryear. While this is definitely the most enjoyable part of the Epic, it's still not really a run that ranks among the title's finest.Extras include an excerpt from Marvel Age about Subterranean Wars, the cover of the Venom printing of The Vault, trading card art of relevant characters from the time, and original artwork by Ron Wagner, George Freeman, and Ron Lim. Like I said, it's not the greatest of volumes, but if you're all in for these collections, you won't find it a waste.