Tuesday, September 28, 2010

You've Been Warned: Avengers #180

This was a terrific era in Avengers history. This particular issue, however, stands out like a sore thumb. This is the finale to the two-part 'Bloodhawk saga', or whatever you want to call it. We've got a rather lame villain named the Stinger and a very convoluted storyline about Bloodhawk, a strange bird man who is obsessed with return a relic to a certain island in the South Pacific. Most of this issue takes place around the aforementioned island. We do learn a few things: 1) Bloodhawk has some crazy mood swings, 2) The Beast is Mjolnir-worthy and 3) There are still some Atlas-era giant statues in the South Pacific. In the end, Bloodhawks meets a tragic fate just as he was about to turn his life around. Isn't that always the way? This story is not particularly cohesive, nor coherent especially when compared to the other issues between #150 and #200. It feels like a filler story - perhaps some old script submitted by Tom DeFalco. The art team of Jim Mooney and Mike Esposito is mediocre at best, and it's a major improvement when John Byrne and Gene Day take over the very next issue (one of my all-time faves). Avoid.

3 comments:

Andrew Wahl said...

Scott:

I own this one but I don't think I've ever read it. I think it resides in my "to read and review" pile. Given your comments, I may shuffle it down to the bottom of the pile. Thanks for the warning!

Cheers,
Andrew
ComicsBronzeAge.com

Jeremy A. Patterson said...

This is a quirky Avengers story!

J.A.P.

Scott M said...

There's some great stuff from this era. I'll be buried with my copies of 181 and 182.