The concept ofthe “Marvel Heroes & Legends” project sounded interesting. Take a coupla’ old school artists and have them work on a flashback story. But, like most comics where the art is the emphasis (gee..IMAGE?), the result is a mangled story with more potholes than Robert Davi’s grill.

Pietro checks out Aunt May's caboose

Billed on the cover as “an untold Tale of Suspense”, this story attempts to add some “deleted scenes” to Avengers #16-- a key Silver Age issue where the Avengers were overhauled. But the problems begin with the cover. First off, the pin-up picture of the Avengers appears a little rigid and rushed. A secondary tagline promotes the “orginal Avengers”, yet the cover features Giant-Man, Wasp, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlett Witch. Only four of those characters were, in fact, “original” members. And Iron Man is pictured in his red/yellow armor (he was still wearing the clunky gold suit when he joined), and Giant-Man is not in his original founding guise of Ant-Man. Furthermore, Hulk is nowhere to be seen. To steal from Spinal Tap, I guess this picture would be the “NEW originals”.

If you’re familiar with the original plot of Avengers #16, this story adds very little to the pot. In the initial story, Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man and the Wasp decide to take some time off. Captain America and Rick Jones are returning from a South American fight with Baron Zemo and are greeted by the resignations. Cap ends up leading the “new” Avengers of Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye.

“Heroes & Legends” attempts to add some background. Hawkeye thinks about also getting the Black Widow onto the team..but dumps her off at a hospital and she’s forgotten. Iron Man sends a telegram to Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, while Magneto make a quick cameo. As Tony Stark, Iron Man greets the mutant siblings in New York with a limo. Quicksilver decides to show-off and decides to run through town, rather than ride. He gets lost and stops to ask Aunt May and Mary Jane Watson for directions to Avengers Mansion (of course, if this scene had been scripted into the Spider-Man tales of the era, Aunt May would have had a heart attack). The three new recruits arrive at the mansion and are introduced in a big press conference. Nothing essential.

Scene from STAR Comics' short-lived "Avenger Babies" series

The narration boxes try to resemble the self-depricating and overloaded boxes of Marvel’s Silver Age. Stuff like “and before you think we’ve forgotten the stars of this wacky mag, let’s shift our attention to..” But the artists change every five pages and that appears to crate a communication problem. For instance, Scarlet Witch enters Tony Stark’s limo in costume. One page and an artist switch later, she’s still in the limo, but wearing civilian clothes. Clumsy dialogue is added to the scene, with “thanks for letting me change into civilian clothes, Mr. Stark”. Wait, so the shy European teenaged chic has no issues with disrobing and changing her clothes inside a rich guy's limo? Damn, she needs an intern job, quickly. Another page and another artist change later, she exits the limo IN costume. Again, clumsy dialogue attempts to fix this: “quickly, change into your costume, sister!” Throughout the story, the Witch’s costume changes at will. She originally wore her old 60’s full head dress (covering her neck), and one piece mini-skirt/top. But depending on who the artist is, she’s seen wearing different versions of her 1980’s costume (short or long gloves, no skirt effect, different boots and her neck is exposed). Maybe it was...an early effect of her Chaos Magic, which screwed things up in 2004’s “Disassembled” arc?! Does that make THIS issue an unofficial "House of M" tie-in?! Fans, get your copies now!

The biggest screw-up is saved for the issue-ending full-page spread. If you know the original story, it ends with Captain America shouting “Avengers Assemble”. Same thing here, but Gil Kane was told to embelish it a little bit and work it into an “Avengers through the ages” pin-up. So Cap is shown with images of future Avengers behind him. Guys like the Vision, Thor, the Beast and Daredevil. Uhh...Daredevil?! My only thought is that Kane may have been told to draw the Black Panther, but communication broke down and he ended up pencilling Daredevil. Panther has little ears that could have been mistaken for DD’s horns. Perhaps the inker or colorist screwed up. But we get Daredevil, a guy who’s NEVER been on the Avengers... although he did team-up with them maybe three times over 30 years. Makes ya' wonder why the Silver Surfer wasn't included.

This book was produced when Marvel was going through bankruptcy problems. Maybe one of their budget cuts at the time was an editor. The concept seemed promising, but there was no refinement. And the selection of creators was curous at best. Steve Ditko and Gil Kane as Avengers artists? Ditko’s more synonymous with Spider-Man or Dr. Strange, while Gil Kane with Green Lantern, the Atom, or even Rex the Wonder Dog. Why not find John Buscema? It appeared that the “Heroes & legends” series could continue, highlighting other “deleted scenes” from classic characters with classic creators. For instance, rounding up John Romita for a flashback Spidey story, or Gene Colan for an old Iron Man story would have worked.

However, Marvel did re-visit the concept a few months later, for 1998’s “Flashback” or “-1” one-shots. Those stories seemed to hit the mark closer. I don’t believe the Avengers had a “-1” in that bunch, so you could score this as the lost Avengers “Flashback” issue. The Avengers also got a special “#1 1/2” retro issue in 1999. It was camp, but a fresh story and worked amongst the old Avengers chornology. “Marvel Heroes & Legends” was just a waste. Plus, you can’t even file it under your "A" box with “Avengers”...it ends up forgotten in your “M” box with "Marvel Fantasy Masterpieces", "Mighty Crusaders" and "Myth Adventures". Maybe that’s for the best.

Summary: Hollow "deleted scenes" from Avengers #16 that wouldn't even make it onto the Special Deluxe Collectors' Edition DVD Box Set.
Cover price: 2.99
Rating: .40

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