Access Today Avengers: Under Siege Scripted By Roger Stern Compiled As EText

primera vez que leí esta historia debo decir que no me gustó, Sin embargo, unos diez años después de eso, decidí darle una segunda oportunidad y debo decir que a mi parecer aunque no le llega al trabajo de Kurt Busiek, me gusto mucho mas que en aquella ocasión.


La historia es relativamente sencilla, pero no por eso menos emocionante, Después de algunos intentos de vencer a los Avengers, en especifico a Captain America, Baron Zemo decide crear un plan diferente con el cual piensa derrotarlos.
Ahora, en vez de atacarlos al aire libre ha decidido hacerlo en su propia casa, la mansión Avenger, buscando enfrentarse a ellos poco a poco, pero aliado con un grupo muy numeroso y poderoso de villanos, como la Wrecking Crew o Goliath.
En total los Masters of Evil estarían constituidos por dieciseis villanos que tal vez por su cuenta no hubiesen podido derrotar a los Avengers, pero unidos serían una amenaza muy grande.


El problema que le encuentro a la historia y supongo que fue una de las razones por la cual no me gustó originalmente es que Marvel no la supo vender al momento de editarla en un compilado.
Como sucede con otros compilados como el de Celestial Madonna o el The Great Darkness Saga de la competencia, esta aventura, seguramente no planeada para ser recopilada, basa gran parte de su éxito en las sorpresas.
Si uno lee los primeros números jamas se imagina lo que va a suceder A menos que uno vea la portada de el compilado y lea la contraportada de este.
Al saber de antemano algunas de las sorpresas se pierde gran parte de el chiste de esta, Es como si en vez de llamar a una película Rain Man le pusieran Cuando los Hermanos se Encuentran o en vez de Thelma amp Louise la llamaran no, se, Un Final Inesperado.


Pero no estamos aquí para hablar si la nombraron mal o si Marvel intento arruinarnos la experiencia antes de vivirla/leerla estrictamente hablando, yo aquí estoy haciendo lo mismo.
No, estamos aquí para hablar de el porque este enfrentamiento de los Avengers con los Masters of Evil es tan bueno, Como comenté arriba, algunos de los detalles mas importantes son las sorpresas, empezando con la aparición de Baron Zemo, Tal vez para los lectores de ahora esto parece un dato menor, pero para los de esa época no lo fue, ya que pues, Zemo estaba muerto.
Como digo, tal vez para los lectores de ahora esto suena curioso, estamos acostumbrados a que los personajes revivan todos los días, sin embargo en esa época esto no era lo común, así que al verlo de vuelta y liderando un equipo de villanos fue toda una revelación.
Pero las sorpresas no acaban ahí, Otra de las sorpresas es el momento en que Blackout cubre con una especie de campo de fuerza negro toda la Mansion Avenger, Estoy seguro que muchos de los lectores pensaron en ese momento que ya no había esperanza para los héroes mas importantes de la tierra, más si tomamos en cuenta que la única Avenger activa que quedaba fuera de la Mansión era Wasp.


Este último punto me lleva a lo que hace mas interesante a esta aventura, las caracterizaciones que hace Roger Stern de los diferentes personajes.
Tomemos por ejemplo a la ya mencionada Wasp, Cuando uno habla de ella normalmente piensa en una frívola mujer que solo piensa en la moda hubo un tiempo en que cambiaba su uniforme con cada nuevo número de los Avengers que solo estaba aquí porque al momento de la formación de el equipo era pareja de Hank Pym.
En que error estábamos, Janet es igual de hábil como líder de los Avengers como digamos Captain America, El mejor número de toda el compilado es el, donde ella, junto a Scott Lang que ya para ese entonces era AntMan, se enfrentan y vencen a Absorbing Man y a Titania, en apariencia un par de villanos mucho mas poderosos que ellos dos.
Pero no crean que Wasp es la única, ahora tomemos el ejemplo de Hercules, otro de los personajes mitológicos que es miembro de este equipo.
Roger Stern lo retrata como una persona completamente misógina y fanático de la bebida lo cual casi le cuesta la vida, siempre listo para la acción pero que no soporta que Wasp le de ordenes.
Y así podríamos seguir con todos,

Ahora hablemos un poco de los villanos, Una de las cosas que le gustaban a Roger Stern era enfrentar a los héroes con rivales que no eran a los que siempre lo hacían, por ejemplo la pelea entre Spiderman y Juggernaut, un villano que hasta ese momento había atacado casi en exclusiva a los XMen.
Lo mismo sucede aquí. Como comenté anteriormente, Baron Zemo reunió a un grupo muy nutrido de villanos, varios de ellos físicamente muy poderosos como la Wrecking Crew o Goliath, pero lo que los hacía mas peligrosos ante los Avengers era que, con contadas excepciones, jamas se habían enfrentado con ellos.
Es mas, varios de los villanos que conforman este grupo tenían pocas apariciones por ejemplo Rita DeMara, la segunda Yellowjacket solo tenía una aparición previa, lo cual logró sacar de balance a los héroes, porque no sabían a que se estaban enfrentando.


Sin embargo mis lectores se preguntarán, si Zemo tenía un plan tan infalible, porque no logro su cometido Primero porque estaba obsesionado con Captain America y, en vez de ir matando a todos y cada uno de los héroes decidió hacerlo con todos juntos, lo cual le dio tiempo a Wasp a la cual el tomó como una amenaza menor de organizar su ataque además de que, pues, el matar a un importante número de héroes en una historia no era algo recurrente por aquellos días.
La escena donde Captain America le muestra a Captain Marvel la única foto de su madre rota a manos de Zemo es, además de una imagen muy triste e impresionante, un reflejo de esto que estoy comentado.
Segundo, porque la verdad Roger Stern hace un poco de trampa y se saca de la manga a un par de personajes que no habían aparecido, uno de ellos que ni siquiera era Avenger y gracias a ellos es que logran la victoria.
Quizás este sea el punto mas flojo de la historia y otro de los puntos por lo cual originalmente no me gustó,

Pero un momento, lo que nos estoy reseñando es un libro o un cómic Porque si, hasta el momento no me había dado cuenta que no había hablado nada de el arte en este, lo estaba dando por sentado.
Yo soy de los que piensa que no necesariamente necesitas a un artista de alto calibre para que la historia sea buena, pero si de casualidad tienes a uno muy bueno si se logra que la disfrutes mas.
Este es el caso. Para mi, el mejor dibujante de los Avengers es George Perez, sin embargo, en un muy cercano segundo lugar tenemos justamente al artista de esta aventura, el magnífico John Buscema.
Al igual que Pérez, John consigue dotar de un detalle impresionante a todos y cada uno de los personajes a los que ilustra, además de que, seamos sinceros, dibuja a la Wasp mas guapa que he visto.
El que el haya estado a cargo de las trazos en los ocho números que componen este compilado es un extra que vale mucho la pena.


En fin, si ya has leído las historias de Kurt Busiek y estas en búsqueda de algo mas que leer, esta es la historia para ti, tiene acción, drama, un poco de romance, y nos demuestra el porque los Avengers son el equipo estelar de Marvel, los héroes mas poderosos de la Tierra.


Diecisiete si tomamos en cuenta el cameo de Black Mamba, Dieciocho si contamos la fotografía de Whirlwind, This was and still is one of my favorite Avengers storylines that, and when they battled the gods of Olympus, Sadly, the Avengers would 'plummet' in terms of storylines for the following twentytothirty issues or so afterwards one of the biggest mistakes being the addition of Doctor Druid to the lineup I never cared for his character and felt he was a waste of space for the team.
Not that it matters, but I had I quit reading and collecting comics a few years before this storyline came out, but I would still visit comic book stores and see what was on the stands.
The covers for issues,, andalways stood out in my mind, and when I started collecting comics again, I made sure to by this storyline for sure.
I loved the idea: some villain puts together a large team of supervillains to take on the Avengers in order to defeat them, There were some 'hitsandmisses' in the initial setup of the storyline I had forgotten the "soap opera drama" that was going on in the title i.
e. Dane Whitman mooning over Janet van Dyne like he did throughout the storyline his constant pouting and bucking her orders until she had enough and somewhat put him in his place the quasitriangle of Paladin, Wasp, and the Black Knight, but I think it still holds up well over time.
While the artwork was a bit spotty in parts which I did not remember being the case the first time reading it, I think it still holds up well since, by and large, I love John Buscemas art.


The character development was pretty good, overall, I think the story does a good job of showing Caps inner strength and resolve, his refusal to give up despite what might appear to be overwhelming forces opposing him.
From what I remember, Hercules had been growing more belligerent towards the Wasp in issues prior to this particular story arc, but he has always tended to look down on women, in general, anyway, so his attitude and disrespect was really not that much of a surprise.
I liked how Captain Marvel Monica Rambeau grew stronger during this arc as well, how she discovered abilities she did not know she had, how she was able to better control her powers and discover new ways to use her powers.
Baron Zemo felt she was the most powerful Avenger on the team at the time and strove to remove her from the playing field first.
So, that said quite a bit about her abilities and the possibilities of what she could and maybe could not do, since he strove to take her out first.


I thought it was a wellcrafted story, Baron Zemo Jr. has learned from the mistakes of prior incarnations and seeks to avoid making the same mistakes of other groups that opposed the Avengers, At the same time, I almost felt like it could have gone on for another issue or two, but it still felt about the right length.
I liked how Zemo put together the team that he did it was a crazy team and had a lot of power in it as well as people who used their brains, who had specific skill sets, when it came to solving various problems facing them and instituting Zemos plans.
Obviously, it does not all go according to plan, but the Masters of Evil still nearly win in the end, It was partly due to Doctor Druid interfering with Zemos mental control over Blackout that ensured the Avengers would win in the end, but I still disliked his character, especially what he did to the team, how he tore it apart, over the course of the next twentytwo issues.


There were some good/powerful moments throughout the storyline, It was crazy that AntMan Scott Lang and the Wasp Janet van Dyne were able to defeat the Absorbing Man and Titanian like they were able to do.
On the one hand, the two heroes had to use their brains to defeat their stronger opponents, but it also felt a little too pat, a little too easy, on how it went down.
I had mixed feelings about that, but it could still work and it did work, and I loved the moment where

Jan blew Titania through the wall and outside with her stingers after Titania was shrunk down to about six inches in height.
It was interesting how Jan was nearly falling apart and Scott was there for her, trying to encourage her, and then shortly after that point Jan found her inner reserves and resolved to retake their mansion from their enemies/opponents.
The look on her face the speech that she gave I thought it was one of the better, more defining moments, for her character, Captain Marvels delight and wonder at her powers, at what she was able to do, was fun to read, I enjoyed the delight she had when she discovered some new aspect of her powers, some new skill that she could perform, that could and would assist her in fights against supervillains.
I love Thor this story was crazy for him, because in his own series he had been cursed by Hela and could neither die nor heal from wound suffered I loved the scene where Mister Hyde slammed headfirst into Thor and knocked himself out and Jans response to Thors statement that he was fine how it would have sounded more convincing if Thor had said it without gritting his teeth in pain.
Caps fight with the Wrecker while Thor was fighting Goliath was fun to read Cap used his skills to beat his stronger opponent, whereas Thor came across as having fun with Goliath as Goliath was out of his depth facing off against Thor.
If Goliath were not composed of ionic energy like Wonder Man, I think Thor would have defeated Goliath pretty handily, I loved Scott Langs cameo, too, how he assisted as best he could in retaking the mansion, Cap crying over lost mementos at the end of the story was another powerful moment, I felt I liked that Captain Marvel was there to comfort him

It was also a bit of a brutal storyline, too.
While Avengers Mansion has been threatened before, and Jarvis has occasionally had threats made against his life, this was the first time that I can recall where he was badly beaten and bloodied to the point of nearly dying at the hands of some of the Avengers foes.
In the past, nobody has really ever hurt the butler probably with good reason, too, with a team called the Avengers you really wouldnt want to make them mad by making your attacks against them personal.
That was probably the worst part of the story for me, was how Jarvis was brutalized and tortured by Mister Hyde, Fortunately, it takes place offcamera, which actually makes it worse, in some ways,

Dane was badly beaten, too, He tried to press on with Jan, but his injuries were such that it seemed pretty clear he at least had a concussion, Hercules is beaten practically to death it is wellnigh a miracle that he survived the thrashing he received from some of the most powerful villains of the Marvel U at the time.
Namor losing the second great love of his life as she flees from him after being rescued from Attumas clutches this is made worse when Namor is forced to kill Marinna later after she mutates even further and goes on a murderous rampage.
One thing about this issue, is that it has the Avengers at one of their lowest ebbs and they still fight back to make things right that is probably one of the things that I loved about them so much that they never gave up, they never gave up hope.


Some other random thoughts: I found myself wishing that they had included some of the other issues that tied into this series.
There were some issues of Alpha Flight that tied into the storyline where Namor is seeking to rescue his love from Attuma I think it would have been nice to have seen those issues in this collection.
Also, Amazing SpiderMan, where Spidey fights Creel and Titania, I wish that issue had been included as well, Apparently, West Coast Avengersalso tied into this series, this storyline, so it would have been nice if that “final” part of the storyline had been included.


It made me laugh when Dane joined Cap in fighting Hyde and the two of them knocking Hyde out, I know Dane is supposed to be a trained fighter and whatnot, but he has the strength of a normal person whereas Cap is able to benchpresspounds to warm up before undertaking his regular workout.
So, yeah, it is humorous to me to see a normal person able to compete on the same terms with Captain America Dane should have had his ass handed to him in notimeflat again, in my opinion.


I did wish that Namor had remained on the team I think it probably would have changed the dynamics a little too much, though, in terms of the storyline as I do not see Namor being able to stand idly by while Hercules was getting severely beaten by their foes.
Still, though, it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if he had stuck around instead of leaving the team to chase his heart and try to save the lost soul that Marinna had become.


It annoyed me then and still annoys me that the writers did not work something out with the writers and editors of the West Coast Avengers.
Supposedly, the WCA had been sent on a wildgoose chase to Indonesia so that they would not be available to assist the East Coast Avengers during the siege of Avengers Mansion.
That being the case, it is not like the events taking place in NYC would not have made the international news, I do not believe the WCA would not have jetted back ASAP to help their teammates retake the Mansion especially Iron Man and Wonder Man, who could have been back in notime flat.
There is no mention of the WCA going to Indonesia, and I do not remember issueenough to say how well it wrapped things up albeit indirectly in regard to the Siege storyline.
I felt it was one of the weaker moments of the story that, and how there were no other superheroes supposedly available to assist the Avengers in their time of need.


I know I said this earlier, but I had forgotten how much Dane was mooning over the Wasp during this storyline, He had fallen for her hard, and his “obsession with her/obsessing over her” was beginning to affect his judgement, in various respects, As funny, stupid, and annoying as it was, I think it was still a bit of realism in the comic, as people do become infatuated with friends or coworkers and become emotionally overinvolved with that other person.
While his feelings for Jan have the potential to make things worse for the team, he fortunately makes the wiser choice and rejoins Scott Lang below to se what he can do in assisting with Jarvis and Jarviss wounds/injuries.


It was a fun story to revisit, something I loved from back, Overall, I think the artwork has aged well, I also think the story stands the test of time fairly well, too, The story is interesting, fun, crazy, and moves at a quick pace, It was written during a different time with a different focus, but I think that it still works, I think one other thing I would have liked would have been more “editors notes” or something, where Roger Stern and others give a bit more of a behindthescenes look at the story they put together, at how severely this team of heroes was tested and managed to win in the end.
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