It speaks to the state of the comic book industry in the early 1990s that the contents of one story can fill an entire Epic Collection volume all by itself. At nineteen parts (including two double-sized issues), plus a one-issue epilogue, “Operation: Galactic Storm” is a sprawling tale, born of a then-booming comic book market. With comic book sales ever-climbing and new single-issue sales records being set and obliterated all the time, Marvel had accelerated its “flood the market” approach, putting as many books as possible onto the shelves. This was done, in part, by creating little “fiefdoms” of similarly-themed titles that could inspire additional spinoffs and be drafted into crossovers with one another (the better to force readers looking to experience the whole story to buy everything): there were the “X-books,” comprised of the two X-Men series and their spinoff titles, four monthly Spider-Man books, an assortment of series and one-shots starring the Punisher, etc.
While the “Big Three” of the Avengers – Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man – had been at least tangentially associated with the main Avengers title for decades, in the early 90s those connections were leaned on more heavily as part of this sales approach. In 1985, a second Avengers book, West Coast Avengers (later renamed Avengers West Coast to ensure it was shelved next to its sister title), launched. By 1992, those two series, along with the Big Three’s solo books and new series featuring Wonder Man (from Avengers West Coast) and Quasar (from the East coast team) formed a family of Avengers title, and with “Operation: Galactic Storm,” they all participated in one massive, interconnected story for the first time. [Read more…] about Operation Galactic Storm, Epic Collection Review!