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This piece continues from last time our discussion of the first half of Jim Shooter’s 1970s Avengers run. Here, we’ll cover his “Nefaria Supreme” or “Nefaria’s Lethal Legion” arc with artist John Byrne. Next up will be the epic “Korvac Saga,” drawn by George Pérez and closing out this relatively brief era that nevertheless stood as proof that the Avengers could be more than just a wildly inconsistent smorgasbord of kooky or far-out ideas that, in the execution, largely failed to impress. This was a transitional period that would ultimately lead to one of the very few multiyear runs that easily redeem and justify the existence of this 60-year-old franchise—the Roger Stern run, followed over a decade later by the Kurt Busiek run. So far in this century, we have the Bendis and Hickman runs, with little of interest in the title since early 2015.

The back-to-back classic Avengers stories, “The Bride of Ultron” (#160-162) and “Nefaria’s Lethal Legion” (#164-166), are available in both a smaller trade edition and a much bigger Epic Collection.

[Read more…] about When the Avengers Ruled, Part 2 (continued): Power Drama, Avengers #164-166