Mighty Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Vol. 4 - The Sign of the Serpent

Avengers Assemble! Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are back in another Mighty Marvel Masterworks volume of classic tales from the Avengers’ early days! Hold on tight as Captain America, Goliath, the Wasp, Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch battle the villainous Sons of the Serpent, the Living Laser, Ultrana and no less than Namor, the Sub-Mariner! With guest appearances by Iron Man, Black Widow, Hercules and Nick Fury, plus the first appearance of Giant-Man-to-be Bill Foster and the beginning of Avengers storyteller supreme Roy Thomas’ amazing work on the series? There’s no question this volume is a packed-to-the-limits must-have for every Marvel fan. Collecting AVENGERS (1963) #31-40.

Writer/editor Stan Lee (1922-2018) made comic-book history together with Jack Kirby in 1961 with Fantastic Four #1. The monumental popularity of its new style inspired Lee to develop similarly themed characters -- including the Hulk and X-Men with Kirby, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange with Steve Ditko, and Daredevil with Bill Everett. After shepherding his creations through dozens of issues -- in some cases a hundred or more -- Lee allowed other writers to take over, but he maintained steady editorial control. Eventually, he helped expand Marvel into a multimedia empire. In recent years, his frequent cameo appearances in Marvel’s films established Lee as one of the world’s most famous faces.

Roy Thomas joined the Marvel Bullpen as a writer and editor under Stan Lee, scripting key runs of nearly every title of the time: Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Sub-Mariner, Thor, X-Men and more. He wrote the first 10 years of Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan; and launched such series as Defenders, Iron Fist, Invaders and Warlock. At DC, he developed All-Star Squadron, Infinity Inc. and related titles, proving instrumental in reviving the Golden Age Justice Society of America. Thomas later became editor of Alter Ego, a magazine devoted to comic-book history, and co-scripted the sword-and-sorcery films Fire and Ice and Conan the Destroyer.

Don Heck (1929-1995) worked for Harvey, Quality, Hillman and other publishers before arriving at Atlas Comics, later Marvel, where he penciled and inked stories for virtually every genre: crime, horror, jungle, romance, war, Western and more. With Stan Lee and others, he launched Iron Man, his supporting cast and his early rogues gallery -- including the Black Widow, Hawkeye and the Mandarin. He also succeeded Jack Kirby on Avengers. At DC, his artwork appeared in Justice League of America, Flash, Wonder Woman and other titles.