For Your Consideration: Marvel’s Avengers: The Korvac Saga
Avengers: The Korvac Saga HC
It had been quite a while since there was a major Avengers arc that had people talking. It was probably the Steve Englehart-written Mantis Saga from the early 1970s so the World’s Mightiest Super-Heroes certainly were due for something big. The Korvac Saga, which ran in The Avengers #167 – 177 (Jan. – Nov 1978), fit the bill. As a result, the storyline has been collected from time to time and is receiving a brand new edition this fall, available for order this month.
Written by Jim Shooter, who was just dipping his toes as editor-in-chief at the time, the storyline uses Michael Korvac, who had been floating around the Marvel Universe since 1975. Originally conceived as a one-time character by Steve Gerber in Giant-Size Defenders #3 (January 1975), he wound up coming back in 1977’s Thor Annual, written by Roger Stern, who just so happened to be editing The Avengers at the time. The story acted as a prelude to the Avengers tale.
Shooter, aided by David Michelinie, brought Korvac, who operated in 2997 on a parallel world, to the 20th Century of Earth-616 (got that?). By then, he had betrayed humanity to the Badoon, who rewarded him by making him into a cyborg. When he initially encountered the Defenders, he was pawn of the Grandmaster. Stern’s Thor story had Korvac arrive and find Galactus’ universe-spanning space station. There, he is bathed in the Power Cosmic and gains powers and abilities far beyond those of cybernetic mortals. He first alters his appearance so he could pass as a human and traveled to Earth, intent on turning the world into a utopia.
So, the Saga kicks off with the arrival of Michael and the beginning of his efforts to alter the strife-torn planet. As you might imagine, not everyone agrees with his idea of utopia and oppose him, which is how the Avengers get dragged into this. Then there’s the Guardians of the Galaxy (the original team, not the one currently in print) who travel through time to apprehend him. Korvac’s arrival also confirmed to the Collector that his vision of two beings able to challenge the Elders of the Universe, was true (the other being Thanos). To thwart Korvac, the Collector turned his daughter Carina into a powerful weapon and is sent to Earth.
Avengers: The Korvac Saga HC variant
See, this has the makings of a huge tale. Shooter, to his credit, does a nice job of keeping the characters the focal point and goes a long way towards humanizing Korvac, adding a touch of poignancy to the tale. But for the large battles, he was lucky to have George Pérez and David Wenzel as the art team, since, after all, George is known for his epic sweep (actually starting with this saga).
Korvac has been making fairly regular appearances in the Marvel Universe ever since, a testament to the effectiveness of this storyline. Speaking of appearances, this is when Henry Peter Gyrich also makes his comic book debut, named after a buddy of Shooter’s and a permanent part of the firmament these days.
When the story was collected for the first time in 1991, Marvel actually added an epilogue. When the story was next reprinted, in 2003, executive editor Tom Brevoort had it removed, deeming it unnecessary. This new edition will also run without the epilogue.
These days, epics run for years and can be found in every title. Back then, this was HUGE and is still fondly remembered. If you have never read this, then treat yourself.
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