Volume 24 of ”Marvel's Mightiest Heroes” from Hachette Partworks focuses on The Avengers and represents their first appearance from The Avengers issue 1 and the Ultron Unlimited arc from volume 3. "The Coming of The Avengers" by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby was published in September 1963 and is a classic origin story. In it Loki uses his magical powers to make it look as if the Hulk is on a rampage, leading to a disparate group of heroes (Thor, Iron Man, the Wasp and Ant-Man) rushing to the rescue. After sorting out Loki they realise they've been tricked into fighting the Hulk and surmise that they should work together. The Wasp suggests that they should call themselves something dramatic like "The Avengers". The story was developed in a hurry in order to cash in on the success of the Marvel heroes and in particular the Fantastic Four. Needing to develop a new hero team Lee and Kirby took the simple step of bringing a set of existing heroes together rather than try and invent a new team. The story they came up with is simplistic but at the same time bursting with the typical Lee / Kirby energy of the period. The second story in the book is the "Ultron Unlimited" arc by Kurt Busiek and George Perez, which ran in The Avengers volume 3.0 (August 1999) and issues 3.19 (August 1999) to 3.22 (November 1999). This is one of the most highly regarded Avengers stories and features long-time Avengers nemesis – Ultron. Ultron has recreated himself out of pure adamantium and has created hundreds of ultra loyal Ultron robots. The robot army storms and completely obliterates the small eastern European state of Slorenia in order to get the attention of the Avengers. With thousands of innocents dead United Nations forces, led by the Avengers, seek to retake Slorenia and destroy Ultron. Busiek's story cleverly utilises the history of Ultron, all the way back to his origins in issue 55 in 1968 and the creation of the malevolent robot by Ant-Man, Hank Pym. Not only is the story action packed, it is also full of Ultron's insane Oedipal motivations about destroying his "father" and marrying his "mother", Janet van Dyne, the Wasp. This odd, highly subtextural and emotional story is illustrated in spectacular fashion by George Perez's fantastically detailed and beautifully delineated artwork. In addition to the stories themselves, the book also includes a number of bonus features including an article on the creation of the first Avengers story; an Avengers roll call; the top five Avengers stories and a nice five page history of the Avengers. "Marvel's Mightiest Heroes: The Avengers" is a sturdy hardback that runs to 160 glossy, full-colour pages on nice heavy stock. It is an excellent overall package and an excellent first volume in this new graphic novel series. ( )

Hachette’s follow up collection to their Ultimate Graphic Novel line (which is still going!) is one which pairs origin stories or heroes and teams of heroes with a more modern tale. First up is The Avengers, which combines their origin story with Ultron Unlimited. The 60s origin story is, by modern standards, primitive and perhaps nonsensical at times, but retains the primal energy of the days when Ditko, Kirby and Lee were revolutionising superhero comics. As I’m a sucker for Ultron I loved the modern tale, which explores Ultron’s capabilities and just how bloody terrifying he’d be as he annihilates a country’s population and (Surprise!) gives the Avengers a beating or two. With Ultron's near invincibility the resolution can’t help but disappoint, however the ride to the end is a fun one. ( )