AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES II #1 - 8

Writer: Joe Casey | Penciler: Will Rosado | Inker: Tom Palmer
Colorist: Wil Quintana | Letterer: Comicraft | Cover Artist: Dave Johnson
Assistant Editors: Molly Lazer & Aubrey Sitterson | Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada | Publisher: Dan Buckley

It kind of fascinates me how infatuated Joe Casey seems to be with the Avengers' "A-1 Priority Clearance". It was this intangible McGuffin through all eight issues of the previous EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES series: "We need priority clearance. It's imperative that we have priority clearance. How can we get priority clearance? We have priority clearance! Our priority clearance is contingent on Captain America staying with the team. Now that we have former criminals joining us, will that jeopardize our priority clearance?" All this would make sense if the riveting priority clearance sub-plot had culminated in... anything. But it's just this thing Iron Man goes on and on about throughout the series, and nothing ever comes of it. They get it, but there's no huge event that shows what happens if they don't have it or how great things go if they do.

Now, maybe the above would've been better as part of last week's review... but I decided to mention it here instead, because -- we're not finished with priority clearance, folks. Almost as soon as EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES II opens, the characters are going on about it again!

EMH I chronicled the "between the panels" lives of the Avengers circa issues 2 - 16 of their original series. EMH II picks up during issue 58, the famous "Even an Android Can Cry", in which the recently-created Vision joins the team. And since Vision is a synthezoid, created to kill the Avengers no less, our heroes immediately find themselves wondering whether -- you guessed it -- his presence on the team will jeopardize their priority clearance... especially since Captain America is currently a part-time member.

AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES #1 - 8

Writer: Joe Casey | Art: Scott Kolins
Color Art: Morry Hollwell & Will Quintana
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Assistant Editors: Andy Schmidt, Nicole Wiley, & Molly Lazer
Editor: Tom Brevoort | Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley

As noted last week, AVENGERS: THE ORIGIN was actually published subsequently to AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES and EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES II. As a result, while the story feels mostly seamless in its progression, there are some hiccups created by the fact that when he wrote EMH, Joe Casey was working with the established Avengers backstory, and not the revised and lightly ret-conned backstory he came up with for THE ORIGIN.

EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES begins after the events of AVENGERS #1 (and therefore after the events of THE ORIGIN), with the Avengers signing their charter and bylaws, all drawn up by Tony Stark's legal staff. But the ever-disgruntled Hulk refuses to play along, putting a quick end to his involvement with the team. Unfortunately, part of Iron Man's pitch to the U.S. government was that the Avengers would keep the Hulk under control -- and now that the Green Goliath has become a free agent again, the Avengers need to track him down in order to earn their government clearance. But following a failed attempt to apprehend the Hulk, the group finds the body of Captain America, frozen in suspended animation.

Even though he doesn't appear in the first issue until its final page (and even then he's frozen in a block of ice), EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES is really Cap's story -- either focusing on him, or centering plot developments around him. The entire second issue focuses on Cap adjusting to the modern day, while Iron Man conspires to use the super soldier's still-active security clearance for the Avengers' benefit. Cap meets Rick Jones, hanging around with the group since the Hulk's departure, and immediately forms a protective bond with the teen, who reminds him of his lost partner, Bucky.

AVENGERS BY JOE CASEY & FRIENDS

Time for a few limited series from the twenty-first century House of Ideas -- and as you should know by now, I'm generally not a fan of much of Marvel's post-2000 output. At worst, I find it stupid and ill-conceived. At best, I find it uninteresting. But there are some diamonds in the rough, and this trio of limited series, written by Joe Casey between 2004 and 2010, are among those Marvel projects that I really enjoy from the era.

These three stories are "refreshed" versions of the early Avengers continuity, mainly the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby/Don Heck and Roy Thomas/John Buscema years. Casey retells the Avengers' origin and presents new sub-plots (or enhances existing ones), and my recollection is that these stories -- especially EARTH'S MIGHTEST HEROES II -- were really, really good. I hope my recollection proves correct!

Please note that I've decided to present the series in chronological order rather than publication order. EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES and EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES II were published in 2004 and 2006, respectively, and THE ORIGIN came in 2010 -- but since THE ORIGIN is a retelling of the first issue of AVENGERS while EMH begins with team just formed, I'm going to cover THE ORIGIN first and then move onto the prior two series. Got it?

So, beginning Monday, let's take a jaunt back to one of Marvel's classic eras, by way of a modern-day retelling!

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* Interestingly, it seems to mostly be Marvel's modern continuity titles that I have no use for, post-2000. I actually like a fair number of their out-of-continuity and/or "flashback" type of one-shots and limited series -- which these stories happen to be. I suppose it makes sense; by their nature, these sorts of stories can't include any of the modern characters, status quos, costumes, etc. that I dislike -- but also, these sorts of stories often tend to be written by guys who were on Marvel books pre-2000, which makes them "grandfathered in" for my approval.