By d. emerson eddy — You will believe the Avengers can commandeer a bus.

When I was a kid in the late '80s, getting more involved in reading comics after I finally had access to a dedicated comics shop, Korvac was a character that everyone I knew who was also into comics seemed to know, but not really know anything about. His story was regarded as a classic, as it warranted mentions as a major event in numerous comics history books and trading cards sets, but no one I knew seemed to have read it. It was weird that here was this story heralded as one of the greats, but as to what happened in it many had a blank. Then Marvel released a collected edition in 1991, allowing us to (finally) know what was up with The Korvac Saga.

Originally running through The Avengers #167-168 and #170-177, The Korvac Saga followed a similar format to The Kree/Skrull War, in that each issue essentially delivered its own episodic story, contributing to a larger overarching storyline. Largely written by Jim Shooter (with David Michelinie and Bill Mantlo tackling some scripts) with line art from George Pérez, Sal Buscema, and Dave Wenzel, the story follows the machinations of “Michael” Korvac as he's sent back into the present from the 31st century to set up his plans for universal domination.

Korvac previously was a foil for the original Guardians of the Galaxy, with his final adventure in the future setting up the sequence for the present. Taking place in Thor Annual #6, this story by Len Wein, Roger Stern, Sal Buscema, Klaus Janson, Glynis Wein, and Joe Rosen is included in later editions of the collection, giving us the full picture of what's going on, though the adventure is mostly recounted in one of the later chapters.

Korvac himself proves to be a different kind of antagonist through this story. Where in previous incarnations he was kind of an over-the-top megalomaniac using his computer half to plot advanced data sets to overwhelm his enemies, here he really takes a backseat. He's the hand in the background causing things as “The Enemy” rather than a direct villain for the Avengers to combat. It leads to the Avengers encountering Ultron and Jocasta, Tyrak, and a side plot of members going missing due to the Collector. Ultimately, it leads to an interesting conclusion that might well have you scratching your head, though giving you all the more reason to read the subsequent Korvac Quest and recent issues of the very excellent current volume of Iron Man.

There's also some fascinating early artwork from George Pérez here. His immediately recognizable style hasn't developed yet at this stage as everything's more streamlined and a bit blocky. It looks more influenced by Jack Kirby and maybe a little bit of John Buscema than his style that would build during his years on New Teen Titans. It's interesting to see this stage of his artwork, still very much excelling at action and layouts, but with a very different approach to character design.

Overall, Avengers: The Korvac Saga by Shooter, Pérez, Michelinie, Mantlo, Buscema, Wenzel, Janson, Marcos, Villamonte, a bevy of other inkers, Rachelson, Yomtov, Sharen, Rosen, Wohl, Kawecki, Leferman, and Parker is another prime example of old school event storytelling. It embraces both episodic content, giving complete adventures per issue, while still having each instalment fit within a much larger framework.

Classic Comic of the Week: Avengers - The Korvac Saga

Avengers - The Korvac Saga
Writers: Jim Shooter, Len Wein, Roger Stern, George Pérez, David Michelinie & Bill Mantlo
Pencillers: Sal Buscema, George Pérez & Dave Wenzel
Inkers: Klaus Janson, Pablo Marcos, “Diverse Hands” & Ricardo Villamonte
Colourists: Glynis Wein, Phil Rachelson, Jim Shooter, Nel Yomtov & Bob Sharen
Letterers: Joe Rosen, Denise Wohl, Annette Kawecki, Shelly Leferman & Rick Parker
Publisher: Marvel
Collects Avengers (1963) #167-168, #170-177 & Thor Annual #6.
He hails from an unimaginable era: the 31st century. Fleeing through the timestream from the pursuing team of futuristic defenders known as the Guardians of the Galaxy, Korvac the Machine Man has established a secret presence on present-day Earth in the self-created persona of the mysterious Michael. Through such an unassuming guise, Korvac contemplates the elements of a universe he thirsts to command. Yet despite the subtlety of Michael's machinations, the world's greatest super-team -- the mighty Avengers -- catches wind of his cosmos-conquering scheme, thus drawing the two titanic forces into inevitable conflict.
Price: $16.99
Buy It Here: Avengers - The Korvac Saga

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d. emerson eddy is a student and writer of things. He fell in love with comics during Moore, Bissette, & Totleben's run on Swamp Thing and it has been a torrid affair ever since. His madness typically manifests itself on Twitter @93418.