Every Sunday morning we showcase a classic comic cover, complete with compelling commentary, for your cordial contemplation. It’s the Classic Comic Cover Corner!
Avengers #195 – May, 1980
Cover art by George Perez
If you’ve been antsy for a look at next summer’s Ant-Man movie, then this past week has surely been a good one for you. Marvel Studios released an ant-sized (literally) teaser for their full-sized teaser that played during the premiere episode of the Agent Carter television series (yes, it was a teaser for a teaser), and an awesome ant-sized poster for the movie was released as well. Additionally, the most recent version of the Marvel Ant-Man comic book was launched last Wednesday, which is sure to help build interest for the upcoming film.
Before we get into this week’s CCCC offering, I want to speak to a couple of things that are bugging be about Marvel’s Ant-Man movie, the biggest of which is the melding of Marvel hero, Yellowjacket, with the villain, Darren Cross. Now maybe this will all work in the movie and we’ll all be ecstatically happy with the outcome [fingers-crossed], but I don’t like the idea of turning the former Avenger, Yellowjacket, into a bad guy, now embodied by a character who has never worn the suit before.
It all seems like a very awkward way to incorporate Yellowjacket into the movie, while discounting the fact that Hank Pym was both Ant-Man and Yellowjacket in the comics, but will play neither role in the film. Again, here’s hoping that the script by Adam McKay and Paul Rudd (as modified from the story by Edgar Wright) is able to explain all of this away to the satisfaction of anxious old school fans.
Overall, the Ant-Man trailer seems to be lacking some of the charm and ‘Wow!’ factor that other Marvel teasers have had. I usually get goose bumps and the giddy giggles after seeing a new Marvel trailer for the first time, but this one just had me saying, “Meh.” God knows this movie is going to have a hard time measuring up to Avengers: Age of Ultron, but I have high hopes. [Cue the song, please.]
So, let’s get back to this amazing comic cover, Avengers #195 (May, 1980), by legendary illustrator George Perez. Here we have Marvel’s entire diminutive superhero roster, Ant-Man (Scott Lang), The Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), and Yellowjacket (Hank Pym), going up against Dr. Pernell Solomon of The Solomon Institute for the Criminally Insane, and The Taskmaster (in his very first comic appearance.)
This issue of The Avengers is also notable in that it has a very fun Hostess Fruit Pie advertisement featuring “Thor Meets the Ricochet Monster!” You can see a good scan of it over at comicvine.com, and check out a huge collection of other vintage Marvel Hostess ads at seanbaby.com.
If you like this cover you’ve got a great opportunity to meet its artist during the 2015 Amazing Arizona Comic Con at the Phoenix Convention Center, February 13-15, 2015, where George Perez will be appearing as one of the events special guests. We’ll see you there!
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