amazing armor

the Golden Avenger

this is a fun read, and it proves that early Marvel continuity was nearly non-existent (another civilization in the middle of the Earth, this time the survivors of Atlantis- what would the Sub-Mariner say about that?).

and it's quite the rah rah go USA bunch of stories, as the Commies are the villains in most of the stories.  we get introduced to many mainstays of the Marvel Universe, and that's really the cool thing.

I'd never seen the first appearances of Hawkeye and the Black Widow.  Hawkeye got younger as he made more appearances in the comic, and Madame Natasha got her first (and most hideous) costume.  those are some fun stories, and knowing that Hawkeye became an Avenger is pretty cool.

there's also the Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, Jack Frost and of course, both Pepper Pots and Happy Hogan, who end up looking quite different by the end of the book.  Happy especially got a dramatic makeover. 

there some fine artwork in here, from Jack Kirby to Steve Ditko, but the bulk of it is done by Dashing Don Heck, who is quite underrated in my book.  one of the cool things is that the 1960s Gantry-Lawrence "animated" cartoons use most of this run as their templates. look here to see some of the stories!

I am somewhat surprised these cartoons haven't been released on DVD, especially due to the movies successes.