Marvel Read-Through: The Korvac Saga
I’m back! It’s been a while, I know. But I fell behind on current comics and it took me a while to catch up before I continued reading the old ones for the blog. But here I am, ready to discuss the classic Avengers tale of The Korvac Saga. This is one I’ve been looking forward to for a long time so let’s get right into it.
I knew absolutely nothing about The Korvac Saga. I’ve heard the name many times but I genuinely had no idea what it was about, who Korvac even was, or even the most basic plot points. Then Korvac showed up as the main antnagonist in Christopher Cantwell’s 2020–2022 Iron Man run and I was missing all the background to fully understand what I was reading. Suddenly this unknown (to me) 1970s Avengers story became of great interest to me. While I don’t think it lived up to the expectations I had after learning about it and seeing it labeled as a classic, it was still an enjoyable read with a few standout moments. It won’t be going down as one of my favorites like Panther’s Rage; it will probably fall somewhere along with the Celestial Madonna arc, not bad but not good either.
Continuing from last time, the Guardians of the Galaxy are doing their thing in the 3000s when they are joined by a time-displaced Thor. They team up to take down Korvac, a human slave of the Badoon who was fused with a computer as punishment for falling asleep on the job. Korvac wants to rule the universe. Standard bad guy stuff. They succeed in foiling his plans and Thor is returned to the present but Korvac escapes to the present as well. The Guardians follow him believing his plan is to kill the young Vance Astro. Korvac actually gained god-like powers by uploading all of Galactus’ knowledge to his system and now wants to use that power to stop the Badoon and save the galaxy. But the Collector has had visions of Korvac destroying the universe in a cosmic war so he abducts the Avengers to preserve them before Korvac destroys them. Of course, they free themselves but before the Collector can tell them who the real enemy is, he is killed. The Avengers piece information together and find Korvac leading to a showdown with the Avengers, Guardians, Korvac and Carina, the Collector’s daughter who is Korvac’s beloved.
It takes eleven issues (including one longer Annual issue) and Korvac is really only the villain for the first issue and the final three issues. He makes sporadic appearances throughout but he is almost completely separate from the Avengers and Guardians save for one showdown with Starhawk. This showdown was the first standout moment I mentioned above. They battle psychically resulting in some awesome art of abstract mental planes and by far one of the most intense battles I’ve ever read. But after that, the Avengers spend issues #170–174 in confrontations with Ultron, Tyrak, and the Collector. The Ultron arc is pretty good, bringing back his bride and turning her into Avengers ally Jocasta, and the Collector arc gets points for bringing ALL the members of the Avengers together. And I mean all. Not just the current roster but nearly every character who has ever been on the team returns and most of them even stick around for the Korvac arc. The final lineup consists of: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, Black Widow, Hercules, Wonder Man, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Captain Marvel, Hawkeye, Moondragon, Quicksilver, and newcomers Ms. Marvel and Jocasta. The Guardians 3000 are also there. And core team member Beast is there up until the final confrontation when he heads off on his own mission covered in Marvel Team-Up #69 and X-Men. I love these big team ups. There can be no character moments or growth with such a large roster, but for just a few issues it’s always cool to have these giant lineups. And that’s actually where the Korvac Saga as a whole stands out: character moments and growth.
Since the whole saga is not focused on one story, it gives a lot of time to focus on other things, particularly the development of certain characters and of the team as a whole. It’s always great when real moments of drama and characterization get in among all the action of superhero comics and this saga is chock full of it. There are arguments over Iron Man’s leadership abilities that lead to tension amongst the teammates. This takes up a lot of time and is fascinating to read. The Avengers are real people and they don’t always get along like the big happy family they appear to be. The rift between Iron Man and Captain America is always a good read. They’re friends and they care for each other but they are very different people and it’s led to many confrontations over the years. It’s cool to see a 1978 comic laying groundwork for major future events, specifically 2007’s Civil War in this case. There’s a lot of resentment from the team over Tony’s leadership, or lack thereof, and he has to come to terms with his failings while striving to be a better leader. And of course Cap has to learn how to not be the leader. It’s these inner conflicts that make the big punch-out sequences worth it.
The best part of all of this for me was Wonder Man’s development. He’s new to everything: superheroing, being an Avenger, and life since he was recently resurrected. He’s not a hero just yet, in fact he’s cowardly and doesn’t think much of himself as an Avenger. A fun, flirty team up with Ms. Marvel and playing a part in the defeat of Ultron start to give Wonder Man more inspiration and confidence respectively. He comes into his own as a hero in the final battle with Korvac. The majority of the team is killed and he has to step up and finally accept his role as a superhero. Reading modern comics means that these characters are firmly stablished in their roles so I love getting to see how they got to be the characters I know. The focus on Wonder Man as opposed to the A-listers was a nice touch. It’s always great for the secondary and tertiary characters to get their own spotlight in a team book.
There are some major developments for the Marvel universe as a whole here. Ultron dies, the Collector dies, Two-Gun Kid returns to his time in the past, and most notably, Henry Peter Gyrich gets in the way of the Avengers’ duties. Gyrich is a US government liaison who has some sort of hatred for superheroes and uses his position to revoke the Avengers’ security clearance. This means they lose most of their data banks, quinjets and transportation, and private communication channels to S.H.I.E.L.D. and the government. He’s a nuisance and I’m excited to see more of him trying to take down the Avengers.
The last thing to touch upon is the ending and the big reveal from Moondragon that Korvac wasn’t evil. During the final battle she reads his mind and learns that he really did intend to save the universe and the Avengers discovering his existence and confronting him is what really led to the possibility of Korvac becoming a cosmic threat who destroys reality. So the end is left on a sad note with the question: are the Avengers really the good guys here? But of course, she keeps this from the team so it’s not like they will get a chance to reflect on their actions or ponder if they did the right thing, so what’s even the point of this reveal? It’s a bad ending. Korvac killed a ton of heroes in that battle and only restored them to life when he lost the will to live. Using his remaining life force he bring everyone back but dying in the process. He doesn’t bring everyone back out of the goodness of his heart, he only does it because he wants to die. He no longer sees the point in living if he won’t be the savior of the universe? Or it might have something to do with Carina hesitating to save him and he didn’t see the point in living without love? It’s not entirely clear. Jim Shooter did not conclude his story well. I found it interesting that he was the overall plotter but had multiple writers take over for individual issues. Maybe this is why it didn’t come together and why the best parts aren’t even Shooter’s Korvac story but the small moments between the major plot beats. I don’t like the Korvac Saga but I do like the character development that occurs throughout.
Next up: Invaders!
Issues Read:
Thor Annual #6
Avengers #167–168, 170–177
Favorite issue: #176 was a fun battle issue
