This is "From a Different Point of View," a feature where I discuss a comic book series with another writer. In this case, it is Eileen Gonzalez who will be going over the history of the Avengers with me, story by story!

When last we checked in with our heroes in Avengers #71, "Endgame," by Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema and Sam Grainger, the Avengers had been lured to the headquarters of Kang after the time-traveling villain had kidnapped an injured Tony Stark.

Once there, they discovered that Kang had struck up a game with the cosmic being known as the Grandmaster. Kang and the Grandmaster would each select champions to fight for them and if Grandmaster's champions win, the Earth is destroyed (Kang, as well, presumably) and if Kang wins, he gets control over life and death (and can bring his love, Ravonna, back to life). Kang selects his old enemies, the Avengers, and Grandmaster created a new villain team, the Squadron Sinister, for the Avengers to fight.

Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and Goliath took on Nighthawk, Hyperion, Doctor Spectrum and the Whizzer. The Squadron, of course, were based on the Justice League, as there was a then-new issue of Justice League of America where the Leaguers fight evil duplicates of themselves with the duplicates each standing in for an Avenger (evil Superman=Thor, evil Hawkman=Iron Man, evil Batman=Captain America and evil Atom=Goliath). The Avengers won each fight, but in Goliath's fight, Black Knight showed up to help and Goliath couldn't get across that this had to be a strictly Avengers-only fight and so when Whizzer was defeated, Grandmaster was irked and transported Goliath to the future...with Black Knight's magical Ebony Blade! Black Knight then used his magical connection to his blade to travel into the future to be reunited with his sword.

The Avengers defeated the Invaders, so now Kang has won! What happens next?

Before he won, we saw Kang worrying about bringing Ravonna back. Eileen opened with, "I think it's interesting that they've tried to make Kang a more complex character through his love for Ravonna (who is very responsibly wearing her face shield there). I don't actually feel bad for him, but it makes him more interesting for sure." I replied, "Right? I was about to note that Thomas does a really nice job here playing up Kang's humanity. It plays a major role in the conclusion of this story and the way that he sets it up here makes it work really well when it ties in later. Mostly the fact that Kang is not some dispassionate conqueror, he is a dude who FEELS stuff DEEPLY. Right now, that feeling is his love for Ravonna, but he's the type of guy who might flip those emotions around depending on the situation. As the saying goes, there's a thin line between love and hate." Eileen replied, "Good point. He's passionate for sure, but he's very bad about aiming that passion and expressing it in healthy ways." I noted, "I guess that's super-villainy in a nutshell, right? Here's a dude who has conquered a whole planet, but routinely travels back in time to fight 20th Century superheroes." Eileen noted, "I feel like a lot of early comics had trouble with concepts like time travel or even ultimate power, like the Cosmic Cube. It LOOKS cool, but it opens up a whole lot of issues (mostly that the heroes would be immediately defeated if the villain wielding that power used it to its full potential) that the writers weren't prepared to deal with." I replied, "Heck, look at Barry Allen and the fact that his speed makes him nigh unbeatable. Writers of the past just leaned into the inherent limitations of scope that they assumed readers would just be fine with. And for the most part, they were. Although, as we have alluded to in the past, the late 1960s were seeing the first writers who WEREN'T cool with those limitations." Eileen replied, "It's been interesting to watch that shift here. Roy Thomas is really determined to go after every little plot hole and hanging thread and fix them up." I responded, "The fascinating thing there, of course, is that Thomas, the master of continuity, makes a mistake on continuity in this issue."

I noted, "Now we get the payoff on the stuff we were talking about earlier with Kang's emotions. He wins, saves the Earth, and is able to bring Ravonna back to life. But the Avengers break free and Kang is such a dick that he can't be happy about saving the Earth and bringing his love back to life. He has to also defeat the Avengers."

I continued, "Grandmaster is so good here. Playing on Kang's emotions. And using his hole card of knowing that Black Knight won't be included in his promise to Kang. Such a good bit."

Eileen replied, "It is such a great, tragic scene. Kang is defeated by his own ego, and the Grand-Master darn well knows what's going to happen and is exploiting every loophole he can find. It's amazing and terrible all at once. Like The Twilight Zone on steroids." I replied, "Yeah, it's excellent writing. This is an 'Endgame' that could hang with the MCU Endgame. And then, after him not being a member just saved all of their lives, the Avengers make Black Knight a member!"

I continued, "Sal Buscema, in general, did not have a ton of iconic scenes in his various Avengers issues. Not a lot of instances where you can say, 'Look at that famous Sal Buscema splash!' But I think one of the examples is the final splash page of this issue, with the entirety of the Avengers assembling. That's a powerful page." Eileen replied, " It's been a while since the whole team has been together like this. It's great. Though I can't help chuckling at Vision's crankiness, or Wasp's B-movie space suit." I replied, "Oh ,man, I didn't even think about the Wasp's bizarre outfit. 'I can't pose for a team shot without SOME sort of costume! I guess I'll get some 40th Century clothing!' I assume the Vision is thinking that his android brain would have gotten them to do a better pose. 'I should be in the middle, with everyone around me. Clearly.'" Eileen joked, "He's sad he didn't get to punch more Nazis." I retorted, "He's sad that he didn't get to sit on Clint's knee." Eileen replied, "Maybe next time, Vizh!"