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 CBR's own Eileen Gonzalez who will be going over the history of the Avengers with me, story by story!

We continue with Avengers #47, "Magneto Walks the Earth" by Roy Thomas, John Buscema and George Tuska.

Brian Cronin: We get our first new letterer, I think, with this issue.

Brian Cronin: As the great Gaspar Saladino makes his debut with this issue, working under the pseudonym of L.P. Gregory

Eileen Gonzalez: I thought his name looked unfamiliar.

Brian Cronin: Saladino was one of DC's top letterer at the time.

Brian Cronin: In a few years, Marvel would actually start to employ Saladino is a very unusual fashion.

Brian Cronin: They would have him letter just the first page of all of their comics, so that the first page would hopefully draw the reader in and then they'd go to another letterer for the rest of the issue.

Eileen Gonzalez: Huh! I never heard of that. How odd.

Eileen Gonzalez: I guess it's like getting a superstar artist to draw your cover and then having someone else draw the interiors?

Brian Cronin: Exactly.

Brian Cronin: At this precise point in time, Saladino had been working at DC for quite some time at this point, but their top letterer was still Ira Schnapp.

Brian Cronin: In about a year, Carmine Infantino would take over at DC and make Saladino the top guy.

Brian Cronin: So this was still a point in his career where Saladino was "poachable"

Brian Cronin: Of course, he worked for both companies in the 1970s, but just noting that the idea of Saladino doing a random issue of the Avengers in 1970 would be a lot stranger than him doing one here, in 1967.

Eileen Gonzalez: Man, the goings-on behind the scenes are almost as complicated as what's on the page.

Brian Cronin: We also get a new inker this issue, and Tuska on Buscema is...interesting.

Eileen Gonzalez: I guess Tuska needed a break from Iron Man? The art in this issue is certainly distinctive.

Brian Cronin: It almost looks like Buscema just did layouts, right?

Brian Cronin: It seems a lot more Tuska-y than Buscema-like.

Brian Cronin: And I like George Tuska, but I just like John Buscema better.

Eileen Gonzalez: Agreed. I don't know if it's just the digital touch-ups, but for some reason, everyone's eyes are jumping out at me today. They look very different.

Brian Cronin: Here's something fascinating about Magneto's scenes here.

Brian Cronin: If I'm reading it right, this is his first appearance since X-Men #18?

Brian Cronin: X-Men was on ROUGHLY the same schedule as the Avengers.

Brian Cronin: So that means Magneto's just been off the map for almost three years?

Brian Cronin: Can you even IMAGINE that nowadays?

Brian Cronin: And yet, this is not even the longest stretch for Magneto!

Brian Cronin: His tenure as one of the top characters at Marvel was such a Claremont invention.

Brian Cronin: As otherwise, he would be absent for looong stretches of time.

Eileen Gonzalez: That's a good point. They'd NEVER do that now. I'm pretty sure if you asked someone off the street to name an X-Men villain, Magneto is the first, if not only, name you'd get back.

Eileen Gonzalez: He's just so inextricably tied to the X-Men by now.

Eileen Gonzalez: Plus all the character changes and development he's had over the years makes him far more interesting than he is at this point.

Brian Cronin: Definitely.

Brian Cronin: We meet Dane Whitman for the first time!

Eileen Gonzalez: And he's a bit holier-than-thou, isn't he? Constantly picking on his employee for daring to be an employee?

Eileen Gonzalez: "How dare you want money instead of science!"

Brian Cronin: Totally agreed. However, Norris' complaints were also pretty dumb.

Brian Cronin: I agree that Dane's being a dick, but Norris' "Beware! Aliens might lie!"

Brian Cronin: I mean, is that seriously your concern at this point, dude?

Brian Cronin: "I've built a machine that will try to communicate with aliens."

Brian Cronin: "But what if they want to borrow money?"

Eileen Gonzalez: Ha, true. They could both use some priority adjustments.

Eileen Gonzalez: And I guess Dane would have a chip on his shoulder about people working for money, given his uncle's greed led him to becoming a supervillain.

Brian Cronin: I am so freakin' impressed by Thomas' Black Knight revamp idea.

Brian Cronin: How did that even pop into his head?

Brian Cronin: It's so out there and yet such a great idea.

Eileen Gonzalez: It is! It's interesting to see how being a supervillain affected their family, and how that family responded to the revelation.

Brian Cronin: But yeah, it really does make Dane look like such a dick with the "for someone like you" bullshit.

Brian Cronin: How would anyone think that that is an appropriate thing to say to someone you're working with?

Brian Cronin: "Good question, Bob. You might think that, as a moron, but the actual answer is..."

Brian Cronin: "Interesting point, Susan. You might think that, as a selfish piece of garbage, but in reality..."

Brian Cronin: Stan Lee finally got his wish and ALL of the big three are now off of the Avengers.

Brian Cronin: Cap's departure speech is hilarious, right?

Brian Cronin: I don't think I've ever seen someone use "Avengers Assemble!" to literally just get everyone into a room before.

Brian Cronin: "Avengers Assemble! Game of Thrones is on!"

Brian Cronin: "Avengers Assemble! Who ate my sandwich I left in the fridge?"

Eileen Gonzalez: I can see Hawkeye doing both of those.

Eileen Gonzalez: Speaking of Hawkeye, I like how he immediately calls out Cap for his silly speech.

Brian Cronin: Yeah, right?

Brian Cronin: Impressive sense of duty by the marksman.

Brian Cronin: Just a quick, "What? No. This is stupid."

Brian Cronin: Cap then gaslights them by claiming that he had only said he would stay until one of the original Avengers returns.

Brian Cronin: Which doesn't work, considering Hank has been back for, what, 17 issues?

Eileen Gonzalez: And then he ADMITS to himself he just said it to be a jerk. Is this really the way you want to leave the team, Cap? Really?

Eileen Gonzalez: Of course, then Hawkeye emulates Cap by being horrible to Natasha for no reason. They even both slam the door on the way out.

Brian Cronin: Holy shit, what a messed up scene!

Brian Cronin: First off, he shows up at her place IN COSTUME and then puts one foot up on her ottoman and just broods?

Brian Cronin: What the what?

Brian Cronin: I like that Thomas has him acknowledge that this a setback in his personal growth

Brian Cronin: But it just makes him SO unlikeable.

Brian Cronin: Like, why would you ever root for somebody who treats his girlfriend like that?

Brian Cronin: And while he's an amazing artist, these layouts by Buscema are all over the place, too.

Brian Cronin: It's like he's uninterested in drawing normal human interaction.

Brian Cronin: So an argument becomes this sort of action sequence.

Eileen Gonzalez: It's especially weird seeing Hawkeye act like this because he just spent, what, five issues angsting over Natasha and swearing to do whatever is necessary to get her back? And now he has her and he acts like this.

Eileen Gonzalez: They make Hank and Jan's relationship look good by comparison.

Brian Cronin: It sadly does.

Brian Cronin: Which is, like, REALLY sad.

Brian Cronin: And the classic romance pose by Natasha at the end was odd, too.

Brian Cronin: It really looks like the one that Lichtenstein lifted for his famous painting.

Brian Cronin: Wasp makes it so hard to defend her against Hank's constant condescension.

Eileen Gonzalez: They are so bad to each other. It makes me sad.

Eileen Gonzalez: I do like the detail that Whirlwind is still secretly her driver.

Eileen Gonzalez: I guess he hasn't given up his revenge schemes yet.

Brian Cronin: That's such a great touch.

Brian Cronin: Really, Thomas has thrown in SO MANY good touches here.

Brian Cronin: Very clever stuff.

Brian Cronin: Like Hercules returning to Olympus to convince his father to end his exile, only to find Olympus deserted.

Brian Cronin: Lots of clever ideas being thrown in here, just with some iffy character stuff.

Brian Cronin: Like, of course, the revelation that "only cares about money" Norris turns evil and attacks Dane.

Brian Cronin: "I don't know what happened. I belittled him every day and then he just turned on me out of nowhere!"

Eileen Gonzalez: Because he cares about money AND getting proper credit, apparently.

Eileen Gonzalez: And just in time for Magneto to arrive and lay claim to that teeny tiny stool.

Eileen Gonzalez: Even Darkseid had better taste in chairs than that, man, c'mon.

Brian Cronin: Yeah, is he kneeling while also technically sitting?

Brian Cronin: What is happening in that sequence?

Brian Cronin: Did perhaps Buscema draw him kneeling and then Tuska added in a stool?

Brian Cronin: It's a bizarre page.

Eileen Gonzalez: I do like the next sequence where Toad is bragging that castles are his area of expertise and comparing it to Magneto's magnetic powers. That's hilarious.

Brian Cronin: What's interesting is that I don't think there's really any reason for WHY Toad is an expert in castles, right?

Eileen Gonzalez: I was wondering! I didn't think toads were inherently known for hanging around castles, but here we are.

Brian Cronin: I think it's because he seems like Igor, right?

Brian Cronin: That's gotta be it.

Eileen Gonzalez: Yeah, probably.

Brian Cronin: Magneto sure is filling up a lot of these pages with some nonsense, right?

Brian Cronin: Now multiple pages of flashbacks?

Eileen Gonzalez: Yeah, this issue feels haphazard, to be honest. We speed real quick through what the various Avengers are up to and then spend all our time on Magneto's monologuing.

Brian Cronin: It's like the plot for Buscema was "Magneto vamps for a while."

Eileen Gonzalez: Get your own book!

Brian Cronin: And so Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch continued the Avenger tradition of going into traps without backup.

Brian Cronin: Actually, I guess they're technically the only Avengers on duty right now

Brian Cronin: Which also seems like a poor use of personnel, right?

Brian Cronin: "Hey, Jan, if Hercules is going to go to Olympus and Cap just quit, maybe we shouldn't leave just the twins as the only Avengers on duty."

Brian Cronin: "I bought an island."

Brian Cronin: "Okay, Jan, okay."

Eileen Gonzalez: Ha! I'm convinced they had a conversation exactly like that.

Brian Cronin: Also, if Magneto's plan is to get just the twins out there, and the message came as a "surprise" message, how did he know the other Avengers wouldn't get it instead?

Eileen Gonzalez: Good question. The magnetic rays told him? I don't know.

Eileen Gonzalez: Funny how, when Magneto asks Quicksilver to join him again, Quicksilver's answer is less "no, supervillainy is wrong" and more "I promised the Avengers I wouldn't turn evil."

Brian Cronin: Yeah, but it's also weird that Magneto thinks attacking them with robots is the way to get them to join him.

Brian Cronin: And we also learn that Scarlet Witch has to be able to gesture at something for her powers to work.

Brian Cronin: YOUR POWERS MAKE NO SENSE, SCARLET WITCH!

Eileen Gonzalez: A long time ago, they also said she had to be able to see to be able to use her powers. So many random loopholes!

Eileen Gonzalez: I get that Quicksilver is fast and all, but all Wanda has to do is twitch her finger to make the walls fall down on the robots. She should have had more screentime in this fight instead of just getting wrapped up in chains.

Brian Cronin: I think the final page of the issue says a whoole lot about the plotting of this issue,.

Brian Cronin: Notice how we've seen so many issues end with the final page having, like, 16 panels on them to squeeze in all of the plot still leftover?

Brian Cronin: Here, the final page is a splash.

Brian Cronin: So I think we're on to something in thinking that Buscema was sort of stretching this plot out to fit a full issue.

Brian Cronin: What's funny is that Magneto vs. the Avengers is a great idea, in general.

Brian Cronin: But it's probably like a one-issue story, not a two-parter.

Eileen Gonzalez: This all felt like a whole issue of set-up for the real plot coming next issue.

Eileen Gonzalez: And we didn't need that much set-up.

Brian Cronin: Actually, shit, don't they actually somehow wring THREE issues out of this story?

Eileen Gonzalez: Oh man, they do!

Brian Cronin: Well, there ya go. That's the culprit right there. Trying for three out of a story that is at BEST a two-parter.

Brian Cronin: That explains so much, honestly.

Brian Cronin: Stan Lee once noted the importance of multi-issue storylines for the Marvel Method, because you can come up with one plot for multiple issues.

Brian Cronin: Then Thomas gets to interject his various subplots.

Brian Cronin: I get the appeal.

Brian Cronin: I think it just didn't work as well as it is probably intended to in this particular issue.

Eileen Gonzalez: I'd say they were trying to make this plot fill in all the issues leading up to the big 5-0, but they don't seem to have done anything very special for their 50th issue, so that's probably not it.

Eileen Gonzalez: Maybe they just overestimated how much space this storyline would take up.

Eileen Gonzalez: Or SHOULD take up.

Brian Cronin: Yeah, probably just some normal enough snafu.

Brian Cronin: The Marvel Method is bound to have some misses mixed in with the hits and Thomas/Buscema are about to go on a REALLY great run here of issues, so it's probably still getting everything fine-tuned.

Eileen Gonzalez: True enough. And maybe next time we'll get to see the Avengers actually do something!