Issue(s): Avengers #6
Cover Date: Apr 97
Title: "A hard day's night"
Credits:
Jeph Loeb - Script
Rob Liefeld & Jeph Loeb - Plot
Ian Churchill - Penciler
Jon Sibal & Lary Stucker - Inker
Eric Stephenson - Editor

Review/plot:
Up until this issue, Rob Liefeld was crediting himself as Editor in addition to story and/or pencils. Starting with this issue there is an actual editor listed. The deadline problems that Liefeld was having may have been part of the reason why an actual editor was brought in. If so, it won't be enough to keep him from getting fired.

Also in this issue, Ian Churchill is the sole penciler (he partially penciled the past two issues along with Chap Yaep and/or Liefeld). And Jeph Loeb has been scripting since the second issue. Readers of this site may have noticed me belatedly coming to appreciate the Loeb/Churchill Cable run in 1996. The reason it took me a while to come around to Loeb and Churchill (separately and together) is because i first encountered their names on this stuff. They've never really been able to erase that stain in my mind. The art actually does improve when Churchill is present (but he doesn't stick around when Walt Simonson takes over starting issue #8).

That said, there's only so much you can do with this stuff.

(Also Churchill being a good artist doesn't prevent him from having the Invisible Woman's first appearance in this issue be in leather bikini underwear.)

Ok, so this is Industrial Revolution. There was a prologue in Fantastic Four and there'll be an epilogue in Captain America, but both of those are almost literally devoid of content and the only actual story is in this book and Iron Man. The point of the crossover is to get the Heroes Reborn characters together for the first time (it's "character-driven"!). Plotwise it takes place in the aftermath of the Hulk's rampage on Avengers Island, which left Swordsman injured and Thor unconscious, and there's a nuclear reactor meltdown in progress. Also Loki is hovering around invisibly, sneering at things. The whole issue is a big collection of nothing happening until the very end when some of the heroes run down to try to stop the meltdown but then Bruce Banner turns into the Hulk again.

Get used to seeing these kinds of complaints from me, but this issue is a study in how to fill 22 pages with absolutely nothing. We are on the second part of a crossover where nothing has happened yet.

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The prologue for Industrial Revolution was in Fantastic Four #6, and the next part is in Iron Man #6.

References: N/A

Crossover: Industrial Revolution

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A