Issue(s): Avengers #62
Cover Date: Mar 69
Title: "The monarch and the Man-Ape!"
Credits:
Roy Thomas - Writer
John Buscema - Penciler
George Klein - Inker

Review/plot:
The Avengers have basically been abandoned by Dr. Strange after last issue's battle.

They are in Wakanda, but the area is still frozen after Ymir's attack. The Black Panther summons a remote control aircraft and takes his team mates (and the Black Knight, who i have to keep reminding myself is not officially an Avenger) to his high tech kingdom. Unfortunately, the kingdom has been taken over by the anti-modern forces lead by M'Baku, the Man-Ape, who dresses in the forbidden costume of the white gorilla. The Avengers (even the Vision!) are drugged and held prisoner. The Black Panther fights the Man-Ape but loses, surviving only because M'Baku subsequently crushes himself under a statue. Not while they were fighting, mind you . After the Panther was defeated and tied up, the Man-Ape tried to kill the Panther by knocking over a statue, but it landed on himself instead.

I've always been a little uncomfortable with the Man-Ape. Every time i see his costume, i think 'ugh, that's racist', but i can't say exactly why. I mean, there's nothing inherently wrong in dressing a black man in an albino gorilla suit, is there?

I'm also weirded out by the high-tech Wakandans running with sophisticated weapons but wearing loin cloths. I guess it's pretty hot in Africa and no amount of high-tech air conditioning is going to change that.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 5 - first Man-Ape

Chronological Placement Considerations: The Avengers are still in Wakanda after Dr. Strange teleported them there to watch Ymir and Surtur beat each other to death last issue, so there should be no other appearances for these characters in between these issues.

References:

• Hawkeye wonders where the Black Widow is and a footnote tells us she's in Captain Marvel #12.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Marvel Super Action #23

If it's so hot in Wakandia, why does the Panther dress in a suit that covers his entire body and face?

The usual explanation is that it's his ceremonial garb.

I always hated these covers that had the team as "The Mighty Avengers"... I mean Marvel already had the "mighty" Thor. Could they really not think of another adjective?

You could call this lineup "The Average Avengers"

Looks more like "three men and a robot" to me; if it weren't for Vision this would be the Avengers equivalent of Sun Vulcan.

I'm starting to assign rough prices to all my comics, to help my kids unload them after I die, and I've noticed that thanks to the new Black Panther movie, this comic has really jumped in price. Who ever thought we'd see a day when "First Man-Ape" was almost as hot as "First Vision"?

I think the movie improved on M'Baku's character drastically, giving him more honor in regards to why his people chose not to embrace Wakanda's gifts of Vibranium; it sort of showed how the comics could have better treated those who saw the "future" as impeding on things and coming to grips with how others view the world.