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Rating: 
Summary: An Enjoyable and Nostalgic Trip
Review: An excellent and nostalgic trip though Avengers past, with stories by Eaglehart and beatiful artwork by Sal Buscema. While centering around the enigmatic character of Mantis, there are numerous pearls in this collection such as the origin of the Vision (and his relationship to a certain fiery android from the Golden Age), as well as origin tales of Moondragon and Mantis. The collection also includes the death of a certain sword-wielding Avenger. The story lines wander and converge, yet in the end all come together in an issue including the weddings of not one, but two Avenger's couples. Numerous villians appear, the central being Kang which of course means lots of cosmic time travelling tales. All in all, an excellent and enjoyable collection for Avengers' fans..
Rating: 
Summary: Did He Just Tell Her To Marry A Tree....?
Review: Ever since I was a kid in the late '70's, I've heard comic fans speak in hushed, reverential whispers about the classic "Celestial Madonna" storyline in The Avengers. So of course, I couldn't buy this book fast enough. In the agonizingly long three days it took me to read the book, I learned a very valuable lesson that I will carry with me for the rest of my life: You really CAN'T go home again. Or, more precisely, just because something was good almost thirty years ago, that doesn't mean it'll stand the test of time..... Celestial Madonna is awful. Just awful. I can't say enough bad things about it. The book is tremendously overwritten, in typical '70's Marvel style, by Steve Englehart & Roy Thomas, with art by some true Marvel greats, that is unfortunately marred by Marvel's tendency of the time to match pencillers with inkers that didn't compliment their style. The Don Heck art in the last chapter is particularly atrocious looking. The story, such as it is, revolves around the character who, to me, is the kiss of death to any Avengers story: Kang the Conquerer. Where Kang goes, convoluted storytelling follows. He attempts to abduct the female Avenger who will become the fabled "Celestial Madonna" so he can mate with her and conquer the universe. Too bad for him he doesn't know which lady Avenger the Madonna IS, so he abducts Mantis, The Scarlet Witch, and the 80-something-year-old Agatha Harkness(!)........Ewwwwwww. From there, the writers throw in averything but the kitchen sink, as the waters are made more and more muddy by the inclusion of The Frankenstein Monster, The Kree, The Skrulls, living plant-people, The Flying Dutchman, Rama-Tut, Immortus, Ultron, The Original Human Torch, Dormammu, Quasimodo The Living Computer, I could go on and on. I consider myself pretty well-versed in Marvel Universe history, and not only did I find myself reeling under all the references to past stories, but after a while, I just stopped caring. As I said, the book is waaaaayy too text-heavy, and it's just a chore to read. The end is a big anti-climax, as we learn nothing about the true role of the Celestial Madonna......But I give the book 1 star anyway, since I've never seen anyone tell a woman she had to marry a tree before.........
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Get Your Hopes Up
Review: I love the character Mantis (featured on the cover). She was different from the average girlfriend-motif superhero in comics at the time. She could beat up the most powerful Avenger, and still flirt with the whole team. She was confusing and conflicted, and still came through when she was needed. I thought I was going to love this collection. It was ok. The stories in this collection are difficult to come by (I had been trying for years). It's a great price to be able to read these stories. But, like other collections of older works, comics from the 40s-70s were meant as disposable monthlies, so the writing tends to be overly expository and a bit contrived. The art is cool though. Pick it up if you're interested in older Avengers stories. This particular collection holds up better and is more consistent than some of the other Marvel trades of 'classic' works. If you're looking for stories where Mantis gets more action, you'll have to, like me, try to find earlier appearances of the character (unless Marvel decides to put them together).
Rating:
Summary: Don't Get Your Hopes Up
Review: I love the character Mantis (featured on the cover). She was different from the average girlfriend-motif superhero in comics at the time. She could beat up the most powerful Avenger, and still flirt with the whole team. She was confusing and conflicted, and still came through when she was needed. I thought I was going to love this collection. It was ok. The stories in this collection are difficult to come by (I had been trying for years). It's a great price to be able to read these stories. But, like other collections of older works, comics from the 40s-70s were meant as disposable monthlies, so the writing tends to be overly expository and a bit contrived. The art is cool though. Pick it up if you're interested in older Avengers stories. This particular collection holds up better and is more consistent than some of the other Marvel trades of 'classic' works. If you're looking for stories where Mantis gets more action, you'll have to, like me, try to find earlier appearances of the character (unless Marvel decides to put them together).
Rating:
Summary: It took you three days to read this?
Review: I mean, its 180 pages with nothing but word bubbles and pictures! O.k. well, since I think the message of Mantis marrying one of the cotati is sort of hard to grasp, I can spell it out. She was destined to marry this cotati, and so the Swordsman is ressurrected but with this cotati's consciousness to facilitate the mechanics of making the prophecy of the Celestial Madonna work. As for Kang, stories that feature him as the main villian are the most often purchased, most well-reviewed, most memorable Avengers stories. Peruse Amazon for an hour and you'll see this. Convoluted? If you're anyhting of a Marvel historian, you'll see that this story actually ties up a lot of questions posed in other stories; "The Last Avengers Story," and "Avengers Forever" come to mind. "Did he just tell her to marry a tree?" If you wanted, you could see all comics as this. Captain america has cloth wings on his face. Batman dresses in horns and tights and swings around with minors. Its not the specifics that give comics their appeal, its the story being told, often through metaphoric device. As for all of those extra characters showing up in the story, that's what Marvel does. They make up characters and then use them. In stories. Like this one.
Rating:
Summary: awesome from cover to cover. buy this.
Review: This tpb collects Avengers Volume 1 issues 129-135 as well as Giant Sized Avengers issues 2-4. It is filled with origins tales (The Kree, The Cotati, Moondragon, Mantis, The Vision, The Original Human Torch, etc.), and a few good brawls. As another reviewer noted, there are many plot threads going on throughout, but they all converge at the end to form a cohesive whole. There are better Avengers tales out there, but this trade reeks of Marvel History and is necessary for any true Avengers fan. 5...
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