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Once upon a time there was a comic universe, large and diverse, filled with just about any type of character from any type of pulp genre, and they shared and interacted in the same universe. You had a Martial Arts character named Shang Chi living in the same world as the cosmic space fantasy Silver Surfer who fought against the supernatural thriller Dracula who appeared in the socially conscious Uncanny X-Men and the main nemesis of said group had a daughter (Scarlet Witch) who was married to an andriod Avenger and the Avengers leader fought alongside a gruff Atlantean who was an ally to the Defenders and enemy to the Fantastic Four...mythology, science fiction, magic fantasy, "monster" characters, "horror" characters, all were there in the same universe.
That was the House of Ideas. Marvel comics, from about 1961 to around 1991. Sure, there were dud stories and more than enough cheese to make McDonalds subsequent billionth cheeseburger, but the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. The spirit of creativity and continuity drove Marvel to its market supremacy. Characters embodied ideas, paradoxes, philosophies, sure the comics were aimed at kids, but there was some thought beyond the horizon to captivate the reader willing to reflect on the stimuli presented by the likes of Galactus, the Eternals, the Supreme Intelligence, Ultron, ect.
Since then, its been all down hill. Late spring 1992, Liefeld's Youngblood and Valiant's "Unity" crossover opened the doors to the "spec boom", when comics became investments instead of enjoyments. A comic bought for a buck in December 1991 (*cough cough*, Solar Man of the Atom #1) could be sold for about a eighty bucks one year later. This ended up destroying the comic industry, as DC and Marvel sold their creative souls to try and capitalize on the "hype". Superman was killed off, the Green Lantern corps destroyed, variant covers became more important than the 22 pages in between, Iron Man was turned into a teenager, X-men uber alles and, unfortunately, the sole prism that the subsequent generation of comic collectors would experience the Marvel Universe.
But, in early 1992, Marvel did something right. A 19 part crossover among the Avengers titles called "Operation: Galactic Storm". At the time, it didn't make much of a ripple, as evidenced by the fact this is the very first time the series has been reprinted, 14 years after the title hit the stands. But its story-value has increased with age, mostly because of what I've outlined in the very first couple of paragraphs--Marvel simply hasn't been as thoughtful and innovative since. Those of us bored by the current Marvel regime, which attempts to make every single comic a replica of Kevin's Smiths overrated (and short) run on Daredevil, find refuge in the hallowed and barren halls of the old House of Ideas.
The premise is simple--the Kree (an Avengers foe) and the Shi'ar (an X-Men supporting cast empire) are at war, two Marvel alien empires that had had little contact prior to the story. The problem is, they use the Earth's sun as a "stargate" to transport warcraft from one galaxy to the other, and the disturbances said stargate causes thus threaten to destroy the earth. Thus, to preserve human life, the Avengers split up so they may "reason" with the two empires, and get them to take their war to some other turf. The story alternates among earth, the Shi'ar homeworld, and the Kree homeworld, and just about every Avenger, ever (except Quicksilver and Dr. Druid) get some face time in this epic.
What makes this crossover so strong? 1.) It's about ideas. Although this TPB only covers the very first 13 chapters, its obviously needed to get to the good stuff at the end. The Greater Good, the misuse of evolution (or the inevitable extrapolation of ethics from evolution?!?), what makes one human, pragmatism over idealism, all these play a role in the story, and could elicit a lightbulb or two in the minds of those willing to wonder again. 2.) Its surprisingly character driven. The Supreme Intelligence makes a pretty strong stamp as a unique villain, Wonder Man and Vision have some nice characterization, Iron Man's pragmatism vs. Captain America's "by the book"ism, Sersi and Hercules' old school divine ethos vs. the (let's by honest) navel gazing of the modern day Avengers...even Captain Atlas and the Starjammers get some room to define themselves. and 3.) some well placed humour throughout the crossover.
What are some weaknesses? Well, very first off, its just the very first volume, and the second volume will have one of the most memorable climaxes for a crossover. Secondly, the art is (very) uneven, and it seems even the reproduction of the coloring is uneven. The Quasar issues are hard to look at, but the Wonderman and Avengers chapters (illustrated by Jeff Johnson and Steve Epting) hold up not only well, but very well. The story starts off slowly and unremarkably. To the modern eye trained to over realism-ify the superhero genre, the notion of Captain America wearing a trenchcoat and walking into a diner in Arizona may induce a groan or two. But the story picks up once the Avengers split up and go after the empires. The story will require a heavy dose of Avengers-background--if you don't know the relationship between Vision and Wonder man, and if you don't know that the Kree have been culturally stagnant for millenia (from the classic Kree/Skrull war from the early 70s), then much of the nuance of the tale may be lost.
I'm probably reviewing this volume through rose-colored glasses, remembering the good ole House of Ideas, but I think the story nonetheless holds up on its own merits. Its not a Bronze Age story, its not a Dark Age story, it's certainly not a Silver Age story, Galactic Storm is its own entity, built from Marvel's history and the diverse characterization in the Avengers family, taken to a logical conclusion. That, is a good story.
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