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Avengers (1963) #129-135
The Avengers: Celestial Madonna
After a portent heralding the awakening of the Celestial Madonna appears, the Avengers vow to protect her against those who would possess her: Kang the Conqueror, Rama-Tut, and Immortus, Lord of Limbo.
Collects: Avengers #129-135, Giant-Size Avengers #2-4
Collects: Avengers #129-135, Giant-Size Avengers #2-4
224 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 2002
72 people want to read
About the author
Steve Englehart
1,396 books97 followersSee also John Harkness.
Steve Englehart went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. After a stint in the Army, he moved to New York and began to write for Marvel Comics. That led to long runs on Captain America, The Hulk, The Avengers, Dr. Strange, and a dozen other titles. Midway through that period he moved to California (where he remains), and met and married his wife Terry.
He was finally hired away from Marvel by DC Comics, to be their lead writer and revamp their core characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern). He did, but he also wrote a solo Batman series (immediately dubbed the "definitive" version) that later became Warner Brothers' first Batman film (the good one).
After that he left comics for a time, traveled in Europe for a year, wrote a novel (The Point Man™), and came back to design video games for Atari (E.T., Garfield). But he still liked comics, so he created Coyote™, which within its first year was rated one of America's ten best series. Other projects he owned (Scorpio Rose™, The Djinn™) were mixed with company series (Green Lantern [with Joe Staton], Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four). Meanwhile, he continued his game design for Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, and Brøderbund.
And once he and Terry had their two sons, Alex and Eric, he naturally told them stories. Rustle's Christmas Adventure was first devised for them. He went on to add a run of mid-grade books to his bibliography, including the DNAgers™ adventure series, and Countdown to Flight, a biography of the Wright brothers selected by NASA as the basis for their school curriculum on the invention of the airplane.
In 1992 Steve was asked to co-create a comics pantheon called the Ultraverse. One of his contributions, The Night Man, became not only a successful comics series, but also a television show. That led to more Hollywood work, including animated series such as Street Fighter, GI Joe, and Team Atlantis for Disney.
Steve Englehart went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. After a stint in the Army, he moved to New York and began to write for Marvel Comics. That led to long runs on Captain America, The Hulk, The Avengers, Dr. Strange, and a dozen other titles. Midway through that period he moved to California (where he remains), and met and married his wife Terry.
He was finally hired away from Marvel by DC Comics, to be their lead writer and revamp their core characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern). He did, but he also wrote a solo Batman series (immediately dubbed the "definitive" version) that later became Warner Brothers' first Batman film (the good one).
After that he left comics for a time, traveled in Europe for a year, wrote a novel (The Point Man™), and came back to design video games for Atari (E.T., Garfield). But he still liked comics, so he created Coyote™, which within its first year was rated one of America's ten best series. Other projects he owned (Scorpio Rose™, The Djinn™) were mixed with company series (Green Lantern [with Joe Staton], Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four). Meanwhile, he continued his game design for Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, and Brøderbund.
And once he and Terry had their two sons, Alex and Eric, he naturally told them stories. Rustle's Christmas Adventure was first devised for them. He went on to add a run of mid-grade books to his bibliography, including the DNAgers™ adventure series, and Countdown to Flight, a biography of the Wright brothers selected by NASA as the basis for their school curriculum on the invention of the airplane.
In 1992 Steve was asked to co-create a comics pantheon called the Ultraverse. One of his contributions, The Night Man, became not only a successful comics series, but also a television show. That led to more Hollywood work, including animated series such as Street Fighter, GI Joe, and Team Atlantis for Disney.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 14, 2022
Kang keeps returning to plague the Avengers when he learns Mantis is to be the Celestial Madonna. It's never really explained what that is. Presumably, it holds a lot of power. A lot of time is spent telling the origins of Skrull, Kree and Cotati along with Mantis's origin. If you've read Empyre, most of the setup is pulled from this. Swordsman's death is also in this arc.
The book also spends a lot time on Vision's origins, where Ultron-5 created him from the original Human Torch's android body. This origin stood until John Byrne retconned all of it in West Coast Avengers in the late 1980's. The Scarlet Witch and Vision also get married at the end of this in a quickie double wedding along with Mantis and a tree. Yes, a tree. The ending is goofy as hell. Mantis marries a tree and they turn to energy and head to space.
Englehart's writing is full of so many words. Too many to make this very good. Still this is important to those who want to bone up on their Avengers history. The art is all solid as well.
The book also spends a lot time on Vision's origins, where Ultron-5 created him from the original Human Torch's android body. This origin stood until John Byrne retconned all of it in West Coast Avengers in the late 1980's. The Scarlet Witch and Vision also get married at the end of this in a quickie double wedding along with Mantis and a tree. Yes, a tree. The ending is goofy as hell. Mantis marries a tree and they turn to energy and head to space.
Englehart's writing is full of so many words. Too many to make this very good. Still this is important to those who want to bone up on their Avengers history. The art is all solid as well.
April 7, 2015
Steve Englehart was one of the most interesting writers Marvel had in the ‘70s. He’d loaded The Avengers with several dramatic bombs, which he detonated in this saga, one of the title’s most famous and most respected. He’d brought back the long-lost Swordsman, a one-time Avenger who’d betrayed the team. Swordsman was presented as an ineffective loser, one step removed from a lengthy bender, who was desperate for redemption. Not the typical hero of the era. Accompanying Swordsman was Englehart’s most daring creation, Mantis. A Eurasian martial arts expert and empath, Mantis was one of the most forwardly sexual characters in an era still heavily under the boot of the Comics Code. She had a past as a Viet Nam “bar girl” (a prostitute euphemism), wore a sexy outfit and had no problem coming onto all the male members of the team, furthering the Swordsman’s humiliation. Englehart created a potent romantic clash comprising Swordsman/Mantis and Vision/Scarlet Witch, highlighting the power imbalance in the former relationship and the inability of the latter to be forthright about what they wanted.
Into all that came a newborn star that hung over Avengers Mansion. It indicated that one of the mansion’s female inhabitants (Mantis, Scarlet Witch or the Witch’s tutor, Agatha Harkness) was destined to be the Celestial Madonna and give birth to a son who would change the universe. Future-spawned villain Kang arrived, determined to control and mate with the Madonna to possess her child. An epic battle ensued that eventually brought in Pharaoh Rama-Tut and Immortus, the master of Limbo. Englehart revealed how all three characters were basically variations of Kang.
The wide-ranging saga featured Swordsman sacrificing his life to save Mantis and major revelations about the origins of both Mantis and Vision. Questions about the latter had lingered for years and while some of these details would be retconned in the future, they were a watershed, connecting the Vision to the original Human Torch. The saga was a turning point for the Scarlet Witch, who entered a more powerful phase of her career before marrying the Vision. That was a double ceremony with Mantis and the reanimated body of the Swordsman, possessed by an alien tree (again, it was the ‘70s; it was supposed to be weird). The tale brought Hawkeye back to the fold and introduced Moondragon as a regular presence, too. Several classic heroes and villains popped up in various roles. Englehart’s climax brought real, lasting change to the characters, eschewing the “reset” mentality that seemed to reign with other books of the era. The story was deliberately, almost defiantly, bizarre, but in a good way. The presentation of Mantis, forward and not entirely sympathetic, was almost revolutionary, and Englehart’s willingness to delve into the still raw tangle of issues of Viet Nam, even in a cursory fashion, was pretty brave. Bob Brown and Sal Buscema handled most of the art in their usual clean, classic style. Dave Cockrum, whose X-Men stardom was around the corner, contributed some nice work, too. Especially impressive was a full-page shot of Mantis, revealed as the Madonna, with a dazzling prismatic panel background.
The Avengers: Celestial Madonna is a great example of ‘70s Marvel taking real chances with its characters and narrative approach. Any fan of the franchise is well-advised to seek this one out.
A version of this review originally appeared on www.thunderalleybcp.com
Into all that came a newborn star that hung over Avengers Mansion. It indicated that one of the mansion’s female inhabitants (Mantis, Scarlet Witch or the Witch’s tutor, Agatha Harkness) was destined to be the Celestial Madonna and give birth to a son who would change the universe. Future-spawned villain Kang arrived, determined to control and mate with the Madonna to possess her child. An epic battle ensued that eventually brought in Pharaoh Rama-Tut and Immortus, the master of Limbo. Englehart revealed how all three characters were basically variations of Kang.
The wide-ranging saga featured Swordsman sacrificing his life to save Mantis and major revelations about the origins of both Mantis and Vision. Questions about the latter had lingered for years and while some of these details would be retconned in the future, they were a watershed, connecting the Vision to the original Human Torch. The saga was a turning point for the Scarlet Witch, who entered a more powerful phase of her career before marrying the Vision. That was a double ceremony with Mantis and the reanimated body of the Swordsman, possessed by an alien tree (again, it was the ‘70s; it was supposed to be weird). The tale brought Hawkeye back to the fold and introduced Moondragon as a regular presence, too. Several classic heroes and villains popped up in various roles. Englehart’s climax brought real, lasting change to the characters, eschewing the “reset” mentality that seemed to reign with other books of the era. The story was deliberately, almost defiantly, bizarre, but in a good way. The presentation of Mantis, forward and not entirely sympathetic, was almost revolutionary, and Englehart’s willingness to delve into the still raw tangle of issues of Viet Nam, even in a cursory fashion, was pretty brave. Bob Brown and Sal Buscema handled most of the art in their usual clean, classic style. Dave Cockrum, whose X-Men stardom was around the corner, contributed some nice work, too. Especially impressive was a full-page shot of Mantis, revealed as the Madonna, with a dazzling prismatic panel background.
The Avengers: Celestial Madonna is a great example of ‘70s Marvel taking real chances with its characters and narrative approach. Any fan of the franchise is well-advised to seek this one out.
A version of this review originally appeared on www.thunderalleybcp.com
June 10, 2020
Aunque la historia no es gran cosa vista con los ojos de hoy en día, destacan los pasajes en los que se cuentan los orígenes de la antorcha humana original, la visión y como el uno se convirtió en el otro, y en los que se cuenta la historia de los Kree... También tiene su aquel la boda doble del final... que tiempos aquellos en los que una boda de superhéroes se despachaba en un número cualquiera, simplemente cuando tocaba por la evolución de los personajes...
November 27, 2017
This is one of those core stories that a fan of the classic Avengers should. As someone who has only read a few things with these characters, the drama is not as amazing. There is one thing that was fun: a character called the Swordsman. He is in about half of the story and, to me, if the character was the focus of the entire thing this would rate as one of my favorites. I had no info on this character before, so I did a little research. The Swordsman was in a bunch of early Avengers stories. And to sum up his entire history: he' s just a loser. Doesn't really fight that well and keeps doubting himself. He felt like the most real character in the story. Too bad the writers didn't do more with that...
February 16, 2013
Awesome story, and if read immediately before "Avengers Forever", holy smokes!
September 29, 2023
One of my favourite storylines of one of my favourite periods in the Avengers.
I've always loved how mysterious Mantis is. She doesn't stick around in the Avengers for too long, but she's such an interesting character. I even like the Swordsman's redemption arc. He's such a loser, but he tries so hard you have to appreciate him. It also ties into all the cosmic Marvel stuff too, with Titan, the Kree, the Skrulls and the Cotati. Learning about their shared past is a blast, and then we throw in my favourite Avenger, Vision, into the mix by revealing his origin as well just for good measure. Plus, there's Kang the Conqueror, one of my favourite villains! What more can you ask for?!
Great work by Steve Englehart and enjoyable art by Sal Buscema. Shame they got Don Heck to draw the last Giant-Size issue. It really sticks out like a sore thumb!
I've always loved how mysterious Mantis is. She doesn't stick around in the Avengers for too long, but she's such an interesting character. I even like the Swordsman's redemption arc. He's such a loser, but he tries so hard you have to appreciate him. It also ties into all the cosmic Marvel stuff too, with Titan, the Kree, the Skrulls and the Cotati. Learning about their shared past is a blast, and then we throw in my favourite Avenger, Vision, into the mix by revealing his origin as well just for good measure. Plus, there's Kang the Conqueror, one of my favourite villains! What more can you ask for?!
Great work by Steve Englehart and enjoyable art by Sal Buscema. Shame they got Don Heck to draw the last Giant-Size issue. It really sticks out like a sore thumb!
August 30, 2025
Non la definirei una lettura essenziale (almeno per il lettore casual?), ma personalmente l'ho gradita.
La trama funziona e, nel suo svolgimento, vengono svelati misteri e zone d'ombra del passato di componenti dei Vendicatori tanto recenti, come Mantis, quanto ormai "storici", come la Visione.
Peccato che alcune di queste in futuro saranno oggetto di retcon (cough-cough BYRNE), poi a loro volta successivamente "retconnate", in modo assai migliore (Avengers Forever).
Insomma, per i fan dei Vendicatori, La saga della Madonna Celestiale vale decisamente la lettura, a mio modesto parere.
La trama funziona e, nel suo svolgimento, vengono svelati misteri e zone d'ombra del passato di componenti dei Vendicatori tanto recenti, come Mantis, quanto ormai "storici", come la Visione.
Peccato che alcune di queste in futuro saranno oggetto di retcon (cough-cough BYRNE), poi a loro volta successivamente "retconnate", in modo assai migliore (Avengers Forever).
Insomma, per i fan dei Vendicatori, La saga della Madonna Celestiale vale decisamente la lettura, a mio modesto parere.
May 26, 2019
I've never been a big fan of Englehart as a writer, but for some reason I have a soft spot for his Mantis stories. He clearly cared a lot more about his OC's story than writing an Avengers comic, which is fine by me. I don't think this will appeal to 90% of people who read it.
April 17, 2022
I have to admit a slight disappointment with this collection. the original human torch and vision origin, not to mention the Celeste Madonna story line was boring. Loved the Kang portion especially the battle in the labarynth vs the dead villains
December 9, 2018
This comic is very funny.
August 10, 2021
Mantis is so powerful
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2023
Hace algún tiempo, Kurt Busiek comentó en su twitter que Celestial Madonna era la mejor historia de los Avengers. Yo sabía de la existencia de ella, pero nunca la había leído y, al enterarme de esto inmediatamente me interesé, ya que para mi Kurt Busiek es el mejor escritor de este título en la historia y si el la ponía por encima de otros clásicos como Kree-Skrull War, The Korvac Saga o Under Siege por mencionar algunas de las aventuras mas conocidas de este equipo algo tendría que tener.
La historia es esta. Un día aparece sobre la mansión de los Avengers una estrella. Al poco tiempo de esto aparece Kang y les comenta lo que esto significa: La estrella señala a una mujer, que podría ser Mantis, Scarlet Witch o Agatha Harkness. Una de ellas será la seleccionada para convertirse en la Celestial Madonna y su pareja sera el hombre mas poderoso de el universo, y por supuesto el lo quiere ser, así que decide secuestrarlas, junto a casi todos los Avengers. Ahora les corresponderá detenerlo a Swordsman (que fue el único Avenger no secuestrado), Hawkeye, que en ese momento no era un miembro activo y un aliado inesperado, Rama-Tut.
Ahora, aunque en realidad la trama central de la historia es el interés que tiene Kang de ser la pareja de… no les voy a decir quien es la Celestial Madonna (aunque bueno, si ven la portada de el compilado se pueden dar una idea), en realidad Steve Englehart utiliza estos números para atar muchos cabos sueltos de varios de estos personajes. Revela que Kang, Rama-Tut e Immortus son en realidad la misma persona, además de aprovechar para contarnos el origen de Vision, Mantis y Moondragon, todo esto aderezado con enfrentamientos no nada mas contra Kang, sino también contra Slasher/Buzzsaw/Razorblade (ni el mismo sabe), Titanium Man, Crymson Dynamo y Radioactive Man, así como una nueva versión de la Legion of the Unliving.
Todo esto parecería muy interesante, sin embargo no lo es. La historia, narrada a lo largo de siete números regulares de los Avengers (129-135), así como tres, si tres Giant-Size Avengers (2-4), es demasiado lenta. Quien diga que Bendis inventó el estilo decompressed, jamas ha leído a Englehart. Dedicó tres números a revelar el origen de Vision (cosa que Busiek hizo en uno solo en Avengers Forever). A esto se le suma el interés que le pone a Mantis, un personaje que el creó pero que la verdad no es nada interesante. A esto hay que sumarle que, como la aventura no esta narrada en su totalidad en la serie regular de los Avengers, esta tiene diferentes artistas, lo cual lo único que consigue es que por momentos desluzca, en particular el último número por Don Heck, que me perdone, pero que feo dibujaba. Entiendo que la historia no estaba planeada para ser leída en un compilado (de hecho en esa época no existían estos), pero aún así, creo que su longitud es excesiva.
En fin, veo porque para Kurt Busiek puede ser la mejor historia de los Avengers (aunque dudo mucho que la haya vuelto a leer recientemente), para los lectores de esa época daba muchas respuestas a temas que se venían postergando, sin embargo para gente que ya conoce algo de la historia de estos personajes dichas revelaciones no son tan impactantes. Tampoco ayuda el que, como comento arriba, una de las principales sorpresas sea revelada en la portada del compilado (algo que suelen hacer mucho Marvel y DC, veamos por ejemplo Great Darkness Saga de la Legion of Super-Heroes). No fue una perdida de tiempo, pero tampoco fue una lectura completamente agradable. No creo volver a leer esta historia.
La historia es esta. Un día aparece sobre la mansión de los Avengers una estrella. Al poco tiempo de esto aparece Kang y les comenta lo que esto significa: La estrella señala a una mujer, que podría ser Mantis, Scarlet Witch o Agatha Harkness. Una de ellas será la seleccionada para convertirse en la Celestial Madonna y su pareja sera el hombre mas poderoso de el universo, y por supuesto el lo quiere ser, así que decide secuestrarlas, junto a casi todos los Avengers. Ahora les corresponderá detenerlo a Swordsman (que fue el único Avenger no secuestrado), Hawkeye, que en ese momento no era un miembro activo y un aliado inesperado, Rama-Tut.
Ahora, aunque en realidad la trama central de la historia es el interés que tiene Kang de ser la pareja de… no les voy a decir quien es la Celestial Madonna (aunque bueno, si ven la portada de el compilado se pueden dar una idea), en realidad Steve Englehart utiliza estos números para atar muchos cabos sueltos de varios de estos personajes. Revela que Kang, Rama-Tut e Immortus son en realidad la misma persona, además de aprovechar para contarnos el origen de Vision, Mantis y Moondragon, todo esto aderezado con enfrentamientos no nada mas contra Kang, sino también contra Slasher/Buzzsaw/Razorblade (ni el mismo sabe), Titanium Man, Crymson Dynamo y Radioactive Man, así como una nueva versión de la Legion of the Unliving.
Todo esto parecería muy interesante, sin embargo no lo es. La historia, narrada a lo largo de siete números regulares de los Avengers (129-135), así como tres, si tres Giant-Size Avengers (2-4), es demasiado lenta. Quien diga que Bendis inventó el estilo decompressed, jamas ha leído a Englehart. Dedicó tres números a revelar el origen de Vision (cosa que Busiek hizo en uno solo en Avengers Forever). A esto se le suma el interés que le pone a Mantis, un personaje que el creó pero que la verdad no es nada interesante. A esto hay que sumarle que, como la aventura no esta narrada en su totalidad en la serie regular de los Avengers, esta tiene diferentes artistas, lo cual lo único que consigue es que por momentos desluzca, en particular el último número por Don Heck, que me perdone, pero que feo dibujaba. Entiendo que la historia no estaba planeada para ser leída en un compilado (de hecho en esa época no existían estos), pero aún así, creo que su longitud es excesiva.
En fin, veo porque para Kurt Busiek puede ser la mejor historia de los Avengers (aunque dudo mucho que la haya vuelto a leer recientemente), para los lectores de esa época daba muchas respuestas a temas que se venían postergando, sin embargo para gente que ya conoce algo de la historia de estos personajes dichas revelaciones no son tan impactantes. Tampoco ayuda el que, como comento arriba, una de las principales sorpresas sea revelada en la portada del compilado (algo que suelen hacer mucho Marvel y DC, veamos por ejemplo Great Darkness Saga de la Legion of Super-Heroes). No fue una perdida de tiempo, pero tampoco fue una lectura completamente agradable. No creo volver a leer esta historia.
October 7, 2014
I just re-read this book after many years, I had forgotten how much it takes on. Man, it sure is chock full of trippy ideas and moments. This is key reading for any longtime Marvel fans for understanding the development of Marvel mythology in the mid-70s. Much of what came in the 1980s in the Avengers was built on this story.
About half of this story is relegated to time-traveling villain Kang trying to figure out who the titular Celestial Madonna is and kidnap her, with the other half dedicated to explaining various then-peculating mysteries of the Marvel Universe, including, but not limited to, the origins of the Vision and Mantis, Kang's future and past selves in the time streams, and what happened to the original Human Torch.
These are the sorts of mysteries that evolve out of the contradictions inherent to storytelling in a shared fictional universe with multiple creative personnel coming and going and tend to be only noticed only by fans and only addressed once fans become professionals. This was when the storytelling in Marvel was freewheeling and seemingly boundless in its creativity, and it's still fun to see writers come up with creative solutions to these contradictions. This kind of storytelling eventually became tedious in the 80s and 90s as more and more attention was paid to continuity and less to storytelling. But here it's still fresh and fun with a lot of invention.
Highly recommended for long-time Marvel fans, more casual fans might be a more than bit bewildered by the whole thing.
About half of this story is relegated to time-traveling villain Kang trying to figure out who the titular Celestial Madonna is and kidnap her, with the other half dedicated to explaining various then-peculating mysteries of the Marvel Universe, including, but not limited to, the origins of the Vision and Mantis, Kang's future and past selves in the time streams, and what happened to the original Human Torch.
These are the sorts of mysteries that evolve out of the contradictions inherent to storytelling in a shared fictional universe with multiple creative personnel coming and going and tend to be only noticed only by fans and only addressed once fans become professionals. This was when the storytelling in Marvel was freewheeling and seemingly boundless in its creativity, and it's still fun to see writers come up with creative solutions to these contradictions. This kind of storytelling eventually became tedious in the 80s and 90s as more and more attention was paid to continuity and less to storytelling. But here it's still fresh and fun with a lot of invention.
Highly recommended for long-time Marvel fans, more casual fans might be a more than bit bewildered by the whole thing.
September 5, 2011
Oh, the 70s. I don't think I need to say anything else.
May 19, 2016
Still holds up to me, This is one of the best Avengers storylines when dealing with the Vision and Scarlet Witch.
June 11, 2016
Raccoglie le storiche storie su Avengers di Englehart col fato di Mantis e dello Spadaccino, il doppio matrimonio, Kang e Immortus. Un ottimo climax di un buon periodo di storie.
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