Cover: John Buscema & Marie Severin & Tom Palmer

The Avengers #83

Dec 1970 · Marvel · 0.15 USD

📊 ~55,254 copies sold its debut month

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“Come On In... the Revolution's Fine!”

About this Issue

Avengers #83 is a genuinely pivotal Bronze Age issue for at least three reasons stacked into a single story. Most prominently, it introduces the Valkyrie name, visual identity, and conceptual template — a Norse warrior-goddess operating on Earth — even though that debut is technically the Enchantress in disguise; the look and mythology Thomas and John Buscema created here proved so compelling that the character was revived almost immediately and went on to become a Defenders mainstay. The issue simultaneously launches the Lady Liberators, Marvel's first all-female super-team, engaging directly — however ambivalently — with the Women's Liberation Movement then dominating headlines, making it a genuine social-history document for the medium. Finally, it is the first comic from either Marvel or DC to use the real-world Rutland, Vermont Halloween Parade as a story setting, a creative device that sparked a decade-long cross-company tradition and is considered a touchstone moment in the intertwining of comics culture and fan community.

In "Come On In... the Revolution's Fine!", Valkyrie arrives at Avengers HQ with a bold proposition: join her all-female team, the Lady Liberators, in their fight against male chauvinism. With the male Avengers distracted at a Halloween parade, the Masters of Evil strike — only to be swiftly defeated by the Lady Liberators, who prove their strength and resolve. But when Valkyrie’s true identity as the Enchantress is revealed, the heroes face a shocking betrayal, and the battle between genders escalates. Written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by John Buscema, with inks by Tom Palmer and colors by Tom Palmer, the cover by John Buscema and Marie Severin captures the fierce energy of this groundbreaking moment.

writer Roy Thomas · artist John Buscema · inker, colorist Tom Palmer · letterer Herb Cooper · cover John Buscema, Marie Severin, Tom Palmer

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $53

CGC 9.8 · 20 in census $2,366

CGC 9.6 · 47 in census $838

CGC 9.4 · 93 in census $685

CGC 9.2 · 107 in census $496

CGC 9.0 · 114 in census $257

CGC 8.5 · 136 in census $148

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CGC 8.0 · 106 in census $141

CGC 7.5 · 111 in census $124

CGC 7.0 · 103 in census $111

CGC 6.5 · 84 in census $97

CGC 6.0 · 70 in census $56*

CGC 5.5 · 41 in census $56

CGC 5.0 · 33 in census $56*

CGC 4.5 · 41 in census $56

CGC 4.0 · 21 in census $56

CGC 3.5 · 18 in census $50

CGC 3.0 · 10 in census $49*

CGC 2.5 · 2 in census $37*

CGC 2.0 · 1 in census $32*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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NM $5.99 NM $24 VG $50 VG $52.98 FN $59.99 VF $59.99 FN $70 VG $73

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History

Writer Roy Thomas, who had attended the Rutland Halloween Parade as a personal guest of organizer Tom Fagan, wove his own real-world trip to Rutland directly into the script, inserting himself and his then-wife Jean as background characters. Thomas later acknowledged in his 2009 Marvel Masterworks introduction that the feminist angle was his 'own admittedly lite take on women's liberation' — not a serious political statement — and that feminist friends including cartoonist Trina Robbins took him to task for it. John Buscema, who had previously been the primary Avengers penciler in the late 1960s, was back on the title for this issue, inked by Tom Palmer; Thomas recalled leaving the Valkyrie's visual design largely to Buscema, though he likely requested a blonde warrior silhouette. Stan Lee served as editor.

Trivia · 7 facts

First appearance of the Valkyrie identity and visual design, created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema — though revealed at issue's end to be the Enchantress (Amora) in disguise rather than a new character outright.
First appearance of the Lady Liberators, Marvel's earliest all-female super-team, comprising Valkyrie (Enchantress), Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, and Medusa.
First appearance of the real-world Rutland, Vermont Halloween Parade in mainstream comics — an editorial decision that inspired more than fifteen subsequent Marvel and DC stories set there through the 1970s–80s and is regarded as a proto-cosplay cultural moment.
Real-people cameos by writer Roy Thomas and Jean Thomas, as well as Tom Fagan (depicted in a Nighthawk costume, his real-life Batman costume rendered as a Marvel character for licensing reasons).
Avengers active roster in the issue: Black Panther (T'Challa), Goliath (Clint Barton), Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff), and Vision; Masters of Evil lineup: Klaw, Melter, Radioactive Man, and Whirlwind.
The Enchantress's motivation is revealed via flashback: abandoned by the Executioner in a barren netherworld (following events of Incredible Hulk #102), she vowed revenge on all men and constructed the Valkyrie persona to weaponize the female Avengers against their male counterparts.
Reprinted in Marvel Treasury Edition #7 (1975), Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of The Avengers #02822 (June 1982, reformatted), Essential Avengers Vol. 4 (2004, black and white), Women of Marvel #2 (August 2007), and The Avengers Penguin Classics Marvel Collection (2023).