And then new movie opens in the US next weekend, and is already out overseas, so with that in mind, I want to do something I've been wanting to do for a long time (and again if you only read my blog for the politics, well this aint the post for you). And that is do a top 10 of my favorite avengers....or at least my favorite ones not in the movies.
So here we go.
#10
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| Hank McCoy. The Beast |
Alright I can already hear the objections coming from the legions of causual comic fans, those who watched the 90's cartoon and people who have only seen the movies. "hey Moron, Beast is an X-Man not an avenger"
Now yes, Beast was a founding member of the X-men, but it should be noted left that team following their reboot/relaunch in the early 70's. At which point he mutated from a regular human into the furry form seen above and used in most of his media appearances.....and joined the Avengers, in 1975. Where he would stay until 1981, one of the longest uninterrupted stints of an avenger in history.
Now what makes Beast worthy of this spot though isnt his length of service, but the character he brought to the team. Originally seen as the brawn of the original x-men and later the Brain of all X-men, neither of those traits really stood on on a team that includes brains like Iron Man, Giant Man, and Vision, or the brawn of Thor, Iron Man, Wonder Man, Ms Marvel, ect.
So while still maintaining his strength and brains, Beast let his sense of humor shine though, and basically became the teams unofficial morale officer, the guy who no matter what the situation always had a wise ass comment ready to fly. Although this created some conflict with teammates who thought this meant he didnt take the job seriously, they all eventually realized the role he was serving and how he was helping keep the team focused on the task at hand and optimistic no matter how bad things looked.
And while for 3 decades Beast was the only X-man turned Avengers, he was the trail blazer who proved that could work (both in universe and to the leadership accepting the idea), so he lead the way for Wolverine, Storm, Cannonball, Sunspot, Sunfire Havok and Rouge to eventually join the team in the last decade and a half (admittedly a lot of them didnt work as well as beast)
And, in the last decade, Beast returned to the team, serving in two different teams of "not publicly acknowledged teams of avengers" the black ops secret avengers (in which he was the teams brains) and as the mutant representative on the avenger off shoot (and team whos existance is hidden from even the other avengers) team the Illuminati.
Granted in my opinion, hes no where near as good in either of these stints as he was in the 70's, as secrecy doesn't really go well with his character, so hopefully he gets another run on the main team someday, but he still gets the number 10 slot
Now yes, Beast was a founding member of the X-men, but it should be noted left that team following their reboot/relaunch in the early 70's. At which point he mutated from a regular human into the furry form seen above and used in most of his media appearances.....and joined the Avengers, in 1975. Where he would stay until 1981, one of the longest uninterrupted stints of an avenger in history.
Now what makes Beast worthy of this spot though isnt his length of service, but the character he brought to the team. Originally seen as the brawn of the original x-men and later the Brain of all X-men, neither of those traits really stood on on a team that includes brains like Iron Man, Giant Man, and Vision, or the brawn of Thor, Iron Man, Wonder Man, Ms Marvel, ect.
So while still maintaining his strength and brains, Beast let his sense of humor shine though, and basically became the teams unofficial morale officer, the guy who no matter what the situation always had a wise ass comment ready to fly. Although this created some conflict with teammates who thought this meant he didnt take the job seriously, they all eventually realized the role he was serving and how he was helping keep the team focused on the task at hand and optimistic no matter how bad things looked.
And while for 3 decades Beast was the only X-man turned Avengers, he was the trail blazer who proved that could work (both in universe and to the leadership accepting the idea), so he lead the way for Wolverine, Storm, Cannonball, Sunspot, Sunfire Havok and Rouge to eventually join the team in the last decade and a half (admittedly a lot of them didnt work as well as beast)
And, in the last decade, Beast returned to the team, serving in two different teams of "not publicly acknowledged teams of avengers" the black ops secret avengers (in which he was the teams brains) and as the mutant representative on the avenger off shoot (and team whos existance is hidden from even the other avengers) team the Illuminati.
Granted in my opinion, hes no where near as good in either of these stints as he was in the 70's, as secrecy doesn't really go well with his character, so hopefully he gets another run on the main team someday, but he still gets the number 10 slot
#9
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| T'Challa. The Black Panther. |
Handpicked by Captain America to take cap's own spot on the team, T'Challa's been a bit of a controversial member of the team. First his repeated reminders his "replaced captain america" tended to piss off other members....and it turned out he only joined the team to spy on them for his home country (which he's also ruler of) and stop the team from becoming a threat.
But at the same time he's also proven invaluable to the team, and they still call on him to this day. Not only is he a mental genius on tony stark's level, he's got at least as much money as stark. So he's actually proven quite useful any time stark isnt around. And as a foreign head of state he's provided the team sanctuary a few times when they havnt gotten along so well with US law.
Of course his lasting contribution to the team, he's the inventor of the Quinjet, the avengers signature mode of transportation.
And in the real world, he's historic, having been the teams first African (although not american) member, when he joined the team in 1968. It should also be noted that unlike in the picture above, the costume he was wearing at the time showed some skin, so his race served to generate in comic storylines and issues as well.
Finally, just as a piece of trivia, his debut predates that of the real world black panther party, so the name similarity was just an unfortunate fluke for Marvel (they tried and failed at one point to rebrand him the Black Leopard to seperate themselves from the Panthers)
#8
But at the same time he's also proven invaluable to the team, and they still call on him to this day. Not only is he a mental genius on tony stark's level, he's got at least as much money as stark. So he's actually proven quite useful any time stark isnt around. And as a foreign head of state he's provided the team sanctuary a few times when they havnt gotten along so well with US law.
Of course his lasting contribution to the team, he's the inventor of the Quinjet, the avengers signature mode of transportation.
And in the real world, he's historic, having been the teams first African (although not american) member, when he joined the team in 1968. It should also be noted that unlike in the picture above, the costume he was wearing at the time showed some skin, so his race served to generate in comic storylines and issues as well.
Finally, just as a piece of trivia, his debut predates that of the real world black panther party, so the name similarity was just an unfortunate fluke for Marvel (they tried and failed at one point to rebrand him the Black Leopard to seperate themselves from the Panthers)
#8
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| Greer Nelson. Tigra |
Alright, so I'll admit that costume is somewhat indefensible as anything other than an appeal to tits and ass, Yet actually, in universe, it actually fits tigra perfectly.
So the story of tigra is one of the most unique of all the avengers. She is the first avenger to quit the team because she was a failure (according to her). This despite the fact that she alone had just saved the avengers from a foe that had just beating Thor, Iron Man, Captain America and the Wasp....because she tried talking to him and figuring out what it wanted instead of out right fighting it.
Problem was, she later admitted her desire to talk havnt been a stoke of genius, as much as motivated by fear since she already assumed she wouldnt be able to beat the guy. Course the other avengers still said fear or not that never would have occurred to them, and tried to make her see how great shed done but it didnt work. She also happened to be first person other than the teams founders to be trusted with the secret identities of Thor and Iron Man.
So yea, she quit due to insecurity over her role. Luckily for her the other avengers didnt let her go peacefully into that good night, and she was eventually recruited her as a founding member of their west coast team, a role she stayed in for most of the next decade.
At which point discovered tigra had a bit of a hulk problem.....that is to say she had two different personalities, one in her human form, and one in her powered form. And that her powered form liked doing things that her human form found humiliating (like the costume for example. Her tigra form loved it, because it was so revealing and because her conservative human form hated it). Finally things got resolved, which also finally allowed tigra to overcome her original insecurity about not pulling her weight on the team.
Eventually Tigra would actually move beyond the role of superhero in the role of teacher/trainer, figuring that her experiences of not feeling like a real avenger would best be shared with new team members, so they wouldnt make the same mistakes she did of walking away and letting her insecurities get the best of her. So yea, despite not having served on the front lines in over a decade, Tigra has still found her own way to be a valuable team member.
So the story of tigra is one of the most unique of all the avengers. She is the first avenger to quit the team because she was a failure (according to her). This despite the fact that she alone had just saved the avengers from a foe that had just beating Thor, Iron Man, Captain America and the Wasp....because she tried talking to him and figuring out what it wanted instead of out right fighting it.
Problem was, she later admitted her desire to talk havnt been a stoke of genius, as much as motivated by fear since she already assumed she wouldnt be able to beat the guy. Course the other avengers still said fear or not that never would have occurred to them, and tried to make her see how great shed done but it didnt work. She also happened to be first person other than the teams founders to be trusted with the secret identities of Thor and Iron Man.
So yea, she quit due to insecurity over her role. Luckily for her the other avengers didnt let her go peacefully into that good night, and she was eventually recruited her as a founding member of their west coast team, a role she stayed in for most of the next decade.
At which point discovered tigra had a bit of a hulk problem.....that is to say she had two different personalities, one in her human form, and one in her powered form. And that her powered form liked doing things that her human form found humiliating (like the costume for example. Her tigra form loved it, because it was so revealing and because her conservative human form hated it). Finally things got resolved, which also finally allowed tigra to overcome her original insecurity about not pulling her weight on the team.
Eventually Tigra would actually move beyond the role of superhero in the role of teacher/trainer, figuring that her experiences of not feeling like a real avenger would best be shared with new team members, so they wouldnt make the same mistakes she did of walking away and letting her insecurities get the best of her. So yea, despite not having served on the front lines in over a decade, Tigra has still found her own way to be a valuable team member.
#7
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| Peter Parker. Spider Man |
Spider-Man was one of the first heroes the Avengers tried to recruit when they wanted to expand their roster in the last 60's. He said no.
In fact he would go on to say no for the next 30 years. he finally agreed to join the team in 1990....at which point he was promptly kicked off the team for not being that great at teamwork after one outing. Which was exactly the reason he claimed he had been turning them down for 3 decades. So perhaps that was intentional?
15 years later, he'd join the team again, and this time for real, following the events that lead to the end of the original team and the assembling of the new avengers. Of course, like Beast before him, he wasnt exactly top of the class in brains or brawn any more, so he too took the the unofficial morale officer role, especially when half the avengers (him included) were forced underground by the US government.
Parker, along with Luke Cage, was also instrumental in defining the focus of the New Avengers (as opposed to the old ones) as being about helping the little guy/the every man, and not just looking only at galactic level problems all the time. In fact when the New Avengers eventually folded, Parker would join Cage's earth based/focused Mighty Avengers as well (although also kept his membership on the main team so he can help out with galactic issues as well)
Very few people have been able to rebrand what the Avengers do. Spider-man and cage being the only two. This spot went to Parker though, due to him having spend decades as the famous example of how not every hero should be an avenger....before managing to be a great avenger anyways, something that doesnt apply to Cage.
#6
In fact he would go on to say no for the next 30 years. he finally agreed to join the team in 1990....at which point he was promptly kicked off the team for not being that great at teamwork after one outing. Which was exactly the reason he claimed he had been turning them down for 3 decades. So perhaps that was intentional?
15 years later, he'd join the team again, and this time for real, following the events that lead to the end of the original team and the assembling of the new avengers. Of course, like Beast before him, he wasnt exactly top of the class in brains or brawn any more, so he too took the the unofficial morale officer role, especially when half the avengers (him included) were forced underground by the US government.
Parker, along with Luke Cage, was also instrumental in defining the focus of the New Avengers (as opposed to the old ones) as being about helping the little guy/the every man, and not just looking only at galactic level problems all the time. In fact when the New Avengers eventually folded, Parker would join Cage's earth based/focused Mighty Avengers as well (although also kept his membership on the main team so he can help out with galactic issues as well)
Very few people have been able to rebrand what the Avengers do. Spider-man and cage being the only two. This spot went to Parker though, due to him having spend decades as the famous example of how not every hero should be an avenger....before managing to be a great avenger anyways, something that doesnt apply to Cage.
#6
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| Carol Danvers. Ms Marvel/Binary/Warbird/Captain Marvel |
So I try real hard not to hold it against a character when a single author puts them in a bad story line, but otherwise the character is pretty good. But thats really hard to do with Ms. Marvel, partly because it was her introduction to the team.
So basically here's Ms Marvel's introduction to the avengers. She gets raped, impregnated by her rapist and mind controlled into leaving our reality to go marry him. Oh and the reaction to the rest of her team "oh yay! you found love and your having a baby, great." Like NO ONE even noticed or cared that she might be mind controlled and had definitely been raped (for full details click this link to the "rape of ms. marvel" essay by Carol Strickland, one of the biggest anti comic tirades in decades (and justifiably so)).
So yea, given that that happened, why in the fucks name would Ms Marvel EVER want to come back to the avengers?
They've never really answered that and I think that kinda hurts her character.
The best they did was have her have her identity (and powers) stolen by Rogue, which cost her her memories. Except that she got those back (although without an emotional connection to them) prior to rejoining the team.
And by the way, that rejoining doesnt go so well. Because it turns out between getting physically and mentally raped (her word for what rouge did) shes kinda become an alcoholic. So yea she gets booted off the team for basically being drunk while having the power of a nuclear reactor and using it to kill bad guys.
And yet....soon shes back for attempt 3. Now admittedly this time around she gets to lead the team....except not really cause Iron Man keeps overruling her and she eventually leaves during marvel's civil war to join the avengers on the other side. And well since then shes been a constant member of the team.
And the thing is, despite all the above, shes actually a really good member. Shes arguably the single most powerful avenger, given that her strength is on par with thor, and she flys....and unlike anyone else, if hit by an energy projection, it just powers her up even farther and she can shoot it back out as well. Plus shes got the whole "early danger sense" similar to spiderman. In short, shes a one woman team, what she lacks is the confidence and strategic thinking to make the most of her abilities. (some of her best moments rely on her suddenly realizing to her self....oh wait shit I can do *this*)
And honestly thats what makes her a great avenger. The greatest avengers either have the power (thor, Ms Marvel, Hulk ect) but not the confidence to use it, or have a shit ton of confidence (hawkeye, cap, spider-man, beast) but happen to be a bit underpowered.
In other words all the best avengers are out to prove themselves someway, and in Carol Danvers case, she just wants to prove she belongs as an equal, which is a refreshing change as many avengers are out to prove they are the best at something.
Next time out, we will do the 5 characters who really really really need to be in an avengers movie soon (although spoiler, at least 2 of them, like Ms Danvers, have a movie coming up, so avengers 3 might look good.)
So basically here's Ms Marvel's introduction to the avengers. She gets raped, impregnated by her rapist and mind controlled into leaving our reality to go marry him. Oh and the reaction to the rest of her team "oh yay! you found love and your having a baby, great." Like NO ONE even noticed or cared that she might be mind controlled and had definitely been raped (for full details click this link to the "rape of ms. marvel" essay by Carol Strickland, one of the biggest anti comic tirades in decades (and justifiably so)).
So yea, given that that happened, why in the fucks name would Ms Marvel EVER want to come back to the avengers?
They've never really answered that and I think that kinda hurts her character.
The best they did was have her have her identity (and powers) stolen by Rogue, which cost her her memories. Except that she got those back (although without an emotional connection to them) prior to rejoining the team.
And by the way, that rejoining doesnt go so well. Because it turns out between getting physically and mentally raped (her word for what rouge did) shes kinda become an alcoholic. So yea she gets booted off the team for basically being drunk while having the power of a nuclear reactor and using it to kill bad guys.
And yet....soon shes back for attempt 3. Now admittedly this time around she gets to lead the team....except not really cause Iron Man keeps overruling her and she eventually leaves during marvel's civil war to join the avengers on the other side. And well since then shes been a constant member of the team.
And the thing is, despite all the above, shes actually a really good member. Shes arguably the single most powerful avenger, given that her strength is on par with thor, and she flys....and unlike anyone else, if hit by an energy projection, it just powers her up even farther and she can shoot it back out as well. Plus shes got the whole "early danger sense" similar to spiderman. In short, shes a one woman team, what she lacks is the confidence and strategic thinking to make the most of her abilities. (some of her best moments rely on her suddenly realizing to her self....oh wait shit I can do *this*)
And honestly thats what makes her a great avenger. The greatest avengers either have the power (thor, Ms Marvel, Hulk ect) but not the confidence to use it, or have a shit ton of confidence (hawkeye, cap, spider-man, beast) but happen to be a bit underpowered.
In other words all the best avengers are out to prove themselves someway, and in Carol Danvers case, she just wants to prove she belongs as an equal, which is a refreshing change as many avengers are out to prove they are the best at something.
Next time out, we will do the 5 characters who really really really need to be in an avengers movie soon (although spoiler, at least 2 of them, like Ms Danvers, have a movie coming up, so avengers 3 might look good.)
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