With all of this talk lately concerning Marvel's Avengers, stemming of course from the recent announcements concerning Marvel's upcoming film adaptation of the property, my own personal interest in the group has been rekindled. I was at the library briefly yesterday and was saw a couple of AVengers-related graphic novel compilations (Avengers Disassembled and The Mighty Avengers), which got me thinking about the various incarnations of the team that I am familiar with, and I hit upon the following question/discussion topic:
Pretend that Marvel is about to launch its 'Ultimate' imprint for the first time, and pretend that you're the person placed in charge of 'relaunching'/'rebooting' The Avengers for this new 'Ultimate universe'. Out of all of the various incarnations of the group, who do you pick to be part of this 'Ultimate Avengers' book and lineup, and why?
To start off the discussion, here's my lineup:
Captain America (Team Leader) - One of my earliest memories of experiencing The Avengers was through my elementary and junior high school libraries, which had graphic novel compilations of early Avengers stories using Cap, and he was always my favorite character.
The Wasp - Even though The Wasp was part of the Avengers group I remember from my childhood reading the graphic novels I mentioned above, it wasn't until I watched the Avengers cartoon from the late 90s that the character really 'clicked' for me; she's also the one female associated almost exclusively with the Avengers that I would consider to be 'iconic'.
Hawkeye - Hawkeye is another character that I remember both from the graphic novels I mentioned as well as the Avengers cartoon, and he's also always been one of my more favorite and memorable characters primarily because he's one of the few Marvel heroes to not be a superhero in the truest sense of the word, which makes him stand out.
Iron Man - Not only was Iron Man also part of the Avengers I remember from my childhood, I also watched the old Iron Man cartoon, and am a big fan of the Iron Man movie franchise. He's also another character that, along with Captain America and The Wasp, that I would consider to be an 'iconic' Avengers character.
The Vision - I remember The Vision most vividly from the aforementioned Avengers cartoon, but beyond that, the very concept of the character is something that I respond to very strongly, and so I think he definitely should be part of any 'core' Avengers group for that reason alone.
Giant-Man - Giant Man was another character I remember from my childhood, and it wasn't until much later that I actually discovered that the character had a myriad of other superhero aliases. Nothwithstanding that, though, my memories of Giant Man from the comics I read when I was little have stuck with me so strongly that that is who I think of Dr. Pym as being, even to this day, and it's the identity with which I identify the most.
Falcon - Falcon is another character from the Avengers cartoon from the 90s that I remember vividly, and was actually another of my favorite characters from the show, so he'd be part of my 'Ultimate Avengers' simply because of that, and because I like his powers.
Ms. Marvel - Ms. Marvel isn't a character I'm particularly familiar with, but I have checked out things about her and am intrigued enough by her powers to take a chance and put her as part of my 'Ultimate Avengers' group based solely on that. I also like the fact that her backstory - in the main Marvel continuity - ties in with the backstory of one of my all-time favorite X-Men characters, Rogue.
Pretend that Marvel is about to launch its 'Ultimate' imprint for the first time, and pretend that you're the person placed in charge of 'relaunching'/'rebooting' The Avengers for this new 'Ultimate universe'. Out of all of the various incarnations of the group, who do you pick to be part of this 'Ultimate Avengers' book and lineup, and why?
To start off the discussion, here's my lineup:
Captain America (Team Leader) - One of my earliest memories of experiencing The Avengers was through my elementary and junior high school libraries, which had graphic novel compilations of early Avengers stories using Cap, and he was always my favorite character.
The Wasp - Even though The Wasp was part of the Avengers group I remember from my childhood reading the graphic novels I mentioned above, it wasn't until I watched the Avengers cartoon from the late 90s that the character really 'clicked' for me; she's also the one female associated almost exclusively with the Avengers that I would consider to be 'iconic'.
Hawkeye - Hawkeye is another character that I remember both from the graphic novels I mentioned as well as the Avengers cartoon, and he's also always been one of my more favorite and memorable characters primarily because he's one of the few Marvel heroes to not be a superhero in the truest sense of the word, which makes him stand out.
Iron Man - Not only was Iron Man also part of the Avengers I remember from my childhood, I also watched the old Iron Man cartoon, and am a big fan of the Iron Man movie franchise. He's also another character that, along with Captain America and The Wasp, that I would consider to be an 'iconic' Avengers character.
The Vision - I remember The Vision most vividly from the aforementioned Avengers cartoon, but beyond that, the very concept of the character is something that I respond to very strongly, and so I think he definitely should be part of any 'core' Avengers group for that reason alone.
Giant-Man - Giant Man was another character I remember from my childhood, and it wasn't until much later that I actually discovered that the character had a myriad of other superhero aliases. Nothwithstanding that, though, my memories of Giant Man from the comics I read when I was little have stuck with me so strongly that that is who I think of Dr. Pym as being, even to this day, and it's the identity with which I identify the most.
Falcon - Falcon is another character from the Avengers cartoon from the 90s that I remember vividly, and was actually another of my favorite characters from the show, so he'd be part of my 'Ultimate Avengers' simply because of that, and because I like his powers.
Ms. Marvel - Ms. Marvel isn't a character I'm particularly familiar with, but I have checked out things about her and am intrigued enough by her powers to take a chance and put her as part of my 'Ultimate Avengers' group based solely on that. I also like the fact that her backstory - in the main Marvel continuity - ties in with the backstory of one of my all-time favorite X-Men characters, Rogue.
Give me Thor over that guy any day of the week for a big gun. Or bring back Ares. Nova would also work; between any of those three and Ms. Marvel, you've got your big gun covered.
