The Avengers (Comic Book): Difference between revisions

Line 5:

{{quote| ''"And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth's mightiest heroes were united against a common threat! On that day The Avengers were born -- to fight foes no single hero could withstand!"''}}

The [[Marvel Universe]]'s all-star super-hero team, [[Alternate Company Equivalent|equivalent]] to [[The DCU]]'s [[Justice League of America]]... except with more B-List heroes originally and a name that is based firmly on the concept of [[Rule of Cool]] (literally, Wasp picked the name because it sounded cool; some adaptations provide better explanations, though). The team debuted in The Avengers #1 in 1963. The classic lineup is [[Captain America]], [[~~Iron Man (Comic Book)|~~Iron Man]], [[Ant-Man]], [[The Wasp]], [[The Mighty Thor|Thor]] and [[Incredible Hulk ~~(Comic Book)~~|The Hulk]]. The team also within the first few issues gained the series trademark of [[Revolving Door Band|shifting lineups]], with the Hulk leaving the group with issue two, and Captain America not actually joining until issue 4, and with the major change of all the originals save Captain America being replaced by issue 16. Over the years, half of the [[Marvel Universe]] has been a member (to the point that every member of the [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]] except the Human Torch has been a member at some point), with new members being recruited and old members coming back or leaving [[Rotating Arcs|as story dictates]]. Other long-serving members include [[Hawkeye]], the [[Scarlet Witch]], [[Quicksilver]], [[the Vision]], [[The Incredible Hercules|Hercules]], [[Wonder Man]], [[X-Men (Comic Book)|the Beast]], [[Black Widow (comics)|Black Widow]], and many many more.

The [[Marvel Universe]]'s all-star super-hero team, [[Alternate Company Equivalent|equivalent]] to [[The DCU]]'s [[Justice League of America]]... except with more B-List heroes originally and a name that is based firmly on the concept of [[Rule of Cool]] (literally, Wasp picked the name because it sounded cool; some adaptations provide better explanations, though). The team debuted in The Avengers #1 in 1963. The classic lineup is [[Captain America]], [[Iron Man]], [[Ant-Man]], [[The Wasp]], [[The Mighty Thor|Thor]] and [[Incredible Hulk|The Hulk]]. The team also within the first few issues gained the series trademark of [[Revolving Door Band|shifting lineups]], with the Hulk leaving the group with issue two, and Captain America not actually joining until issue 4, and with the major change of all the originals save Captain America being replaced by issue 16. Over the years, half of the [[Marvel Universe]] has been a member (to the point that every member of the [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]] except the Human Torch has been a member at some point), with new members being recruited and old members coming back or leaving [[Rotating Arcs|as story dictates]]. Other long-serving members include [[Hawkeye]], the [[Scarlet Witch]], [[Quicksilver]], [[the Vision]], [[The Incredible Hercules|Hercules]], [[Wonder Man]], [[X-Men (Comic Book)|the Beast]], [[Black Widow (comics)|Black Widow]], and many many more.

The comic has produced a good number of spin-offs and side team books including:

Line 13:

* ''[[Thunderbolts]]'': [[The Psycho Rangers|The Avengers' evil counterpart]], the Masters of Evil, decided to pretend to be heroes when the Avengers are presumed dead after the events of ''Onslaught'', but ended up turning good for good after getting a taste of life as heroes. The group however fell on hard times and after the events of ''[[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]]'', was co-opted by the government and given to [[Norman Osborn]], who corrupted the program (and was later moved into his own book with most of the cast brought in with the reboot into ''Dark Avengers''). With Norman's defeat, the book is back to dealing with redemption with the title [[Boxed Crook|focusing on criminals being offered time off of their sentences in exchange for going on missions.]]

* ''[[Secret Avengers]]'': A black-ops team led by Steve Rogers, who after his resurrection, allowed [[Bucky Barnes]] to continue being Captain America. The book is similar to the current version of ''[[X-Force]]'', except being Avengers the team tries harder to stick to the Avengers [[Thou Shalt Not Kill|No Killing]] policy then X-Force does. Currently it is being lead by [[Hawkeye]].

* ''Avengers: The Initiative'': Following the events of the Civil War, Iron Man opens "Camp Hammond", a military base where heroes old and young are put into bootcamp to train them to be "proper" heroes. Unfortunately everything that can go wrong actually goes almost horribly wrong with young heroes dying, mysterious attacks on faculty, a secret black ops team, alien invasions, numerous betrayals and [[Norman Osborn]]. Ultimately shut down following the events of [[Dark Reign (comics)|Dark Reign]] and The "[[~~Siege (Comic Book)|~~Siege]]" and relaunched (literally and figuratively) as...

* ''Avengers: The Initiative'': Following the events of the Civil War, Iron Man opens "Camp Hammond", a military base where heroes old and young are put into bootcamp to train them to be "proper" heroes. Unfortunately everything that can go wrong actually goes almost horribly wrong with young heroes dying, mysterious attacks on faculty, a secret black ops team, alien invasions, numerous betrayals and [[Norman Osborn]]. Ultimately shut down following the events of [[Dark Reign (comics)|Dark Reign]] and The "[[Siege]]" and relaunched (literally and figuratively) as...

* ''[[Avengers Academy]]'': Hank Pym (the real one, not the Skrull who ran ''Avengers Initiative'') and a group of experienced heroes (Tigra, Justice, Speedball, Quicksilver, and Jocasta) team up to train young heroes. Originally the book focused upon a group of young teenagers recruited or forcibly turned into super-powered beings by Norman Osborn during his time running the Avengers Initiative, in hopes of ensuring that they don't become super-villains. Following the events of ''[[Fear Itself (Comic Book)|Fear Itself]]'', they have opened the team up to all heroes and have taken on other teen heroes like Spider-Girl (Anya Corazon, formerly Araña), X-23, Power Man (Victor Alvarez), Thunderstrike (Kevin Masterson, son of the original Thunderstrike), and White Tiger to the Academy.

* ''[[Young Avengers]]'': Created by Allan Heinberg [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]-esque group of young heroes who gathered following the events of "Avengers Disassembled" in the wake of the seemingly destruction of the original Avengers. Despite originally patterning themselves after the original core group, most have completely different connections to the Avengers, if any at all. Among the heroes recruited are Vision and Scarlet Witch's long lost children, who would later seek the Avengers' help in finding their missing mother.

Line 23:

In 1999 they had a short-lived animated series, ''[[The Avengers: United They Stand|The Avengers United They Stand]]''. Additionally, the two ''[[Ultimate Avengers]]'' direct-to-dvd animated films were [[Lighter and Softer]] versions of the team, and an origin for [[The Ultimates]]. A more successful animated series, ''[[The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes]]'', came in 2010, and ends in either 2012 or 2013. ''[[The Superhero Squad Show]]'' can be considered a [[Lighter and Softer]] take on the Avengers. Yet another cartoon, ''Avengers Assemble'', will premiere in 2013.

A big-budget [[The Avengers (film)|Avengers film]] was released April 26, 2012, using a mixture of the [[Marvel Universe|616]] Avengers and their [[The Ultimates|Ultimate universe counterparts.]] With [[Joss Whedon]] as writer/director, the roster consists of: [[~~Iron Man (Comic Book)|~~Iron Man]] ([[Robert Downey, Jr.]]), [[Captain America]] ([[Chris Evans]]), [[The Mighty Thor|Thor]] (Chris Hemsworth), [[Black Widow (comics)|Black Widow]] ([[Scarlett Johansson]]), [[Nick Fury]] ([[Samuel L. Jackson]]) and his assistant Maria Hill ([[How I Met Your Mother|Cobie Smulders]]), [[Hawkeye]] (Jeremy Renner), and [[~~Incredible Hulk (Comic Book)|~~Incredible Hulk]] (Mark Ruffalo). The main antagonist was Loki ([[Tom Hiddleston]]), previously introduced in the 2011 ''Thor'' movie.

A big-budget [[The Avengers (film)|Avengers film]] was released April 26, 2012, using a mixture of the [[Marvel Universe|616]] Avengers and their [[The Ultimates|Ultimate universe counterparts.]] With [[Joss Whedon]] as writer/director, the roster consists of: [[Iron Man]] ([[Robert Downey, Jr.]]), [[Captain America]] ([[Chris Evans]]), [[The Mighty Thor|Thor]] (Chris Hemsworth), [[Black Widow (comics)|Black Widow]] ([[Scarlett Johansson]]), [[Nick Fury]] ([[Samuel L. Jackson]]) and his assistant Maria Hill ([[How I Met Your Mother|Cobie Smulders]]), [[Hawkeye]] (Jeremy Renner), and [[Incredible Hulk]] (Mark Ruffalo). The main antagonist was Loki ([[Tom Hiddleston]]), previously introduced in the 2011 ''Thor'' movie.

The 'Avenger Initiative' was referenced in several preceding Marvel films; both the ''[[Iron Man (film)|Iron Man]]'' films, the ''[[The Incredible Hulk (film)|The Incredible Hulk]]'', and ''[[Captain America: The First Avenger|Captain America the First Avenger]]''.

Line 30:

'''This team's series have included the following tropes:'''

* [[The Alcoholic]]: [[~~Iron Man (Comic Book)|~~Iron Man]] and [[Ms. Marvel]] both fell [[Off the Wagon]].

* [[The Alcoholic]]: [[Iron Man]] and [[Ms. Marvel]] both fell [[Off the Wagon]].

* [[Alien Invasion]]: Kree-Skrull War, Operation Galactic Storm, [[Secret Invasion]]

* [[All Your Powers Combined]]: Super-Adaptoid.

** Count Nefaria copied the powers of Power Man, the Living Laser, and Whirlwind; the combination turned him into an evil [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[Superman]].

** Wolverine got this, getting the powers of the whole new Avengers and the two Supreme Sorcerers ([[My Friends and Zoidberg|And Hellfire]]) to fight [[Eldritch Abomination|Agamotto]]

* [[Animal-Themed Superbeing]]: Tons of members: [[Ant-Man]] (three versions), [[The Wasp]] (two versions), Yellowjacket (also two versions), [[~~Spider-Woman (Comic Book)|~~Spider-Woman]] (again, there were two different versions) Mockingbird, [[The Falcon ~~(Comic Book)~~|Falcon]], Hellcat / Tigra, Stingray, Mantis, [[Black Panther]], [[Black Widow (comics)|Black Widow]], [[Spider-Man]], and [[Wolverine]].

* [[Animal-Themed Superbeing]]: Tons of members: [[Ant-Man]] (three versions), [[The Wasp]] (two versions), Yellowjacket (also two versions), [[Spider-Woman]] (again, there were two different versions) Mockingbird, [[The Falcon|Falcon]], Hellcat / Tigra, Stingray, Mantis, [[Black Panther]], [[Black Widow (comics)|Black Widow]], [[Spider-Man]], and [[Wolverine]].

** They have also fought dozens of villains with animal-based themes: Scorpion, Rhino, Porcupine, Armadillo, Dr. Octopus, Cobra, the Serpent Society, the Unicorn, the Gryphon, etc.

* [[Alternate Continuity]]: [[The Ultimates]] is a version of the team that is tilted heavily towards a [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism|cynical viewpoint]].

Line 88:

** The ''New Avengers'' lineup from the first arc:

*** [[The Hero]]: [[Captain America]]

*** [[The Lancer]]: [[~~Iron Man (Comic Book)|~~Iron Man]]

*** [[The Lancer]]: [[Iron Man]]

*** [[The Smart Guy]]: Spider-Man

*** [[The Big Guy]]: Luke Cage

Line 113:

** It's more guaranteed to go the other way: Namor was an Avenger before his current tenure with the X-Men.

** The Human Torch is the ''only'' member of the Fantastic Four never to have been a member of the Avengers (his namesake was a member on the West Coast team). Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman even served together.

** Longtime solo player Daredevil has recently joined the New Avengers. Out of the well-known heroes who don't fit the previous categories (remembering that [[Deadpool]] is more closely associated to the X-Men, being an X-Force member and all), only [[~~The Punisher (Comic Book)|~~The Punisher]] remains unaffiliated, but considering it's [[Knight Templar|the Punisher]] we're talking about...

** Longtime solo player Daredevil has recently joined the New Avengers. Out of the well-known heroes who don't fit the previous categories (remembering that [[Deadpool]] is more closely associated to the X-Men, being an X-Force member and all), only [[The Punisher]] remains unaffiliated, but considering it's [[Knight Templar|the Punisher]] we're talking about...

* [[Look Ma, No Plane]]: A 1970s-era comic has the title heroes engaged in a battle against [[Thanos]]' starfleet. Most of the heroes fly around in small, vaguely ''[[Star Wars]]''-ian ships, but Thor flies around smashing apart enemy ships under his own power!

* [[Master Swordsman]]: The Swordsman

Line 119:

* [[Mole in Charge]]: In one storyline, the [[Red Skull]] becomes the Secretary of Defense.

** And Norman Osborn as the Director of S.H.I.-- er, H.A.M.M.E.R.

* [[Monster Modesty]]: [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|The Thing]], [[Alpha Flight|Marina]], [[~~Incredible Hulk (Comic Book)|~~Incredible Hulk]], and [[X-Men|Beast]] were all members at one point or another.

* [[Monster Modesty]]: [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|The Thing]], [[Alpha Flight|Marina]], [[Incredible Hulk]], and [[X-Men|Beast]] were all members at one point or another.

* [[Name's the Same]]: Jessica. [[Alias (Comic Book)|Jones]] or [[Spider-Woman ~~(Comic Book)~~|Drew?]]

* [[Name's the Same]]: Jessica. [[Alias (Comic Book)|Jones]] or [[Spider-Woman|Drew?]]

* [[Never Live It Down]]: [[Never Live It Down/Comic Books|Pym hit his wife]]... only once, while [[Freak-Out|Freaking Out]] and doing far worse, but that's what everybody remembers.

{{quote| '''Norman Osborn:''' Still smacking around women?<br />

'''Hank Pym:''' [[The Night Gwen Stacy Died ~~(Comic Book)~~|Still throwing them off bridges?]] }}

'''Hank Pym:''' [[The Night Gwen Stacy Died|Still throwing them off bridges?]] }}

** In-universe example, ''everyone'' is suspicious of Spider-Woman, because [[Paranoia Fuel|they think she is still the Skrull Queen - even after Norman Osborn vehemently ''shot her in the face to death'']].

*** [[Memetic Mutation|The queen was a skrull!!!]]

Line 159:

* [[Time Machine]]: Kang the Conqueror uses various machines to travel through time and conquer various periods in time, stopped only in our own due to the efforts of the Avengers.

* [[Time Master]]: Immortus whose motives have always been a mystery to the Avengers. On several occasions he has worked to aid them in crucial times of need; on others he is trying to destroy them. {{spoiler|According to ''Avengers Forever'' he has been engaged in a millennia long [[Gambit Roulette]] at the behest of his masters, the Time-Keepers.}}

* [[Token Minority]]: [[~~The Falcon (Comic Book)|~~The Falcon]] resigned because he felt he had been recruited due to affirmative action--which he was--but he was the second Avenger of African descendent. There were echoes of this when Triathlon (now named 3-D Man) was forced onto the team.

* [[Token Minority]]: [[The Falcon]] resigned because he felt he had been recruited due to affirmative action--which he was--but he was the second Avenger of African descendent. There were echoes of this when Triathlon (now named 3-D Man) was forced onto the team.

* [[Trick Arrow]]: Hawkeye, long time resident bowman.

* [[Unlimited Wardrobe]]: The original Wasp, Janet van Dyne, has worn dozens of different costumes over the years. While this was originally just a joke based on her Chick personality, it was later justified as being a side perk of being a fashion designer, since she could make them all herself.