Just Giblets

The Avengers appearing in this group, leading up to the Top 10, are an interesting batch. We’ve got our last male Avenger to appear, and he was romantically involved with one of the women on this list when he was first introduced. Two of these characters have a linked origin, two of them have also both been members, or quasi-members of the Fantastic Four, two of them have both been members of the Defenders, and two of them were both involved with the Thunderbolts. Lots of links in this crew, and it’s a nice batch, if you ask me.

#15. Hawkeye – Clint Barton
Joined Avengers #16 (May 1965)
Creators: Stan Lee, Don Heck

Captain America is clearly the Avenger who was not a founding member, who is most associated with the team, and has the biggest impact on it. He throughly represents that Avengers spirit, the guiding force that makes the team what it is. For Captain American to be that figurehead; that guiding spirit, there clearly needs to be success stories of members for whom he has made a difference, and for whom the Avengers have shaped into a better person… a better hero as a result. In my eyes, Hawkeye is that Avenger. After getting started as an Iron Man villain alongside the Black Widow, he, along with Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, were the first new members to join after Captain America, and they did so in the wake of all the founding members departing. Dubbed Cap’s Kooky Quartet, the trio were all reformed villains, making a go at a heroic lifestyle, and while each had their challenges, Hawkeye was the brash rebel who viewed Cap as the establishment… the old guard to constantly challenge and provoke. Clint never became a straight-laced, by the books “Captain America,” but he does owe much of his eventual successful career as a leader, first of the West Coast Avengers, and then of the Thunderbolts, to his former mentor.

After a long stint with the Avengers, butting heads with Cap, slowly learning the ropes of becoming an effective team player, taking a stint as the size-changing hero Goliath with the help of Hank Pym’s growth serum, and coming to terms with his criminal past under the mentorship of The Swordsman, and the conflicted relationship with his brother Barney, Hawkeye eventually left the team to prove himself on his own. Ironically, he immediately hooked up with the Defenders for a short period, even battling against his former teammates in the Avengers/Defenders Clash. Clint spent some time trapped in the year 1870, where he became partners with the old-time Western hero, Two-Gun Kid, even going so far as to bring him back to the present when rescued by Thor and Moondragon. Later, after helping the Avengers battle the Collector and Korvac, Hawkeye was ready to rejoin the team, only to be forced out by the U.S. Government, who, under the guise of Affirmative Action, replaced him with The Falcon.

Forced to find his own path, Hawkeye started working for Cross Technologies, where he got involved with former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Bobbi Morse, aka Mockingbird. Their adventures together left Hawkeye with a new hearing aid to compensate for an 80% hearing loss due to a sonic attack, and a new bride in Bobbi. After some time away, and a series of adventures with his new wife Clint returned to the Avengers, and was asked to chair a new West Coast branch of the team. Hawkeye’s tenure with the team was marked with several wins, but some devastating personal losses as well. During a time-travel adventure, Mockingbird was taken captive by the Phantom Rider, who drugged her, convinced her that they were in love, and forced her to engage in a sexual relationship. Mockingbird regained her senses and in the resulting battle between the two, allowed the Phantom Rider to fall to his death. When Mockingbird confessed what she did, Hawkeye was stunned that his wife would allow a man to die instead of facing justice. Their relationship frayed as Mockingbird left the West Coast Avengers and separated from Hawkeye. The pair reconciled several months later when Mockingbird helped Hawkeye and his former mentor Trick Shot fend off an army of supervillains seeking a bounty set on Hawkeye’s right arm. Shortly thereafter, the West Coast Avengers found themselves caught in a supernatural battle between the demons Satannish and Mephisto. The Avengers were victorious, but in retaliation, Mephisto tried to kill Hawkeye with a fiery parting shot. Mockingbird intervened to save him, and died in his arms. After a period of isolation in the Canadian Rockies to mourn his loss, and the subsequent dissolution of the West Coast team, Hawkeye returned to the Avengers for their final battle against Onslaught. The team spent a year trapped in an alternate universe created by Franklin Richards, and when he was restored, Hawkeye regained his hearing.

After further adventures with the Avengers, Hawkeye ended up leading the newly formed Thunderbolts, a team of reformed villains who had been tricked by Baron Zemo and needed guidance. Hawkeye proved to be a strong positive influence for the team who had a successful run as a force for good. During Brian Michael Bendis’ wretched Avengers Disassembled storyline, Hawkeye was killed by the Scarlet Witch. During a series of ridiculous stories, Clint was resurrected and killed again, only to be resurrected finally when Wanda rewrote reality again. Remaining hidden, Clint sought out Wanda, who he discovered living a quiet life in Eastern Europe with no memory of her past. He decided to leave her be and forgave her for his murder. He ultimately returned to the Avengers borrowing Echo’s identity of Ronin to operate in secret. During this time the world was nearly taken over by Skrulls and their Secret Invasion. When a Skrull ship filled with humans who had been replaced by the shape-changing aliens at various points over the past couple of years, is discovered Mockingbird is among the newly released. Hawkeye helped his long-missing wife adjust to life again and the two shared a series of adventures, both alone, and with the Avengers. Unfortunately, too time apart had passed and the pair realized that their romantic relationship was over.

Since then, Hawkeye has served with various incarnations of the Avengers, and embarked on a series of adventures on his own as well, or with past partners like Black Widow, Falcon, Winter Soldier, or Kate Bishop, the new Hawkeye. Kate and Clint shared a special relationship, and even briefly started a new West Coast Avengers together.

While Clint Barton has no superhuman powers (with the exception of the period when using Pym particles as Goliath), he is at the very peak of human conditioning. He is an exceptional fencer, acrobat and marksman, having been trained from childhood in the circus and by the criminals Trick Shot and Swordsman. Hawkeye has also been thoroughly trained by Captain America in tactics, martial arts and hand-to-hand combat. Hawkeye excels in the use of ranged weapons, especially the bow and arrow and carries a quiver containing a number of customized “trick arrows”. He has gained a reputation for being able to “turn any object into a weapon”, and has been seen using items such as tin plates, coins, sticks and other debris to great effect against his enemies.

Hawkeye used to be the type of character I couldn’t stand. The “bad-boy” always causing trouble, giving people a hard-time. But Clint’s evolution over the yours has really turned him into a very appealing hero. He’s incredibly skilled, and worthy of a pretty good-sized ego, but he’s been taken down a peg enough times that it keeps him from getting too full of himself. He’s a huge champion of the underdog, whether that means a ragtag team of reformed villains, or his low-income neighbors in the apartment building he owns. He’s a real ladies man, with a string of failed romances behind him, including Black Widow, Mockingbird, Spider-Woman, the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, and even Kate Bishop. Clearly there’s something about this guy that the ladies love, and his appeal has only gotten stronger in recent years under the pens of the likes of Matt Fraction, Jeff Lemire, Jim McCann, Matthew Rosenberg, and Ethan Sacks. He’s absolutely the type of guy you would get involved with even as you told yourself you know better. Anytime, Clint.

#14 – Black Widow – Natasha Romanoff
Joined Avengers #111 (May 1973)
Created by Stan Lee, Don Rico, Don Heck

Like Hawkeye, Black Widow was first introduced as a villain, a Russian Spy, actually, who had some run-ins with Iron Man. She became romantically linked with Hawkeye and became involved with the Avengers pretty early, although she didn’t formerly join for some time. Natasha Romanova was born in Stalingrad, and became a Russian agent trained as a spy, martial artist, and sniper, and outfitted with an arsenal of high-tech weaponry, including a pair of wrist-mounted energy weapons dubbed her “Widow’s Bite”. Romanova eventually defected to the U.S. for several reasons including her love for Hawkeye.

Natasha was raised from very early childhood by the U.S.S.R.’s “Black Widow Ops” program. She had been taken to Department X, with other young female orphans, where she was brainwashed and trained in combat and espionage at the covert “Red Room” facility. There, she was biotechnologically and psycho-technologically enhanced—which provided a rationale for her unusually long and youthful lifespan. During that time she also had some training under the Winter Soldier (Captain America’s former teen sidekick, Bucky ‘Barnes), who had also been brainwashed, and the pair had a short romance. Each Black Widow was deployed with false memories to help ensure her loyalty. Romanova eventually discovered this after her defection.

After her early run-ins with Iron Man and the Avengers, Nick Fury approached her about becoming a free-lance agent of S.H.I.E.LD. and she quickly became on of their most effective and dangerous assets. She became romantically linked with Daredevil, and the two fought crime together in San Francisco fore a time After their relationship ended, Natasha continued to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. and shared some adventures with Spider-Man and Shang-Chi. Natasha also spent a brief stint leading the super-hero team known as The Champions which consisted of Hercules, Angel, Iceman, Ghost Rider and Darkstar.

After that, Black Widow spent several years mainly as a solo operative, living the dangerous spy’s life, working for S.H.I.E.L.D. and other shady organizations. She has recurring encounters with her old flame, Matt Murdock (Daredevil), once to prevent the Hand from resurrecting Elektra, again to protect an infant that Daredevil believes to be the Anti-Christ. While the romantic tension simmers between the two, they know it’s better to remain platonic friends and professional partners. At a certain point, Black Widow returns to the Avengers, co-leading the team with the Black Knight. When most of the team is believed dead, but in fact, shunted to an alternative reality created by Franklin Richards, Natasha tries to assemble a new team and fails. For some time, Natasha blames herself for the dissolution of the Avengers.

Natasha was challenged by Yelena Belova, a graduate from the “Red Room” training program, who was the first to ever surpass Natasha’s marks and considered herself the rightful successor to the “Black Widow” mantle. Natasha encouraged her to discover her individuality rather than live in blind service, asking her “why be Black Widow, when you can be Yelena Belova?” After several confrontations, Natasha subjected Yelena to intense psychological manipulations and suffering in order to teach her the reality of the espionage business, and an angry but disillusioned Yelena eventually returned home and temporarily quit being a spy. Although Matt Murdock is appalled by the cruelty of Natasha’s treatment of Yelena, Nick Fury described the action as Natasha’s attempt at saving Yelena’s life. Yelena has returned to aid Natasha on numerous occasions since then.

When Hydra abruptly conquered the United States guided by the hand of a twisted fascist version of Captain America that had secretly taken the real one’s place with the aid of a Cosmic Cube, Black Widow joined the last line of resistance, the Underground. Having grown tired of their reluctance to take the extreme approach to end Captain America even after his regime had leveled Las Vegas, Natasha left on her own to kill him.

When Hydra abruptly conquered the United States guided by the hand of a twisted fascist version of Captain America that had secretly taken the real one’s place with the aid of a Cosmic Cube, Black Widow joined the last line of resistance, the Underground. Having grown tired of their reluctance to take the extreme approach to end Captain America even after his regime had leveled Las Vegas, Natasha left on her own to kill him. While preparing to shoot Captain America with a sniper rifle, she was forced to reveal herself to prevent the Miles Morales Spider-Man from hilling him to prevent the innocent boy from becoming an assassin like her. During the fight, she was struck by Captain America’s shield, which broke her neck and killed her. t was later discovered that a series of clones of the original Black Widow had been produced by the Black Widow Ops Program following her death. They added the current memories of the deceased Natalia Romanova to one such clone while secretly disposing of the bad programming. This clone revealed herself to Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier, and eventually Captain America and the Avengers, but of the world at large still believe her to be dead.

Black Widow has been enhanced by biotechnology that makes her body resistant to aging and disease and heals above the human rate; this also enhances her strength, speed, durability, reflexes, and stamina. The white blood cells in her body are efficient enough to fight off any microbe, or foreign element from her body, keeping her healthy and immune to most, if not all infections, diseases and disorders. Romanova has a gifted intellect. She displays an uncanny affinity for psychological manipulation and can mask her real emotions perfectly. She possesses the ability to quickly process multiple information streams and rapidly respond to changing tactical situations. Black Widow is a world-class athlete, gymnast, acrobat, aerialist capable of numerous complex maneuvers and feats, expert martial artist, marksman, and weapons specialist as well as having extensive espionage training. Black Widow uses a variety of equipment invented by Soviet scientists and technicians, with later improvements by S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists. She usually wears distinctively shaped bracelets which fire the “Widow’s Bite”, electro-static energy blasts that can deliver charges up to 30,000 volts, as well as “Widow’s Line” grappling hooks, tear gas pellets, and an aerosol instant knock-out gas called the “Widow’s Kiss.”

Black Widow is a cool character. I actually enjoy her solo adventures, or those with just one or two other allies, than her times with the Avengers. It’s ironic that she was made one of the founding members in the Marvel Cinematic Universe when her role in the comic has been much smaller, despite leading the team at one point. Her abilities are put to far better use in an espionage capacity than super-heroics. One of Natasha’s most fascinating aspects is her massive array of relationships with other heroes in the Marvel Universe. From the teams she has been associated with such as the Avengers and the Champions, to her work with S.H.I.E.L.D., connection with Wolverine, Invisible Woman, Daredevil Spider-Man, the Thunderbolts and more she is intrinsically linked to the Marvel Universe and a definite ally to have at your back.

#13 – She-Hulk – Jennifer Walters
Joined Avengers #221 (July 1982)
Created by Stan Lee, John Buscema

Jen Walters, shy and lacking in confidence, the cousin of the far-more infamous Bruce Banner, The Incredible Hulk, was the last original character created by Stan Lee for Marvel. A lawyer whose father had some run-ins with crime boss Nicholas Trask, Jen is shot and injured by Trask on the day that her cousin Bruce is in town to tell her that he is the Hulk. Knowing that they share the same blood type and DNA, and being the only person who can save her in time, Bruce gives her a blood transfusion. His gamma-irradiated blood, combined with her anger, transformed Jennifer into the green-skinned She-Hulk when the mobsters tried to finish her off at the hospital. Initially her transformations were triggered by anger like her cousin Bruce, and while her She-Hulk persona was more aggressive, unlike Bruce, Jen retained her core personality and intelligence while in her She-Hulk form. She eventually gained control of her transformations when Michael Morbius cured her of a lethal blood disease.

Eventually, Jennifer decided to remain in her She-Hulk form permanently—preferring the freedom, confidence, and assertiveness that it gave her compared to her more timorous and fragile “normal” form. After her brief solo career, where among other things, she befriended Patsy Walker, Hellcat; she joined the Avengers where she quickly became fast-friends with Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp, and formed a somewhat aggressive and flirtatious rivalry with Hawkeye. Her stint with the Avengers didn’t last that long though, as she was transported by the Beyonder to Battleworld with the rest of the team, and when they returned, she had taken the Thing’s place on the Fantastic Four and began dating Wyatt Wingfoot. She was granted detached membership status by the Avengers for this period. After her stint with the FF, Jen did rejoin the Avengers, shortly after the Masters of Evil’s attack on the mansion. During this tenure with the team, She-Hulk and the other members were influenced by Dr. Druid and his lover, Nebula to make him leader of the team.

During this time, She-Hulk joined the staff of District Attorney Blake Tower, where she met Louise “Weezi” Mason, formerly the Golden Age superheroine called the Blonde Phantom; but she discovered that Mason had manipulated Towers into hiring She-Hulk so that Mason could again star in a comic book and thus avoid dying of old age. Mason’s husband, also a former comic book character, had passed away three years ago, but other, more popular characters from the era, such as Captain America and The Sub Mariner. She also served a brief stint with the team, Fantastic Force, and also with Heroes for Hire while she was dating Luke Cage. Eventually, Jen returned to the Avengers and remained with the team for some time. On one adventure, the She-Hulk was exposed to fellow Avenger Jack of Hearts’ radiation powers, causing her to lose control of the savage side of her personality. She injured several Avengers and went berserk in Bone, Idaho, virtually destroying the whole town. With Jen’s fear and rage at an all-time high the assembled Avengers couldn’t stop her. Only the Hulk himself was able to slow her down until Jack of Hearts was able to use his powers to balance her gamma levels and she regained control over her savage side.

Jennifer’s Avengers status eventually conflicted with her work at the DA’s office, and Tower let her go. She was hired as a lawyer for the Superhuman Law division of the New York firm of Goodman, Lieber, Kirtzberg & Holliway. Her worst fears came true when Scarlet Witch went temporarily insane and used her magic to cause Jen to lose control again. This time, she nearly killed Captain America and tore the Vision in half with her bare hands. Although she had been manipulated, She-Hulk was devastated at her part in the Vision’s death and the destruction of the town of Bone, Idaho. Ashamed, She-Hulk quit the Avengers to resume her law career and spend more time as plain Jennifer Walters. Sometime later, during a charity event, she spotted the newly-rebuilt Vision and promptly sought to make amends with him. They had a brief conversation, where she expressed her regret for what happened, and Vision forgave her. She also told him not to be mad at Wanda. After a brief time with the Future Foundation while the Fantastic Four was lost in space/time, she returned to the Avengers again, helping them during their conflict with the X-Men, and working with the Might Avengers as both legal counsel as well as field agent.

After the second Secret War, when Dr. Doom gained the powers of a God and created an alternate reality on Battleworld, She-Hulk found herself leading a new team of super-heroines called A-Force, with a core membership of Medusa, Nico Minoru, Singularity, Dazzler and Captain Marvel. During the 2016 Civil War II storyline, after the Inhuman Ulysses predicts Thanos’ arrival on Earth, during which the She-Hulk was mortally wounded. When Iron Man learns that they used Ulysses’ precognitive power to ambush Thanos, he vows to make sure that no one uses it again. Before She-Hulk goes into cardiac arrest, she tells Captain Marvel to fight for the future. After Hawkeye was acquitted for shooting and killing Bruce Banner, Captain Marvel visited She-Hulk, who came out of her coma. When She-Hulk angrily demanded to know the verdict of Hawkeye’s trial, Captain Marvel remained silent.

Following Bruce Banner’s funeral, Jennifer Walters left the superhero business and continued to work as a lawyer, where she gained her first client: Maise Brewn, who was an Inhuman descendant. Due to the stress following the fight with Thanos, Jennifer started turning uncontrollably into her version of the Grey Hulk at different intervals. Jennifer helped Maise when she was recovering from the trauma and being evicted by her landlord Mr. Tick. When Maise got impatient with Jennifer and summoned a Fear Golem that killed Mr. Tick and some police officers, Jennifer is nearly killed by it and transforms into the Hulk. She defeated the Fear Golem and prevented Maise from committing suicide when Maise was arrested for reckless endangerment afterwards. Afterwards, Jennifer transformed into the Hulk and met with Hellcat. After changing back, Jennifer told the Hellcat that she was worried over the fact that her grey color could mean that she is like Bruce (since Bruce also had a grey incarnation). Later, Jennifer was watching a live video on the internet when a baker named Oliver turned into a Hulk-like creature on-camera. Jennifer spent several days trying to track him down, eventually confronting him as the Hulk at the Brooklyn Bridge. During the following battle, she lost control of her Hulk persona, almost killing him, though Hellcat managed to calm her down. However, the incident left Jennifer worried about losing control again. With the help of self-help guru Florida Mayer, Jennifer finally comes to terms with Bruce’s death and regains her green She-Hulk form. Currently the She-Hulk has become more Hulk like in appearance, and no longer has access to her full intelligence while in her super-powered form due to an influx of gamma radiation give her by a Celestial. She still serves on the Avengers in this form.

A transfusion of gamma-irradiated blood from her cousin Bruce Banner (the Hulk) granted Jennifer Walters superhuman powers. In her She-Hulk form, she possesses enormous strength, that potentially makes her the physically strongest known woman in the Marvel Universe when her emotional state is sufficiently high. In addition She-Hulk possesses superhuman speed, agility, stamina, and reflexes. She-Hulk received a power upgraded from Eson, the Celestial, and became more powerful than ever before, far surpassing Thor, Captain Marvel and other characters in strength. Thor stated that She-Hulk “could seemingly tear me asunder with her bare hands, if she so desired”. A Cotati Possessed She-Hulk nearly killed the Thing with her bare hands and punched through the Invisible Woman’s force field, without even noticing Susan Richards’ efforts to protect her teammate. She-Hulk’s body is superhumanly durable and nearly impervious to force, pain, and disease: her skin can withstand extremes of temperature, as well as tremendous stresses and impacts without puncture wounds or lacerations. Her enhanced physiology renders her immune to all terrestrial diseases. She-Hulk also possesses a healing factor, which enables her to completely recover, within minutes from impaling. She-Hulk is a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, having been trained by Captain America and Gamora. She is also a skilled and experienced attorney who attended the UCLA Shool of Law, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif, a national merit society for top legal scholars.

For me, She-Hulk is at her best when she retains her intelligence in her super-powered form as well as her assertive, uninhibited nature. While I have to say I think I prefer She-Hulk as a member of the Fantastic Four, her tenure as an Avenger is also usually lots of fun, and her personality meshes well with her teammates, especially Wasp, Hawkeye and Captain America. She has ties throughout the Marvel Universe and is generally well-known and well-liked. I very much look forward to her appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially now that it has been announced that she will be played by Tatiana Maslany.

#12 – Hellcat – Patricia “Patsy” Walker
Joined Avengers #151 (September 1976); originally given probationary status Avengers #148 (February 1976).
Created as Patsy Walker by Stuart Little, Ruth Atkinson; as Hellcat by Steve Englehart, George Perez

Hellcat premiered as the star of a teen romantic-comedy series called Miss America Magazine in 1944, and was later integrated into the Marvel superhero franchises such as the Avengers and the Defenders. Patsy remained popular in her original incarnation until 1967, even appearing in a cameo at the wedding of Reed Richards and Susan Storm in Fantastic Four Annual #3 in 1965. When Steve Englehart was writing a solo feature for the X-Men’s Beast character, he remembered that cameo and introduced her as a supporting character. The Beast’s solo adventures only lasted a few issues, so when Englehart brought him over to the Avengers, he brought Patsy over as well.

After growing up in suburban Centerville, and marrying high-school sweetheart Robert “Buzz” Baxter, Patsy Walker became an assistant to scientist Hank McCoy, the mutant superhero the Beast. Estranged from her husband, now a U.S. Air Force colonel, Walker befriended McCoy, and, desiring to become a superhero, accompanied him on a quest with the Avengers where she adopted an ability-enhancing costume that formerly belonged to Greer Grant Nelson, the former masked adventuress the Cat, and took on the identity of Hellcat. After assisting the Avengers on a mission, she is offered membership on the team, but the cosmic adventurer Moondragon, persuades Hellcat to decline and instead accompany her to Titan for training in psychic ability and advanced martial arts. Walker’s training is soon interrupted when she returns to Earth to assist the supernatural hero Doctor Strange, joining the Defenders in the process.

During her lengthy stint with the Defenders, she became close friends with the Asgardian warrior, Valkyrie. She also met her future husband, Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan, during the course of a quest with the Defenders. After learning that her mother had promised her soul to Satan, she marries Hellstrom. The two then retired from being superheroes. Ultimately, Hellstrom’s demonic inheritance took possession of him and drove Walker insane. Institutionalized, she was driven to suicide by the otherworldly being Deathurge. Trapped in Hell, Walker learned to develop and use her psychic powers. Hellstrom tricked the Avenger Hawkeye into returning her spirit to Earth; by making him believe he is retrieving his presumed-dead wife, Mockingbird. Resurrected and back on Earth, Walker retained the powers she developed in Hell. Once again a member of the Defenders, Hellcat focused on combating occult evils.

During the Superhero Registration Act time, Hellcat registered. She returned to the Avengers, and served as one of the Avengers Academy instructors, and was then assigned as the Avengers 50 State Initiative official superhero for Alaska, but eventually returned to New York City. Hellcat developed and maintained a deep friendship with the superheroes Firestar, Black Cat, and Monica Rambeau, partly stemming from their support of Firestar, who had developed and then survived breast cancer. In New York she Reconnected with Jennifer Walters, aka She-Hulk, and served as her Private Investigator for her work as an independent lawyer for hire. They shared several adventures, and aided the likes of Tigra, Hank Pym, and Captain America.

Hellcat is in possession of a magic cloak that enables her to sense mystical phenomena or deflect mystical attacks. She is able to summon her costume at will. She possesses retractable claws and grappling hooks on her wrists. Patsy is a well-trained martial artist and gymnast, having trained with the Avengers and Moondragon. Through her work with Moondragon and her time in Hell, Patsy also retains low-level psychic abilities.

Hellcat never really spent much time with the Avengers, but through her interactions with various Avengers members, and her general upbeat, positive attitude, she would be a great addition to the team. I would love to see this currently storyline wrap-up and a new writer take over the title and move it in a different direction. It would be a lot of fun to see Patsy spend some time with the team and develop stronger relationships with them. I know she is going to be featured in the new Iron Man comic, which will definitely be enough to get me to check it out.

#11 – Tigra – Greer Grant Nelson
Joined Avengers #211 (September 1981); Founding West Coast Avenger
Created as The Cat by Roy Thomas, Wally Wood; as Tigra by Tony Isabella, Don Perlin

Tigra (Greer Grant Nelson) was introduced as the non-superpowered crime fighter the Cat, in The Claws of the Cat #1 (November 1972). She was launched alongside Night Nurse and Shanna the She-Devil as part of a trio of comics to appeal to girls. The Claws of the Cat only lasted 4 issues, and a couple of years later, Greer mutated into the super powered tiger-woman, Tigra, in Giant-Size Creatures #1 (July 1974).

Chicago native, Greer Grant, was a sophomore in college when she met her future husband, policeman Bill Nelson. She left college to marry him. Bill was tragically killed in an off-duty shooting, and Greer had to find a job of her own. After weeks of searching, she ran into her old physics professor, Dr. Joanne Tumulo, who was working on the human potential experiments that turned Shirlee Bryant into the super powered villainess called the Cat. Greer persuaded Dr. Tumulo to let her undergo the experimental treatments as well. She emerged with superhuman physical and mental capabilities, and she embarked on a brief crimefighting career as the Cat. Unbeknownst to Greer, Tumolo was a member of the Cat People, a race of humanoids magically evolved from cats in Europe during the Middle Ages. Agents of the criminal organization called Hydra learned about the Cat People, and Tumolo, and abducted her to learn more. The Cat pursued Hydra, but during the confrontation managed to shoot her with “alpha radiation.” To save Greer’s life, Tumolo and the Cat People mystically transformed her into the legendary half-human, half-cat warrior they called the Tigra. As Tigra, Greer helped the Cat People defeat the Hydra agents.

Although she was able to use a Cat’s-Head Amulet to change back to her human form, Greer became so accustomed to and enamored of her feline form that she seldom made the transformation. Moving from Chicago, she became a full-time adventurer, encountering and defeating such menaces as the Rat Pack led by the Super Skrull, Kraven the Hunter, and Tabur. She also briefly worked with Red Wolf, the Thing, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four.

When the Avengers found themselves shorthanded, Moondragon used her mental powers to compel a dozen unaffiliated heroes (apparently selected at random) to travel to Avengers Mansion and audition for the vacant position. Though he disapproved of Moondragon’s methods, Captain America offered Tigra a spot on the team. Although Tigra’s first tenure with the Avengers was brief, she served well. Her time with the Avengers was highlighted by her saving the world from destruction by the Molecule Man single-handed. Alone among the Avengers, she was able to get close enough to him to talk him out of his plan. She convinced him to seek help from a therapist and the Molecule Man has ceased to be a threat to this day. The Avengers also fought the Ghost Rider, who blasted the team with his terror-inducing hellfire. The nature of Tigra’s powers caused her to be affected by the exposure on a far deeper level than her teammates. She was left with great self-doubts about her qualifications as a member of Earth’s premier superhero team, particularly alongside such heavy-hitters as Thor an Iron Man. Ultimately she resigned her membership, leaving the team on good terms.

Moving to San Francisco, she became friends with Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman, and even aided Jessica’s resurrection when she had become a ghost detached from her body by a plan by Morgan Le Fey, and even reuniting briefly with the Avengers to do so. Months later, when Hawkeye moved to Los Angeles to form a West Coast branch of the Avengers, she was invited to join. She made a staunch addition to the team, despite the fact that the human and feline sides of her personality had become at odds with one another, causing her behavior to become somewhat erratic. Because of her catlike need for attention, she became involved with teammates Henry Pym and Wonder Man at the same time. The ultimate solution to her discordant nature presented itself when she and the Avengers journeyed to the magical dimension where the parent tribe of the Cat People lived. The ruler of the Cat People offered to magically cure her of her split personality if she would kill Master Pandemonium,, a demonic human being whom the Cat People feared and hated. Although Tigra agreed, she could not bring herself to violate the Avengers’ code against killing when she had the opportunity to do so. Despite this, the Cat People eventually gave Greer’s personality dominance so she could control her feline urges. After a lengthy stint with the West Coast Avengers, Tigra eventually left the planet with Starfox to embark on an adventure of hedonistic pleasure. This proved to be less pleasurable than she’d originally thought and she was grateful when Moondragon showed up and asked her to join a small group of Avengers to investigate a cosmic threat. After successfully defeating the Infinites, Greer returned to Earth.

Tigra fought on Iron Man’s side during the Civil War, fully supporting Stark’s Registration Act, although she expressed concern about the fate of Captain America and the other heroes who opposed the Act and turned fugitive. Nonetheless, Tigra registered to comply with the law and also, as having become an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., to actively aid in its enforcement. Pretending to switch allegiances, she successfully infiltrated Captain America’s Secret Avengers team as a mole and passed information to Iron Man for more than a week before being discovered by Black Panther. Captain America exploited her presence to feed disinformation to Iron Man about his team’s strategy for the final push later that day. She again believed she had become involved in a romantic relationship with fellow superhero Yellowjacket, however, at the climax of the Skrull Invasion, she discovered her relationship was not with the true Hank Pym, but rather with his Skrull replacement, had become pregnant with the imposter’s child. Henry Pym founded the Avengers Academy and had Tigra join as a teacher. He inspected her baby after his birth, and let Tigra know that he had no traces of Skrull DNA, figuring that his Skrull impostor had copied him down to the genetic level. Tigra asked Hank to act as the boy’s father if something were to happen to her. Most recently, Greer introduced her son William, to the new Wasp, Nadia Van Dyne, daughter of Hank Pym and his first wife. The two bonded famously, which thrilled Greer to no end.

Tigra’s powers are the result of a combination of science, magic, and mental energy. Her physical appearance is distinctly cat-like. A thick, sleek coat of orange fur with black stripes covers her entire body. She has pointed ears, sharper-than-normal teeth with pronounced upper and lower canines, eyes with enlarged irises and vertically slitted pupils, and retractable claws on her feet and hands instead of nails. Her claws and teeth are sufficiently strong to puncture sheet steel, such as that found in a car body. Tigra also has a long semi-prehensile tail, and can willfully contact (but not grasp and lift) objects with it. Tigra’s feline physiology grants her various superhuman attributes including superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, and resistance to physical injury. If she is injured, her physiology enables her to heal much faster and more extensively than an ordinary human.

Tigra’s senses of sight, smell, and hearing extend far into the superhuman range and are also superior to those of ordinary cats. Tigra can see farther, and with much greater clarity, than an ordinary human. She has this same level of clarity at night, and her vision also extends slightly into the infrared spectrum, allowing her to see in complete darkness. Her hearing is similarly enhanced, allowing her to hear a wider range of frequencies than a normal human as well as clearly hear sounds that would be far too faint for a human to detect. Exposure to intense, high-frequency sound is far more painful for Tigra than a normal human. Tigra’s sense of smell is developed to the point that she can recognize a person by scent alone, and track an individual across great distances and through complex environments. She can also sense changes in a person’s mood through changes in their scent. Thick pads on her feet, combined with her natural grace, allow her to move in almost complete silence.

Greer received a form of empathic ability when she became the Cat. She retains this ability as Tigra. With careful concentration, she can sense the emotions of others within her immediate proximity. Tigra is an experienced and formidable hand-to-hand combatant, with a unique fighting style that exploits her feline speed, agility, senses, and instincts. She is a superhumanly adept athlete and gymnast. Like all Avengers of her generation, she has sparred and trained extensively with Steve Rogers, the original Captain America. She is also a capable leader and pilot, qualified to operate Avengers aircraft as well as interstellar spacecraft. While working undercover in human guise, Tigra attended the New York Police Academy to investigate the decade-old murder of her husband Bill Nelson. After bringing the murderers to justice, she completed her training under her Greer Grant Nelson identity. While she does not serve as an active-duty police officer, she retains legal authority under both her civilian and super-powered identities and unofficial ties to the police community. Tigra possesses mystical abilities that have largely gone unexplored. When Dr. Strange abdicated his position as Sorcerer Supreme, the Eye of Agamotto created a vision showing the many mystic beings who were potentially worthy and/or capable of assuming the title. An image of Tigra was included in this vision.

While Tigra has gotten a lot of play over the years, she’s not usually in a featured role, and is often used for humor, as when she was succumbing to her cat-like nature. My favorite portrayal of Greer’s was just after she became Tigra, and was fighting the Rat Pack, Super Skrull and Kraven. She was much more serious, and competent; confident in her abilities and a dangerous opponent. I would love to see her back on the Avengers with that kind of attitude; more the temperament of the ferocious big cats, and less the playfulness of the sex kitten, which some writers lazily fall back on.

What’s going on here? Four guys and only one woman on this section of the list? As we enter my Top 20 Avengers, that is absolutely true! I do like a lot of guy Avengers… but we’ll see how far up the males make their presence known. We’ve got three classics in this segment — as in three members who join in the 60’s. Then a couple who became members in the 90’s. Three characters who have familial ties show up here as well. And all but one have live-action counterparts in the movies or television!

#20. Quasar – Wendell Vaughn
Joined Avengers #305 (July 1989); probationary status: Avengers Annual #18 (1989)
Creators: Don Glut, Roy Thomas, John Buscema

Wendell Vaughn was a young man from Wisconsin, who graduated from S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy but was deemed lacking the “killer instinct” that would have enabled him to be a successful field agent. Instead he was assigned routine guard duty to protect a pair of “quantum bands” taken from the deceased Crusader, who perished when the energy output from the bands reached a critical mass beyond his control.  Vaughn dons the quantum bands when the criminal organization A.I.M. launch a full-scale assault n the facility to steam them. Using the bands’ power, he repulses the attack. When the energy buildup begins to overwhelm him, he decides to simply relax and “go with the flow.” To his surprise, the buildup abruptly dissipates. Vaughn realizes the key to wielding the bands is a flexible will, rather than an indomitable, uncompromising one. Ultimately, his lack of a killer instinct makes him a more suitable wielder of the bands.

Wendell received additional training from S.H.I.E.L.D. as Marvel Boy before working with Captain America, The Thing, and getting a job for the scientific facility, Project Pegasus and evolving into the hero Quasar. After a disappointing adventure in which Wendell succumbed to the Serpent Crown, Wendell gave up his heroic life, until his father convinced him to take a cosmic sojourn to explore the origin of the quantum bands. After a four year journey in a cryogenic sleep, Wendell emerged in the former home of the Uranian Eternals where he learned form the cosmic entity Eon that the quantum bands were made to assist the Protector of the Universe in his mission. That Protector, Captain Mar-Vell had died of cancer, and Eon determined that Wendell possessed the qualities needed to become Mar-Vell’s successor as the new Protector of the Universe.

Many of Quasar’s subsequent adventures revolved around cosmic threats the the potential for the the destruction of the Universe. Quasar joined the Avengers during one such adventure, which led to his membership, and eventually to the team’s involvement in a developing war between two galactic empire, the Kree and the Shi’ar. As the conflict escalated, a powerful bomb was created that threatened to destroy the Sun, and hence all -life on earth. Quasar’s quantum powered bands enabled two teams of Avengers to jump to the respective homeworlds of the warring empires. Convinced by the Avengers, Empress Lilandra of the Shi’ar decided not to use the bomb and attempted a diplomatic settlement with the Kree. However, the Skrulls, ancient enemies of the Kree, stole the bomb and successfully detonated it in the Kree Empire, killing over 90% of the populations of thousands of worlds. Upon reaching Hala, the Kree homeworld, the Avengers discovered that the decimation of the Kree Empire had been planned from the beginning by the Kree leader, the Supreme Intelligence. Divided on how to deal with him, a group of Avengers led by Iron Man went to kill him. The other group led by Captain America, and including Quasar, could not condone the murder. This caused Quasar to leave the team.

Quasar has worked with the Avengers subsequently, notably when Morgan Le Fay transformed reality to a medieval kingdom that she ruled. Quasar was one of the the handful of Avengers who heard the Scarlet Witch’s call, a call heard only those who possessed the ‘Avengers spirit.’ Quasar later joined the Avengers Infinity team, made up of Thor, Photon, Tigra, Starfox, and Moondragon, once again saving all life in the universe from a cosmic threat. After so many cosmic threats threatened to destroy the earth, the Avengers set up a base in the Asteroid Belt, as something of an early warning signal against potential threats. Quasar was stationed at this base and shared his guard duties with various Avengers. Quasar has also become increasingly involved in other cosmic adventures through the Annihilation series of stories linking most of Marvel’s cosmic characters.

Some readers found Wendell’s clean-cut, midwestern boy attitude somewhat boring, but i found it refreshing in a time where heroes began to develop attitudes during the 90’s and early 2000’s. Wendell always looked up to Captain America, and had a strong moral core. His wide-eyed, slight naïveté was offset by this powerful sense of duty and incredible cosmic power. Quasar has died more than once, and his body now made entirely of quantum energy, making him essentially immortal. As a being of pure quantum energy, he can shape his “body” into any shape he can imagine, explosively disperse his form, though he can tire if he overuses his powers. His quantum bands can draw upon quantum energy for a number of effects such as creating various kinds of constructs, shields, interstellar flight and a form of teleportation he calls quantum jumping. The bands are able to control energies of the electromagnetic spectrum to a high degree. He is able to project and absorb any variety from radio waves to light to gamma radiation. Quasar will often attempt to contain an enemy or potential threat before resorting to combat.

Quasar hasn’t been active with the Avengers for a while, and as I’m not a fan of the current team, and really haven’t been that interested for several years, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It might be nice to see him join the Guardians of the Galaxy for a while, and give him some exposure. He basically just shows up for major cosmic epics nowadays.

#19. Captain America – Steven Rogers
Joined Avengers #4 (March 1964)
Creators: Joe Simon, Jack Kirby

Everyone knows who Captain America is… especially since Marvel took over the movies. Young kid volunteers to take part in a government experiment, allowing himself to be inject with a super-soldier serum, giving him the peak strength and endurance of a human male. He becomes the nation’s symbol in the battle against the Nazi’s in World War II until he disappears for decades. Believed to be dead, Captain American is actually frozen in a glacier in the Arctic, and is found by the Sub Mariner, from the City of Atlantis, and rescued by the incipient Avengers, only recently formed, comprised of Thor, Iron Man, Giant Man and the Wasp (the Hulk had already left the team by this point). From that point on, Captain American becomes synonymous with the Avengers, becoming a mainstay on the team for almost all of the iterations to follow.

As a paragon of moral and ethical guidance, Captain America brings so much more to the team than his combat skills. From his inspiring motivational presence, to his tactical skills, there is no better leader for a team of super-powered, strong-willed individual. Much of Cap’s time with the team is spent as a leader, but he’s a great coach and mentor as well, and when he has been on the team, but not acting as leader, he is eminently supportive, as in the case of The Wasp or Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau). He is courageous, but careful in his planning. He doesn’t back down from anything, but he is mindful of the members of his team. And while it sounds like he’s the perfect man, there are plenty of times when he messes up, and he just gets back up and keeps going. He earns the respect of his peers more than any other character I can think of and the relationships he develops are complex and powerful.

Some of the best and most interesting relationships Steve has developed over time include Hawkeye, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch (although not during that very brief time where they dated), Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau), The Wasp, Sersi (loved how she tried to get under his skin with her flirting). In fact, some of the best relationships are the ones that push him and test him. I never enjoyed Captain America more than when he was dating Diamondback (Rachel Leighton) a reformed jewel thief and former-member of the Serpent Society.. Steve truly cared for Rachel, and she got him to lighten up a bit, and working with him made her a better person. I’ve also often likened the Invisible Woman to Captain America. It’s no surprise that in the first Civil War which pit Cap against Iron Man around superhero registration, Susan Richards took Cap’s side against her own husband, Reed. She, like Cap, has a strong moral sense of what is right and wrong, and I always wanted to see the two of them to interact more as they seem so simpatico. I was pleased to see Susan included as a member of the Daughters of Liberty, a team of women led by Agent 13, Sharon Carter, to help Captain America clear his name.

That’s all I have to say about Captain America. What more really needs to be said? He’s the ultimate Avenger, and the team often falters when he’s not there to keep them on track.

#18. Quicksilver – Pietro Maximoff
Joined Avengers #16 (May 1965)
Creators: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

Quicksilver has been around a long time, and is intertwined with so much of the Marvel Universe. Twin to the Scarlet Witch, son to Magneto, husband to Crystal, half-brother to Polaris, he was created as a villain for the X-Men, he has been a long-term Avenger, he married into the Inhumans, which got him caught up with the Fantastic Four. He has been a member of X-Factor. He has been a hero, a madman, a villain, a mutant, a human, and an Inhuman. He’s quite the complex character. Never warm and fuzzy, often arrogant and prejudiced, occasionally insane and evil. He’s also a father. Consequently, he has one of the most convoluted, ever-evolving backgrounds in comics.

Pietro Maximoff. and his twin sister, Wanda, were raised by Django and Marya Maximoff, a Roma couple. As adolescents, Pietro and his sister Wanda discovered that they had peculiar talents. When Django began to steal food to feed his starving family, enraged villagers attacked the Roma camp. Using his phenomenal speed, Pietro fled from the camp with his sister. Over the next few years, Wanda and Pietro wandered Central Europe, living off the land before being found by Magneto and inducted into the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, coming into conflict with the X-Men. They believed themselves to be mutants and felt they owed Magneto for helping them, but after a small series of misadventures with that band, they decided to reform, the opportunity which came about when the Avengers put out a call for new members, and they were successfully accepted onto the team.

Quicksilver served a long, distinguished career with the Avengers, despite his over-protectiveness of his sister, and his overbearing arrogance towards his teammates, and his irritability in general. Peter David, who did a lot of work developing Pietro’s character during his tenures with X-Factor, explains it as a result of his superhuman powers:

“Have you ever stood in the post office behind a woman with 20 packages who wants to know every single way she can send them to Africa? It drives you nuts! You think to yourself, ‘Why do I have to put up with this? These people are so slow, they’re costing me time, and it’s so damned irritating. I wish I didn’t have to put up with this.’ Now—imagine that the entire world was like that… except for you. … to Quicksilver, the rest of the world is moving in slow motion. That must really, really get on your nerves. Quicksilver lives in a world filled with people who don’t know how to use cash machines, and want to know all the ways to send packages to Africa, and can never get your order right in a Burger King unless you repeat it several times. That would tend to make you feel very superior to everyone and very impatient with everyone.”

As a result of his rather strong personality, writers tend to drive him to extremes. At one point, after being injured during a battle between the Avengers and the Sentinels, he is found dying in the rubble by Crystal, of the Royal Family of the Inhumans and her teleporting dog, Lockjaw. She brought him back to her homeland of Attilan, and nursed him back to health, where the two fell in love and eventually wed. During his time with the Inhumans, two significant events occurred. Wanda had fallen in love and married her fellow Avengers, the android, Vision. Through magic, she was able to create a pregnancy that yielded twin boys. While Pietro and Crystal were visiting Wanda and his new nephews, they also received a visit from Magneto, who revealed to them that he had learned that the twins here his children with the mysterious woman Magda, who had fled to Mt. Wundagore, delivered by Bova, a evolved cow and colleague to the High Evolutionary, and given to the Maximoff’s to raise as their own. Shortly after that, Black Bolt’s bother Maximus the Mad used technology to cause Quicksilver to become psychotic. This put him into conflict with both the Avengers, and the West coast Avengers, before the Inhumans managed to rescue him and cure him. He didn’t remain with his adopted family as his relationship with his wife had become quite strained over the years, and after helping the Avengers rescue his sister from a traumatic mental breakdown, he joined the the U.S. government-sponsored superhero team X-Factor.

During this time, X-Factor author Peter David did some significant, psychological development with Quicksilver, reconciling his heroic and arrogant sides nicely. It was also during this time that he was reunited with his estranged wife, Crystal, then an Avenger herself, only to find that she had developed romantic feelings for her teammate, the Black Knight. Pietro left her and X-Factor and spent some time with his daughter, Luna.

Quicksilver played a pivotal role in the limited series, House of M, convincing his then mentally unstable sister Wanda to use her abilities to warp reality and create a world where mutants are in a majority and humans are the minority. Things went horribly wrong and after Magneto crushed Pietro, killing him in battle, Wanda snapped completely, and used her reality-warping powers to reset the world, resurrect Quicksilver, and remove the powers of 98% of the mutant population, including, inadvertently, her brothers. This set Pietro off on the next disastrous chapter in his life, where, in a desperate move to regain his powers, he stole the sacred Terrigen Crystals that granted abilities to Inhumans, in the hopes that it would also restore the abilities of mutants. He did indeed gain new “time jumping” powers and kidnapped his daughter Luna. Quicksilver discovered the crystals can restore mutant abilities but they had an extreme effect on non-Inhuman physiology, causing several deaths. When the Inhumans apprehended him, and Crystal saw how the crystals had affected him, she had their marriage annulled according to Inhuman law. In the book X-Factor, Rictor was able to remove the shards of Terrigen crystals from Pietro’s body, leaving him powerless again, and subsequently jailed and destitute. During his lowest point, he inexplicably regained his powers, and in saving an innocent, rededicated his life to the heroic.

Quicksilver then found himself with the Avengers once more, in a desperate attempt to find his sister who had been missing since the events during House of M. During this time he lied to the press that he had been one of several heroes abducted by shape-shifting Skrulls and held captive for several years, in order to explain his villainous actions. While a handful of Avengers were aware of this deception, they let it lie in order for Pietro to try to redeem himself. His daughter Luna was less forgiving and cut ties with her father. The Avengers were fortunate enough to reconnect with a mentally restored Wanda and the siblings were reunited. In the most recent twist in their already confusing origins, Wanda and Pietro found themselves in conflict with Magneto. Wanda cast a curse that would affect all blood-relations, and only Pietro was affected, revealing that in fact, Magneto was not the twins father. They learned from the High Evolutionary that they were actually the long thought deceased children of Django and Marya Maximoff. He also told them that they were not mutants at all, but had been experimented on by the High Evolutionary, which caused them to manifest their powers. Despite one more major disagreement that saw Wanda and Pietro part ways again, the two have since reconciled, and Quicksilver retains his Avengers membership.

Quicksilver was originally presented as a mutant able to move and think at superhuman speeds. Originally capable of running at the speed of sound, exposure to the High Evolutionary’s Isotope E made it possible for the character to run at supersonic speeds of up to Mach 10 and resist the effects of friction, reduced oxygen, and kinetic impact while moving at super-speeds. It was later revealed that he actually was a normal child that was put through several experiments by the High Evolutionary which granted his powers in the first place.

My two favorites types of characters in superhero comics, and the morally and ethically pure characters, like Quasar, Captain America, and the Invisible Woman, followed very closely by those characters who struggle with character flaws, constantly trying to overcome them to do good. It is this character that Quicksilver falls under. As already mentioned, Pietro is over-protective, arrogant, irritable, impatient, and all-around unpleasant. but at his heart, he wants to do good; he wants to be a hero. His association with the Avengers is never boring, and is always lively. Honestly, I also love to see him as a member of X-Factor, where he has undergone so much positive character development. It’s only when writers get lazy and start writing him as a type rather than a person, that he becomes less interesting. Most of all, I hope to see his new, matured relationship with Wanda get some exploration, but something tells me that things will slip back to the old habits pretty soon.

#17. Crystal – Crystalia Amaquelin Maximoff
Joined Avengers #343 (January 1992); probationary status: Avengers #336 (August 1991)
Creators: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

Crystal, like her former husband, Quicksilver, is a very well-connected character. She made her first appearance (alongside her fellow Inhumans) in the Fantastic Four, as a love interest for the Human Torch. Their tragic romance found some semblance of happiness when Crystal joined the team to fill in while The Invisible Woman was pregnant with her first child, Franklin. Shortly after Sue’s return, however, Crystal became quite ill and it was discovered that her system could not handle the pollutants of modern-day society after growing up in the Inhuman’s homeland of Atillan. After leaving Johnny using her teleporting dog, Lockjaw, she stumbled across Quicksilver, who was dying from injuries sustained in a battle with a Sentinel. She brought him to her home with the Inhumans, and while nursing him back to health, she fell in love with him, much to the chagrin of the Human Torch. Crystal and Quicksilver eventually marry, and have a daughter named Luna. During their time as a couple, Crystal begins spending time with her sister-in-law, Wanda, who had recently married the android Avenger known as the Vision. Wanda and Vision tried to live a normal life in the suburbs of New Jersey, and during that time, Crystal embarked on a romantic affair with one of their neighbors, Norm Webster. At the time this behavior was explained as a result of her mistreatment at Quicksilver’s hands, but it was later revealed to be the result of Maximus the Mad’s mental tampering of the couple’s minds. While Quicksilver spent time with the mutant team, X-Factor, Crystal returned for a time to the Fantastic Four.

After returning to Atillan, the Inhumans were attacked by an alien race, The Brethren. Crystal reached out to the Avengers for assistance, and shortly thereafter, she joined the team. Crystal acquitted herself quite well on the team, becoming a valuable member in combat during some major storylines such as Operation: Galactic Storm, The Gatherers Storyline, and a Bloodties cross-over with the X-Men. During her tenure with the Avengers, she developed an attraction with teammate Dane Whitman, the Black Knight. This relationship was complicated by a contrite Pietro trying to fix their marriage, and the available and aggressive Sersi pursuing Dane at the same time. Crystal recommitted to Pietro when he returned to the Avengers and Dane and Sersi were soon transported to another universe, ending their thoughts of an affair. After the disastrous outcome of the battle with Onslaught, Crystal was among the Avengers who disappeared for a year to an alternate reality created by Franklin Richards. Upon their return, she helped the Avengers reassemble then returned to Attilan, where she remained beside the Royal Family, raising Luna. During that time she once again became estranged from Quicksilver.

Since that time, Crystal has spent most of her time involved with Inhuman affairs. They became embroiled in a major War involving their creators, the Kree that found Crystal participating in a political marriage with Ronan the Accuser. Returning to Earth, the Inhumans’ Terrigen mists, the source of their Inhuman powers, were released into Earth’s atmosphere as a huge cloud that moved across the Globe. Crystal became a diplomat, leading a small team of Inhumans to the places affected by the cloud, aiding the Inhumans that emerged in those locations due to its appearance. Recently, the Inhumans were taken out of rotation in Marvel, and I am waiting for them to return sometime in the future.

Crystal has a great power set that adds a lot to any team she appears on. Crystal possesses the ability to mentally manipulate the four classical elements: fire, water, earth, and air. Her psionic powers are a result of exposure to the Terrigen Mists, which coupled with genetic engineering of the Inhumans by the Kree in the distant past, grant Inhumans abilities beyond the capabilities of an ordinary Inhuman that are unique to each individual. Crystal can control oxygen atoms and oxygen-containing molecules to create atmospheric disturbances of various kinds. By intermingling air with earth she can cause a dust storm, air with water a typhoon, and air with fire a firestorm. She is able to create a wind of tornado intensity, approximately 115 miles per hour. Crystal can control the various substances that make up common bedrock (earth: iron, granite, shale, limestone, etc.), creating seismic tremors by causing a sudden shifting of the earth. Crystal possesses the psionic ability to manipulate fire, cause it to grow in size and intensity, and take any form that she desires. She can also douse any oxidizing flame by altering the ionization potential of the outer electron shells of oxygen atoms. By accelerating oxygen molecules in the air, she is able to cause fire to spontaneously ignite. Further, Crystal can control the movement of water divining water from the ground, and causing it to flow in designated directions. She is able to instantly freeze water to create ice blasts. She can also cause hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the air to recombine and form water molecules. This allows her to spontaneously create water, even in a dry environment, provided oxygen and hydrogen are present.

For me, Crystal works best with the Inhumans; earned her chops nicely with the Fantastic Four, and while intriguing, has been least successful as a member of the Avengers. I blame that largely on Bob Harras, the man who wrote most of Crystal’s time on the team. He used her more as one-side of a romantic, soap-operatic triangle… and one that was not very well-done. I appreciate that he showed her as one of the team’s powerhouses, but her history was already tangled enough with relationships and her attraction to the Black Knight just seemed like a tactic to convince the reader that he was a brooding, stud that all the women fell for. Crystal deserved better. I’d love to her see serve another term on the Avengers sometime, where she could really stand on her own, and not be involved in silly romantic escapades.

#16. Vision
Joined Avengers #58 (November 1968)
Creators: Roy Thomas, Stan Lee, John Buscema

The Vision was tough to place on my list. Throughout the 70’s and 80’s, I’d have to say Vision was one of my favorite Avengers and probably would have at minimum made the Top 10 back then. Then John Byrne came along in 1989 and completely destroyed the character (literally) and he has never been able to capture my attention again, except for one exemplary 12-issue-limited series in 2016 by Tom King. More work like that on the character, and he will probably be able to get back into my Top 10.

In the late 60’s Stan Lee wanted to introduce a new Avenger, and he was leaning toward the Golden-Age Vision. Roy Thomas, who was writing the Avengers at the time, really wanted to introduce an android into the team, so they compromised and created a new character who was an android called the Vision. Created by the mad robot, Ultron (who was itself created by the Avenger, Hank Pym) Vision was created to infiltrate and destroy the Avengers. His body was created from the android body of the original Human Torch, and his brain patterns were based on those of Simon Williams, Wonder Man, who had sacrificed his life to save the Avengers after becoming a member of the Master of Evil to destroy them. The Vision first encountered The Wasp, and battled with her, but before he could seriously harm her, he stopped himself, and collapsed. He very quickly turned against his creator and followed the heroic path alongside the Avengers.

Roy Thomas wanted to develop a long-term storyline of the Vision’s quest to become human, and as part of the quest, he developed a slow-burning romance between the android-Avenger and the Scarlet Witch. This fan-favorite storyline simmered for years, reaching a number of pinnacles, most notably during the Kree-Skrull War when the Vision loses his cool nearly killing a Skrull as he tries to find the kidnapped Wanda, and then a breakthrough moment, when Vision offers Wanda his love after she is distraught over her brother Quicksilver’s disappearance. The two then embarked on a tempestuous romance, largely from external forces: bigoted humanity’s opposition to the love between a synthetic man and a mutant — an opposition that included Wanda’s twin brother Pietro — and the romantic attentions of fellow Avenger, Mantis who became interested in the Vision. Yet the two persevered, married, and even eventually bore twin children, created by magic. Throughout the 70’s and 80’s, the Vision/Wanda romance was a highlight of Avengers life.

A major storyline saw a crystal that governed much of the Vision’s higher level thinking malfunction and become corrupted by Isaac, an artificial intelligence used by the Titans on the moon os Saturn. Due to this malfunction, the Vision connected himself to all electronic and computer systems across the world, slowly taking then over in efforts to enforce world peace by taking over all defense systems and create a utopia. The malfunction was eventually corrected, and The Vision relinquished control of the world’s systems, let himself be interrogated by the government, and eventually forced to leave the Avengers and live as private citizens to focus on their family life.

Then John Byrne took over the Avengers West Coast, and in an effort to shake things up he basically tore Vision and Wanda apart in the most horrific way, and the two characters are still feeling the ramifications of these actions today; and sadly their characters have never fully recovered. Focusing on the Vision (Wanda will get her own entry further up the list), a rogue government group, being influenced by the time-traveling Immortus, captured and completely dismantled the Vision to his component parts, traumatizing Wanda. To make matters worse, although Hank Pym was able to reconstruct Vision’s body, Simon Williams now a member of the team, and himself in love with Wanda, would not allow his brain patterns to be used again to provide a matrix for the Vision’s emotions, as he felt the original process had “ripped out his soul” and been done without his consent. Although his love for Wanda led him to feel guilt, he attempted to justify his actions by claiming that the Vision was never anything more than a copy of him. This, along with damage to the Vision’s synthetic skin when he was dismantled, resulted in his resurrection as a colorless, emotionless synthezoid. For years after that, Wanda tried to reconnect with the Vision, to little or no effect, and ultimately, after her own traumatic breakdowns, the two tried to move on. Occasionally writers will show small glimmers of their love still in evidence, but little has come of it. Still they share a bond, even as they both try to move on with their lives.

Since that, the Vision never really settled into a steady role with the Avengers. Despite intermittent periods where he would recover his emotions, he was often portrayed as much more mechanical, a sophisticated robot, than a synthetic man. His body was often destroyed, only to be rebuilt again, further underscoring his inhumanity. When Tom King wrote the Vision limited series in 2016, he created a story that was compelling, focused on real next steps in the characters evolution, and was full of tragedy and humanity. It also gave Vision a family, a wife and two children, of which only a daughter Viv Vision, survived. Since the completion of that storyline, however, Vision doesn’t get much attention, even in the Avengers, where he is still active as a member. Modern comics don’t spend much time on character development though, so not much changes.

The Vision is one of the most powerful Avengers due to the abilities given him by Ultron. Vision is described as being “every inch a human being—except that all of his bodily organs are constructed of synthetic materials.” (This seems to be proven wrong with Byrne’s visual depiction of his dismantled form). The Solar Jewel on Vision’s forehead absorbs ambient solar energy to provide the power needed for him to function, and he is also capable of discharging this energy as optic beams; with this, he can fire beams of infrared and microwave radiation. By interfacing with an unknown dimension to which he can shunt and from which he can accrue mass, thus becoming either intangible or extraordinarily massive, Vision can change his density, which at its lowest allows flight and a ghostly, phasing intangibility, and at its heaviest, a density ten times greater than that of depleted uranium, which gives him superhuman strength, immovability, and a diamond-hard near invulnerability. One of his signature attacks finds him thrusting an intangible hand into an appointment, then partially solidifying it, a process he describes as “physical disruption.” This effect typically causes great pain and results in incapacitation. Being an artificial life-form/android of sorts, Vision has superhuman senses, superhuman stamina, reflexes, speed, agility, strength (even without being at high density), superhuman analytical capabilities, and the ability to process information and make calculations with superhuman speed and accuracy. Due to recent upgrades, the Vision’s body is now formed from millions of nanobots that allow him to split himself into smaller parts and change shape.

I feel Vision truly suffered from his initial dismantling by John Byrne. Once he was seen, reduced to his component, mechanical parts, strewn out across a few laboratory tables in a stark two-page spread drawn by Byrne, it was difficult to ever think of him again as a man. In addition his lengthy emotionless period drove him further into a robotic arena and his subsequent destructions just kept underscoring his artificial nature. While Roy Thomas carefully and slowly developed a riveting, years-long storyline about a synthetic man trying to become human, Byrne and many of those who followed, decided to focus on his inhumanity. Thankfully, Tom King did some healing work to set him on the right track again. Hopefully that track will continue in the future.

Back in what I consider the Avengers hey-day, in the 70’s and early 80’s, when George Perez earned his chops and grand sagas rather than events were the driving force of this great comic, the Avengers were like a professional organization. The Fantastic Four was a family the X-Men were students drawn together by shared circumstance. The Avengers was a world-saving organization. Called together by a need to protect the world against dangers that were too much for anyone hero to stand against alone. They had probationary members, substitute members, reserve members, housing if needed, a stipend if needed, all bankrolled by millionaire, Tony Stark, who also happened to be a founding member of the Avengers, Iron Man. You had to earn your place at the table… at least for a while. Things started to loosen up and the ranks started to really swell, until the Brian Michael Bendis and subsequent writers got a hold of the team and just decided that basically every superhero should be an Avengers when needed.

It should come as no surprise that most of my favorite Avengers will be superheroines, but down here in the 20’s you’ll see a lot of guys. I tried to rank these characters on their tenure as Avengers, not on how much I enjoyed them as a comic character generally.

#25. Beast – Dr. Henry Philip “Hank” McCoy
Joined Avengers: Avengers #151 (September 1976); joined as probationary member in Avengers #137 (July 1975)
Creators: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Beast is a rather interesting case for being one of my favorite Avengers, because most people think of him as an X-Man, which he is, a mutant, and one of the founders, but he also had a celebrated and lengthy tenure as an Avenger. (He spent quite a bit of time with the Defenders as well). As an X-Man, Beast never really did all that much for me. I didn’t dislike him, but nothing really enamored me of him. As an Avenger, I found him to be a much needed source of light-heartedness that interacted really well with some of the more serious members. Yet his beastly appearance, and his jovial nature also hid the brilliant scientist that he was which often made him overlooked.

Unlike most mutants, Henry showed signs of mutation from birth: unusually large hands and feet, coupled with unusual strength and agility. Hank was also endowed with an innate superhuman intellect and during adolescence further increased his powers of simian-like augmented agility, reflexes, and strength. He was recruited by Professor Xavier to attend his School for Gifted Youngsters, and trained to become an X-Man. When he entered his twenties, he left the team and sought a career as a renown geneticist and biochemist. While working for the Brand Corporation, he developed a formula caused him to undergo radical, physical changes. Hank grew blue fur over his entire body, his muscles expanded, ears became larger and pointed, claws sprouted, and his canine teeth became larger, resembling fangs. The serum further increased his superhuman agility, endurance, speed, and strength, as well as enhanced his senses For a time, Hank struggled with his new appearance, desperate to find a way to reclaim his humanity, but over time he learned that his outward appearance wasn’t a hindrance to him, and in fact, it brought him a great deal of appeal.

After a brief period of adventures on his own, Beast tries out for the Avengers, when they are seeking new members. He helps them out battling the Toad, and is granted probationary membership along with Moondragon. During subsequent adventures with the team, in addition to helping and old friend, Patsy Walker, take on the superheroic role of Hellcat, Beast is granted permanent membership to the team. His tenure with the Avengers is memorable due to his humor and his strong relationships made with other members of the team, most notably, Wonder Man, with whom has enjoyed an enduring friendship, something not often seen in comics. While he rushes off to aid his good friends the X-Men from time to time, he always returns to the Avengers. On of my favorite, albeit short-lived relationships Beast developed was with Jocasta, a sophisticated robot created by Ultron whose brain patterns came from Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp. Under the writing of Dave Micheline, Jocasta became the “straight man” to Beasts comic persona while they were adventuring together, and it really worked. Sadly it only last a few issues, with both Jocasta and Beast eventually leaving the team.

Ultimately, after leaving the Avengers and a shorter stint with his former co-probationary Avenger Moondragon in the Defenders, where he also reunites with his old X-Men pals Iceman and Angel, Beast returns to the company of mutants in X-Factor. He has stuck with the X-Men family ever since, but for some reason, his appeal for me was always stronger with the Avengers than his fellow mutants. It would be fun to explore a reunion with his old teammates where he could let his hair down and have some fun.

#24. Sandman – William Baker (aka Flint Marko)
Joined as a Reserve Substitute Member Avengers #329 (February 1991)
Creators: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko

The Avengers have a long history of taking on reformed villains as members, most notably Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver, but others have followed, like the Swordsman, Wonder Man, Black Widow… even the Vision. But The Sandman was probably one of the more improbable former villains to join the team, and sadly, it didn’t last all that long, and he didn’t have many adventures with the team. The villain was created to oppose Spider-Man, and he had a long illustrious career as one of the web-slinger’s major foes. He also became a founding member of the Sinister Six, a group of Spider-Man villains who worked together, a founding member of the Frightful Four, who became arch nemeses of the Fantastic Four, and a found himself fighting other heroes such as the Hulk.

The Sandman was usually depicted as a bullying thug, but his childhood and young adulthood was pretty rough, and shows how easily a young person’s life can go off-track. Even as early as 1972, less than ten years after his introduction as a villain, writer Roy Thomas introduced some morally ambiguous motives into the character in the first issue of Marvel Team-Up featuring Spiderman. Ten years later, in 1982, Sandman shares top billing in the Thing’s team-up comic, Marvel Two-In-One where the two work together and the Thing urges him to consider going straight. After that encounter, Sandman appears sporadically assisting Spider-Man. In one such encounter, he assisted Spider-Man and the mercenary Silver Sable against the Sinister Syndicate, and Silver Sable was so impressed with the Sandman’s aid, she offered him a job. During his time with Sable, Sandman ended up working several time with the Avenger Hawkeye, and eventually ended up working with a vigilante group called the Outlaws. Through trickery initiated by the villain the Space Phantom, the Outlaws ended up tangling with the Avengers. Eventually things worked out and the two teams worked together to defeat their common enemy.

When the Avengers reformed under a new charter by the United Nations, Captain American created two new teams, a main team and a reserve team. He also created a probationary program which consisted of the Sandman and Rage. Sandman worked with the Avengers on a handful adventures which led to a Presidential pardon for him. He eventually returned to his work with Silver Sable as part of her Wild Pack, and after that, through manipulations by the Wizard, ended up working again as a villain. His career since then has been checkered, as he struggled with his baser instincts, eventually even splitting into two beings, one good and one evil. During this time he participated in a few Avengers adventures, most notably when the villain Morgan Le Fay rewrote reality to create a medieval kingdom that she ruled. In more recent years, Sandman has continued his struggle with his darker side, and his physical form started to devolve. His latest adventures have turned fairly tragic, and he ended up several his ties with the Avengers as well.

I would have enjoyed seeing the Sandman be a part of the regular team for a longer period. His power set is really interesting and allows him to do many things. The Sandman has the ability to transform his body to be hardened, compacted, dispersed or shaped, or a combination of those qualities, an Earth manipulation of sand and rock particles. More often than not in combat, this ability enables him to absorb most blows with little to no ill effect other than reforming himself. In addition to his superb endurance, the Sandman possesses superhuman strength several times more than Spider-Man’s and on a par with the Thing’s.

I also enjoyed his noble struggle to walk on the heroic side of life. Despite their many battles, Sandman and the Thing shared an empathy over their tragic, physical challenges, and even after he had reverted to his criminal ways, he helped the Thing several times. I think he would have been a great Avengers West Coast member, with Hawkeye, himself a former villain, acting a a strong mentor for him.

#23. Firestar – Angelica “Angel” Jones
Joined as a Reserve Member Avengers vol. 3 #4 (May 1998); Promoted to full status in Avengers vol. 3 #7 (1998)
Creators: Chris Claremont, John Romita Sr., John Romita, Jr., Tom DeFalco, Christy Marx, Dan Spiegel, Rock Hoberg

Firestar had enjoyed a pretty lengthy career before coming to the Avengers. She has the unique distinction of debuting in 1981 on the NBC animated television series, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, rather than in comics, along with the title character and the X-Man Iceman. The show had originally planned to feature the Human Torch, but rights to his character were not available, so they created the Firestar character. Her comics debut was in X-Men #193 in May 1986, and subsequently in her own miniseries which presented her definitive, in-continuity origin as a mutant who was recruited into the Hellions, taught my Emma Frost, the White Queen, at the prestigious private school the Massachusetts Academy, a twisted version of Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Firestar’s time with the Hellion’s and the White Queen was fraught with manipulation, first at the hands of her fellow student, Empath, who used his powers to make her fall in love with him and attack the X-Men, and later by the White Queen herself, as she trained Firestar to become a weapon she would use to assassinate her rival, the Black Queen, Selene. Firestar broke free from these manipulations, and destroyed one of the Academy’s training bases before leaving the School. She also turned down Professor Xavier’s offer for her to come to his school, although she was grateful for it.

Firestar was next contacted by the hero Night Thrasher to join a new team of teenage superheroes called the New Warriors. She joined with them for a long tenure, gradually developing a romantic relationship with Marvel Boy (later known as Justice). During her lengthy stint with the New Warriors, she discovered that continued use of her powers could make her infertile, so she used them less and less. Shortly before leaving the team, Angelica proposed to Justice, and he accepted.

When the Avengers were reforming after a year of inactivity, Justice, who was quite enamored with the team, convinced Firestar to join him in an effort to join. After showing their worth on an adventure with the team, they were accepted as reserve members under the tutelage of Hawkeye, graduating to full membership soon thereafter. She shared her health concerns to her fellow members, and Dr. Hank Pym developed a special costume for her that shielded her from the detrimental effects of her powers while her body built up a natural immunity to it. The two served a distinguished term with the Avengers, helping them infiltrate a mysterious cult, stop the mad campaign of Ultron, and struggling for nearly a year against the villainous Kang the Conqueror, who had taken control the United States. Thereafter the two retired to work on their relationship before they were to get married. Angelica started college and enjoyed a normal life for a time, but her relationship with Justice developed some strain, and she confessed that she needed more life experience before settling into married life. Justice left in anger and presumably ended their engagement. The two have since become friends.

Since leaving the Avengers, Firestar got her degree, retired briefly from heroics after the Superhuman Registration Act was passed into law, subsequently worked with a team called the Young Allies, got a job teaching Physics at the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning and joined the X-Men as a sometime member. She currently resides on the mutant island of Krakoa alongside the X-Men.

Firestar’s mutant ability allows her to tap into Earth’s electromagnetic field and convert it into microwave radiation emissions, which she can utilize in different ways. She can focus microwaves on a specific target, and cause it to burst into flame, or explode, or melt. She can also sense microwave signals (such as cell-phone signals or even remote-control devices) and disrupt electronics with her own microwave emissions. The nature of Firestar’s power grants her the capacity for large-scale destruction. However, she typically limits how much of her own power she accesses for fear of permanently damaging the planet, its atmosphere, and electromagnetic field. In space, she is far less inhibited and can access greater levels of ambient electromagnetic energy to fuel her powers. Her manipulation of microwaves also allows her to fly.

Firestar added a nice and unique outlook to the Avengers, as a reluctant member. She was mainly there to support her fiancee. She added a great deal of virtue, courage and power, but she was insecure, hesitant about the physical affects her power was having on her body, and slow to bond with her teammates. She really came into her own powerfully during the struggle with Ultron, being one of the heavy hitters alongside the likes of Thor and Iron Man. I wouldn’t mine seeing Firestorm alongside the Avengers again for an adventure or two, without Justice and see what path her development would take.

#22. Thor – Thor Odinson, formerly Dr. Donald Blake
Joined in Avengers #1 (September 1963)
Creators: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Thor is a founding member of the Avengers, and one of the more well-known members of the team due to his feature roll in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thor is part of a long-lived race of beings worshipped as gods in the Norse pantheon of Asgardians. He is the blood-son of Odin, All-Father of the Asgardians, and Jord, known as Gaea, the earth-goddess who was one of the Elder Gods. He is colloquially known as the god of thunder and wields the Uru hammer, Mjolnir, forged by ancient dwarves, upon which various enchantments were bestowed by Odin. Only someone worthy is able to wield the mighty Mjolnir. Thor has been active since as early as the 9th Century AD and was widely worshipped in the early days by the Vikings of Scandinavia.

The young Thor was raised alongside Loki, who had been adopted by Odin after Loki’s Frost Giant father Laufey had been killed in battle. For all of their childhood, Loki was jealous of Thor. Loki’s jealousy, which grew to hatred, resulted in a desire to kill Thor. Thus began Loki’s enmity for Thor, which persisted for many centuries. In fact, it was because of this conflict that the Avengers came into being. When Loki’s manipulations forced several of Earth’s mightiest heroes to band together to stop the Hulk, Thor became a founding member of the team which consisted of Iron-Man, Giant-Man, the Wasp and the afore-mentioned Hulk. Thor has been a consistent member of the Avengers since its inception, He has, however, left the team several times for extended leaves of absence. Currently, Thor as assumed the mantle of the Asgardian All-Father, as Odin stepped down as the from his rule.

Biologically half-Asgardian on his father’s side and half-Elder God on his mother’s side; Thor possesses a number of superhuman attributes common among the Asgardian and other gods. However, due to his unique birth, some are considerably more developed than those of the vast majority of his race, including his strength, endurance and resistance to injury. Thor has the ability to manipulate vast amounts of energy, using Mjolnir he can channel the storm’s energy into blasts so powerful that he can destroy nearly anything. Thor can also channel his godly energies through Mjolnir, creating rays powerful enough to kill even immortals. Thor has the ability to control the elements of storm, both with and without Mjolnir. He is currently able to wield the Odin Force as well. The Odin Force enabled him to tap into the resources of cosmic and mystical energies of the dimension Asgard exists within, enhancing all of his abilities in turn.

Thor’s appearances with the Avengers vary greatly based on whoever is writing the story. Obviously, when fighting against his teammates, it doesn’t make sense to show him wielding the full extent of his powers, or else he wouldn’t need anyone to assist him. One interesting storyline featured the demi-goddess Moondragon arguing with Thor that he was basically “slumming” with mortals when he served on the Avengers, calling him a hypocrite when he served with the team. She proposed that he was subconsciously holding back so as not to obliterate the human-based villains that he faced while with the team. It was an interesting argument that explained why Thor’s power levels fluctuated so wildly in his appearances. Another fascinating storyline that didn’t get enough attention, was when he was working with Firebird, during the Kang Wars. Firebird had recently discovered that she was immortal, and as a Christian, was uncomfortable with that knowledge. She had several philosophical conversations with Thor that were fascinating and insightful.

For a period of time, Thor became unworthy to wield Mjolnir. During this time, he went by the alias of Odinson, and Jane Foster, a former lover of Thor’s claimed the hammer for her own, and became the Mighty Thor, even taking his place with The Avengers. Thor wielded Mjolnir in very different ways than the traditional warrior who was Odinson, and this multi-year storyline really invigorated my interest in Thor, both as the title, and in Odinson as well.

#21. Sersi – Circe
Joined in Avengers #314 (February 1990)
Creators: Stan Lee, Robert Bernstein, and Jack Kirby

Sersi is a member of the Eternals, a long-lived race of superhumans that were an evolutionary offshoot of humanity, created by Jack Kirby. Sersi was born in Greece, sometime after the Great Cataclysm that sank the island nation of Atlantis. Sersi was different than her fellow Eternals in that she enjoyed living amongst humanity rather than in isolation. It is said that Homer based his character Circe from The Odyssey, who turned men into pigs, on her. As Circe, she also imprisoned the devilish imps in Pandora’s Box in ancient times.

In more recent times, Sersi battled the Eternal’s hated enemies, the Deviants in New York City where she encountered the Avenger Thor. She first came into contact with other Avengers when The Wasp and Starfox crashed one of her legendary parties. She was thrilled to welcome them and even more thrilled to discover that Starfox was her long-lost “cousin” of the Titan Eternals. Shortly thereafter Captain America had need of someone with illusion casting or shape changing abilities for help with a case he was working on. She got great pleasure in flirting with the straight-laced hero and helped the Avengers on several cases. When her fellow Eternal Gilgamesh, who was an Avengers for a short time, was injured in battle, Captain American asked her to join in his place, and she was happy to do so.

Sersi proved to be a powerful addition to the team and she served with them for quite some time. During an attack on the Earth by the Brethren, Sersi was forced to form a Uni-Mind with their leader, Thane Ector. Such a union, between two different species, is forbidden by the Eternals, as it may lead to the breakdown of the Eternals mental disciplines.Some months after this, Sersi became more aggressive, and this may have been due to the Uni-Mind with the Brethren. or, it may also have been due to the machinations of Proctor, a man from an alternate reality who had been spurned by the Sersi from his world. Her formed a group known as the Gatherers, and was planning to kill all the Sersi’s across the multiverse. During this time, Sersi began a relationship with fellow Avenger, the Black Knight. Unbeknownst to both of them, however, was the fact that Proctor was actually an alternate reality version of the Black Knight himself.

I really disliked the entire Proctor and the Gatherers storyline and most of the work Bob Harras did on the Avengers. I found the romantic triangle between Sersi, Black Knight and Crystal to forced and unsavory. Sersi’s descent into madness was yet another case of a woman being uanble to be powerful. His radical shift of personality for the Black Knight into a rugged, brooding, 90’s hunk with long straggy hair and permanent stubble was boring. While I know there were some readers who look back on that epic fondly I thought it was a poorly conceived story and a disappointing way to send Sersi off, from her otherwise fairly distinguished tenure on the team.

Sersi and the Eternals were given another go in the mid 2000’s under Neil Gaiman’s pen, and haven’t really been seen since. Of course, next year they will show up on the big screen as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It will be interesting to see how their complex tale fares.