Earth’s Mightiest Heroes—The Avengers Appreciation 2019

[K7P5V]

Well, they've got Wolverine and Venom...so not all that surprising .

Don't forget Punisher & Elektra. They have quite a few fans themselves.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Avengers #69 Oct 1964
"Let the Game Begin!" Part 1 of 3.
The Avengers have made a special visit to Tony Stark, who is in the hospital near death Following the events of Iron Man #18
They are soon joined by fellow Avengers, Captain America and Thor. During their visit,
the Wasp comes across a tiny figurine, which is actually one of Kang's Growing Men.
The creature grows in size and battles the Avengers, capturing Tony Stark and transporting all involved away to a distant place.
They soon find themselves in the 4000 A.D. throne room of Kang the Conqueror.

After a brief battle against Kang's guards, the Avengers are informed that Kang
has enlisted their aid in helping him best a cosmic being known as the Grandmaster.
Kang explains that he was visited by the Grandmaster who offers him the opportunity to restore his comatose lover, Ravonna,
if he were to win a "chess" game which pits champions of Kang's choosing against those selected by the Grandmaster.
However, should Kang loose, not only will Ravonna not be awakened, but the Earth would be doomed to oblivion.

The Avengers agree to helping Kang, on the condition that Tony Stark is returned to Earth.
Upon Stark's return Whose story continues in Iron Man #19

the Grandmaster appears and transports Captain America, Goliath and Thor, who are to be joined by a fourth comrade on Earth

to battle his champions: Dr. Spectrum, Hyperion, Nighthawk and the Whizzer.

First appearances of the Grandmaster, Kyle Richmond (cameo), and the Squadron Sinister (cameo).
Additional cameo appearances by Ravonna, Doctor Spectrum, Hyperion, Nighthawk (aka Kyle Richmond), and the Whizzer.
Avengers Lineup: Black Panther, Captain America, Goliath, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Thor, Vision, Yellowjacket and the Wasp
NOTES: This is the first appearance of Kyle Richmond who would eventually become a long-time member of the Defenders.
The Whizzer is a new villain not to be confused with the golden age Whizzer (aka Bob Frank).
Kang and the Growing Man previously appeared in Thor 140.
The Avengers last fought Kang in Avengers 23 & 24.

Script by Roy Thomas. Pencils by Sal Buscema. Inks by Sam Grainger.

[Digifiend]

Does Marvel have a trademark on the name A-Force? Because another publisher, DC Thomson, is using the name for a military team in their Commando title.

[Witchfan]

Avengers Leading Ladies for MUA3
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[Digifiend]

Iso-8... Avengers Alliance still influencing later games, I see. Iso-8 originates from the defunct Facebook game.

[Frontier]

Avengers Leading Ladies for MUA3
EH4lPDbU4AEkca3.jpg

Some of my favorite Avenger ladies .

(Bonus points for Jan in there instead of Hope ).

[Captain M]

Some of my favorite Avenger ladies .

(Bonus points for Jan in there instead of Hope ).

Thankfully this game used Jan and I'm pretty sure so will Crystal Dynamics' Avengers

[Drops Of Venus]

Does Marvel have a trademark on the name A-Force? Because another publisher, DC Thomson, is using the name for a military team in their Commando title.

Comic book trademarks only apply to main titles, as far as I know. If the book is titled Commando, then they can have a team called A-Force within the stories, as long as they don't actually use that as the main title of the comic.

[Digifiend]

Which is how Shazam was able to still be called Captain Marvel for decades after Mar-Vell's debut (they only changed his codename to match the name of the comic eight years ago). Yeah, makes sense I guess.

[MRP]

Comic book trademarks only apply to main titles, as far as I know. If the book is titled Commando, then they can have a team called A-Force within the stories, as long as they don't actually use that as the main title of the comic.

Trademarks are also within a country, not international, so a US trademark doesn't limit what a British publisher can do. It might prevent the book form being sold in the US, but not form being published and sold elsewhere.

-M

[Factor]

I had a thought the other day. Now that the X-men are relevant again, I think they NEED to make Wanda and Pietro Magneto's children again and have at least Wanda back on the main team.
I would love to see the dynamics of having Krakoans among T'Challa's Avengers.
The current book is sorely lacking in interesting character arcs and compelling drama. The return of the Scarlet Witch as an ambassador to a people she once wronged (however unintended), amidst a team of kings and representatives from different nations and people would be a lot more interesting than anything Aaron is doing.
Heck, dealing with the clash between mutants and AI from the perspective of Wanda, Vision and even Tony should be a huge thing.

[Digifiend]

Definitely no plans for that. HOXPOX called Wanda a pretender, so Hickman's definitely sticking with the twins not being mutants.

It would be interesting if a second team formed and it had Beast, Rogue, Havok, or Wolverine (who have all been Avengers before). That would serve the same purpose.

[Frontier]

Definitely no plans for that. HOXPOX called Wanda a pretender, so Hickman's definitely sticking with the twins not being mutants.

It would be interesting if a second team formed and it had Beast, Rogue, Havok, or Wolverine (who have all been Avengers before). That would serve the same purpose.

I think that's just Hickman running with current continuity. There were rumors about them re-establishing their parentage to Magneto but it doesn't seem like Marvel quite knows what to do with the Maximoffs.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #6 Oct 1984
"A Little Death..."
After trying to escape the X-Men, the Wasp finds herself trying to get her escape ship under control.
Unable to figure out the strange controls, the Wasp ends up crashing the ship.
Unsure of where to go, she finds a holographic projector that shows her a nearby dome
and she decides to shrink down to wasp size to try and locate it.
On her way out, she turns and uses one of her bio-stings to destroy the ship.
Flying into a nearby swamp she fights off some aggressive insects and finds the dome that the ship showed her earlier.
Returning to human size the Wasp figures out what to do next

when she is suddenly attacked by the Lizard.

Meanwhile, aboard the Worldship of Galactus, Doctor Doom uses a device
there to draw a strange energy he detected within the walls of the ship.
To his surprise this energy reforms into Klaw, the so-called master of sound.
Much to Doom's dismay, Klaw's mind has been affected by the ordeal,
but Doom learns that Klaw got trapped during a battle with Dazzler.
The mutant used her powers to convert his sound form into light energy that she then absorbed into her body.
Later when she was abducted by Galactus, she used that energy to try and attack him,
but the energy did nothing and Klaw's form became trapped in the wall.
Finding Klaw of no use to him, Doom then continues to find something that will help him stop Galactus and then the Beyonder.
Finding a control monitor, Doom views the events on Battleworld.
He sees the gathered heroes regrouping after their battle with his minions who have now fled back to Doombase
while Galactus himself continues to prepare the device that will help him consume Battleworld.
Doom quickly formulates a plan to spoil Galactus' plan
and uses a teleporter to send Klaw down to the planet to deliver a message to his minions.

When Klaw materializes in Doombase, he recites a code word that convinces Ultron that he was
sent by their mutual master, prompting the gathered villains to listen to what Klaw has to say.
Back in the swamp, the Wasp realizes that the Lizard has attacked her out of fear due to the fact that he has been injured.
Convincing the Lizard that she means no harm, the Wasp manages to get close enough to him to treat his wound.
While back at Magneto's base, the X-Men have returned to salvage what they can after it was blasted by Galactus.
Feeling weak, Xavier decides to take a moment to rest.
He then reaches out with his mind telepathically to see what the villains are up to.
Before the Enchantress detects his presence and uses her magic to block him out, Xavier learns how the villains are
planning to cause a volcanic eruption on the other side of the planet and summons his X-Men to venture out and stop them.
When he puts Cyclops in charge this angers Storm as she is the leader of the X-Men.
But when she confronts Charles with this, he warns her that if she refuses to follow his
orders he will not be against using his mental powers to force her to follow his bidding.
Storm concedes but still believes that he is leading the X-Men into defeat.

Meanwhile, at the heroes camp in the alien village, Colossus
continues to recover from the injuries he incurred in the last battle.
He finds himself torn between his feelings for his girlfriend Kitty Pryde back home
and these new feelings he has for Zsaji the alien healer who saved his life.
When she comes to heal him again he tries to open up his feelings for her, but the language barrier prevents her from doing so.
When she goes to depart, she is picked up by the Human Torch who does some areal tricks with her before kissing her
and taking her away, making Colossus grow even more jealous.

Elsewhere Captain America is planning strategies with Mister Fantastic, the Hulk, the Thing and She-Hulk.
When She-Hulk demands that they go looking for the Wasp, who is still missing,
Cap assures her that Captain Marvel is searching for them.
All this talk begins to get on the Hulk's nerves who demands that they go out and smash their enemies.
Not far away, Hawkeye is preparing some traditional arrows after the last of his trick arrows were used to boost Iron Man's armor.
Iron Man meanwhile tries to hit on Captain Marvel, who is uninterested
and confused -- unaware that the man inside the armor is not the Iron Man she has previously known.
For himself, James Rhodes wonders what has come over him and complains about his head hurting,
which has been happening a lot recently since he became Iron Man.

At that moment the X-Men attack the villains at the volcano in an attempt to foil their plans.
During the ensuing battle, Wolverine manages to get close enough to the Molecule Man to slash him across the chest
with his Adamantium claws, although Cyclops blasts Wolverine's arm to prevent him from striking a fatal blow.
The villains retreat with their injured comrade and Cyclops unleashes an optic blast in a volcanic cone
which causes the X-Men to flee themselves when the volcanoes begin to erupt.
While back at the swamp the Wasp finishes binding the Lizard's wounds when she is suddenly
shot through the chest with a laser beam fired by a massive vehicle piloted by the Wrecking Crew.

When the Lizard tries to attack them, they immobilize the creature with a stasis beam

and take the two prisoners even though they believe the Wasp is dead.
Back at the Heroes camp, things appear even grimmer when they see
that Galactus has almost completed his planet-devouring device.
As they contemplate what to do next they are unaware that a shadowy figure is observing their movements.

Story by Jim Shooter. Art by Mike Zeck and John Beatty.

[Witchfan]

The Birth of Black Widow
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