Hey all. Just wanted to know how you become a fan of the Avengers. For me, the process was incremental and piecemeal. For instance, I started out reading Iron Man and Captain America comics here and there. I was a huge fan of the Hulk and knew about Thor from Marvel's old trading cards. But, I didn't know they were all a part of a team until I started to see this piece of art in the Marvel handbooks and encyclopedias:
Hmmm, okay. Avengers. In a lot of the comics I was reading at the time, I'd heard characters like Spider-Man mentioning this team. Ok, whatever, like any kid growing up in the early 90s, I was totally a Spider-Man and X-Men guy. Pretty soon, however, I was playing video games like Marvel Superheroes, and reading TPB's like the Amalgam crossover that featured characters like Captain America and Iron Man. Damn, this Captain America, he's a f()%ing badass. Where can I read more comics featuring him?
Finally, I became interested in the Avengers with Busiek/Perez's Avengers run. As a lot of us know, that title was one of the best of the late 90s. Wizard Magazine was running featured articles talking about how great this series was. They also featured mini-specials like this that gave a good, thorough rundown on who the Avengers were and how (ahem) they could beat the X-Men:
For me, the Avengers were this hidden gem of the Marvel universe. They were Earth's Mightiest Heroes, but still had this underdog quality about them. A god of thunder. A modern day knight. A mere super-soldier armed with an indestructible shield and principles of freedom and nobility. A mutant with hex powers in love with an synthezoid who could phase through walls one moment, and become diamond hard the next. Giant-men and wasps, an ionic man of wonder and an archer who never missed. All of them fighting against evil robots and time conquerors. Damn, that was compelling stuff! I wanted to know more about these characters, and more importantly support them. There was all of this potential that seemed to be lost within the midst of X-Men and Spider-Man this and that. Pretty soon, I started to read Avengers, learn my Avengers history, got a lot of issues and trades, and well, I've been a fan for nearly 20 yrs. now. Can't tell you how proud I am to see the Avengers become THE powerhouse superteam of pop culture of today.
So, yes, how did you become an Avengers fan?