What was the best Avengers line-up you've ever read about?

[Shadowcat]

I distinctly remember seeing this on the spinner racks at Shopko or Fred Meyer while going shopping for new jeans as a kid. I'd flip through it, mainly to see what the hell was going on with Thor.
A few years later, I got the "Assault on Olympus" story at a used bookstore (along with a healthy stack of Micheline/Layton Iron Man Round 2) for 10 cents a piece.


A close second would be the jacket-era, I really enjoyed the Proctor story.

The Collection Obsession, Operation: Galactic Storm, & The Gatherers were pure fire. Plus BloodTies & that arc where they’re up against some new Lethal Legion that came out of O:GS, that introduced Deathcry. It was one of my favorite eras on this book. (Even though I really dislike Deathcry)

[kcekada]

Despite hating how some of the Avengers were dressed -- especially Herc and Natasha (those big boots weren't appropriate for a character normally depicted as lithe and acrobatic), I did like the storytelling. It seem a callback to Englehart's Avengers -- which could be a little soapy, but also had great internal and external conflicts.

[SilverScarlet]

Hands down, the Superior Six!
CAPTAIN AMERICA
HAWKEYE
GOLIATH
WASP
SCARLET WITCH
QUICKSILVER

[charliehustle415]

I just did my annual re-read of Hickman's Marvel Saga and there's something to say about his "Avengers Machine" and how Tony & Steve made a mechanism to easily swap out members depending on the need for the mission.

For me the powerhouse team was Steve's away mission Avengers during Infinity

Captain America
Captain Marvel
Captain Universe
Thor
Spider-Woman
Black Widow
Hawkeye
Manifold
Falcon

[Sutekh]

Hands down, the Superior Six!
CAPTAIN AMERICA
HAWKEYE
GOLIATH
WASP
SCARLET WITCH
QUICKSILVER

Ooh, Cap's Kooky Quartet + Hank and Janet, nice choices!

For a seventh from the classic line up, the Vision seems like a good fit due to his tie to Wanda (and kinda/sorta Hank).

[Nomads1]

I distinctly remember seeing this on the spinner racks at Shopko or Fred Meyer while going shopping for new jeans as a kid. I'd flip through it, mainly to see what the hell was going on with Thor.
A few years later, I got the "Assault on Olympus" story at a used bookstore (along with a healthy stack of Micheline/Layton Iron Man Round 2) for 10 cents a piece.

And that led to this:

[IMG][/IMG]

IMHO, it was a great time to be reading the Avengers. And John Buscema and Tom Palmer were fireing on all cilinders.

A close second would be the jacket-era, I really enjoyed the Proctor story.

Definitively one of the best. Line-up and storyline.

Of course, Shooter fired the crew who was supposed to take over -- Bill Mantlo and Gene Colan. I think they had one issue published (it wasn't bad) and then we got the mess that followed.

Didn't they give us the Weather Man? I've always wished that Don Newton had done more than a fill-in issue around that time (the first of the two-parter against Yellow Claw.

Can I have three favorites lol?

You can have as many as you wish.

Hands down, the Superior Six!
CAPTAIN AMERICA
HAWKEYE
GOLIATH
WASP
SCARLET WITCH
QUICKSILVER

For me, this was the beggining of the Avengers' road to greatness. Love it.

I just did my annual re-read of Hickman's Marvel Saga and there's something to say about his "Avengers Machine" and how Tony & Steve made a mechanism to easily swap out members depending on the need for the mission.

I have read it, all, and, even though I found it mildly enjoyable, I have never had the urge to re-read it. There are some intresting ideas there, however, I found it lacked a bit of heart. Too big a line-up (inspired by the LSH), with wierd one-note characters that, for me, had no place in the Avengers, at last not all at once, and too little character work, IMHO. But, glad you enjoyed it. IMO, it was a leg-up from the Bendis run, which I find awful.

Peace

[Frontier]

I have read it, all, and, even though I found it mildly enjoyable, I have never had the urge to re-read it. There are some intresting ideas there, however, I found it lacked a bit of heart. Too big a line-up (inspired by the LSH), with wierd one-note characters that, for me, had no place in the Avengers, at last not all at once, and too little character work, IMHO. But, glad you enjoyed it. IMO, it was a leg-up from the Bendis run, which I find awful.

Peace

It was a very JLU-inspired take on the Avengers, which has it's place but is not necessarily going to scratch the itch of those who want a stabilized team with character and relationship development in my opinion.

[charliehustle415]

I have read it, all, and, even though I found it mildly enjoyable, I have never had the urge to re-read it. There are some intresting ideas there, however, I found it lacked a bit of heart. Too big a line-up (inspired by the LSH), with wierd one-note characters that, for me, had no place in the Avengers, at last not all at once, and too little character work, IMHO. But, glad you enjoyed it. IMO, it was a leg-up from the Bendis run, which I find awful.

This is where you and I greatly differ in taste, because I absolutely adore Bendis and Hickman

They're my definitive run on the team

[Nomads1]

This is where you and I greatly differ in taste, because I absolutely adore Bendis and Hickman

They're my definitive run on the team

Fair enough. To each its own.

Peace

[kcekada]

I would guess most people who loved Bendis's run weren't fans of the Avengers before his run. And most people who didn't like Bendis's run were fans of the classic Avengers (especially the first 200 issues -- issues 200 through 300 were uneven).

[charliehustle415]

I would guess most people who loved Bendis's run weren't fans of the Avengers before his run. And most people who didn't like Bendis's run were fans of the classic Avengers (especially the first 200 issues -- issues 200 through 300 were uneven).

yup, you guessed correctly for me

[Zero Hunter]

I would guess most people who loved Bendis's run weren't fans of the Avengers before his run. And most people who didn't like Bendis's run were fans of the classic Avengers (especially the first 200 issues -- issues 200 through 300 were uneven).

I would not lump 200-250 in with 251-300. That run was very strong up until about 260 or so. The closer it got to issue 300 the further it fell off the rails.

[Nomads1]

I would not lump 200-250 in with 251-300. That run was very strong up until about 260 or so. The closer it got to issue 300 the further it fell off the rails.

I do think you guys are confusing the 200s with the 300s. With some ups and downs, the Avengers were, IMHO, good right up to 375, which concluded the Gatherer's Saga, one of my all-time favorites. After that, it really went downhill (and I say this as someone who enjoyed the Crossing, even though I agree that there's so much wrong in that storyline that could have been done much better), until 402, when it ended to be replaced by the Heroes Reborn version, which almost everbody I know agrees was awful. It returned to being good with Busiek and Perez in Heroes Return (vol. 3), which, IMHO, was outstanding right up to the end of Geoff Johns run, which is not to everybody's liking. Then came Austen, which, IMHO is the worst Avengers' writer EVER, and Bendis, who pretty much scrapped everything the Avengers were meant to be, and replaced them with what he thought it should be. Ever since, I guess the Avengers have gone back to having ups and downs, but I don't think they've ever returned to being exactly what they were before Austen and Bendis. Let's hope McKay will change that.

Peace

[Riv86672]

I would not lump 200-250 in with 251-300. That run was very strong up until about 260 or so. The closer it got to issue 300 the further it fell off the rails.

^^^I grew up on issues 1-200; from 200-300 life happened, but I checked in regularly.
And yeah, I agree w. your assessment.

The Bendis run I appreciated on several levels but didn’t really like.

[Steroid]

This is where you and I greatly differ in taste, because I absolutely adore Bendis and Hickman

They're my definitive run on the team

I'm definitely more of a fan of the pre-Bendis era yet I will say that I loved Hickman's run. Admittedly Hickman's New Avengers gets most of the credit as it was far superior to Adjectiveless.