I loved this phase of the group. IMHO, it was when it really hit its stride and went on to become the team it became. I personally prefered the line-up with Goliath, Wasp, Hawkeye, Panther and the Vision, but when Hank changed to YJ and Clint became Goliath, it was also quite good.
It sure was.
Peace
"We live in a world of cowards. We live in a world full of small minds who are afraid. We are ruled by those who refuse to risk anything of their own. Who guard their over bloated paucities of power with money. With false reasoning. With measured hesitance. With prideful, recalcitrant inaction. With hateful invective. With weapons. F@#K these selfish fools and their prevailing world order." Tony Stark
Last edited by Tony Stark; 01-26-2023 at 10:23 PM.
"We live in a world of cowards. We live in a world full of small minds who are afraid. We are ruled by those who refuse to risk anything of their own. Who guard their over bloated paucities of power with money. With false reasoning. With measured hesitance. With prideful, recalcitrant inaction. With hateful invective. With weapons. F@#K these selfish fools and their prevailing world order." Tony Stark
Back when the spin-off AVENGERS WEST was better than the main title...
plus MOCKINGBIRD as the rogue member
Protected by the Comics Code Authority
YES Capes. YES Masks. YES Secret Identities.
Actually, during most of it's run, I considered WCA the better Avengers book. I have to say I loved the quirky line-up they had towards the end of the series, with Clint as Goliath, Wanda, U.S.Agent, Spider Woman, Mockingbird as the brains of the outfit, War Machine as the heaviest hitter and occasionally joined by the Living Lightning. It was a cool team and it had tons of potential.
Peace
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.
Honestly, this was the end of Avengers greatness for me. Even Stern's run didn't quite bring it back to level of the 70s for me. Of course, I was more mature by his run -- and a bit jaded. His run certainly made up for how badly Jim Shooter wrecked the team the second time around.
Of course, Micheline didn't submit many good stories from this era -- though I did like the Taskmaster story -- and even the Red Ronin. The anniversary issue with Marcus Immortus was a letdown across the board -- especially with Ms. Marvel exiled from the team. This was around the same time that Thundra got sent back to the future -- so it seemed like Marvel wanted to clean house of two of their strongest female characters.
I understand why Shooter felt the need to make big changes, but he left us with a bland lineup, a huge stain on Hank Pym, and a Tigra who acted nothing like the Greer Grant I knew from her earlier appearances. Didn't help that we lost George Perez and had Bob Hall on art (a serviceable, but underwhelming artist).
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.
Can I have three favorites lol?
I really loved this line up of Uncanny Avengers (Vo. 3) when Zub was writing them, I think what was fun about this team was the sense of "found family" that this team embodied (not that other teams didn't have this but sometimes it felt it was more about powersets or popularity). Not to say this run was perfect but I enjoyed this line up of characters and the run was fun.
I also loved Cage's version of the Mighty Avengers (I will never say no to Monica & Adam lol).
I kind of have soft spot New Avengers because I enjoyed the dynamics of the team but I didn't really the run(s). Though I'd love to see that team come together again under different circumstances.
Also an honorable mention for Avengers A.I. also. I dont really care much about Hank but I enjoyed Vision, Victor and Doombot on that run.
My favorite lineup has to be the Stern Avengers (Wasp, Namor, Hercules, Capt. Marvel, Black Knight & Cap) & the initial West Coast, plus Scarlet Witch n Vision. My second favorite would be the Harras era lineup.
Comic-Watch Reviewer
Titles:
/Doctor Strange/Captain Marvel\Scarlet Witch\
/Iron Man/Captain Britain/Wasp\X-Men\
/JSA\/X-Treme X-Men\/WILDCATS\
https://comic-watch.com/author/baradtzgmail-com
Avengers Idea Mechanics
I would have replaced Clint with Hawkeye and Wiccan with somebody else, but overall, that was a great line-up.
Especially toward the end, when Warlock, Cannonball, Toni Ho and Dr Positron were on the field.
Bringing back the old, killing the young: that's the Marvel way
Yes to Toni Ho in particular. I loved seeing Songbird, Hulkling, Wiccan, White Tiger and Sunspot as Avengers (with classic Hawkeye), and wish it could have lasted longer!
I was not a huge fan of Victor Alvarez/Power Man or Squirrel Girl, but I also accept that not everyone has to be one of *my* faves. Almost every lineup has folks I could live without, like Gilgamesh and Deathcry.