My five favorite Avengers

With the premier of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, I have decided to name five of my favorite heroes who are Avengers, whether they are currently on one of the teams, or have served on the team in the past.



5. Peter Parker - Spider-man/ James “Logan” Howlett - Wolverine

I placed Spidey and Wolverine together because they both are similar in many ways.  They both have different connections throughout the Marvel Universe, and they have gone up against some of the most dangerous villains on their own.  They also can be loners as well as reliable teammates.

They both currently serve on the main Avengers team and Luke Cage’s New Avengers.  Wolverine also serves on the main X-Men team and on X-Force.


4. Thor Odinson - Thor

Thor is one of the heroes who founded the Avengers back in the 60’s.  He is also someone who has come to the aid of the team almost every time they were in peril (save for the Disassembled event) and can act as a powerhouse when the team comes up against huge enemies.  Although he was away from the team for a lengthy amount of time, the Secret Invasion and Seige events helped bring him back into the fold.

Thor currently serves on the main Avengers roster.


 

3. Janet van Dyne - The Wasp
The Wasp is one not only one of the founding members of the Avengers, but she also was the first female member of the group.  Although she did not wear revealing outfits like the Scarlet Witch or Tigra, she brought her own sex appeal to the series. 

She also has gone through much trauma on the team, from enduring the abuse of her estranged husband Hank, to her death at the end of the Secret Invasion mini series. 

2. Dr. Henry McCoy - Beast

In addition to being a founding member of the X-Men, Beast was also someone who served on the Avengers for a long time.  He had some memorable moments with the team including the Korvac Saga and built relationships with some of their members, including Wonder Man.  For years he would go between the X-Men and the Avengers. 

After the Disassembled event, Beast was one of the Avengers who attended the last dinner before the team announced with disbanding back in 2004.  Beast recently left the X-Men once more and has joined with Steve Rogers’ Secret Avengers team.

1. Bruce Banner - The Hulk

The Hulk’s tenure on the Avengers is shorter than many.  Despite only serving on a few missions then leaving, the Hulk was an ally and an enemy of the team for years.  He has been known to ally himself with some of the members and even created his own team of Avengers during the Fall of the Hulks event.










Heroes I would like to see on the team

Elektra - She has the connections in the Marvel Universe to both heroes and villains.  She is also an expert in hand to hand combat.

Nightcrawler - The furry X-man has had experience working on several teams.  Although he is dead at the moment, the Avengers could be

Blade - He has worked with different teams throughout his superhero career, his most recent was with Britain’s MI:13.  He could bring a supernatural feel to the team.

Storm - Her husband T’Challa has been a member as have her friends Logan and Hank, but Storm has yet to be on the main roster.  Her work with the X-Men has shown the world that she can lead a team.

Doctor Octopus - He is someone who could have came in during the Dark Avengers series or someone who could have been an instructor in the Initiative program during Norman Osborn‘s .  He has experience but he also has the ability to throw a wrench in Osborn’s plan.



 







What are some of your favorite Avengers?

Fantastic Four no more

Marvel’s first family is set change once again

The Fantastic Four, a superhero team in Marvel Comics is set to undergo changes within its title. 

Tom Brevoort, Vice President Executive Editor of Marvel, and writer Jonathon Hickman, who has been on the title since May 2009, has confirmed that in the title’s latest story arc Three, that there will be a death of a major character, possibly one of the four that are on the team.

According to a conference call, Hickman said that the Three story arc and a character death is a midpoint in a large story arc that he has planned for the title.

“It wasn’t a shock value thing we were doing just to make a point,” Hickman said.  “This all works to a purpose.”

Who are the Fantastic Four?
Fantastic Four started in July 1962 by writer and editor Stan Lee, and artist Jack Kirby.  According to various interviews with Lee, the concept came from a response from DC Comic’s Justice League of America. 

The team consists of Reed Richards (Mr.Fantastic), his wife Susan Richards (Invisible Woman), her brother Johnny Storm (Human Torch), and Ben Grimm (The Thing). 

In the title’s first issue, the four hijacked a space ship and rode to space, where they were hit with cosmic radiation that gave them super powers.

Fantastic Four did many things that were different at the time of superhero comics, including having the four main characters have their secret identity’s exposed to the public and being branded traitors to the country.  Lee and Kirby also had the characters interact as a family, which included moments of bickering between the characters

The family atmosphere between the four characters and several of the supporting characters and villains created by Lee and Kirby were not only popular with the fans, but were an influence in the fictional Marvel Universe.

Possibility of who is dying and who will be living

With the story arc of Three, readers will be wondering which of the main characters will be dying in the next few issues of the comic.  In the Fantastic Four’s 583 issues, Reed has been supposedly killed off during the run of writer Walt Simonson (find numbers for this).  He also the smartest man in the Marvel world.

Since Hickman’s first story arc was mainly about Reed, there is a possibility that he may get the axe.

An alternate reality of Susan has also been killed during the run of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch.  This could be seen as a foreshadow to Susan’s own death, as well as seen as a red herring.

Grimm was actually killed during writer Mark Waid’s run on the title, but the team traveled to heaven to get him back.  The possibility of his death may have least chance because he is also starring in New Avengers, written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Stuart Immomen.

Storm’s death seems the most likely as he has never actually died or come really close to death.  Hickman said that the death and events in Three will have an everlasting impression on various Marvel books, ranging from the Amazing Spiderman to The Avengers. 

Other possible deaths could include Doctor Doom, who is currently suffering from illness, and Franklin and Valeria, Reed and Susan’s children.

Change could be good for the team

The change to the title will most likely be met with criticism by fans and critics.  The deaths of major characters result anywhere between fans voicing their anger on message boards, to readers sending in letters and threats to the writers, to giving up reading the entire brand of comics.

Back in 2006, after Captain America was killed in his book, fans voiced their opinion, with many saying they would never pick up a Marvel comic again.

According to Bevoort, there are fans who love the idea of the book’s current events and love Hickman’s long form story telling.

Although the death of characters may be a bad thing, it can also bring something new to the title.  With the deaths of heroes like Captain America, Superman back in 1992, and most recently Batman, there was new interest to the titles and supporting characters.

In the case of Captain America and Batman, writers were able to place their former sidekicks to take the mantle of their fallen mentor and even keep it when original heroes were brought back.

There is also the common theme in comic books, that no one truly ever dies, with the exception of Uncle Ben.

Gaps and replacements in the team's roster

The death of one of the Fantastic Four’s characters could bring a new face onto the team.  While the characters do have a family nature, there have been numerous super heroes who have joined the Fantastic Four to replace a member or two.  These names have included Luke Cage, leader of the New Avengers and Thunderbolts, Black Panther, his wife Storm, who is also a member of the X-Men, and She Hulk.

During his run, Simonson set up a possible death to the entire team, and brought in Super-man, Ghost Rider, Wolverine, and the Hulk to replace them.  Although this move was only temporary, this team of four have been featured in various What If stories, and stories taking place in the alternate universe.

The future of the title

While a death of a major character is promised, it also sounds like the book, or just the name of the title, will be no more following this story arc.

Bervoot said that there will not be a book titled Fantastic Four this time next year.

Spiderman and his Amazing Selves

Activision has once again put out a Spiderman video game, but this time it will be on a bigger scale as players will get to play four different spider men.  

One from the Amazing Universe, which is based off of the main MARVEL timeline.  

Another from the Noir universe, which is based off of the series Spiderman: Noir series set in the 1930‘s.  

The third from the 2099 universe, which is a possible future in the MARVEL universe.  

The last there is the Spiderman from the Ultimate Comics universe.  This particular Spiderman is bonded to a symbiote.

The story begins where Spiderman is stopping Mysterio from robbing a museum.  During their fight, Spiderman shatters an artifact called the Tablet of Order and Chaos.  The wall crawler is contacted by Madam Webb, who informs him that he and three other spider men from other dimensions to bring the tablets back together.

As with any Spiderman game, players get a chance to web swing and crawl walls as if they were the wall crawler.  A new feature is the first-person combat sequences are reminiscent of God of War III, yet they are a little shaky at first. 

Other than the first-person combat, the  style for each Spiderman is different.  The Amazing Universe focuses on webbing attacks, Noir focuses on stealth and ambushing, 2099 is centered on close combat, and the Ultimate centers on using the symbiote’s powers in addition to webbing technique.  

Players can also upgrade their maneuvers and obtain new abilities as they progress through the game.

The level progression is linear, which means no free roaming around the city.  While this does not take anything away from the game, this may be a drawback to some players who were fans of the free roaming.  

Unlike most games where the player meets the boss at the end of the level, players will encounter the boss throughout the level, partaking in various fights at different points.

Like all Spiderman games, Shattered Dimensions features some notable figures from the web slinger’s rogues gallery, although some villains have been modified for the universe they appear in. 

As with previous Spiderman games, there are also un-lockables such as alternate costumes for each hero and trophies for accomplishing certain tasks.

The best thing about Shattered Dimensions is the production that went into the game.  Each voice actor who voices a Spiderman has voiced the web slinger at some point in their career. 

The actors who are lending their voice to play Spiderman include Emmy Award winner Neil Patrick Harris (Spiderman: The New Animated Series) who voices the Amazing Spiderman, Josh Keaton (Spectacular Spiderman) who plays Ultimate Spidey, Christopher Daniel Barnes (Spiderman: The Animated Series) who will play The Spider Man in the Noir universe, and Dan Gilevan (Spiderman and his Amazing Friends) will play Miguel O‘ Hara, the Spiderman of 2009.  

Other voice credits include Jim Cummings, David Kaye, Nolan North, and Stan Lee.

Where each Spiderman is different, the look and feel of each universe is also different and actually looks reminiscent to the villain the player is going up against.  

One example is the Noir universe where a player faces the gangster  Hammerhead, it is an entirely dark setting filled with shadows for players to hide in from Hammerhead and his henchmen,

The story for Shattered Dimensions was written by comic book writer Dan Slott (She-Hulk, Amazing Spider-man).

This is a game, not just for comic book fans, but for also gamers who enjoy  fast-paced action, but also enjoy a good laugh. 

Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions is available for the Playstation 3, Wii, X-Box 360, and Nintendo DS. 


Overall: A-

Question: What video game of a comic book character would you like to see?

Secret Avengers

As MARVEL enters its Heroic Age, no other upcoming title has been more secretive (pardon the pun) than Secret Avengers.

Secret Avengers, written by Ed Brubaker (Captain America, Daredevil) and drawn by Mike Deodato (Thunderbolts, Dark Avengers) will hit stands May 26. 

The first teasers of which members will be on the team have appeared in early February.  While fans have speculated on who is joining the team (guesses have been ranging from Black Panther to Spider-man), the roster was finally revealed in the last month. 

Beast - founding member of the X-men and former Avenger,

War Machine - former Avenger and best friend of Tony Stark

Valkyrie - an Asgard princess and one of the Defenders

Moon Knight - former West Coast Avenger

Steve Rogers - former Captain America who has recently been brought back to life, and former Avenger

Nova - former member of the New Warriors

Black Widow - former member of the Avengers and SHIELD agent

Sharon Carter - agent of SHIELD and Steve Rogers' girlfriend

Ant-Man - former member of the Thunderbolts

All in all, I am rather excited for this book.  In his X-men run and more recently in his Captain America books, Brubaker knew how to write team stories where each character plays a pivotal role.  Deodato is one of my favorite artists.  His art is smooth, but also gives a dark tone, especially on his Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers runs. 

What I really like about this book is the fact that Beast is once again in an Avengers role, something he had not really done since the Avengers Finale.  Although he is mainly known for his time on the X-Men roster, Hank McCoy was once member of the Avengers roster. 

After his departure from the X-Men, Beast spent some time as an agent of Sentient World Observation and Response Department (S.W.O.R.D) with his girlfriend Abgail Brand in the limited series S.W.O.R.D. I'm curious to see if Brand will make an appearance in the Secret Avengers, and if so, what role will she play.

One thing that makes this different than the other Avenger books that are coming in the Heroic Age is the selection of team members.  Avengers and New Avengers both written by Brian Michael Bendis, are set to debut within the next couple of months, features some of the same members together who have worked together, (Iron Man and Thor for Avengers, while Luke Cage and Spider-man on New Avengers). 

Brubaker is putting together a cast that many thought they would never see.  Although Rogers has constantly worked with Black Widow and Sharon Carter, he has never really interacted with Nova or Moon Knight.  It will be interesting to see how Ant-Man (whose real identity is Eric O'Grady) gets along with Moon Knight and Rogers.

Another secretive element the title is bringing, is their agenda.  While the main roster of the Avengers is set to have a classic confrontation with Kang, none of the previews for Secret Avengers have what they are doing, with the exception of the six page preview featuring Valkyrie, Black Widow, and Rogers. 

Brubaker has a knack of writing stories with elements of noir, espionage, and science fiction, so it wouldn't surprise me if he pitted his team of Avengers act more like spies against corrupt law enforcement, and the criminal underworld, and Dedodato's pencils will blend those elements well.

Whatever the case, the world will have to wait until May 26 to find out.

From the Archive "Marvel Ultimate Alliance"

 

my main team consisting of Spider-man, Wolverine, Daredevil, and Storm (McAvengers)

Ever wonder what it would be like to walk the Fantastic Four through the halls of Asgard? How about leading the Avengers against Galactus? Or uniting Spiderman, Ghost Rider, Blade, and Dr. Strange, against Doctor Doom?

This may sound like something that could only happen in the comic books, but Activision (the makers of X-Men Legends and X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse), has released Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for many home consoles, including PS2, X-Box, and X-Box 360. It is also available for handheld consoles like the PSP and Nintendeo DS, as well as the next generation consoles.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is a Multiplayer Role Playing Game where players lead a team of four superheroes against the forces of the Masters of Evil led by Doctor Doom. Players can choose from twenty characters, each one with their own unique abilities.

Throughout the game, the heroes will travel to different areas while crossing paths with heroes who act as non-playable characters, giving valuable information throughout the game. Depending on the choices they make and the missions they complete, players can alter the course of the Marvel Universe by saving the world from Doom's forces, or perhaps adding to its destruction.

According to the Ultimate Alliance official website, players can use the universal upgrade system to customize their entire team or customize each member of their squadron to help them achieve the full potentianal of their powers. Players can even create a name and a logo for their customized team.

If gamers decide that they don’t want to create a team, they can go online and interact with other Ultimate Alliance players from around the world.

With its similar game play to X-Men Legends and X-Men Legends II, Ultimate Alliance features airborne and water based combat. Explosive environments, special items to enhance a hero’s powers, and comic book based missions for different heroes are also elements gamers will enjoy.

While the game play and special customization help the player get into the game, the voice overs and the detailed backgrounds elevates the atmosphere of Marvel's newest game. Voice actors like Steven Jay Blum (Samurai Champloo), Cam Clarke (Metal Gear Solid), and Phil LaMarr (Justice League Unlimited) have given their vocal talent to help bring to life many of Marvel Comics’ most famous heroes.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is a game for Marvel and RPG fans alike. It allows players to create a dream team of their favorite heroes, explore the boundaries of Marvel Universe, and face off against its most powerful villains.