For the month of February, we’ll be doing something special here at Biff Bam Pop! Each week our writers and correspondents will be compiling lists of their favorite things. Folks around these parts know how much I love the Avengers, but do they know who exactly I love? Meet me after the jump, and I’ll talk about my favorite Avengers.
The Vision
There was a time when the Avengers just wasn’t the Avengers without this hero on the cover. The Vision is android Avenger who can change his molecular density, fell in love with the Scarlet Witch, was used as a pawn by Ultron, could go toe to toe with Thor or Iron Man, and for a generation of readers was the focus of the comic, and he’s one of my favorites. For me, he epitomizes the 1970s era of the Avengers.
Mantis
When I started reading Avengers, the Swordsman, a former villain, was reintroduced to the team and he brought with him his girlfriend, martial artist, Mantis. She was used as a new eye exploring the team, similar to me as a new reader. Through her, I met the Avengers, and over the next few years, writer Steve Englehart explored her mysterious origins on a journey that was perhaps one of the team’s greatest adventures, the Celestial Madonna saga. I also loved that she was able to take down Thor in one of her first appearances. Mantis rocked.
Black Panther
Strong and silent, more a thinker and phenomenal fighter, than what he at first appeared. At first look, I thought he was a cross between Batman and Daredevil, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. He fought like Captain America, thought like Hank Pym or Tony Stark, and was always rational, logical, and cool. Yeah, I love me some Black Panther, always under estimated, and always triumphant.
Hawkeye
Hawkeye is the ultimate Avenger. His reputation for quitting the team is almost ridiculous because when the chips are down, he’s always there. He went from brash pain in the ass to eventually leading his own teams of Avengers, thanks to Captain America’s training. He can be a dangerous fighter as Ronin or a super-powerhouse as Goliath, and always, always, whether the team is facing Kang or Ultron or the Kree army, Hawkeye is at the front of the fight. Fearless.
Hank Pym
Whether you know him as Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket, Doctor Pym, or the Wasp – this founding Avenger has been through hell but always rises above it. Domestic violence, the creation of mankind’s most dangerous enemy, nervous breakdowns, attacking the Avengers, yes, Hank Pym has done all of these things, but he still strives to improve himself and his colleagues, and he fights the good fight. Pym is terribly flawed, but he triumphs in the end, and that’s why he’s my favorite Avenger.
