Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Who's the Worst... Avenger?

 


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32 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's a choice between the Hulk, Wolverine or Spider-Man.

July 22, 2014 at 7:05 AM
Anonymous said...

In my opinion, as a US American, I believe it to be a 16 way tie between Tigra, Doctor Druid, The Forgotten One, Sting-Ray, Darkhawk, Triathlon, Silverclaw, Living Lightning and Sersi. No, wait, just Tigra. Tigra and Silverclaw. Tigra, Silverclaw and Doctor Druid.

Last chance: BOOM!!! Whomever it was that picked out the matching jackets with the stylized "A" on them.

Tigra.

The Prowler (could have been a contender but never an Avenger).

PS: If I have to choose from Colin's list of Hulk, Wolverine or Spider-Man, I would pick Tigra. Tigra and Silverclaw. Tigra Silverclaw and Doctor Druid.

July 22, 2014 at 7:12 AM
William said...

My worst Avengers:

1. Spider-Man - Because he's always been Marvel's ultimate loner, and should have never been an Avenger in the first place.

2. Wolverine - Because he was already in the X-Men, X-Force, and his own title, etc. This was the point when Marvel totally gave up any pretense of maintaining any kind of probable continuity and said "Screw artistic integrity, let's just throw all of our most popular characters into as many books as we possibly can, whether it makes any sense or not."

3. D-Man, because he's just a really dumb idea of a character, and probably shouldn't even exist.

4. Triathlon, (see above answer).

5. Silver Claw, (see above the above answer).

July 22, 2014 at 7:18 AM
Humanbelly said...

Agh! And youse guys jump right IN with suggestions which are BOUND to cause me to beat my shoe upon the podium in hysterical dissention-!!

[As an aside, I imagine there could be a clarification between "worst" Avenger and "least favorite" Avenger? One sort of anchors itself in the context of the MU, whereas the other is simply a matter of audience distaste. I'm assumin' popularity is what we're goin' with here.]

I love the Hulk as an Avenger-- but he never got a real chance (or was used with any sense) until, really, the Earth's Mightiest Heroes animated series. Well, and Avengers #100. I always, ALWAYS saw the problem as being the shocking personal ineptitude displayed by the other team members in dealing with his prickly, not-so-bright personality.

Aaaaand I always liked Spidey's brief stints as an Avenger. . . up until Bendis took over. And then Peter seemed to disappear and we got stupid, shallow, one-dimensional, who-is-this-guy?- Spidey. A lot of my work involves periodic, physical, hands-on, time-sensitive team efforts-- and Spidey would be ideal in that setting. Smart, communicates well, gets along easily w/ pretty much everyone, listens to others, sense of humor, focused, HARD WORKER, not ego-driven-- this is a guy I'd hire in a minute.

*Sigh*-- And I'll just bravely put my chin right out there yet again (daggone it, Prowl-!)-- I liked the Avengers bomber jackets from the get-go-- for reasons I've divulged more than anyone ever wants to read again, I do imagine--!

So. . . worst Avenger? Pffft--- JEWEL, of course! Is she even included on that series of illustrations? At some point she had to have been considered a member, yes? Especially if we're including the Young Avengers and the Great Lakes Avengers. Heck, she was the focal character for New Avengers more often than not. But-- a character that no one wants or cares about that we are forced to accept. . . but we somehow are supposed to yield to the convention that she was ALWAYS part of Avengers continuity and history (w/out our knowing it), and therefore has somehow earned the same level of legitimacy as, say, an Iron Man or a Dr.Strange or a Spiderman. Sister, I say thee nay-!

HB

July 22, 2014 at 7:46 AM
david_b said...

Prowler's covered my votes so far.. to include anyone from the mercifully-brief Great Lakes Avengers..

Yup, Tigra, Druid, D-Man, Moondragon, Starfox, Patsy Walker take the prize today.., don't know the rest, but I'll go with all your recommendations.

Sheesh, Spidey and Wolverine..? Stupidest ideas ever.

July 22, 2014 at 7:51 AM
Humanbelly said...

Yeah, and I should chime in that, of the mainstream superheroes, Wolverine is by far the worst choice, IMO. The in-story justification for pulling him in was actually offensive to me. I'm definitely w/ the morning majority on that one.

HB

July 22, 2014 at 8:08 AM
Murray said...

There's a huge swamp of characters I refuse to acknowledge are Avengers. In fact, I have this mental image of some of them blinking in bafflement when they receive the Avenger Alumni Newsletter.

"I'm a what?"

"You're an AVENGER!"

"No I'm not. I never applied. You've never asked. There was never that news conference with the battle cry"

"AH, not only did we did fight as allies that one time, but, here's the kicker, you accepted a cup of Jarvis' tea! So, you're drafted."

But, to pick a name: Mantis. No contest in my mind. There are many close second choices, many mentioned above, but none irritated me like her.

July 22, 2014 at 8:40 AM
Doug said...

Some characters just really get under our skin, don't they? For me, I'd put Rage near the top of my list. But Silverclaw, Dr. Druid, D-Man, Darkhawk, and Night Thrasher would be just behind Spider-Man and Wolverine as "most egregious errors" in Avengerdom.

Contrarily, I'd have had no problem reading some adventures set in the main title with the Sandman or Ben Grimm on the active roster. Reed and Sue -- no. Johnny -- no. But Ben would have been fun. Speaking of Johnny, although I wasn't in favor of the Byrne-led debacle that was the re-introduction of the Original Human Torch, I would have liked to have seen him back on active duty alongside Cap on the main team.

And, as long as we're talking Avengers today, you may have seen on our sidebar (I put a notice up last night) that I'm selling my comic collection on eBay. I'm leading off with Earth's Mightiest Heroes. I put #s 1-20 up for sale yesterday; I'm going to try to get #s 21-50 going today. The higher I go in numbering the more lots I'm going to list. So there's a shameless capitalistic plug!

Doug

July 22, 2014 at 9:00 AM
Anonymous said...

Prowler, just out of curiosity - what's a US American ? That's a bit like saying a French Frenchman.

July 22, 2014 at 9:08 AM
Edo Bosnar said...

Man, I'm actually finding myself in the weird position of defending some of these guys:
1. I kind of liked This One (or, if I'm talking about her, is it That One?)
2. Dr. Druid - don't necessarily like the character very much, but Roger Stern, with that unique talent of his, made even him seem interesting and useful.
3. Can the Great Lakes Avengers really be considered Avengers? Whatever the matter, I kind of like them; they're kind of like the Legion of Substitute Heroes.

As for the others mentioned, most of them joined after my time, so I either have no idea who they are (Triathlon, Silverclaw, Jewel, etc.) or they just seem to have no business being Avengers (Spider-man, Wolverine and also Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman).
Which brings me to my own choice, which I make with a heavy heart, because I really like the character: Tigra.
I have to admit that she was the worst Avenger in that she seemed to do nothing useful during her tenure with the team, and was actually rather cowardly in that Molecule Man story. Then later, in West Coast Avengers, she went nuts and started acting like a feral alley cat. Of course, the respective writers, Shooter and then Byrne, bear the blame for this, because I think Tigra could have been an excellent Avengers - if she was written consistently like she was in the '70s, meaning not at all cowardly and showing no signs of wanting to catch and eat mice...

July 22, 2014 at 9:11 AM
J.A. Morris said...

Doug posted most of the names I would've included. And Mantis, because I wish I never had to read all of her "this one" talk. Annoying. Those characters just don't come to mind when I think of "Earth's Mightiest Heroes!"

July 22, 2014 at 9:20 AM
Rip Jagger said...

Spider-Man!

Practically every superhero in the MU has been made a member by this time, so it's a pretty wide field with lots of lame examples.

But I always thought it was antithetical to Spider-Man's whole nature to be part of the group.

Rip Off

July 22, 2014 at 9:24 AM
Murray said...

I'm going to jump in and say Spidey never tweaked my nerves as an Avenger. The "loner" angle just doesn't resonate with me. With decades of "Marvel Team-Up" and similar guest starring vehicles, the number characters who haven't fought alongside Spider-Man couldn't fill out a decent poker game.

Batman is a dark, mysterious "loner" (and in the League). Spider-Man is more lonely. I think the poor guy wants all the friends he can get, but keeps tripping over the brainy nerd, the Parker Luck and the Great Responsibility.

July 22, 2014 at 9:51 AM
david_b said...

I **really** think you're going to regret the sale, Doug, but I totally understand the sell desire..

I know you've brought it up before.

Hope it goes well.

July 22, 2014 at 10:19 AM
Karen said...

Conan.

Isn't he an Avenger? Everyone else is.

Seriously, I just want to stop the roster at about issue 190 or so. Everyone who joined after that I'd rather just ignore...yeah, grumpy old lady time...

But of the "real" Avengers, you could make the argument that Pym was, since he created arguably their greatest villain, Ultron, and generally caused them no end of grief with his mentally issues. But I'm playing Devil's advocate here. I actually like the fact that he's flawed (to a point).

July 22, 2014 at 11:07 AM
Anonymous said...

Hold up, hold my phone!!! HB is on Seal Team 6!?! Or were we not supposed to suss that out from the word clues??? Any hoo, secret is safe with me, Sir. Tick a lock indeed. Nudge nudge wink wink...

Colin, suppressing my urge to remind you of the proverbial cat, I will explain my out and out Americanism in my posting. In the 2007 Miss Teen USA Pageant, Miss South Carolina was asked a question about US students being unable to find the United States of America on a map. Her reply began: I personally believe, went on to address US Americans, threw in a couple of Such As, the world and then a smile. Classic.

The Prowler (knows it is out and out gross what I net).

July 22, 2014 at 11:24 AM
Dr. Oyola said...

Clearly, the worst Avenger was the Hulk, because he abandoned them immediately and became a potential menace.

Clearly, the worst Avenger is the Swordsman, b/c he betrayed them!

Clearly, the worst Avenger is Hank Pym, because he was emotionally unstable, choreographed dangerous situations to prove himself and struck his wife.

Clearly, the worst Avenger is Iron Man, because he was a drunk and later helped start the superhero Civil War.

Clearly, the worst Avenger is Wolverine because he is a killer and over-extended in terms of team memberships.

Clearly, the worst Avenger is Scarlet Witch, because she went wacko and killed a bunch of other Avengers.

Clearly, the worst Avenger is Spider-Man, because he is a loner and too concerned with his private life to be a good team member.

Clearly, the worst Avenger is Captain America, because as the team leader he has allowed some messed up people to join.

Clearly, the worst Avenger is Starfox, because Starfox.

July 22, 2014 at 12:38 PM
Dr. Oyola said...

Also: U.S. Americans is an important distinction. To South Americans, they are not "Americans," but Norteamericanos! - why should U.S. citizens get to exclusively use the name associated with two different continents and a couple dozen countries?

July 22, 2014 at 12:42 PM
Anonymous said...

I'd have to say Moondragon, since she was actually messing with their heads (and ended up fighting them when she took over that planet and "killed" her father).

Mike W.

July 22, 2014 at 1:16 PM
Humanbelly said...

Ah yes! See? The discussion is starting to morph from the realm of "least-favorite" into the realm of "in context of the MU". . . ! And the kind Dr Oyola very capably points out how, in that context, a case could made for almost ANY major member to be declared Worst. Right? Heck, he was generous in not sticking Quicksilver right in there on his initial list ("Betrayed the team, got them unjustly imprisoned, tried to take over the world, etc, etc").

As far as least-favorites go, though, I tend to be a VERY forgiving auditor. Pretty much any character that has made a legitimate showing with the team and has a sincerely supportive fan-base (even a smallish one) is gonna get a pass from me. I mean, we have a solid contributor on this very blog named "Starfoxxx", and I would be loathe to EVER suggest that his fave is the worst Assembler ever (which he's not. . . make no mistake). Nope.

I don't think I've ever heard a positive comment about Gilgamesh or DeathCry (remember her? Was that her name?) or Darkhawk or Night Thrasher (when the heck was he an Avenger??). I'm trying to think if I've EVER heard anyone praise the stupid Sentry. And D-Man just seems to get an uncomfortable blank silence whenever he's mentioned-- 'cause how can you diss a pathetic, mentally-challenged homeless guy?

Oh, it's all so tough to sift through, isn't it?

HB

July 22, 2014 at 1:55 PM
Pat Henry said...

In terms of super powers, I'd have to say Jarvis. Although he seems capable enough in other departments.

July 22, 2014 at 3:24 PM
Humanbelly said...

Tut, Pat--- Jarvis was an accomplished pugilist back in his military service days! Even in middle age he was able to take out a burly street-tough at one point. And. . . perhaps a case can be made that hyper-organized, detail-oriented attendance to a throng of superheroic personal needs is in itself an un-sung superpower. . . !
(Actually, Wodehouse's Jeeves is indeed a character whose abilities far exceed those of the best of humankind-- but I digress. . . )

Ha! Not Big Seal 6, Prowl. . . more like "Value Meal #8". Or perhaps "Baskin-Robbins 31". Or maybe "$5 Gyros". . . (Ooh, Gyro Tuesday for me n' HBGirl tonight! Yes!!!)

Say, I don't have the series of images in front of me. . . does it include the whole X-Men-swelled Uncanny Avengers thingy? Or are they not technically Avengers?

Geeze, to paraphrase from a great superhero film: When EVERYONE'S an Avenger, NO ONE's an Avenger. . .

HB

July 22, 2014 at 4:37 PM
Anonymous said...

Has everyone forgotten "Rage"??

July 22, 2014 at 7:21 PM
Humanbelly said...

Nope. Man, maybe I just have a fondness for a number of unpopular characters-- but I don't think Rage quite belongs in that group. His backstory and circumstances (a bookish, highly intelligent, creative 12-year-old urban kid gets fast-mutated into having the body of a huge, adult, super-strong bruiser) were surprisingly compelling. The biggest problem was that his look and his codename had almost nothing to do with who that real person was. "Rage?"-- c'mon, he was thoughtful, respectful kid-- that was his inherent nature! No, that aspect was blatantly racially insulting and exploitative, but-- the kid himself? Very interesting circumstances which we did see compellingly explored many years later w/ Billy Batson inhabiting the "body" of DC's Captain Marvel.

They clearly were going for a "don't judge a book by its cover" dynamic for Rage, but very quickly let that "cover" define how they marketed the character in general, which was dishonest and completely counter to the message they had initially started to send.

HB

July 22, 2014 at 9:14 PM
Anonymous said...

Woo boy discussing the worst whoever always seems to generate a ton of responses!

Almost all of these names being bandied I don't recognize, which is appropriate I guess because these characters should never have been in the Avengers in the first place, like Namorita.

Of course, the crass pandering to absent minded fanboys by putting Wolvie and Spidey in there just kills the appeal of the Avengers to me. Whoever thought up the idea of putting these two in the team should be shipped off to Latveria on a one way ticket.


- Mike 'Just bring Hulk back and clear the lot out! Send the bill to Thunderbolt Ross' from Trinidad & Tobago.

July 22, 2014 at 10:03 PM
Anonymous said...

Man, there's a lotta low hands in this card. A lotta punk Avengers.
For me it's probably Triathlon, with Mockingbird as a close second.
Also, I found the Black Knight completely uninteresting. You think they woulda come up with a personality for that guy at some point.

July 22, 2014 at 11:25 PM
Anonymous said...

Ooops. I meant "cards in this hand."
Damn late-onset dyslexia! Damn nearby gas-station that sells beer! Another smart-ass comment ruined.

July 23, 2014 at 12:58 AM
Humanbelly said...

No, no, Anon--

"lotta low hands in this card" had kind of a brilliantly random appropriateness for the conversation. Your subconscious wasn't letting you down w/ that transversal-!

Namorita was an Avenger-??? When did I miss that??

Also, there was a time back in the late 80's/early 90's when there was a definite "more Stingray" contingent represented on the letters page. He left me rather flat, but SOMEone was liking him. (What good would he have been during, say, the Kree/Skrull War-???)

HB

July 23, 2014 at 5:24 AM
dbutler16 said...

Though I've missed the majority of Avengers issues from the past 20 years, I have to vote for Tigra. She just did nothing for me and her "I can't quite get a grip on my cat-like instincts" storyline just never gripped me. I also remember an issue where Hellcat helped out and Tigra acted very, well, catty towards her. Hey, catty, I get it! Her feelings of uselessness with the Eackos before she joined the Wackos also just didn't grab me. Anyway, I found her useless both in terms of personality and powers.

July 23, 2014 at 12:27 PM
Anonymous said...

Wolverine.


starfoxxx

July 24, 2014 at 8:17 PM
Dougie said...

My nominations for Worst Avenger Ever are the Sentry, Dr. Druid and the West Coast Spider-Woman.
I'm afraid I think she wins.

I was fascinated by Simonson's team but could never get used to Reed and Sue as Avengers. It was like having Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl in the JLA.
Speaking of which, can we talk about poor choices for Leaguers? I never warmed to Black Canary or Firestorm in the Bronze Age

July 25, 2014 at 5:08 AM
Anonymous said...

BTW, thanks for the image(s)....I'd have to say there are just as many heroes I DONT consider REAL Avengers as there are that I DO.

starfoxxx

July 26, 2014 at 5:01 PM

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