Better Know Some Avengers!

Coming Soon...

Well, the Super Bowl is this weekend and outside of the obligatory bells and whistles that go into "The Big Game" itself, another tradition of the event, of course, has become the orgiastic barrage of advertising that permeates, underscores- and sometimes undercuts- its programming block. This year will undoubtedly be no different. And while I'm really not the biggest sports guy, I'm particularly mindful of this one because a new trailer will be debuting for the eagerly-anticipated film adaptation of The Avengers. In interest of pre-empting the mass blow-up of text message questions I'll be getting in the next few days and months, I figured I'd make this "101 series". So, in some paraphrase mash-up of Stan "The Man" Lee and Stephen Colbert: "Face front, true believers-- 'cuz you Better Know Some Avengers"...

If you've seen any of Marvel Studios' previous releases, you can get a general gist of where this is all going as those movies- as much franchises unto themselves- ultimately all serve on another level as preamble to what's coming next. From a logistical standpoint, it's an unprecedented move having all these hitherto self-contained Hollywood icons share equal billing as co-stars in something greater than the sum of its parts. In keeping with the historical lore and ethos of the Avengers comic book, though, this feat is nothing short of utter wish fulfillment nerdgasm of the highest order!

Art by Jack Kirby (with Dick Ayers- inks)

Cover-dated September, 1963, the first issue of Marvel Comics' The Avengers saw the banding together of disparate characters from various established solo series as "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" (as they would subsequently be so modestly tagged); fighting the foes no single hero could take alone. While from today's perspective, the notion of cherry-picking a "best of the best" combat unit might sound pretty frikkin' sweet, there really wasn't as much material to work with back in the day. As a result, writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-genius Jack Kirby's "Version 1.0"- while very powerful- comes off a little "misfit weirdo remainder bin". However, if the constituency seemed a little wonky on paper, they did have some very effective branding with the most bad-ass moniker around, easily giving them a leg up against the more recognizable heavyweights over at DC Comics, The Justice League of America.

As strategically contrived as it may seem, it is very much this overt spirit of jockeying for market placement that saw The Avengers come about. Five years prior, DC had begun successfully revitalizing and updating a number of heroes from their "Golden Age" (World War II-era) heyday, ushering in renewed interest in the "superhero genre". By 1960, they had built themselves a nice stable of titles and began showcasing the meet-ups of their most popular characters as the aforementioned League.  

Charged with chasing this particular trend by his uncle/publisher, Martin Goodman, Stan (along with Kirby) instead scored an offbeat hit with 1961's The Fantastic Four. This new offering was born more out of a last-ditch "Hail Mary" of creative whimsy than a direct response to the challenge, as Atlas (Marvel's 1950s incarnation) was still heavily steeped in one-and-done sci-fi/monster and romance comics, having long-since mothballed their own circa-WWII Timely "mystery men" properties. While there is more than a passing wink and nod to the greater pedigree of the art form in those initial FF issues, Stan's greatest, most sustaining achievement would be the attitude that he imbued into these new creations: heroes with feet of clay- a modernized spin on Greek tragedy wherein the superhuman is in some way made more vulnerable as a consequence of their new ability. One doesn't really need to look any further than the monstrously-transformed FF member, The Thing or the Amazing Spider-Man as prime early examples of this mindset. The next step was really just to wash, rinse, world-build and repeat ad infinitum.

For the next few years, the ideas just proliferated in this vein. Ostensibly, the body of this inaugural "class" would become the nucleus of Lee's new "supergroup"- yet none of them had quite the same marquee draw that other more-established "solo title" heroes brought to their respective "team" books. Hell, even in their own evolving House of Ideas, the closest thing they had was The Amazing Spider-Man; though either by virtue of Spidey's on-panel multiple chainsaw juggle of a life or co-creator Steve Ditko's implied desire to not share all the toys in the new toy box, it was readily evident the wall-crawler couldn't play well with others. From there, essentially, it shakes out to be less about "the best of the best" and more about "You go to war with the army you have"...

It's right about there that the original comic book series separates from what will no doubt become the "Movie Origin of the Avenger Initiative's 1st Field Mission", although many of the core tenets will assuredly remain intact. In the traditional story, Loki (yep, that Loki. Norse God of Mischief- y'know, from the Thor movie) attempts to use the Incredible Hulk as a pawn in a revenge scheme against his hated adopted brother, the ubiquitous God of Thunder (and Rock and Roll). As Loki tries to leak word and bait Thor, he accidentally draws the attention of additional heroes: Tony Stark, the Invincible Iron Man (apparently before the turned-to-steel-in-a-great-magnetic-field incident you hear so much about) and the insect-themed duo of Dr, Henry Pym (the Astonishing Ant-Man) and Janet Van Dyne (the Winsome Wasp), whose appearance in the movie, of this writing, remains a point of speculation and easter-eggery. 

Once all the "lone gun" heroes converge and momentarily beat their chests about how they work alone (except the Wasp, who takes this as a chance to super-speed date!), they get down to the wacky business of pursuing the Hulk, who has pulled it together enough to disguise himself as a-- I shit you not-- robot clown in a nearby traveling circus until the heat dies down on his Loki-induced public catastrophe.

ooohh-- I  sure hope they work this into the movie somehow...

Another classic misunderstanding-amongst-heroes dust-up ensues until they collectively smoke out the real culprit. Before parting ways, their smallest members suggest that they should regularly meet up as a thing-- and even spring that killer name off! And that was how it was for all of two issues...

Sounds pretty weird, huh? It may come off a bit hokey by today's standards, but the stories-  outside of their sheer historic value- are not without their own innate awesomeness. I couldn't even begin to think where we our modern mythology would be without the output of Marvel's Silver Age Bullpen. And for those uninitiated, I recommend any of this stuff (but put on your Ed Wood googles 'cuz the less said about the three-toed/eight-toed Hulk variance the better, shhh).

Move over Mr.T, Hulk in on pitying racket since '63!

By the same token, though, you may be saying: "Where's Cap? When does the whole SHIELD para-military angle come into play?" Hold on, I'm getting there...

[To Be Continued]