![\"Avengers](\"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/images\/avengers_epting_palmer.jpg\" "\\"Avengers")
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Apparently my love of the Avengers is broken.\u00a0 I’ve been reading the Marvel comic Avengers<\/em> faithfully since 1993, however, my favorite eras of the team are those reviled by long-time Avengers fans.<\/p>\n When I started reading the book, the classic line-up with Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor didn’t exist.\u00a0 Sure I read the occasional issue of the Avengers <\/em>growing up with the classic team, and of course there was Secret Wars<\/em>.\u00a0 But I truly fell in love with the team when the Avengers was composed of: Black Knight, Crystal, Sersi, Black Widow, Captain America, Hercules, and Vision.\u00a0 Yup, that’s right.\u00a0 I became a fan of the Avengers during the “Brown Jacket” era.\u00a0 Bob Harras, The Gatherers, Force Works<\/em>, Steve Epting, The Crossing<\/em>, Bug Jan, Tom Palmer, Kang-controlled Tony Stark, followed by teenage Tony Stark, Warren Ellis’ Thor<\/em>, Mike Deodato, Moonraker, and Timeslide<\/em>.\u00a0 Loved it.\u00a0 All of it. Not many people look back on this era fondly, but I don’t agree with that sentiment.\u00a0 At the time, Marvel was making some big changes to the Avengers team.\u00a0 They were keeping the stories fresh, unpredictable, and preventing stagnation.\u00a0 Whether you liked the changes or not, you should at least acknowledge that Marvel was trying to push the characters forward.<\/p>\n My other favorite era of Avengers is right now!\u00a0 I’ve enjoyed the entire run of New Avengers<\/em>, but around Civil War<\/em> is when it really became “top of the stack” reading for me.\u00a0 Sure the decompressed storytelling can be annoying at times, but overall the stories and characterization have been great.\u00a0 Civil War<\/em>, The Initiative, Secret Invasion<\/em>, Dark Reign… love all of it!\u00a0 And I’m looking forward to Siege.<\/em> Some folks just can’t stand Brian Michael Bendis’ take on the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.\u00a0 Me, I love it.\u00a0 As far as I’m concerned, Spider-Man and Luke Cage fall in the category of true Avengers nowadays.\u00a0 I read just about all the Avengers-related titles and can’t get enough: New Avengers<\/em>, Dark Avengers<\/em>, Mighty Avengers<\/em>, Avengers The Initiative<\/em>, Ms Marvel<\/em>, and Young Avengers<\/em>.\u00a0 Obviously I’m not in the minority about this era.\u00a0 Clearly Marvel is selling enough copies to support four month Avengers titles and several mini-series.\u00a0 I don’t think that has ever been the case before.<\/p>\n Also, I hate Thor.\u00a0 Can’t stand him.\u00a0 That’s another thing that makes me an unusual Avengers fan.\u00a0 I realize he’s a “classic” Avenger.\u00a0 I realize he’s uber-powerful.\u00a0 I just don’t care.\u00a0 When he shows up in an Avengers issue, I simply start to yawn.\u00a0 The Thor\/Asgard content is the only thing that’s got me concerned about Siege<\/em>.\u00a0 I’m worried after Siege<\/em>, the Avengers roster will include Thor.\u00a0 Ugh.<\/p>\n So you can see, I’m a misfit Avengers fan.\u00a0 Wait a minute… don’t read that wrong.\u00a0 I’m not a fan of misfit Avengers.\u00a0 I wouldn’t want to see a team made up of Triathlon, Deathcry, Rage, Silverclaw, Marrina, and D-Man.\u00a0 No.. No… No… I’m a misfit myself amongst Avengers fan.<\/p>\n Other random thoughts…<\/p>\n\n
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