| The Mighty Avengers | |
|---|---|
 The Mighty Avengers #1 (May 2007) Cover art byFrank Cho | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Publication date | May 2007 – April 2010 |
| Main character(s) | Current members Blue Marvel Luke Cage Captain America Kaluu Power Man She-Hulk Spectrum Spider-Man White Tiger |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | Brian Michael Bendis Frank Cho |
| Written by | Brian Michael Bendis Dan Slott |
| Penciller(s) | Frank Cho Mark Bagley Khoi Pham |
| Inker | Danny Miki |
| Colorist | Jason Keith |
The Mighty Avengers is acomic bookseries that was published byMarvel Comics. Originally written byBrian Michael Bendis, also the writer ofNew Avengers, the title first featured an officially sanctionedAvengers team ofregisteredsuperheroes, residing inNew York City as part of theFifty State Initiative, as opposed to the unlicensed team featured in The New Avengers. This first incarnation of the team is led byIron Man andMs. Marvel, with the second lineup featuringHank Pym as the leader, and the third led byLuke Cage andMonica Rambeau.
The team first appears inThe Mighty Avengers #1 (May 2007), written byBrian Michael Bendis and pencilled and inked byFrank Cho. The roster, led byMs. Marvel, also consisted ofAres,Black Widow,Iron Man,Sentry,Wasp andWonder Man. In the wake of the superhero "Civil War", Iron Man recruits Ms. Marvel as leader of the revamped team. Together they select the first roster.[1]
The Mighty Avengers was originally intended to run parallel withNew Avengers, with characters and events crossing over and being viewed from both perspectives. However, artist Cho fell behind schedule, and left the book after six issues and an additional cover.[2] SuccessorMark Bagley drew the series from issues #7–11 (early March – late May 2008).
The series was canceled withThe Mighty Avengers #36 (April 2010), at the conclusion of theSiege storyline.[3]
The team was relaunched in September 2013 under the creative team ofAl Ewing andGreg Land. The new team is more street-level and is led byLuke Cage.[4] The team contains new versions ofRonin,White Tiger andPower Man, plusBlue Marvel, theSuperior Spider-Man,She-Hulk,Spectrum, and theFalcon.[5] It ran for fourteen issues.
In November 2014 as part of theMarvel Now initiative, a third volume was launched:Captain America and the Mighty Avengers. This volume was written by Al Ewing and illustrated by Luke Ross and Iban Coello.[6] This volume was cancelled in June 2015, after nine issues.[7]
Following the federally sanctioned creation of this iteration of the Avengers,Iron Man (Tony Stark) is discredited and publicly vilified after his inability to anticipate or prevent asecret infiltration and invasion of Earth by the shape-shifting alienSkrull race, and by the Skrull disabling of his StarkTech technology, which had a virtual monopoly on worldwide defense.
Following the Skrulls' eventual defeat and the subsequent dissolution ofS.H.I.E.L.D., the officially sanctioned team of Avengers, now led byNorman Osborn under theH.A.M.M.E.R. banner, is spun off into the pages ofDark Avengers.[8]
In response,Hank Pym, in his latest superhero persona as the newWasp, leads an Avengers team outside the U.S. and H.A.M.M.E.R.'s jurisdiction. With the apparent help of theScarlet Witch—actually, a disguisedLoki, theNorse trickster god—he summons theVision andStature of theYoung Avengers,U.S. Agent,Jocasta,Hercules,Amadeus Cho, andIron Man.
Claiming to be the only authentic team of Avengers due to being the only team operating under that name to have a founding member on the roster, the team operates from an interdimensional headquarters. It is granted official recognition outside the U.S. by the international organizationG.R.A.M.P.A., and combats supervillains and other entities including Chthon,[9] andthe Unspoken.[10]
During the events ofInfinity, a new team of Mighty Avengers are formed duringThanos' invasion of Earth. With the main Avengers branch off in space, the defense of New York falls to a group of former Avengers and the remnants of Luke Cage's recently disbandedHeroes for Hire squad. They are given the name "Mighty Avengers" after aTwitterhashtag used to describe the group.[11]
During theInhumanity storyline, Luke Cage keeps the Mighty Avengers together and made the remodeled Gem Theater as their base. The Mighty Avengers now have the purpose of helping those in need. During this time, the Spider Hero becomes the newRonin.[12]
During the "Last Days" part of theSecret Wars storyline, Steve Rogers tells the Mighty Avengers team that the world is ending and asks them to side with him or the Illuminati. Two weeks before the end of the world, the Mighty Avengers join Steve Rogers in a fight against the Illuminati.[13] The Mighty Avengers help out in the incursion against Earth-1610.[14]
The Mighty Avengers were founded by Ms. Marvel and Iron Man, as New York's team under theFifty State Initiative.[1]
| Character | Real Name | Joined in | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Man | Anthony Edward Stark | Mighty Avengers #1 (May 2007) | Removed from being director of S.H.I.E.L.D. inSecret Invasion #8. |
| Ms. Marvel | Carol Susan Jane Danvers | Became member of the New Avengers. | |
| Wonder Man | Simon Williams | Resigned inSecret Invasion #8. | |
| The Wasp | Janet van Dyne (a.k.a. Janet Pym) | Died inSecret Invasion #8. Later revealed that she was actually shunted to theMicroverse[15] | |
| Black Widow | Natalia Alianovna Romanova (a.k.a. Natasha Romanoff) | Resigned inSecret Invasion #8. | |
| Sentry | Robert Reynolds | Became member of the Dark Avengers. Presumed deceased as ofSiege #4. | |
| Ares | Ares (a.k.a. John Aaron) | Became member of the Dark Avengers. Presumed killed inSiege #2. Later turned up alive in Contest of Champions #8 (2016). | |
| Infiltrator (2007) | |||
| Spider-Woman | Veranke (posing as Jessica Drew) | Mighty Avengers #7 (November 2007) | Adouble agent with the New Avengers. Revealed to be a Skrull inSecret Invasion #3 (May 2008). Died inSecret Invasion #8. |
After the events of "Dark Reign", the Mighty Avengers were followed by a reorganized Initiative team published inDark Avengers, and a new international team was featured inMighty Avengers.
| Character | Real Name | Joined in | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ant-Man | Dr. Henry Jonathan "Hank" Pym | Mighty Avengers #21 (March 2009) | Chosen by the "Scarlet Witch", who was actually Loki. Challenged for leadership by Iron Man, but assumed full leadership after defeating Chthon. |
| Hercules | Heracles | Presumed killed in the Assault on New Olympus. Returned inChaos War #1 (Oct. 2010). | |
| Amadeus Cho | Amadeus Cho | ||
| Jocasta | Jocasta | ||
| U.S. Agent | John Frank Walker, Jack Daniels (alias) | Mighty Avengers #22 | Former member of Omega Flight, chosen in the place of an incapacitated Captain America. Removed by Norman Osborn inMighty Avengers #33. |
| Stature | Cassandra Lang | Concurrent members of theYoung Avengers. | |
| Vision | Jonas (alias) | ||
| Quicksilver | Pietro Django Maximoff | Mighty Avengers #24 | Joined the team after helping them defeat Titan. |
| Infiltrator (2009) | |||
| Scarlet Witch | Loki (posing as Scarlet Witch) | Mighty Avengers #21 (March 2009) | Joined and assembled the Mighty Avengers inMighty Avengers #21 (March 2009). Revealed inMighty Avengers #29 (November 2009). |
During theInfinity storyline, a new team was assembled. "The Mighty Avengers" volunteer organization is based out of the old Gem Theatre in Times Square, offering their services as non-profit heroes for free or a charitable contribution.[4]
| Character | Real name | Joined in | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luke Cage | Lucas Cage (born Carl Lucas) | Mighty Avengers Vol. 2 #1 | Founder and business director. |
| Spectrum | Monica Rambeau | Field leader, former member ofNextwave | |
| Ronin | Eric Brooks (akaBlade)[16] | First appeared as "Spider Hero." His identity was leaked in an earlier draft of a script. His identity was officially revealed inMighty Avengers #9. | |
| Blue Marvel | Adam Brashear | Mighty Avengers Vol. 2 #2 | |
| Power Man | Victor Alvarez | Mighty Avengers Vol. 2 #3 | Former students atAvengers Academy, former members of theHeroes for Hire. |
| White Tiger | Ava Ayala | ||
| Falcon aka Captain America | Samuel "Sam" Wilson | Mighty Avengers Vol. 2 #4 | Also a member of the mainAvengers team as Captain America. |
| She-Hulk | Jennifer Walters | Mighty Avengers Vol. 2 #6 | Legal counsel for the Mighty Avengers and concurrent member of theFuture Foundation. |
| Infiltrator (2013) | |||
| Superior Spider-Man | Otto Octavius's mind inPeter Parker's body | Mighty Avengers Vol. 2 #1 | Self-declared member, also member-on-probation of the mainAvengers team. He leaves the team inMighty Avengers Vol. 2 #5.[17] |
The new team was relaunched under the title ofCaptain America and the Mighty Avengers as part of "Avengers NOW!"[18]
| Character | Real name | Joined in | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaluu | Kaluu | Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #1 (November 2014) | Current members of the Mighty Avengers. |
| Spider-Man | Peter Benjamin Parker | Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #3 (January 2015) |
The first issue ofThe Mighty Avengers was the second highest selling comic for that month based on Diamond Publisher's indices.[19]
IGN reviewer Richard George saidBrian Michael Bendis' writing forThe Mighty Avengers #1 "manages to move through the roster selection, convey their basic information and personality, marshal them against a huge threat and leave us with a solid cliffhanger". George also praisedFrank Cho's artwork, saying, "The artist not only delivers with some excellent action sequences, he does a great job with the increasingly standard widescreen format that many are adopting."[20]
| Issue | Qty | icv2 Top 300 Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 141,288[19] | 2 |
| 2 | 121,365[21] | 8 |
| 3 | 115,440[22] | 8 |
| 4 | 107,768[23] | 8 |
| Title | Material collected | Publication date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume 1 | |||
| Mighty Avengers Vol. 1: The Ultron Initiative | Mighty Avengers (vol. 1) #1–6 | April 2008 | 978-0785123682 |
| Mighty Avengers Vol. 2:Venom Bomb | Mighty Avengers (vol. 1) #7–11 | July 2008 | 978-0785123699 |
| Mighty Avengers Vol. 3:Secret Invasion (Book 1) | Mighty Avengers (vol. 1) #12–15 | December 2009 | 978-0785130109 |
| Mighty Avengers Vol. 4:Secret Invasion (Book 2) | Mighty Avengers (vol. 1) #16–20 | February 2009 | 978-0785136507 |
| Mighty Avengers Vol. 5:Earth's Mightiest | Mighty Avengers (vol. 1) #21–26 | August 2009 | 978-0785137467 |
| Mighty Avengers Vol. 6:The Unspoken | Mighty Avengers (vol. 1) #27–31 | March 2010 | 978-0785137474 |
| Mighty Avengers Vol. 7:Siege | Mighty Avengers (vol. 1) #32–36 | September 2010 | 978-0785148005 |
| Mighty Avengers: Assemble | Mighty Avengers (vol. 1) #1–11 | March 11, 2009 | 978-0785137580 |
| Mighty Avengers: Secret Invasion | Mighty Avengers (vol. 1) #12–20 | March 24, 2010 | 978-0785142614 |
| Mighty Avengers: Dark Reign | Mighty Avengers (vol. 1) #21–36 | August 17, 2011 | 978-0785156697 |
| Mighty Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis: The Complete Collection | Mighty Avengers (vol. 1) #1-20 | April 2017 | 978-1302903381 |
| Mighty Avengers by Dan Slott: The Complete Collection | Mighty Avengers (vol. 1) #21-36,Secret Invasion: Requiem #1 | April 2019 | 978-1302915667 |
| Volume 2 | |||
| Mighty Avengers Vol. 1: No Single Hero | Mighty Avengers (vol. 2) #1–5 | April 1, 2014 | 978-0785188742 |
| Mighty Avengers Vol. 2 Family Bonding | Mighty Avengers (vol. 2) #6–10 | August 12, 2014 | 978-0785188759 |
| Mighty Avengers Vol. 3: Original Sin – Not Your Father's Avengers | Mighty Avengers (vol. 2) #11–14 | December 23, 2014 | 978-0785190721 |
| Volume 3 (Captain America & the Mighty Avengers) | |||
| Captain America & the Mighty Avengers Vol. 1: Open for Business | Captain America & the Mighty Avengers #1–7 | July 7, 2015 | 978-0785193821 |
| Captain America & the Mighty Avengers Vol. 2: Last Days | Captain America & the Mighty Avengers #8–9,Captain Britain & the Mighty Defenders #1–2,Avengers Assemble #15AU | November 3, 2015 | 978-0785198031 |
The Mighty Avengers appear inAvengers Assemble.[24] In the episode "Civil War, Part 2: The Mighty Avengers",Truman Marsh assemblesAnt-Man,Black Panther,Captain Marvel,Ms. Marvel,Red Hulk,Songbird, and theVision to become the eponymous Mighty Avengers after the originalAvengers disassociate themselves from theInhumanRegistration Act. The Mighty Avengers are dispatched to aHydra facility to stopBaron Strucker from stealing Marsh's exo-suit, only to encounter and get into an altercation with the original Avengers, during whichHawkeye convinces Songbird to defect to the original Avengers before they are arrested. In "Civil War, Part 3: The Drums of War", the Mighty Avengers join forces with the original Avengers upon learning Marsh plans to pit Inhumans and humans against each other and confront him together before discovering he is actuallyUltron. In "Civil War, Part 4: Avengers Revolution", the two Avengers groups fight Ultron's forces while working to free Inhumans from Ultron's mind-control.
