Monster of the Day #473

How about a little more Kirby love? Obvious reason I went with an Avengers cover, although the FF featured more monsters (right on their first issue is one of the most famous comic book beasties ever). Still, Lava Men clearly fill the bill.

Notice the early guest star appearance by the Hulk. The perpetually irate Hulk had left the team after issue 2 (not utterly without cause; although he quickly joined with Namor the Submariner to attack his erstwhile comrades), being more or less replaced by Captain America, who the Avengers found frozen and revived in Avengers #4.

The oddest thing is that the book not too long afterward abandoned the Marvel all-stars idea. Aside from the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man and the Wasp all left the team and as of issue 16, there was a major roster change (such shake-ups becaming sort of an Avengers tradition) with Cap leading a much less powerful line-up of Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye.

I have to admit, the Avengers line-ups never truly seem ‘real’ to me unless Iron Man, Thor and Cap are on the team.

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Beckoning Chasm

Is that Rick Jones in the background? I assume he’s there so that someone can be captured and threatened. (Gotta have one of those on every team.)

EDIT: Oh yeah, I somehow missed his credit.
cullen_waters

I don’t think Rick Jones was captured and/or threatened all that much during his not brief enough early stint with the Avengers. Maybe once by Baron Zemo towards the end of the original team run. For the most part, all he ever does is beg Cap to let him in the team then after that fails whine about how he’ll never be an Avenger.

As for the Avengers, the comic didn’t quite click for me until Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver showed up. I dunno why, but I like that team about as well as any to come around.
Ken_Begg

I should note I’m not speaking against that team, but it’s an amazing shift in focus to suddenly go from “super-powerful all-star squad” to “low powered comparative nobodies (save Cap, of course).”

We should already remember how Marvel really reinvented the superhero paradigm. Aside from literal monster heroes and heroes with problems, we had an Avengers team that aside from Cap was entirely made up of reformed supervillains.
Beckoning Chasm

Rick Jones was pretty overexposed during his various Marvel careers, but he strides like a god over the likes of Snapper Carr.
Ken_Begg

Yes, I guess Jimmie Olsen is the closest analogue. Rick saw a lot more action, however. He was the reason Bruce Banner became the Hulk; he then was first the Hulk’s and then Captain America’s sidekick; he played a pivotal role in resolving the Kree / Skrull War, which is perhaps the first mega-event in comic book history; he shared a body with Captain Marvel (the Kree one); and recently, I think, he became a Hulk-type himself.

Jimmie Olsen, though, had his own book forever, and appeared in a ton of TV shows and movies, and so is more famous to the public at large.
Marsden

Cap’s Kooky Quartet. I thought Black Panther and Vision were really cool, but any Avengers with out Cap is kind of lacking in my opinion. Many of the Avengers are there because he recruited them past the orginals.
Greenhornet

I don’t know much about Marvel (The local 7-11 and Little General mostly carried DC), so I don’t know about Rick Jones. Alow me to mock the cover a bit:

“Oh no! It’s RICK JONES who has the power of doing the TWIST!”
Flangepart

Ya know, guys like Rick and Jimmy Olsen are like the metahuman ‘groupies’ ans such. They are always wanting to hang out with the dangerous breed, but it’s a wonder they don’t get turned into wall paste more often.
Iron Man : You missed me!
Villain : Hah, well I got your groupie.
Iron Man : EWwww…

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