Top 12 Avengers (the bottom of my barrel)

For your opinion to be worth anything, you have to have favorites and you have to have things that you do not care for at all. Hence the posting of a few characters that I don't enjoy. I do need to make a clarification here. In two of the three cases, I'm glad that the characters exist. They add to the storyline and serve a purpose, but I wouldn't want to hang out with them, or fight evil with them.

As I write this, I am trying to figure out alternate ways to write "He's a jerk." I'll figure that out down the road, but that phrase really does sum up this category. Remember too, that this category is about the comic book characters and not the movie personas.

Iron Man

I know there are going to be come complaints about this one. Tony Stark is a huge part of the Avengers mythology. He is a Founding Father, but he's also a jerk.

The quality from the movies that I think that people appreciate most about Iron Man is that while he looks out for his own interests first, he is also concerned about making the world a better place. (as long as it makes him look good.) This is not always the Iron Man that we get in the comics.

Here are some of the grievances I have against Tony Stark.

• Armor Wars-Tony realizes that his Iron Man technology is getting into the wrong hands and he decides to take it all back. This isn't such a big deal when he is attacking Hydra or AIM, but then he starts going after SHIELD too. Captain America confronts Tony about the issue and Iron Man tries to blow Cap away.
• Operation Galactic Storm-The Kree and Shi'ar are at war which wouldn't be a big deal except that the war is in our solar system. It's a long 19-part story that covers several titles. At the end of the conflict, there is some conflict between the team about whether or not to kill the Supreme Intelligence, the leader of the Kree people. Cap holds a vote, and the vote is against such a move, and orders the team not to proceed. Iron Man rounds up the dissenters and they proceed to kill the Supreme Intelligence.
• Civil War-Sure Tony didn't pull the trigger of the gun holding the bullet that killed Steve Rogers, but he was the man that made that moment possible. By taking the pro-registrations side in Civil War, he basically made it impossible for heroes to do the work that they wanted to do. Since this rant shouldn't be all about Tony and Steve, let's add the rotten hand he dealt Spider-Man. Spidey is on the pro registration side at first, but he changes his mind as the conflict continues. When that happens, Iron Man publicly announces Peter's identity for everyone to see. The Kingpin tries to have Spidey assassinated, and Aunt May gets shot instead. One Last Day happens. It's all Iron Man's fault.

Triathlon aka 3D Man

Triathlon is a man who was given the strength, speed, and endurance of three men. He also has the ego of three men, and none of the ability to back it up.

There came a time in continuity where people were upset that the Avengers weren't diverse enough. Enter Triathlon. He was foisted on the team, and even though he was never invited by the team or proved his value, he was there.

Even though they tried to accept him and make him a part of the team, Triathlon's attitude made that a difficult prospect. he wouldn't work with the team most of the time, and looked down his nose at most of them too. I think I'd better stop talking about him, because I feel like I'm just being mean now.

Quicksilver

Sure he's the son of Magneto. Sure he is a mutant, hated and feared by the world. Sure his wife took their daughter and left, but does he really have to be a jerk about it?

Quicksilver started out in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with his sister, the Scarlett Witch. When Magneto was sent into exile. At that point, they didn't know who their father was. They decided the Avengers was the best place to show their true nature. Even with this backstory, Pietro was always an arrogant jerk.

That's the bottom of my Avenger's barrel. Next up we will have the honorable mentions.

Excelsior!

Top 12 Avengers

So lots of people have been thinking about the Avengers ever since Joss Whedon's movie came out this summer. It's not surprising to me that the movie did so well. Fans have only been preparing for this for around a decade. Each movie prior to the Avengers was basically like a long trailer. (Iron Man 1 + 2, Thor, Captain America, and both Hulk movies.)

I have some issues with the way the movie came together, but I'll save that for a separate opinion, after all this is just a Top 12 list. However, the Avengers have had a long history (1963-present) Member have come and gone, but several things have been consistent. Let's let Stan Lee take care of that part with the opening heading at the start of most of the 70's era Avengers comics:

"And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth's mightiest heroes and heroines found themselves united against a common threat. On that day, the Avengers were born—to fight the foes no single super hero could withstand! Through the years, their roster has prospered, changing many times, but their glory has never been denied! Heed the call, then—for now, the Avengers Assemble!"

The Avengers got their start when Loki decided to mess with his brother, Thor. He tried to use the Hulk as a weapon, but all it did was bring together a new team of heroes. That original team consisted of Iron Man, Thor, Ant Man, Wasp, and the Hulk. The Hulk didn't last long, and it didn't take much time for the minds of Marvel to think up a way for Captain America to return from the dead after his disappearance at the end of World War II.

Characters have come and gone since those days, but the team usually consists of seven members. At least one of those members tends to be one of the founding five. (Due to the Hulk's unstable nature, Captain America is generally considered the fifth founding member.)

So now that we have the basic background, I can give you the details on how this list is going to work. The choices will be made on characters that I feel either contributed the most to the team, or to my enjoyment of the Avengers. It won't be a matter of power levels or strength. I may pair up a couple of characters from time to time if I feel they are linked in a special way.

Other than that, it will just be my opinions, and if you don't like them, that's your choice to make. Feel free to argue with me in the comments.

One other thing, I'm not really up to date on what is currently going on in Marvel, and I have some issues with certain people becoming Avengers just because they are popular (Spider-Man and Wolverine come to mind because they don't fit the team profile very well. Besides, Spidey has said "No" on multiple occasions in the past, and the one time he did say "Yes" he quit by the end of the issue.)

Hopefully you will enjoy the list, and it won't take as long to write as the Top 12 X-men one took. (I just realize that I never finished that particular list. Oops)

Excelsior!