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Post by bobc on May 8, 2009 8:32:43 GMT -5
Well I think Quicksilver is a character that people like more for what he brings out in other characters--and he was the first jerk in the Avengers! Remember when he likened the Vision to a wrist watch, when he found out Wanda liked the Vision? The Avengers were always goody goody up until then---Quicksilver really brought out some interesting characterization within the group back in the day.
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Post by ultron69 on May 8, 2009 11:29:58 GMT -5
I thought Peitro's reaction to his sister's romance with the Vision was shickingly hypocritical, since he was angry at humanity for discriminating against mutants, and here he is discriminating against another sentient life form. By the way, I think Hawkeye was a real jerk, too (to Cap anyway), until Cap finally won his respect.
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Post by bobc on May 8, 2009 14:18:17 GMT -5
It was shockingly hypocritical! That's what made it interesting. When you are a routine victim of prejudice or bigotry, you can either rise above it or you can become bitter and angry. Pietro became the latter--and so did Wanda for a while. She hated humans when the those human bomb people blew up the Vision. Eventually she got over it but her brother never really did. Depends on who was writing him.
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Post by spiderwasp on May 8, 2009 21:10:51 GMT -5
I'm surprised I've never contributed to this thread. I'll try to keep it to 5
1. Captain America 2. Hawkeye 3. Vision 4. Quicksilver 5. Hank Pym
Honorable mentions (I knew I couldn't keep it to 5) Hercules, Black Knight, Beast, Starfox, Wonderman
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Post by humanbelly on May 9, 2009 19:10:37 GMT -5
1) Hawkeye-- just an extremely unique character, and one who's personality has always seemed to remain true despite the whims and fancies of the zillion writers who have used him over the years. Oddly enough, the only writer for whom he DIDN'T sound like "Hawkeye" (at least at first) was Stan Lee (!). He pretty much has the same stiff, over-formal, "heroic" manner of speech that many of Stan's early characters defaulted into early on-- until Stan got a handle on him after an issue or so, and coarsened him up a bit. But I'm pretty sure it was also Stan who got Hawk to make the turnaround in his attitude toward Cap.
2) Vision. Geeze, Avengers #58 was my first issue of the title. My emotional attachment is therefor strong. But, boy, just decades of rooting for this poor guy to keep crawing up the ladder of discovering his humanity----
3) Black Knight. And this only comes from having really taken in all of the "Gatherers" storyline recently. He became a terrific, albeit kind of understated, dependable leader. Very, very human.
4) Hank Pym. And again, this totally surprises me-- he's been bent, twisted, and bushwhacked by half the writers down the pike, and retro-conned and everything else. But the fact that he is at the core of his being an incredibly good, compassionate, and self-less hero is something that emerges when looking over the entire history. And his perseverence--- 'cause he doesn't bend, he BREAKS! He's broken bunches of times over the years--- but he just cleans up his mess as best he can, and re-builds. There's much to be taken from him.
5. Oh, Cap. Sure--- can't live w/out him.
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Post by sharkar on May 11, 2009 21:16:41 GMT -5
Welcome to the AA! boards, humanbelly! 1) Hawkeye-- just an extremely unique character, and one who's personality has always seemed to remain true despite the whims and fancies of the zillion writers who have used him over the years. Oddly enough, the only writer for whom he DIDN'T sound like "Hawkeye" (at least at first) was Stan Lee (!). He pretty much has the same stiff, over-formal, "heroic" manner of speech that many of Stan's early characters defaulted into early on-- until Stan got a handle on him after an issue or so, and coarsened him up a bit. But I'm pretty sure it was also Stan who got Hawk to make the turnaround in his attitude toward Cap. Yes, you're right. In his initial appearances, as an Iron Man foe in Tales of Suspense and in Avengers #16, Hawkeye is--uncharacteristically--well-spoken. And assuming the letterer or someone didn't make a mistake, even Hawkeye's last thought balloon in #16 seems like it belongs to Cap and not to Hawkeye! My feeling is that Stan revamped the line up in #16 in part to graft the FF's early formula onto the Avengers, so starting with #17, Hawkeye's manner of speech changes and "coarsens" (as you aptly put it), as he takes on much of the Thing's role: irreverent, wisecracking, rebellious, complaining, with a more "common man" type of speech. But I'm pretty sure it was also Stan who got Hawk to make the turnaround in his attitude toward Cap. And yes, Stan was still the Avengers writer when Hawkeye saw the error of his ways when it came to Cap. This occurred at the end of Avengers #29, when Hawkeye let the Black Widow (then still a villain) escape. Cap told him not to worry about it, that even Avengers are "human" and make mistakes, and Hawkeye felt ashamed that this was the man he'd been antagonistic towards for months. 3) Black Knight...Very, very human. That's for sure! For one thing, look at his seemingly perpetual troubles with women: the Echantress, Jan, Crystal, Sersi...a neat inversion on the myth of the invincible "knight in shining armor."
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Post by ultron69 on May 12, 2009 6:49:35 GMT -5
Good stuff, sharkar. I was tempted myself to go back and see when Hawkeye finally started to let up on CAp, but you've sved me the trouble.
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Post by squidboy on May 27, 2009 23:40:36 GMT -5
1. Vision 2. Hawkeye 3. Captain America 4. All Hank Pym incarnations 5. Beast
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