The Avengers, as a group of existing superhero characters, was created by Stan Lee of Marvel Comics to be pitted against the Justice League of rival company, DC Comics. The group was first introduced in September of 1963 in a comic book solely dedicated to the team. This debut was unlike the usual way most characters were introduced, appearing somewhat as a guest character in a particular comic book. The group started out with five members in the persona's of Thor, Iron Man, Wasp, Ant-Man and the Hulk. Captain America was only introduced and came part of the team in the sixth issue of the series.
Over five hundred issues included major changes in the lineup of the members to even include former villains such as the Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye. Captain America was actually recruited into the team as a replacement of the Hulk. It is shown that the team is funded by Tony Stark, the real identity of Iron Man, which is mainly manifested by the fact that the headquarters of the team is owned by Stark. The team is served by a very loyal butler in the persona of Edwin Jarvis, who was also originally employed by the Starks as their own butler. Because of his loyalty to the team, he has developed a more personal relationship with most of the members. He is the only character in the whole series that has stayed with the team right from its inception, not even one of the superhero members can beat that record.
Enemies of The Avengers
While each superhero character has their own sworn archenemy, The Avengers as a group never had an enemy that could be singled out as their archenemy. Foes to The Avengers were distinguished as any villain that could not be beaten by just a single hero. As survey of the list of enemies would show that there is almost no single individual but rather the group fought against groups of villains as well. Even the Justice League was taunted as enemies of the Avengers despite being a group of superheroes as well. Most of the opponents have recurred in several issues. The villain that can claim as being the first opponent of The Avengers as an established group is Loki, the god of mischief, and the latest foes is collectively known as the Hood.
Collecting The Avengers Comic Books
Just as many of the superhero characters introduced in Marvel Comics, The Avengers have gained such a wide following to have lasted a continuous publication period for more than forty years. The popularity of The Avengers has spawned so many reincarnations in other forms of media. Unlike other characters who were merely featured in novels, The Avengers have novels that are actually centered on the group. Of course there are the animated series and movie adaptations, as well as computer and video games. Despite the more modern forms of media, the most popular form still remains to be the comic books and collectors of the series are numbered in thousands.
Some collect the series for the sole reason of entertainment and merely as loyal fans. While there are an ever increasing number of individuals who are fond of collecting the comic books without really being interested in neither the characters nor the storyline but have their focus set on earning huge profits. A single used copy of the earliest issues will fetch a couple to tens of dollars while mint condition copies may fetch up to thousands of dollars per piece. One might be surprised, but should not, to find out that the most loyal fans will go to great lengths and are willing to shell out a lot of money just to complete their collections. Collecting The Avengers comic books indeed serve two purposes, as a form of nostalgic entertainment and as worthy investments.