I've been a fan of the Avengers for a long time.
Let me explain.
We'll call it my origin story.
I was a huge mythology buff as a kid. I read every book on the subject in our local library.
Then, one year for Christmas, my grandmother and aunt gave me this.
Wait, there's a superhero that's a god?
So began my obsession with Thor.
The next year I received this for Christmas.
Wait! Thor is on a team with Iron Man and Captain America?
You can see how this goes.
Also around this time I was exposed to the 1960s Marvel cartoon. Our local TV station ran a diffierent hero each afternoon. This meant more Asgardian goodness for me.
In the spring of 1979, my family got transferred. As the movers were packing my childhood to take west on I-10, my mom picked me up from what would be my final baseball practice with my team of that year.
On the way home, we stopped at a 7-11. I stopped by the spinner rack and found a Thor comic and this.
Take a look at that cover. What pre-teen boy wouldn't want to see what was going on in there?
I guess the guilt of the move overwhelmed mom, but she bought me both. She even agreed to buy me subscriptions to Thor and the Avengers. Those books got me through a rough summer in a new neighborhood.
I read both of those books religiously until the early 90s when my interest in comics ebbed.
Flash forward another twenty years and I see this while watching the Super Bowl.
It made the hair on my arms stand up. That's a good sign.
To say that I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Avengers movie is an understatement.
To say that I'm excited to be sharing the experience with my own sons is another understatement.
In anticipation of The Avengers, I'm going to take a look at the team through all media. I'll be doing this on a weekly basis. We've got a lot of ground to cover before May so hang on.
AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!