Throwback Thursday: Brian Michael Bendis’ New Avengers

With just eight days until Avengers: Age of Ultron hits U.S. theaters, ComicBook.com continues “Avenging April.” Each Thursday, we’ll discuss a nugget of Avengers history from comics, animation, or video games. Today, we’ll address the first incarnation of Brian Michael Bendis’ New Avengers and the legacy it left behind.

It’s difficult to believe that it’s been ten years since this once-controversial team assembled for the first time. The story began when B-Lister villain Electro stages an outbreak at Marvel’s answer to Azkaban Prison, the Raft. To quell the madness,  Captain America, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Iron Man, SHIELD agent Jessica Drew (who we learn much later was not actually Drew, but Skrull Queen Veranke), and Matt Murdock arrive. Also along for the ride is the quite mentally unstable Sentry, who is imprisoned there for his own good.

After a lengthy battle, the riot subsides with only 42 escapees. Captain America speaks to his cronies and mentions that it was a great evil that brought the Avengers together for the first time, and this time around fate has gathered them once again (Mind you, the former Avengers cast had just split in the Avengers: Disassembled story arc). Presumably “a day unlike any other” happens a lot in the Marvel Universe. So, Cap asks who will join him on a new Avengers team (they never called themselves the New Avengers, by the way) and almost everybody signs up on the spot. (Except Daredevil, which for ironic reason, we’ll get to later.) Sentry self-exiles himself back to his cell and the New Avengers’ first line-up is born.

Obviously, he team’s first mission is to gather up the missing prisoners. It should go easy enough, but it doesn’t. The team winds up in the Savage Land, where Wolverine joins the squad. Because, you know, joining a second team is a smart move for someone who considers themselves a lone wolf. Either way, The Avengers make history by having both Spider-Man and Wolverine join the roster. It was a polarizing move by Marvel, with fans either loving or hating the idea of the publisher’s two biggest loners joining its biggest team. 

 Following the super hero Civil War, The New Avengers went underground as Iron Man’s “Mighty Avengers” became the public face for Earth’s Mightiest. Dr. Strange and Iron Fist joined the illegal Avengers, along with the resurrected Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Ms. Marvel, and the new Captain America, Bucky Barnes. This was one of the few times the team didn’t include a single member of the Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Thor trinity (not counting sub-branches of the Avengers like West Coast Avengers or Great Lake Avengers) and the team dynamic was pretty much untested. 

The second volume of New Avengers, which launched after Siege, didn’t last but all of two years. As the classic Avengers line-up headlined the main Avengers book, Luke Cage led the grounded team from the Avengers’ old mansion. This line-up was more street-level than before, with less firepower, but still had some big names. Alongside Cage were Jessica Jones, Victoria Hand, Spider-Man, Wolverine, the Thing, Mockingbird, Ms. Marvel, and eventually Dr. Strange. Daredevil joined a year or so later, reuniting Bendis with the character that helped put him on the comics map. Sadly, the team quickly disbanded after Jones quit and Cage (her husband) followed suit. Good thing Spidey and Wolverine have backup jobs, right?

The Heroic Age lineup was probably the most fun, with Squirrel Girl and Dr. Strange’s assistant Wong brought on board as babysitters for Cage and Jones’ daughter. The adventures of the New-New Avengers didn’t have a lasting impact on the Marvel Universe like its big-brother Avengers title, but it at least re-established Stephen Strange as the Sorcerer Supreme. But what New Avengers lacked in stakes, it more than made up for in heart. There was humor, as Spider-Man bounced quips off of characters he’d otherwise never interact with. There was trust, as Spider-Man also revealed his secret identity to his comrades. Not that it was needed, but this unique character chemistry  was long overdue. The Avengers actually felt like a family again.

When you think about Brian Bendis’ New Avengers (before Marvel Now!), you think about, well something new and different. Avengers come and go, sure, and the roster is always shifting to give certain characters their due (editorially mandated or otherwise). The New Avengers also proved that Spider-Man, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones could not only be team players, but characters worthy of the “Avenger” title.

So, readers, do you have a favorite arc of the New Avengers? Do you remember when Spider-Man and Wolverine first joined the ranks? How did you feel then, or now? Let us know.