The Last Avengers Story

Last updated
The Last Avengers Story
LastAvengersStory.jpg
Henry Pym on the cover of The Last Avengers Story #1 (Nov. 1995).
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
Format Limited series
Publication dateNovember – December 1995
No. of issues2
Main character(s) Avengers
Creative team
Written by Peter David
Artist(s) Ariel Olivetti
Letterer(s) Jim Novak
Colorist(s) Ariel Olivetti
American Color
Editor(s) Mark Gruenwald
Matt Hicks
Collected editions
The Last Avengers Story ISBN   0-7851-0218-3

The Last Avengers Story is a two-issue prestige format mini-series from Marvel Comics released in November and December 1995. It was written by Peter David and illustrated by Ariel Olivetti.

Contents

Publication history

The series was written in 1986 by Peter David, but it was shelved due to editorial meddling with the plot. David wanted a character-driven story, but his editors wanted a more action driving storyline. The series was revived when it was published as part of the Alterniverse, a subset of the What If? comic book which focused upon darker, bleaker stories.

Plot

The robot Ultron, wanting revenge on the superhero team the Avengers for constant defeats, places a document detailing their downfall in a time capsule. When the time-travelling villain Kang the Conqueror finds the document centuries later, and having been thwarted by the Avengers himself, he travels back to their time to kill the team. The old Avengers, however, have disbanded and been replaced by a less dedicated group. Kang kills the entire team by detonating a nuclear weapon over Avengers Mansion.

With many of the old Avengers such as Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch either dead or missing for years, Henry Pym reluctantly forms another team. The unit consists of his wife the Wasp; Hawkeye and his wife Mockingbird; the mutant Cannonball; sorcerer Tommy Maximoff (son of the android Vision and the Scarlet Witch); Jessie Wingfoot (daughter of She-Hulk and Wyatt Wingfoot) and two mercenaries called Hotshot and Bombshell, supposed children of the Black Knight and Hercules respectively.

In a flashback, it is shown that Wonder Man and Tigra died in a fight with a surprisingly evil Hulk, who, after Tigra tries to claw his eyes out over his treachery, promptly and brutally tears her in two right in front of her good friend Wonder Man's eyes. In his rage Wonder Man takes on the Hulk. After a long battle Hulk is actually able to penetrate Wonder Man's impervious skin, to the shock and amazement of both. Wonder Man uses the opportunity to grab and hold Hulk as he ignites the radioactive fluid leaking from his chest subsequently killing both of them and blinding Hawkeye.

Together Pym's team confronts Kang—now allied with Ultron, the new Grim Reaper and a creature called Oddball—and in a battle to the death, many of the Avengers are murdered before finally killing all the villains. Hawkeye discovers that Captain America, who was formerly President of the United States and believed assassinated, is still alive and recuperating, and had watched the entire battle. [1]

Collected editions

The series was collected into a trade paperback ( ISBN   0-7851-0218-3) and the premiere hardcover Avengers: First To Last along with the Avengers Classic series ( ISBN   0-7851-3652-5).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avengers (comics)</span> Comic book superhero team

The Avengers are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1. Labeled "Earth's Mightiest Heroes", the original Avengers consisted of Iron Man, Ant-Man, Hulk, Thor and the Wasp. Captain America was discovered trapped in ice in issue #4, and joined the group after they revived him.

<i>The Avengers</i> (comic book) Comic book series

The Avengers is the name of several comic book titles featuring the team the Avengers and published by Marvel Comics, beginning with the original The Avengers comic book series which debuted in 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hank Pym</span> Comic book superhero

Dr. Henry Jonathan Pym is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by penciller Jack Kirby, editor-plotter Stan Lee and writer Larry Lieber, Pym debuted in Tales to Astonish #27. He returned several issues later as the original iteration of Ant-Man, a superhero with the power to shrink to the size of an ant. He later assumed other superhero identities, including the size-changing Giant-Man and Goliath; the insect-themed Yellowjacket; and briefly, the Wasp. He is a founding member of the Avengers superhero team, and the creator of the robotic villain Ultron. He is also the ex-husband of Janet van Dyne and the father of Nadia van Dyne, his daughter by his first wife, Maria Pym.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wasp (character)</span> Marvel comics superheroine

The Wasp is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Ernie Hart, and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Tales to Astonish #44.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ultron</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

Ultron is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema, the character first appeared as an unnamed character in The Avengers #54, with his first full appearance in The Avengers #55. He is a self-aware and highly intelligent artificial intelligence in a robot body who develops a god complex and a grudge against his creator Hank Pym. His goal to destroy humanity in a shortsighted attempt at creating world peace has brought him into repeated conflict with the Avengers. Stories often end in Ultron's apparent destruction, only for the character to be resurrected in new forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Coast Avengers</span> Comic book superhero team

The West Coast Avengers is a fictional group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team first appeared in The West Coast Avengers #1, created by Roger Stern and Bob Hall. It was the first spin-off publication for the Avengers.

<i>Avengers Disassembled</i> 2004 Marvel Comics storyline

"Avengers Disassembled" is a 2004 crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics involving the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Captain America, Spider-Man and Thor. The beginning of Brian Michael Bendis's Avengers run, it depicts the destruction of the existing traditional roster and the exile of several key members of the team. The storyline includes a number of subplots, some of which take place before and/or after the main events, which include other changes to the status quo: Iron Man once again closeting his secret identity, Spider-Man developing organic web-shooters, and the death of Thor and Asgard in one final Ragnarok.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wonder Man</span> Marvel Comics character

Wonder Man is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, he first appeared in The Avengers #9. The character, who was initially introduced as a supervillain imbued with "ionic" energy, fought the Avengers, and, after a series of events, was reborn as a superhero, joining the team against which he originally fought.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grim Reaper (Marvel Comics)</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

Grim Reaper is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is also the brother of Wonder Man.

<i>Civil War</i> (comics) 2006–2007 Marvel Comics crossover storyline

"Civil War" is a 2006–07 Marvel Comics crossover event. The storyline consists of an eponymous seven-issue limited series, written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, and various tie-in books. The storyline builds upon previous Marvel storylines, particularly "Avengers Disassembled", "House of M", and "Decimation". The series' tagline is "Whose Side Are You On?"

<i>The Avengers: United They Stand</i> American superhero animated series

The Avengers: United They Stand is an animated series based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Avengers. It consists of 13 episodes, which originally premiered on October 30, 1999, and was produced by Avi Arad. It was canceled on February 26, 2000.

The Lethal Legion is the name of seven teams of fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Marvel Fairy Tales is a term for three volumes of comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics and written by C. B. Cebulski with art by different artists each issue. Each of these series adapts fairytales and folk tales from around the world, using analogues of famous Marvel superheroes in place of the major characters. The series were published from 2006 to 2008 and were, in order, X-Men Fairy Tales, Spider-Man Fairy Tales, and Avengers Fairy Tales. A potential fourth series, Fantastic Four Fairy Tales, was mentioned as "in development" by Cebulski but was never released.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vision (Marvel Comics)</span> Comic book superhero

The Vision is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema, the character first appeared in The Avengers #57. The Vision is loosely based on the Timely Comics character of the same name who was an alien from another dimension. The character is an android built by the villainous robot Ultron created by Hank Pym. Originally intended to act as Ultron's "son" and destroy the Avengers, Vision instead turned on his creator and joined the Avengers to fight for the forces of good. Since then, he has been depicted as a frequent member of the team, and, for a time, was married to his teammate, the Scarlet Witch. He also served as a member of the Defenders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avengers (comics) in other media</span> Marvel studios team in other media

The Avengers are a superhero team created by Marvel Comics that appear in comic books. Aside from comics, the Avengers appear in various forms of media such as in novels, television shows, movies, videogames and stage shows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawkeye (Clint Barton)</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

Hawkeye is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Don Heck, the character first appeared as a supervillain in Tales of Suspense #57 and later joined the Avengers as a superhero in The Avengers #16. He has since been a prominent member of several Avengers teams, founding the West Coast Avengers, briefly marrying and subsequently divorcing Bobbi Morse / Mockingbird, adopting the Ronin alias after his death and resurrection before mentoring Kate Bishop as his successor as Hawkeye. He was also ranked at #44 on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scarlet Witch</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

The Scarlet Witch is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The X-Men #4 in the Silver Age of Comic Books. Originally said to have the ability to alter probability, the Scarlet Witch has been depicted as a powerful sorceress since the 1980s and on occasion has become powerful enough to alter reality by tapping into greater energy sources.

<i>Uncanny Avengers</i> Comic book series

Uncanny Avengers is a comic book series first appearing in the October 2012 debut of Marvel NOW!, published by Marvel Comics. The series follows an interconnected fictional superhero team, featuring members from the Marvel Universe. The team is united by Captain America upon the conclusion of Avengers vs. X-Men. Uncanny Avengers is also known as Avengers Unity Squad.

<i>Age of Ultron</i> Marvel Comics comic book storyline

"Age of Ultron" is a 2013 comic book fictional crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics that involved the conquest of the Earth by the sentient robot tyrant Ultron. The storyline consisted of an eponymous, 10-issue core miniseries, and a number of tie-in books.

References

  1. The Last Avengers Story #1–2 (November–December 1995)