I realized the other day that I've now been the editor of AVENGERS in one form or another for a solid ten years. Kurt Busiek's plot for the Heroes Return AVENGERS #1, the first issue I edited, is dated July 11, 1997, a full decade ago at this point. That would have been issue #416 if the numbering hadn't been rebooted once or twice along the way--and if AVENGERS hadn't restarted as NEW AVENGERS, the numbering would now be up to #536. So that's a solid 120 regular issues, plus all sorts of Annuals, Specials, limited series, spin-off titles and ancillary projects along the way.
The first AVENGERS project I worked on was the softcover AVENGERS MASTERWORKS, which reprinted the first five issues of the series. I also edited the '90s version of the OFFICIAL MARVEL INDEX TO THE AVENGERS. Right before the series was outsourced to Rob Liefeld, I featured the team in an issue of SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP that George Perez wrote, for which he also did the cover. And along the way, I also wrote one (awful) issue of the book, #383.
We had some strong moments along over the years—the relaunch with Kurt Busiek and George Perez, AVENGERS FOREVER with Carlos Pacheco, Ultron Unlimited, the Kang Dynasty, AVENGERS # 1 1/2 with Bruce Timm, Geoff Johns' underrated run, especially #62 and "Red Zone," JLA/AVENGERS, NEW AVENGERS, YOUNG AVENGERS, CIVIL WAR, MIGHTY AVENGERS, AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE—and some not-so-strong ones. That's going to be the case with any series you look at over the space of 10 years. But I'd like to think I've kept the book in better shape overall than when I found it. If nothing else, it's been a strong seller all through my tenure. (And, in fairness, it was a strong seller immediately before as well, when Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee and their guys worked on it.)
What put me in mind of all this was reading through a copy of ASSEMBLED!, a book of essays and reviews covering the entire history of the series put together by the members of the Avengers Mailing List. It's a sort of all-star compilation of Avengers super-fans, and while I don't necessarily agree with every opinion they have, the book is nevertheless a fine read for any Avengers aficionado, and an overall handsome package. You can find it on the web at http://www.lulu.com/content/545283
I was never especially an AVENGERS fan before taking over the series—I liked it just fine, when it was good, but I didn't love it any more than CAPTAIN AMERICA or DAREDEVIL or X-MEN—but for good or ill (and there are people who'll argue for both sides, I expect) it's the title with which I'm most associated. And I expect that'll be the case long into the future—at this point, it's not only the longest anybody's ever edited AVENGERS, but it's also getting pretty close to the longest anybody at Marvel has edited one particular title (though you can argue that, with the changes in numbering and the switch to NEW AVENGERS, it isn't quite the same title at all.)
More later.
Tom B
