The Avengers Roster: So to Sw
By Sean McQuaid

Complete descriptions of each individual's affiliation with the Avengers are detailed below.

Songbird (Melissa Joan Gold):
Ally and possible future member of the Avengers; founding member of the Thunderbolts; former founding member of the Grapplers; former member of the Masters of Evil. As Screaming Mimi, Melissa Gold was a founding member of the Grapplers, costumed wrestlers who moonlighted as criminal mercenaries; one of their employers, Roxxon Oil, had surgically endowed Mimi with bionic enhancements that enabled her to use her voice as a weapon with a variety of mental and physical applications. After half the original Grapplers were killed by the Scourge of the Underworld, Mimi joined Baron Helmut Zemo's Masters of Evil, but was captured during her first mission for them. After that, she became the lover and partner of fellow sonic super-criminal Angar the Screamer, but their relationship came to a tragic end when he was shot dead by police.
     A grief-maddened Mimi went on a destructive screaming rampage that ruined her voice, but she was found and taken in by Zemo, who had his associate Fixer reconstruct and modify Melissa's larynx, giving her new sonic powers, notably the ability to create, shape and manipulate solidified sound constructs with the help of a mechanical carapace. With these new powers, Melissa adopted a new identity as Songbird and became a founding member of Zemo's Thunderbolts, secretly Masters of Evil posing as superheroes while plotting world conquest; however, Songbird and most of the other Thunderbolts came to genuinely enjoy their new lives as superheroes and they turned against Zemo, helping their former foes, the Avengers, foil Zemo's attempted world conquest.
     After Zemo's defeat, Songbird and the other remaining Thunderbolts tried to redeem themselves and rehabilitate their reputations by continuing to act as superheroes, evading the authorities while fighting crime and battling various menaces. They were soon joined in their crusade by sympathetic Avengers veteran Hawkeye, a former outlaw himself, who left the Avengers to become the new leader of the Thunderbolts, significantly improving the skills, morale and reputation of the outlaw band of heroes.
     When the Thunderbolts uncovered and thwarted an anti-superhuman conspiracy within the U.S. government's Commission on Superhuman Activities (CSA), Hawkeye agreed to help keep the incident secret in exchange for his fellow Thunderbolts getting federal pardons for their past crimes. The CSA agreed, though CSA agent Gyrich, a longtime enemy to the Avengers in general and Hawkeye in particular, insisted that Hawkeye be jailed for illegally operating as a vigilante with the Thunderbolts. Hawkeye agreed to the terms and surrendered himself for imprisonment, while Songbird and the other remaining founding Thunderbolts were pardoned for their past crimes and released; however, as part of the deal, they were banned from assuming costumed identities or using their respective powers in public, and any specialized equipment (such as Melissa's Songbird gear) was confiscated.
     Long romantically involved with fellow Thunderbolts founder Abe Jenkins (alias Beetle/MACH-1/MACH-2), Melissa settled down with Abe in Burton Canyon, where they both found gainful employment. Abe ended up working for the Burton Canyon police department, and Melissa got a sales job at Vibe Music, where she has secretly used her only known remaining power, hypersonic manipulation, to subtly influence the attitudes and actions of her customers. For a time, she briefly considered returning to outright crime since she wasn't sure if she could function in normal society, but she was persuaded otherwise by some friendly advice from Genis, the current Captain Marvel.
     When Avengers from various time periods assembled to battle Immortus and the Time-Keepers during the time-spanning conflict known as the Destiny War, one of the Avengers who appeared was a woman who seemed to be (and claimed to be) a future incarnation of Songbird. Whether the present-day Songbird will someday join the Avengers remains to be seen, though it seems unlikely to happen in the near future; however, Songbird has worked alongside the Avengers more often than any of the other Thunderbolts except Hawkeye, and she has expressed an interest in the notion of someday becoming an Avenger. She has also become strongly attracted to the current Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell), an Avengers ally who was among the "future" Avengers assembled during the Destiny War, and whose future self apparently shared a romantic relationship with the future incarnation of Songbird.

Spider-Man (Peter Benjamin Parker):
Former member of the Avengers (thirty-eighth recruit, resigned); former informal associate of the Defenders; occasional operative for Silver Sable. Spider-Man is a celebrated but controversial veteran costumed crimefighter who started out as a selfish show biz entertainer until his uncle Ben’s death--at the hands of a criminal whom Spider-Man had previously refused to pursue--taught the young hero that great power demands great responsibility. Spider-Man’s power, specifically, is an array of superhuman abilities he developed after being bitten by an irradiated spider at a science exhibition: superhuman strength, reflexes, agility and equilibrium; the ability to cling to almost any surface; and an extrasensory awareness of danger, dubbed his "spider-sense". Armed with these abilities and adhesive "webbing" of his own design, Spider-Man has long sought to use his powers for good despite the attempts of media pundits like J. Jonah Jameson to label him a menace.
     Spider-Man has been a staunch ally to the Avengers through most of their history (first aiding them in repelling the time-spanning villain Kang's second attack on the present-day Avengers), but he either declined or was refused membership repeatedly due to various extenuating circumstances over the years. More recently, he accepted the group’s latest membership offer after aiding the team against Nebula, but he left the active roster almost immediately afterward when a humbling encounter with the Stranger shook his confidence. He consented to join the team’s reserve roster during the group's UN-mandated reorganization but was an unreliable reservist at best given his preoccupation with various personal concerns. He only worked with the team on a few scattered cases before opting to formally resign his membership, though he continues to informally assist the Avengers whenever they truly need him.

Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew): See Drew, Jessica
Costumed alias employed by private investigator Jessica Drew during the years when she operated as a costumed adventurer. As Spider-Woman, Drew was an occasional ally to the Avengers, and declined an offer of Avengers membership. She later retired from costumed adventuring after a near-death experience significantly diminished her super-powers, though she has remained active as a plainclothes private investigator. Drew was the first of several unrelated adventurers to use the Spider-Woman alias over the years.

Spider-Woman [II] (Julia Carpenter): See Carpenter, Julia
Costumed alias formerly employed by Julia Carpenter during her exploits as a costumed adventurer. The second adventurer known as Spider-Woman, Carpenter used her powers first as a government operative, and later as a member of the Avengers and Force Works. More recently, Carpenter was forced into retirement when a crippling assault deprived her of the use of her superhuman powers.

Stankowicz, Fabian:
Former inventor and machinesmith, Avengers Crew. A brilliant but misguided machinesmith who used his state lottery winnings to build exotic devices in an attempt to establish himself as the super-criminal "Mechano-Marauder", Fabian Stankowicz unsuccessfully challenged the Avengers on several occasions, suffering a progressively more humiliating defeat each time. After a sound thrashing by a contingent of reserve Avengers during a taping of the David Letterman show, Stankowicz served prison time and, having learned the futility of his criminal ambitions, applied to work for the Avengers as a member of their support staff. Captain America hired him, convinced of Fabian's sincerity. Stankowicz remained a valuable core member of the team's civilian staff or "Avengers Crew" for quite some time, despite occasional complaints about his often unorthodox and sometimes disruptive methods. He was laid off along with the rest of the team's staff when Black Widow disbanded the Avengers following the Onslaught disaster, but refused to accept this as the end of the Avengers. Working in seclusion for months, the increasingly unstable Fabian used the last of his savings to create the Protectorate, a squad of robots designed to replace the Avengers as the protectors of New York City in the wake of the Onslaught disaster. Unfortunately, the Protectorate malfunctioned and became a menace to public safety, a menace opposed by the Avengers, who had reorganized during Fabian's period of seclusion. Realizing the mistake he had made, Fabian disabled the Protectorate with the aid of Edwin Jarvis and was taken away to receive treatment for his mental and physical exhaustion.

Starfox (Eros):
Inactive member of the Avengers (twenty-second recruit). Former member of the Avengers (thirty-eighth recruit, resigned). A member of the superhuman race of immortals known as the Eternals, the womanizing adventurer Eros is the son of Mentor, ruler of the Eternal community on Titan, and the brother of Thanos, the infamous renegade Eternal who fancies himself a god of Death. Eros, by contrast, is a figure of lover, thanks largely to his unique ability to stimulate feelings of pleasure in others (in addition to more conventional Eternal powers such as enhanced strength & durability and the power of flight). As a close friend and longtime ally of honorary Avengers member Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), Eros fought alongside the Avengers against their common enemy, Thanos. Years later, after Mar-Vell had died of cancer, the grieving Eros sought adventure to ease his heart and offered his services to the Avengers. Taking the code-name Starfox, Eros graduated to full membership after a brief period of probationary training. His active membership came to an end when he left to pursue his grand-niece Nebula in an attempt to bring her to justice for her monstrous crimes; though he eventually did apprehend her, he did not return to active Avengers membership, choosing instead to continue his interstellar adventures. He has remained in contact with the Avengers, and is currently an inactive member of the group. He was one of many Avengers who participated in the post-Onslaught reorganization of the team, and has since aided the group against foes such as Morgan Le Fay, Whirlwind, The Infinites and The Kree.

Starhawk (Stakar Ogord, born Stakar Vaughn):
Honorary member of the Avengers; inactive member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. A mysterious mutant who merged with his adoptive sister (and later wife) Aleta to become the cosmically powerful, light-wielding composite being known as Starhawk, Stakar secretly helped form the team of 31st Century freedom fighters known as the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Starhawk later joined the Guardians, playing a key role in the liberation of Earth's solar system from Badoon rule. As Starhawk, Stakar and Aleta were among the Guardians who made an extended visit to the 20th century in pursuit of Korvac. During their lengthy stay, they were hosted and assisted by the Avengers, who extended honorary Avengers membership to the Guardians to facilitate their 20th century activities. The Guardians eventually returned to their own time period, but later made a brief excursion to the 20th century during which they repulsed an attack on Avengers Mansion by the Masters of Evil before returning to their own time period. In recent times, Stakar and Aleta were separated (both physically and maritally), but both retained some aspects of Starhawk's power and both continued to serve with the Guardians of the Galaxy, though Aleta later renounced the Starhawk name. More recently, Stakar left the Guardians to pursue his individual destiny, and finally learned the secrets of his true origins, discovering that he was the long-lost child of his timeline's incarnations of Kismet (a.k.a. Her) and Avengers member Quasar (Wendell Vaughn).

Stingray (Walter Newell):
Inactive member of the Avengers (thirty-ninth recruit); one-time member of the Defenders; former member of the Deep Six; formerly served as oceanographer with Avengers Crew. An oceanographer who leads an occasional double life as the costumed adventurer called Stingray using exotic submersible body armor of his own invention, Newell has been a close friend to the Sub-Mariner and an ally to various other Avengers over the years. Newell became involved with the Avengers when he and his wife Diane leased out their artificial island home, Hydrobase, as an airport for the Avengers Quinjets. Later, the Avengers purchased Hydrobase, rechristened it Avengers Island and moved their entire headquarters there, employing Newell as their staff oceanographer and facility manager; however, Newell's employment by the Avengers came to an abrupt end when Avengers Island was sunk by Doctor Doom's robots during the Acts of Vengeance conspiracy. Later, Stingray was called in to assist the Avengers in recovering a hijacked nuclear submarine due to his aquatic expertise, and he was apparently extended formal Avengers membership due to the diplomatically sensitive nature of the mission. Though he has declined to assume full active Avengers membership, Newell participated in the post-Onslaught reorganization of the Avengers and remains affiliated with the group as an inactive member, aiding them in conflicts with foes such as Morgan Le Fay, Whirlwind, Attuma and Kang.

Strider:
Steed to Black Knight [III] (Dane Whitman); ally to the Avengers, Heroes for Hire and the Knights of Wundagore. When Avengers veteran the Black Knight was recruited by the Lady of the Lake to become the Earthly champion of the mystical realm of Avalon, the Lady gave the Knight new mystical weapons and a magical winged steed, Strider, who can fly at great speeds and is even capable of travel underwater. While riding Strider, Dane Whitman is magically able to breathe regardless of his environment. As the Black Knight's steed, Strider has encountered the Avengers, and once stayed briefly at Avengers Mansion in the care of Edwin Jarvis.

Sub-Mariner (Namor McKenzie):
Inactive member of the Avengers (twenty-fifth recruit); active founding member of the Defenders; former founding member of the Invaders and the All-Winners Squad; former member of the Deep Six. A superhuman amphibious mutant born of a human father and an Atlantean mother, Namor the Sub-Mariner was raised in Atlantis to believe that the "surface people" were his enemies, since they despoiled the Atlanteans' ocean home and threatened the seas with their developing technology. Namor eventually set aside his enmity with the surface world after befriending several valiant humans, some of whom he joined in a World War II alliance of anti-Axis crusaders called the Invaders. After the war, this group was briefly reconstituted as the peacetime All-Winners Squad but soon disbanded. Namor himself was eventually rendered an amnesiac derelict following a confrontation with Paul Destine (alias Destiny), and when his memory was restored decades later in a chance encounter with the modern-day Human Torch, the confused Namor renewed his war with the surface world.
     For years thereafter, Namor divided his loyalty between his fellow Atlanteans and the good of all people, variably battling with or against the heroes of the "surface world", but eventually made his peace with humanity again for the most part. He encountered the Avengers an an ally or an adversary on several occasions, and once declined an offer of Avengers membership. He did, however, become a founding member of a more informal team of champions known as the Defenders, maintaining an on-and-off association with them over the years.
     During a period when the Defenders were disbanded and Namor himself was exiled from Atlantis by the usurper monarch Attuma, Sub-Mariner's old Invaders teammate, Captain America, offered him membership in the Avengers. The Sub-Mariner accepted, sparking a public outcry from his detractors and past victims, but he eventually stood trial for his past misdeeds and was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity due to an emotional imbalance inherent in his amphibious physiology. Namor took steps to regulate this imbalance thereafter, though he remains a fiery-tempered individual.
     Well before his final court hearing, Namor had taken a leave of absence to be with his new bride, the alien adventurer Marrina, and a contingent of dissident Atlanteans whom they had led in establishing a new undersea colony. He soon returned to the Avengers' ranks along with Marrina after Neptune scattered their undersea colony on behalf of Zeus (who wrongfully pursued a grudge against the Avengers at the time). When Marrina mutated into a gigantic, murderous sea monster whom Namor was forced to slay, the Sub-Mariner left the group to mourn her. He has been an inactive member of the Avengers since then, assisting the team on an irregular basis against foes such as Onslaught, and was among the many Avengers seemingly slain by Onslaught. Later, he was among the many Avengers who participated in the post-Onslaught reorganization of the Avengers and their battles with Morgan Le Fay and Whirlwind, but he has continued to decline active Avengers membersip.
     Most recently, a mystical curse from an old foe, Yandroth, has bound Namor and the three other senior members of the Defenders--Doctor Strange, Hulk and the Silver Surfer--to be drawn irresistibly to scenes of global jeopardy around the world, forcing them to reunite on a regular basis and thrusting them into the midst of one deadly crisis after another. Whether Namor and his fellow Defenders will ever free themselves from this curse remains to be seen.

Sullivan, Inger:
Former lawyer, Avengers Crew. Sullivan was one of many civilian experts recruited by the Avengers for their expanded support staff when the team established its Avengers Island headquarters, but budgetary limitations (including the destruction of Avengers Island and the subsequent reconstruction of Avengers headquarters) soon eliminated most of the full-time staff positions, including Sullivan's.

Super-Soldier (Steven Rogers):
Judgment League Avengers member. An amalgam of Avengers member Captain America and DC Comics character Superman, Super-Soldier was a member of the Judgment League Avengers (a combination of DC's Justice League and Marvel's Avengers) in the alternate universe of Amalgam Comics (a temporary merger of DC and Marvel Comics). Essentially, he was Captain America imbued with Kryptonian powers like those of Superman.

Svenson, Doctor:
Renowned surgeon, one-time associate of the Avengers. When the Wasp was near-fatally wounded by the Maggia henchmen of Count Nefaria, the Avengers recruited Svenson to save her life, liberating him from the custody of the alien Kallusians in the process. Upon regaining his freedom, Svenson operated on the Wasp and succeeded in saving her life.

Swordsman (Jacques Duquesne):
Deceased member of the Avengers (fifth recruit, active member at time of death); partner to Mantis; former member of Batroc's Brigade, Mandarin's Minions and the Lethal Legion. A roguish, blade-wielding costumed adventurer who had operated on both sides of the law for years after a disillusioning beginning as a betrayed revolutionary, the Swordsman sought Avengers membership for the prestige and authority it would give him; however, his shady record and arrogant manner prompted the Avengers to swiftly reject him.
     While trying to force his way into the Avengers ranks, the Swordsman was plucked from their midst by the Mandarin, a criminal mastermind who is the sworn enemy of Avengers founder Iron Man. With the Mandarin's aid, the Swordsman managed to hoax the Avengers into believing he had Iron Man's personal endorsement, and joined the team as a double agent on the Mandarin's behalf. The Swordsman served for a short time but developed a genuine respect for the team, and proved unwilling to betray them. He defused a bomb he had planted in Avengers Mansion at the Mandarin's behest, but was caught in the act by the Avengers, who presumed he was arming the bomb. He escaped capture but was expelled from their ranks, and returned to the pursuit of mercenary and criminal gain.
     Desperate for a sense of noble purpose, the Swordsman eventually became a self-despising petty criminal until he met Mantis, a barmaid employed by the same crimelord who then employed the Swordsman. Recognizing the Swordsman's strength and nobility, Mantis convinced him to abandon his life of crime and seek re-admittance to the Avengers. He did so, and was accepted after a period of probationary membership. Though the other Avengers were initially wary of him, he soon proved himself a loyal and effective member of the team.
     Despite this, the Swordsman was tortured by self-doubt and feelings of guilt over his real and imagined shortcomings, a situation exacerbated by his romantic estrangement from Mantis. This culminated in the Avengers' battle with Kang the Conqueror, who sought to kill Mantis when the Avengers prevented him from taking her as his bride. The Swordsman rushed to Mantis's defense and intercepted a gun blast meant for her, dying with words of self-recrimination on his lips as Mantis realized how much she still loved him and his teammates reassured him of his worth as an Avenger. The team honors him to this day as the first Avenger to die in action.

Swordsman [II] (Philip Jarvert):
Honorary member of the Avengers; former member of the Gatherers; partner to Magdalene. An alternate timeline counterpart of the late Avengers member known as the Swordsman, Philip Jarvert's life in his native timeline had many parallels to that of our reality's Swordsman, including Avengers membership, a friendship with Hawkeye and near-identical skills and weaponry. Jarvert was rescued from his devastated timeline by Proctor, who, unbeknownst to Jarvert, was the man responsible for the decimation of Jarvert's and many other alternate timelines in his obsessive quest to murder the Avenger Sersi in all her various alternate timeline incarnations. Believing Proctor to be a benevolent rescuer bent on averting these cataclysms, and conditioned to regard the Avengers as his enemies through Proctor's mind control, the new Swordsman attacked our timeline's Avengers on Proctor's behalf several times but was eventually captured by the Avengers when compassionate hesitation on his part prevented his escape alongside Proctor's other agents.
     The Avengers housed the Swordsman as a guest for some time, and as his mind cleared they realized that he was not malevolent in nature. He became an unofficial part of the Avengers roster and formed a close friendship with the Vision, but was almost killed when Proctor sent an alternate timeline Vision to murder the Swordsman before he could be of any further aid to the Avengers. The Swordsman barely survived this attack, and when his lover, Magdalene, another of Proctor's dupes, learned of this, she realized how truly evil Proctor was and turned against him, joining the Avengers to nurse Jarvert back to health.
     The couple resided in Avengers Mansion for some time, occasionally participating in the group's missions, and were later provided with a home of their own by Avengers financier Tony Stark. They remained affiliated with the Avengers and were soon recognized as honorary members of the team, participating in the group's post-Onslaught reorganization and aiding in battles with Morgan Le Fay and Whirlwind, but they twice declined offers of full Avengers membership since they felt out of place in their new world and thought that joining the Avengers would only reinforce that feeling. After Magdalene used space-warping technology confiscated by the Avengers from Imus Champion to help the otherdimensional adventurers known as the Squadron Supreme return to their home universe, she and Swordsman used the device to depart the Avengers' Earth as well, leaving in search of a new world where they might feel more at home.

Last updated by Sean McQuaid on October 13, 2001.

Avengers and all related characters copyright 2001 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All text in this document copyright Sean McQuaid, 2001.