Bring Back the Solo Avengers!
by Mike McDermott

For those who don't remember it, Solo Avengers was an Avengers series that had a 40 issue run, from 1987 to 1991. The series featured the solo adventures of several members of the Avengers. It was in the split-book format, meaning that half the book was one story, and the second half was an entirely different story. The main feature starred Hawkeye on a monthly basis, and the backup story rotated from month to month, to feature a different Avenger.

Over its 40 issue run, the series got mixed reviews. Many people didn't want Hawkeye in the book all the time, and other people felt that the constantly rotating backups didn't allow for the stories to be properly developed.

The series did suffer from a couple of problems. The main problem of the Hawkeye features, were continuity conflicts with Hawkeye's role in Avengers West. Creative control of the character belonged to both books, and events in one series wer not always reflected in the other. (for example, Hawkeye matched things up with Mockingbird in Solo Avengers, but in Avengers West, they stayed separated.)

The main problem facing the backup features were a lack of room. Since they only had half a book to work with, most of the backup features didn't get to be played out as well as they deserved. On a few occassions, there were mutli-part backups (such as Moondragon's rebirth) but most of the other suffered from this problem.

However, despite it's problems, the series did extremely well. While the Wonder Man, Vision and Starfox stories flopped, there were a number of jems, such as the Hellcat, Black Knight and Firebird stories. The stories ranged from series character pieces (ie, Hellcat, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman) to light-hearted comedy (Rick Jones, Starfox, Wasp) Solo Avengers had a number of hits-and-misses, but in the long run, I feel they came out ahead. Which is why I feel the book should be brought back.

Kurt Busiek and others have stated that they don't want another Avengers series, because it would dilute the appeal of the main book. However, a Solo Avengers series would not diminish the main series, anymore than Cap, Iron Man, Thor or Black Panther's solo series do.

The reality is, right now there are simply too many Avengers to be able to give them adequate exposure in the one Avengers series. The current run has done an excellent job of putting in guest appearances and keeping our reservists involved, but there are still many more Avengers floating in limbo.

Until Avengers #1, I didn't know that D-Man had joined the team, and I'll bet that many other readers don't even know who D-Man is. Why did Starfox and Tigra leave together? What is Julia Carpenter doing since she lost her Spider Woman powers? Will Crystal ever choose between Quicksilver and Black Knight? There is no way any one series could hope to deal with all these characters.

In the final few issues of Solo Avengers, they switched to a full-book format, with a different Avenger starring each month. I think that a similar approach might be just what the doctor ordered. Or perhaps they could do a 48 page special, every couple of months.

The solo adventures of Earth's mightiest heroes are worth exploring, and I would love to see them return.

Mike

email Mike at dermie5@yahoo.com