Remembering Leonard Nimoy With Spock Covers

"'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.'  Message, Spock?"

"None that I'm conscious of....save, perhaps, for happy birthday."



-Kirk and Spock exchange from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

With this, it's time to take a look back at a little of the best and worst of Spock's covers on Star Trek comics, to best remember Leonard Nimoy on his birthday.

Gold Key

The first Star Trek series, it began in July, 1967, and lasted 61 issues until March, 1979 (more here!).

Marvel

Marvel adapted Star Trek: The Motion Picture over the first three issues, and continued on from their with 18 issues from April, 1980 to February, 1982.

DC Comics First Series

Picking up after Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, DC's first Star Trek series, lasting 56 issues from February, 1984 to November, 1988.  Probably the best, mixing the movie and TV eras, with 3 Annuals as well, and having a lot of fun with the mythos.

DC Comics Who's Who in Star Trek

Covering characters from the TV Show, the Animated Series, the comics and the movies, all you needed to know about Star Trek (up to that time); two issues, the one featuring Spock here, and came out in 1987.

DC Comics Star Trek III and IV Adaptations

Adaptations of Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, which came out in October, 1984, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, which came out in 1987.

DC Comics Star Trek V and VI Adaptations

DC's adaptations of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier in 1989, and the last voyage of the original crew in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country in 1992.

DC Comics Second Series

The longest running Star Trek comic series, with 80 issues from October, 1989 to February, 1996....starting in the movie continuity, and heading back to pre-original series stories at the end (and having 6 Annuals of its own).

DC Comics Annuals

DC had two series of Annuals, the first running 3 issues from 1985, 1986 and 1988.  The second running 6 issues from 1990 to 1995, focusing mostly on the past of the crew.

DC Comics Spock in Next Generation

Due to the long life of Vulcans, Spock met with the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation in the 2-part Unification storyline on their show; and it was reflected in the comics, with Star Trek: The Next Generation: the Modala Imperative in 1991 and in Star Trek: The Next Generation Annual #6 in 1995.

Marvel Comics Various Series

Marvel got Star Trek back in 1996, and chose to focus on other eras of Star Trek (like Deep Space Nine) than the original (though they did have Star Trek Unlimited, 10 issues focusing on the original and Next Generation), but did have Star Trek: Starfleet Academy for 20 issues from December, 1996 to June, 1998, and had Ambassador Spock in one issue, and Star Trek: Early Voyages, 17 issues from February, 1997 to June, 1998, which focused on Spock's days on the Enterprise with Captain Pike all under Marvel's Paramount Comics banner. 

DC Comics/Wildstorm

DC got Star Trek back again under it's Wildstorm label in 2000, and tried more of a mini-series approach, focusing on all the eras (mostly Next Generation and Voyager), keeping them mostly separate, but in various short runs.  Of particular note was a Spock/Sarek story in 2001's Star Trek: Enter the Wolves, dealing with the Cardassians, closer to the Next Generation era.

IDW Publishing

In 2007, IDW took on the original Enterprise crew....and gave us alien spotlights as well.

IDW Star Trek Year Four

IDW gave us a Star Trek Year Four mini-series of 6 issue in July, 2007 to January, 2008, then a second Star Trek Year Four: Enterprise Experiment mini-series of 5 issues from April, 2008 to August, 2008 (this one with partial script by original Star Trek series writer, D. C. Fontana).

IDW Continues All Star Trek

IDW gave a 4 issue prequel to the 2009 Star Trek movie (which had Leonard Nimoy as Spock), as well as Star Trek: Mission's End, a five issue series from March, 2009 to July, 2009, featuring an ending to the original crew's original 5 year mission (and IDW has many other fine Star Trek comics as well!).

IDW's Star Trek: Spock: Reflections

IDW focused on the many eras of Spock for 4 issues of Star Trek: Spock: Reflections from July, 2009 to October, 2009.

IDW comes full circle

IDW finally gives us a comic adaptation of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan with 3 issues in 2009, and continues boldly going where no man...no one...has gone before!

Another exchange from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan...Dr. McCoy and Admiral Kirk, talking about the passage of Spock....

"He's not really dead.  As long as we remember him."

"It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done before.  A far better resting place that I go to than I have ever known...Something Spock was trying to tell me.  On my birthday."

We Are The Marvel Champions Part 1

Take one son of an Olympian god, a millionaire mutant, an ex-Russian femme fatale, a walking ice box and a demon from hell...and what do you have? Certainly not a team....well, actually, there was one.

In a tribute to committee thinking, two ex-Avengers (Hercules and Black Widow) joined solo star (Ghost Rider) and two ex-X-Men (Angel and Iceman) to form...The Champions! (And it really was quite a committee...David Anthony Kraft came up with the name for the team, Len Wein and John Romita contributing to the design of Angel's new costume - taking away a blue colored costume in a blue dominated team, and Len insisting a team have five members).

Cover dated October 1975, the saga of Marvel's Champions began. Originally intended to be an Angel/Iceman series, the Marvel offices convinced writer Tony Isabella to add Hercules (a strongman), Black Widow (a woman) and a solo star (Ghost Rider...though, had he not gotten his own title, it could have been Black Goliath! Or even Son of Satan, Captain Marvel or Power Man) to make it a full-fledged team. Art on the first two issues was by Don Heck (himself no stranger to the Avengers or the X-Men), and Champions #1-3 (also originally suppose to be Giant-Sized Champions #1, another in a long line of pre-production tinkering for the team) told the tale of how these unlikely teammates would gather.

The hell it was to put this series together was reflected in the story...it was Pluto (Olympian god of the netherworld), who, in an agreement with other more demonic underlords to restrict the actions of Zeus, god-father of the Olympians (and Hercules in particular). Pluto's plan was to wed Hercules to Hippolyta (queen of the amazons), and Venus (the goddess of love) to Ares (the god of war), which would end their interference with his plans for Earth and Olympus. If the human friendly Olympians don't play along, the alliances he made with the netherworlder demons like Mephisto, Satan and the Demon of the Mask, would destroy Olympus. Hercules and Venus oppose this, along with the rest of the future Champions, but Pluto has Zeus' (father to the Olympian gods, and Hercules) aid in bringing them back to Olympus. The Earth heroes eventually figure out a way to Olympus and defeat Pluto's armies, but are not enough to stop the demonically backed Pluto himself. The Ghost Rider has to convince Zeus to stop Pluto (as Johnny Blaze knows a little about demons, and gets Zeus to realize that the only reason the underlords united was to topple Olympus). Venus stays behind to spread the message of love amongst the gods, and Hercules and the rest of the humans return to Earth.

Group Dynamics

The Champions next gather in Champions #4 (May 1976, by X-Men writer Chris Claremont and art by George Tuska, who also drew #3).

In this issue, the team faces Dr. Edward Lansing, who has a solution to the homeless problem – turning them into his mind controlled mutated slaves. Black Widow and Hercules are the first to stumble onto his plot, but the Mutates overpower the two. Dr. Lansing then uses his mind control box on the two ex-Avengers, and sends them to attack the two ex-X-Men (Iceman and Angel, seems the Avengers and X-Men always fight!) as well as Black Widow’s mentor, Ivan Petrovich, who were all at Angel’s beach house. In facing Ivan, Black Widow breaks her control, then turns to break Dr. Lansing’s control box…which frees Hercules and the Mutates, but the Mutates kill the Doctor. Angel decides at this point that the team should form on a regular basis, to be champions to protect the innocent. The Champions bid fair well to Ghost Rider in Ghost Rider #17 (April 1976, by Tony Isabella and Frank Robbins) but that’s just to allow Johnny Blaze time for his own series, and doesn’t stop their adventures.

On A Rampage

In Champions #5-6, (April and June of 1976, written by Tony Isabella and art by Don Heck in #5, and George Tuska in #6), the team faces an inventor, Stuart Clarke, who succumbed to the recession and uses his exo-skeleton to try to rob a bank. At the same time, Angel was securing his right to the Worthington fortune his mother left him, and the team battles Clarke (who gets the name, Rampage) and asks him to surrender, but Rampage instead tries to kill himself by exploding his suit’s jet back. Iceman manages to save everyone, even Clarke, who is injured by the blast. During all this, Black Widow is elected leader of the team.

Motorcycle Detour

The team briefly appears in Avengers #151 (September 1976), to comment on the hype around the announcement of the Avengers new roster (which will include ex-X-Man the Beast…he comes in more later). Ghost Rider is present as well, having returned from his team-ups with the Son of Satan, the Werewolf by Night, the Man-Thing, Morbius and Daredevil in Ghost Rider’s #17-20, Daredevil #138 and Marvel Premiere #28 (all from 1976, and explains why the motorcyclist from hell was not available for the two issues with Rampage).

Back To Full Strength

In Champions #7-10 (August-January 1976/1977), the team experiences a few explosive changes both inside and outside the book (as shown by this stunning cover by artists Gil Kane and Al Milgrom for issue #8! And, it wasn’t even a fully symbolic cover – as the damage done from this explosion gets Angel to switch from his costume to a red version of the blue costume he had worn in the X-Men, but more on that later,…so keep reading, true believer!).


Tony Isabella and George Tuska still write and draw issue #7, to set the stage, but Bill Mantlo becomes the new writer for the rest of the Champions series, with Bob Hall in some of his earliest work as an artist for issues #8-10.

The team changes at this time as well, starting with a temporary headquarters! And, the team just starts to settle in as they get to face a menace that's like a marriage...something old (armored Russian Iron Man foe, the Titanium Man), something new (the Russian mutant Darkstar, wielder of the darkforce), something borrowed (a new Russian named Yuri in the second Crimson Dynamo armor) and...well, something that fought something blue (that being the Griffin, who faced the blue-furred Beast and Angel back in Beast's solo stories in Amazing Adventures, as well as Spider-Man and the Beast; now returned to face the Angel and his friends in an attempt to get back to being human).

Griffin and Darkstar go to free Rampage from the hospital, while the returning Ghost Rider is headed there as well to meet the Champions' first costume foe of their own and use his "demon from hell" act to get some information from the bankrupt villain.

Meanwhile, the Titanium Man captures the Black Widow and her mentor, Alexi Bruskin. Rampage delivers the news of the Widow's capture to the rest of the Champions, but unbeknownst to him, his exoskeleton was booby-trapped by his supposed allies, exploding in an attempt to kill the Champions.

Thanks to Iceman, they survive, and Ghost Rider even saves Rampage. The explosion does cost Angel his costume, and he gets a red-colored variation of an old costume of his. The Russian villains then try to add Ivan Petrovich to the group they want to take home - and it is revealed why - Yuri is Ivan's estranged son. After a pitched battle in Los Angeles and in the Pacific Ocean, Bruskin dies, Darkstar switches sides, the Champions capture the Titanium Man and the Griffin and Yuri escapes. All the while, conflict grows amongst the Champions.

The conflict subsides for a while during the Christmas season, as the Champions celebrate together in Marvel Treasury Edition #13 (1975, by writer Roger Stern and artist George Tuska), where the team thinks Iceman delivered some snow...but instead it was a little Christmas magic in California!

And, the rest of the Marvel Champions' story will come soon, so stay tuned!

Black Widow Tales of Suspense

Black Widow got her start with Iron Man in the second movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe....and she got her start with Iron Man in the comics as well!

Tales of Suspense

With Tales of Suspense #52 (April, 1964 by Stan Lee and Don Heck), the Black Widow was introduced into the world of Iron Man!  

Natasha Romanoff was sent along with Boris Turgenev to kill Anton Vanko (the original Crimson Dynamo), as well as Tony Stark and Iron Man (not knowing they were one and the same.

Boris ended up becoming the next Crimson Dynamo for a time, and Natasha had established herself as a femme fatale in Iron Man's life....though not quite as active Black Widow has been seen!

Black Widow returned in Tales of Suspense #53 (May, 1964, by Stan Lee and Don Heck) in the aptly titled "The Black Widow Strikes Again!", and was a little more active in this appearance, using an anti-gravity device to battle the Armored Avenger...

...but still not being able to defeat him!

While quite stylish, an evening gown, gloves and fur are not the best way to battle a man in armor!  Next time around (in Tales of Suspense #57, September, 1964 by Stan Lee and Don Heck), Natasha uses her feminine wiles on the battling bowman known as Hawkeye, taking a misunderstanding he had with the police in his introduction to turn Hawkeye into a criminal, and set Hawkeye and Iron Man at odds!

Natasha was there again, setting Hawkeye against Iron Man in Tales of Suspense #60 (December, 1964 by Stan Lee and Don Heck), and things just got worse for Hawkeye, but it did seem Clint Barton and Natasha were getting closer for real...so much so, that when she appeared next in Tales of Suspense #64 (April, 1965, by Stan Lee and Don Heck), Natasha had a costumed identity of her own...but she didn't appear to be as much help as one would have thought, as she had been injured (enough that she wasn't as close to Hawkeye in their next appearance in a flashback in Avengers #16...and then Hawkeye joined the Avengers!  

Black Widow didn't appear in Avengers until Avengers #29...

....and didn't join the team until much later..

..though she did hang around with Earth's Mightiest Heroes for a time, and met Hercules, as well as the team finding her husband, the Red Guardian...the Russian version of Captain America).

It took a while of working on and off with the Avengers, and Natasha leaving Clint Barton (now as Goliath), and a chance meeting with Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #86 (July, 1970, by Stan Lee and John Romita) for Natasha to get a new uniform, and start her own series in Amazing Adventures (that ran for 8 issues, from Amazing Adventures #1 to #8 from August, 1970 to September, 1971, sharing space with the Inhumans, no less), before moving over to Daredevil (from Daredevil #81 to #124, during which, Natasha finally joined the Avengers in Avengers #111 in May, 1973 briefly, and then moved on to a new super-hero team, the Champions).

 

Flash Facts More Rogues Plus

Here's a few more fast facts on later members of the Flash Rogue's Gallery (and one who really wasn't!).

Technically, the first appearance of Flash's Rogue's Gallery was in 80 Page Giant #4 (October, 1964), but there were no new stories in that issue...instead, it contained reprints of earlier Flash tales...and a pin-up of all of Flash's foes by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson, and included those who would become the charter Rogue's Gallery (Captain Cold, Mirror Master, the Top, Heat Wave, Captain Boomerang and Pied Piper), as well as a few who were never members of the group, like Mr. Element, Reverse-Flash, Abra Kadabra and future members Weather Wizard and Trickster!

Weather Wizard

Real Name: Mark Mardon

First Appearance: Flash #110 (December-January, 1959/1960)

Created By: John Broome & Carmine Infantino

Origin: Mark Mardon found his Weather Wand in his dead brother Clyde's lab (maybe Mark killed him?), and, after meeting with tailor Paul Gambi, was using the Wand to rain on the Flash's parade for years by making storms, lightning and more!  Weather Wizard also was the first of Flash's foes to branch out, fighting Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman & Plastic Man, Aquaman, Hawkman and more, even updating his costume!

Team Membership: Rogues (started with Flash #231)

Some non-Flash appearances: Justice League of America #41, Detective Comics #353, Action Comics #441, DC Super-Stars #10, Adventure Comics #450, #466, World's Finest Comics #276, Crisis On Infinite Earths #5, 9, Blue Devil #30, Secret Origins #41, Justice League America #43, Underworld Unleashed #1, Rogues (Villains) #1, Adventures of Superman #596, JSA #28, 30, 33, Catwoman #21, Superman/Batman #3, Villains United #3-6, Infinite Crisis #1, Villains United: Infinite Crisis Special #1, 52 #19, All-New Atom #5, Countdown #50, 47, 46, Salvation Run #1-3, 5-7 

Trickster

Real Name: James Jesse

First Appearance: Flash #113 (June-July, 1960)

Created By: John Broome & Carmine Infantino

Origin:James Jesse Jesse was a trapeze artist with a problem...a fear of heights.  Jesse developed a pair of "air walker shoes" and some other practical joker gimmicks, turning to a life of crime (and battles with the Flash, and was the first of Barry's foes to work with another - Captain Cold - to battle Barry and Jay in Flash #129).  Jesse started to go straight, first working with Blue Devil, and then after the other Rogues lost their souls to Neron, but...it never quite stuck.

Team Membership: Rogues (mentioned in Flash #231, started with Flash #242), Secret Society of Super-Villains

Some non-Flash appearances: Secret Society of Super-Villains #8-10, Black Lightning #10, World's Finest Comics #280, Fury of Firestorm #24, Blue Devil #6-9, 14, 19, Crisis On Infinite Earths #9, Blue Devil #21, 30, Secret Origins #24, 41, Outsiders #9, Underworld Unleashed #1-3, Impulse #14, 15, Rogues (Villains) #1, Impulse #39, Catwoman #69-71, JLA: Foreign Bodies, Justice Leagues: Justice League of Amazons #1, Countdown #51, 50, 49, 47, 46, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 34, 33, 32, 30, 29, 28, 27, Blackest Night: The Flash #1-3

Golden Glider

Real Name: Lisa Snart

First Appearance: Flash #250 (June, 1977)

Created By: Cary Bates & Irv Novick

Origin: Lisa Snart was the sister of Captain Cold, and wanted her never to be near the Rogues.  So, what does she do....but date the Top (who teaches her spinning moves she uses as an ice skater).  After the Top died, Lisa became the Golden Glider (getting ice skates that allowed her to fly and other jewelry and cold related weapons to use against the Flash).  She manipulated other men, like the Ringmaster and Chillblaine (providing cold weapons to a multiple of Chillblaines, until the last one killed her).

Team Membership: Rogues (started working with in Blue Devil #30, but not really a team player)

Some non-Flash appearances: Crisis On Infinite Earths #9, Blue Devil #30, 

Blackest Night: The Flash #1-3

Rainbow Raider

Real Name: Roy G. Bivolo

First Appearance: Flash #286 (June, 1980)

Created By: Cary Bates & Don Heck

Origin: Roy G. Bivolo wanted to be an artist, but...he was color-blind!  That didn't deter him, instead he invented "prisma-goggles" which allowed him to manipulate light to his will, and started to steal art for himself!  Flash stopped him, again again, even when he worked with the Shade and Dr. Double X.  Rainbow Raider then joined the Rogues just as Barry Allen faded away for a time...and then fought Booster Gold, and had this technology given to Captain Atom's foe, Dr. Spectro.  When new Rogues formed, Blacksmith didn't really have a use for Roy... 

Team Membership: Rogues (started with Flash #350)

Some non-Flash appearances: Brave and the Bold #194, Booster Gold #19, 20, Underworld Unleashed #1, JLA #34, JSA #28, Blackest Night #2, 3, Blackest Night: The Flash #2, 3

That sums up the Silver Age Flash's Rogue's Gallery in all it's glory...

...other villains joined, like Blacksmith, Girder, Murmur and more..

...but not until later!

Avengers History 201

Welcome back to our continuing Avengers coverage!

Picking up where we left off, we start with Avengers #35 (December 1966, art by Don Heck) and, welcome aboard Roy Thomas, as the new writer of the team, taking over for Stan Lee. This is the beginning of a more advanced Avengers run, so we’ll be moving through a little more quickly, and taking advantage of the rich history of the team and how much more connected the Avengers universe becomes.

Carrying A Heavy Load

The team proceeded along as usual, finishing their battle against the Living Laser, and fighting the invading robots called the Ultroids (over the course of issues #36 and 37, until meeting up with a demi-god in Avengers #38 (March 1967) and this was a different demi-god than the mighty Thor, who had been a member!). Though, oddly enough, that’s where he got his start.

Yes, Hercules began his legendary journeys (for mighty Marvel) in Journey Into Mystery Annual #1 (1965, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby), then the son of Zeus continued his battles with Thor in his own magazine for a time, as well as his own Olympian father, Zeus (himself no stranger to using lightning as a weapon, not unlike Thor), and the Olympian lord of the underworld, Pluto (as Hercules tried to take Hollywood and got into a bad contract that his friend Thor helped him out with…ironic, as Hercules wasn’t to be in the Thor movie, or the Avengers movie…), before becoming a guest of the Avengers after a battle with the Enchantress, who wasn’t above using strong men in attempts to defeat the team.

The Avengers kept this super-strong demi-god busy for a while (fighting the Hulk in Tales To Astonish #79, Fantastic Four foes like the Mad Thinker in #39, Sub-Mariner in #40, Diablo and the Dragon Man in #41 and 42, meeting Black Widow along the way, who was having commitment issues with Hawkeye and the Red Guardian – a Russian version of Captain America - and she didn’t join the Avengers at this time in #43 and 44.

The Avengers faced a team of Avengers villains including former Avenger, the Swordsman, and the Enchantress and her two other strong men, Power Man and the Executioner, in their first Annual) before finally letting him join the team in Avengers #45 (October 1967, drawn by Don Heck, while facing the Super-Adaptoid, who had previously only menaced Captain America in Tales of Suspense). The team deals with Magneto in Avengers #47 and 49, and a few other problems like the Black Knight in Avengers #48 as well.

Hercules didn’t stick around long, leaving soon after a confrontation with the titan Typhon in Avengers #50 (March 1968, drawn by John Buscema, and Typhon first appeared in Avengers #49, also by John, though not on the cover) …and disappeared for a while after that as well. Over the years, Hercules would wander back to the team (usually to fight an Olympian menace like Ares, Herc’s half-brother and the god of war) and leave the Avengers for a time, meet up with Thor and help the son of Odin, co-founded the Champions (with Black Widow, Ghost Rider, Angel and Iceman) to combat Pluto, and just be the great Greek almost-god that he was living the life in Hollywood, and even recently became strong enough to carry his own title, the Incredible Hercules! True, Hercules has had difficulties over the years, but he’s always fought back!

African Royalty

But, with Hercules leaving, the team needed a new member, and were lucky enough to find one in the acrobatic Black Panther. T’Challa started out in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby), and he was the chieftain of the land of Wakanda, a technologically advanced nation in Africa that controls the world’s supply of vibranium (a metal which absorbs vibrations). After testing himself against the FF, they aid him in his battle with Ulysses Klaw, the man who killed T’Chaka, the Panther’s father. T’Challa defeats Klaw, who returns as a being of sound thanks to his mechanical hand in Fantastic Four #56. (November 1966, by Lee and Kirby). After aiding the Fantastic Four and the Inhumans in a battle with the emotion-manipulating Psycho Man in Fantastic Four Annual #5, (November 1967, by Lee and Kirby) Black Panther goes to meet Captain America in Tales of Suspense #97-99 (1968) and Captain America #100 (April 1968, all by Lee and Kirby), as together, they battle the forces of Baron Zemo.

When the king and the super-soldier defeat the faux Zemo, Cap suggests that the Avengers take Black Panther as a member in Avengers #51 (April 1968, art by John Buscema) and T’Challa joins the team in Avengers #52 (May 1968, drawn by John Buscema) where the team needs the help against the Grim Reaper – a foe just introduced, but with ties to the Avengers’ past, he’s the brother of Simon Williams/Wonder Man (whom the Avengers haven’t dealt with since his “death” at the hands of the Masters of Evil), who holds the Avengers responsible for Wonder Man’s death. The Grim Reaper is the first of many villains that are introduced at this time that will come back to be a constant menace to the Avengers, no matter what their membership.

After a quick battle with the X-Men in X-Men #45 and Avengers #53, the new Avengers face a new Masters of Evil in Avengers #54-55, that includes some of the original members like the Melter and Radioactive Man, plus Black Panther foe Klaw and Whirlwind (formerly the Giant-Man & Wasp foe, the Human Top, who changed his name to Whirlwind when he returned in Avengers #46 to combat Goliath), a new Black Knight (Dane Whitman, the nephew of Nathan Garrett of the original Masters of Evil, who died after sustaining injuries fighting Iron Man…and as the Avengers found out in Avengers #48, was not villainous) and mystery villain, the Crimson Cowl, who is really the robotic Ultron (making his first appearance in Avengers #54, July, 1968 drawn by John Buscema). Ultron is like the Energizer Bunny, he just keeps going!

The coming of Ultron…leads into the induction of the next two Avengers, and their creation as well, which the team deals with after getting a little more information on Cap’s past and how he came to be frozen in Avengers #56, (September 1968, art by John Buscema) and dealing with the time-traveling Scarlet Centurion (yes, he’s an alternate Kang too and comes back as a menace to another alternate world) and alternate versions the early Avengers in Avengers Annual #2 (1968). This is an early example of the Avengers traveling to alternate dimensions and through time…something they will continue to do, even recruiting from those places…and time is something that will reveal more about the next Avenger as well....and we'll have more on them soon!

Though Black Panther didn't leave the Avengers for a while, it take a little time for him to get his own series, first in Jungle Action (from issues #5 to #24), then his first own series that lasted 15 issues from January, 1977 to May, 1979 (finally ending in Marvel Premiere #51 to #53), and back to working with the Fantastic Four, and having a few mini-series, and then a 62 issue series from November, 1998 to September, 2003 and another regular series lasting 41 issues from April, 2005 to November, 2008 that involves him with the X-Men and Fantastic Four as well as the Avengers and the Civil War!