Avengers #16: Cap’s Kooky Quartet

With the new Avengers movie coming out at the end of the week, I feel obligated to talk about the super hero team. Avengers #16 is on of my favorite issues from the 1960s, as the team gets the infamously known as Cap’s Kooky Quartet.

Why? Because the Avengers lineup changes to Captain America leading four reformed villains as Marvel’s premier super hero team. You have Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver who were last seen running around as members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. And there’s Hawkeye, who debuted as a villain.

I like the way the story is framed around the original Avengers just being worn out and needing to move on. What the story stresses is how the new members of the team wanted to be Avengers. The best part of the story is the last few pages during the press conference with Captain America acknowledged that they have a checkered past and that isn’t a problem. Even better is the last page or so where Iron Man officially leaves the team and walks off. Powerful stuff.