Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes

Any Avengers fans out there? And more to the point, any who are still reading the book(s)?
The Avengers were never my favourite Marvel superteam (that dubious honour belongs to the Defenders) but they were always pretty close, though I can't help feeling they've lost some of their appeal in recent years since Brian Bendis basically destroyed the team and rebuilt it with his own pet characters. I still miss the Vision being a part of the core team, for instance. And for some reason, Wolverine and Spider-Man as Avengers really don't work for me.

Y'know, I really wanted to like the latest Avengers run by Hickman. But there are some characters that should be more involved but aren't; some that, I don't know, don't seem like they should be part of a mega-superteam; and then there's always the fear that stories will get sidetracked and sucked into the vortex of the latest Marvel pointless Crossover Event.   

Nice knee pads, Cap.

Nice abs, Thor.

I really don't understand the reasoning behind replacing established Avengers with characters like Cannonball, Sunspot, Smasher and Captain Universe (particularly when they're barely used) or introducing a new version of Hyperion when there are at least three floating around anyway. But most of all, I don't understand Cap suddenly adopting kneepads. Is he trying to emulate Judge Dredd?

Who on Earth is Captain Universe?

Lucy McGough wrote:Who on Earth is Captain Universe?

Traditionally, a dfferent random person every time who is granted the Unipower for a brief period and comes over all cosmic. At the moment, the Unipower (a manifestation of the Enigma Force) has apparently bonded permanently with a rather confused girl.

Does she have any cool abilities?

And isn't Unipower the ability to drink 16 pints a night and still get a degree?

Lucy McGough wrote:Does she have any cool abilities?

And isn't Unipower the ability to drink 16 pints a night and still get a degree?

Captain Universe can do pretty much anything he/she/it can think of. Which is probably why very few writers use Captain Universe.

Yeah, that's dumb.

tony ingram wrote:

Lucy McGough wrote:Does she have any cool abilities?

And isn't Unipower the ability to drink 16 pints a night and still get a degree?

Captain Universe can do pretty much anything he/she/it can think of. Which is probably why very few writers use Captain Universe.

But he could cause sooooooooo many desired retcons with the snap of his fingers . . . or playing "Swanee River" using his arm pit for the more major changes.

MajorHoy wrote:

tony ingram wrote:

Lucy McGough wrote:Does she have any cool abilities?

And isn't Unipower the ability to drink 16 pints a night and still get a degree?

Captain Universe can do pretty much anything he/she/it can think of. Which is probably why very few writers use Captain Universe.

But he could cause sooooooooo many desired retcons with the snap of his fingers . . . or playing "Swanee River" using his arm pit for the more major changes.

Isn't a punch the accepted method? Or does that only work if you wear an 'S' shield?

tony ingram wrote:

MajorHoy wrote:

tony ingram wrote:

Lucy McGough wrote:Does she have any cool abilities?

And isn't Unipower the ability to drink 16 pints a night and still get a degree?

Captain Universe can do pretty much anything he/she/it can think of. Which is probably why very few writers use Captain Universe.

But he could cause sooooooooo many desired retcons with the snap of his fingers . . . or playing "Swanee River" using his arm pit for the more major changes.

Isn't a punch the accepted method? Or does that only work if you wear an 'S' shield?

It only works if you're a DC character.

Just heard that one of my favourite Avengers satellite books, Mighty Avengers, is shortly to be cancelled, but the largely pointless Avengers World is continuing. Great...