Gallery: Earth's Mightiest Spin-Offs: What the Avengers Did Outside of Comics
Details of von Pragenau's 1982 Shuttle stack redesign. The drawing includes callouts, not all of which are defined here. 12 = modified ET; 15 = SRB linking thrust structure; 16 = Orbiter; 19 = redesigned ET liquid hydrogen tank; 20 = redesigned ET liquid oxygen tank; 25, 26 = SRBs; 31, 32 = SRB slide rails; 34, 35 = SRB slide rail attachment fixtures. Image: U.S. Patent Office01The Marvel Super Heroes
With a sobriquet like Earth's Mightiest Heroes, you can't expect the Avengers to be confined to a single medium. Sure, they were created for comics, but any superhero team that includes a billionaire, a genius, and a freaking *god* is probably going to outgrow the constraints of static panels at some point. Last year's *Marvel's The Avengers* may have been the squad's most high-profile foray into other media, but it was far from the first. Here are some of Cap, Tony, and the gang's attempts over the past 50 years to storm the mainstream -- along with a sober assessment of just how successful they were. __Above:__ The Marvel Super Heroes ----------------------- __What Was It?__ Although it wasn't officially labeled an *Avengers* spin-off, the team made numerous appearances in this mid-1960s cartoon based on the earliest Marvel Comics, especially in the *Captain America* and *Incredible Hulk* episodes. __Was It Any Good?__ That's a difficult question to answer. With the extremely limited animation -- most of which is based on drawings lifted directly from the original comics -- and flat voice acting, the answer *should* be no, but there's a strangely charming campiness to these cartoons that makes you want to watch them all the time.
02The Avengers Battle the Earth-Wrecker
The Avengers Battle the Earth-Wrecker ------------------------------------- __What Was It?__ Part of a short-lived attempt to broaden the appeal of Marvel's characters by working them into prose novels, this was a Bantam Books project written by *Captain Marvel* writer Otto Binder. Maybe that's why the plot sounds so ... Captain Marvel-y: The team is forced to defend the planet from an alien warlord named Karzz. Karzz had come from the future, which should probably be obvious from the fact that his name was Karzz. __Was It Any Good?__ Again, it depends on your taste for this kind of material. It leans a little heavier on pulp tropes than the comic did at the time, but it's an enjoyable chunk of throwaway sci-fi. Also, [the cover is amazing](http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcclaverty/5989048288/lightbox/).
03avengerscapand
Captain America and the Avengers -------------------------------- __What Was It?__ After a long drought of multimedia appearances, Earth's Mightiest Heroes popped up in this 1991 arcade game from Data East that tasked players (in the guise of Cap, Iron Man, Hawkeye, or the Vision) with stopping the Red Skull's attempt to take over the world. The game was popular enough to spawn a sequel, 1995's *Avengers in Galactic Storm*. __Was It Any Good?__ While most of us will never know the feeling of *actually* being a super soldier and fighting for truth, justice and the American way -- or socking an evil Nazi in the jaw -- this game gave us the chance to pretend that we did. Or at least it gave us the chance to pump quarters into a four-player arcade game that wasn't *Gauntlet*. (And yes, we know a two-player version also existed. Please don't harangue us in the comments.)
04The Avengers: United They Stand
The Avengers: United They Stand ------------------------------- __What Was It?__ The first official *Avengers* cartoon, this 1999 series came from former *X-Men* producers and writers, and answered the question "will the world care about an Avengers cartoon that lacks all of the big-name members of the team?" That answer, for the record, is "no." It lasted just one season. Guess that's what happens when pre-existing deals prohibit Captain America, Iron Man, and others from showing up. __Was It Any Good?__ Let's just go with no, shall we? It's not just the lack of marquee characters that's a problem. Shoddy animation, some of the ugliest character designs ever made public, and amazingly bad voice acting all chipped in to make the show a chore to watch.
05Ultimate Avengers
Ultimate Avengers ----------------- __What Was It?__ Part of Marvel's line of direct-to-DVD animated projects from the last decade, *Ultimate Avengers* -- along with its sequel, *Ultimate Avengers 2* -- took its inspiration from *The Ultimates*, an alternate-world version of the characters that updated the team for a new century and allowed our heroes to save the world from an alien invasion. __Was It Any Good?__ The animation may lack the finesse of comic cartoon standouts like *Batman: The Animated Series*, but these movies were light-years ahead of dreck like *United They Stand*. Consider it a qualified "yes."
06Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow
Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow --------------------------------- __What Was It?__ An attempt to build a kid-friendly franchise that was only loosely tied to the central *Avengers* team, *Next Avengers* was a direct-to-DVD animated movie set in the future and starring the children of various members of the team, because of *course* they'd all hook up with each other and have superhero kids. __Was It Any Good?__ Imagine a Venn diagram of *Avengers* fan-fic writers, Marvel continuity nerds, and the ever-elusive "youth demographic." Okay, those three people are who *Next Avengers* was aimed at, and it satisfied their needs just fine. For the rest of us, however, the movie was a little lacking -- not least of all because we'd rather watch the real Avengers than their offspring, no matter how heroic they may be.
07The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes -------------------------------------- __What Was It?__ Mixing storylines from all eras of the team's existence, and featuring all the classic characters you'd hope to see in a cartoon called *Avengers*, the two seasons of *Earth's Mightiest Heroes* were as close to a love letter to the comic series as you could imagine, offering up an animated version of the world fans had been reading for decades. __Was It Any Good?__ All signs point to yes. With a streamlined aesthetic informed by the Bruce Timm projects for DC Entertainment (*Superman: The Animated Series*, *Batman: The Animated Series*, *Justice League*, etc.) and a writing staff that clearly loved the original comics but didn't feel beholden to their tortured continuity, *Earth's Mightiest Heroes* was a gift to *Avengers* fans both old and new.
08Marvel's The Avengers
Marvel's The Avengers --------------------- __What Was It?__ Oh, come on. You know this, already: It's what happened when Marvel Studios asked Joss Whedon if he could make a movie teaming up all of their different movie star heroes to date, and he responded by giving the world the greatest Bruce Banner it had ever seen. __Was It Any Good?__ [$623 million can't be wrong](http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=avengers11.htm). It's not without its flaws -- that middle stretch is a bit slow -- but *Avengers* may be the most fun of the many superhero movies to date, with some great dialogue, fast-moving action and fantastic performances from all involved. More superhero movies should be this good. More movies in *general* should be this good.
09Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth
Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth --------------------------------- __What Was It?__ The first of two video game tie-in with the movie *Marvel's The Avengers*, *Battle for Earth* took inspiration from the *Secret Invasion* comic series and offered players the chance to become one of 20 different characters -- not all of whom had ever been Avengers. Iceman, Ubisoft? *Really*? __Was It Any Good?__ Reviews were mixed, and it's possible that how much you liked the game depended on how much you liked the world and *wanted* to like the game. For everyone else, it was a middling fighting game that didn't keep people's interest. *Marvel vs. Capcom* it wasn't.
10Marvel: Avengers Alliance
Marvel: Avengers Alliance ------------------------- __What Is It?__ The second game to tie in with *Marvel's The Avengers*, *Alliance* was a social game made available via Facebook initially before spinning into its own iOS app, with new characters becoming unlocked the longer you play. __Is It Any Good?__ As anyone who's spent any time playing *Avengers Alliance* can tell you, notions of "good" or "bad" pale next to the game's strange addictive qualities. What does "good" really mean when there's a chance to unlock Squirrel Girl?
11Avengers Assemble
Avengers Assemble ----------------- __What Is It?__ Part of Marvel's attempt to build an animated continuity similar to its movie continuity, this replacement to *Earth's Mightiest Heroes* shares characters and cast with *Ultimate Spider-Man* and *Hulk and the Agents of SMASH*, as well as a take on the team far closer to that which Joss Whedon created for last year's movie. __Is It Any Good?__ The jury is still out -- for all that it does right (some nice character dynamics, interesting choice of threats so far), it also seems simplistic and under-developed next to *Earth's Mightiest Heroes*. It's still early days, of course, and there's every possibility the show could develop into something worth assembling in front of the TV for.
