And how do you tell that apart from anything else, and why can't you just get that from the X-Men while you're there for the prejudice angst anyway? Why bother writing the story on them?

Maybe you hate mutants.

So he and Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four.

But do they have the profile? I'm not considering in-universe factors, nor even meta things like that. Just--this comic book company has a group of heroes named...what?

Avengers Assemble

People are continually disappointed when they come in expecting Emma Peel's trip to Ikea.

It's a common trope going back at least a couple millennia, as in Jason and the Argonauts. If you have a bunch of popular heroes, why not put them in a story where they're together?

When I first saw the trailer for The Avengers some months ago, it was not at all what I was expecting. I don't know who I thought the crew was going to be but it wasn't that crew.

If you have a bunch of popular heroes, why not put them in a story where they're together?

I'm misrepresenting my angle. I'm not saying why tell the story *of* the Avengers, I'm asking why tell the story *about* the Avengers? How does word of it get to my parents, is the question? How does it embed itself into the generic pop culture of the early 21st century, instead of just being part of a fandom?

X Men stands a marginal chance for being a civil rights echo, but do the Avengers? I think all the JLA has going for it is that it's what Superman and Batman belong to. There's no reason to talk about talking about it. Especially since it only seems to exist in the comic and cartoon universes, and not in the movie universe, which gets more mainstream penetration.

I bet part of the reason X-Men has more pop culture penetration is because they had a pretty good (actually, IMHO, really good) animated series that played on Saturday mornings to pretty decent popularity.

I'd never heard of the Avengers. Or Iron Man, for that matter. I read about both of them after the movies were coming into existence. The X-Men, I knew.

I did basically learn all my X-Men knowledge from that awesome animated series, which I want to rewatch (it's on Netflix Instant!). Also the Spider-Man animated series was pretty great.

And if I recall correctly, "Days of Future Past" was a primetime event, so I'd say it was pretty popular.

You guys are cute.

Also young.

I was thinking about before that time, but no doubt the animation helped too (as in, the Spider-Man series helped awareness of Spidey for the average Jane). Those play to a mainstream audience who then grow up and go about their disparate ways.

I did recently need it pointed out to me that the Starfire reboot was worse than I had thought because the more popular vision of Starfire wasn't the free love Tamaranian survivor of slavery, it was a slightly awkward teen trying to fit in.

Oh. Okay. But...would it have been the plan for them to have grown up to read the previous 60s sex-positive often-naked Starfire? Is there a transition plan? It made me confused.

Cobie Smulders, Avenger: [link] I don't quite see Wonder Woman in her, though.

Cobie Smulders, Avenger: [link] I don't quite see Wonder Woman in her, though.

How about now?