5 Avengers we miss

Remember the time Captain America called ALL the Avengers to assemble?

Presenting 5 Avengers that we've come to sorely miss in the comic books.

By out last count there were 126 individuals who have served as Avengers in various teams since the group's founding in 1963. Come to think of it, that's actually not a lot. It comes down to 2.4 Avenger characters for every year that the various Avengers titles have been in publication.

But since the active team roster of Earth's mightiest heroes is normally kept at 5 or 6 Avengers at a time, that means that there definitely is a lot of heroes that have disappeared over the years - even with multiple teams being active at any particular time.

Here's a list of Avengers that we wish would return to the active roster.

MORE AFTER THE JUMP

Sersi of the Eternals

1) Sersi. Created by Jack Kirby in 1976, AKA Sylvia Sersi or Circe (Not to be confused with the DC villain of the same name - the one who turned Wonder Woman into a pig and made Batman croon). Sersi is an immortal member of the Eternals (The better version of the Inhumans) and actually met Homer in Ancient Greece. Homer based his character Circe on her.

A hedonist by profession, Sersi joined the Avengers because she had a crush on Captain America.

As an Eternal, Sersi can fly, comes with super-strength and durability and has limited psionic abilities. Sersi also has complete control of the molecules of her body and she is the Eternal's most adept molecular manipulator - able to rearrange molecules and the atomic structure of all matter around her.

The full extent of her ability to manipulate matter has not been revealed, but during the JLA/Avengers cross-over, she was credited with transforming the Molecule Man into stone.

Sersi is missed by us because she was one of THE MOST powerful Avengers ever recruited. Sadly she was driven nearly insane by the mental manipulations of Proctor (A alternate reality version of her lover the Black Knight) and nearly killed all the Avengers, destroyed the mansion and the Brooklyn bridge. Following a trip through the Ultraverse and through time, Sersi returned home and became a party-planner in New York. She turned down an offer from the Wasp to return to active duty.

Call her Captain Marvel

2) Captain Marvel. Monica Rambeau was created by Roger Stern and Jon Romita Jr in 1982. Before Carol Danvers became a self-obsessed diva and adopted the name Captain Marvel, there was a another woman who held that name. Monica Rambeau held that title. She is not just one of THE MOST powerful members of the Avengers; she was also the first African-American female member of the Avengers; and the first African-American female leader of the Avengers. Currently she is a member of the Ultimates.

AKA Photon, Pulsar, Daystar, Sceptre, Lady of Light, Monica Marvel, Sun Goddess, and currently known as Spectrum.

Captain Marvel has the ability to transform her body into energy - any energy (As long as she has time to study that energy). This allows her to absorb, manipulate and project energy, move at the speed of light, and travel through the vacuum of space.

She's on this list because personally we feel that she's a shadow of her former self. This used to be one of the most commanding presences on the battlefield. She's led the team against the X-Men and even the gods of Asgard. What the hell happened? Apart from a very short stint as the leader of the Mighty Avengers, the Captain Marvel who led the Avengers following their near destruction at the hands of the Masters of Evil seems to have disappeared.

Echo's father left a bloody handprint on her face unpon his death.
In his memory, Echo's mask is a white handprint on her face

3) Echo. Created by Joe Quesada and David Mack in 1999. Maya Lopez AKA Echo is a deaf mutant(?) with Photographic Reflexes - the ability to copy the abilities of anyone she observes. As such she is an Olympic level athlete with Bullseye's level of accuracy, Daredevil's acrobatic abilities and practically everyone's fighting abilities - including Captain America's and Wolverine's. Echo is also a gifted ballerina and concert-level pianist. She's a lot like the mutant Finesse (Jeanne Foucault), the daughter of the Taskmaster (Maybe they're related)

Echo is the daughter of Crazy Horse - a Native American business associate of the Kingpin who was murdered by the Kingpin. Fisk raised her as his own daughter and pointed her in the direction of Daredevil when she asked how her father died. She becomes Matt Murdock's lover - not knowing that he was Daredevil (Matt seems to have a thing about battling his girlfriends). She battles Daredevil  and eventually figures out that if his senses are overloaded, Daredevil can't win. She nearly kills him and stops only when she realizes it's her Matt. Daredevil corrects the Kingpin's lies and she shoots Fisk in the face.

Unable to join the Avengers at the time, Matt recommends Echo to join their ranks and she does in the guise of Ronin, a man. Echo served with distinction along side the New Avengers, first as Ronin (A title later assumed by Hawkeye), then as Echo til after the events of the Secret Invasion. She was last seen in the pages of Moon Knight where she was killed by Count Nefaria. Her resurrection in the pages of Daredevil just this August, has yet to be explained - not the first time she's died though, Elektra killed her and brought her back.

We miss her because she was a minority both in race and disability, and; because the full extent of her fighting skills was never revealed.

The Lion of Olympus: Hercules

4) Hercules. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1965. Heracles the Prince of Power and Lion of Olympus gets a bad rap in the super-hero world. Lately he's been portrayed as a loud boisterous buffoon that is so unreliable that the other Avengers would rather face the end of the world without him.

That's not exactly fair for one of history's greatest heroes - whose most recent endeavors involved leading teams of unsung heroes in saving the Earth from otherworldly conquests.

So he drinks (How exactly does one with a godly immunity to poisons get drunk actually?), we don't see the other Avengers complaining about Thor drinking. So he performs great acts of debauchery, perhaps the other Avengers are just jealous that he rocked the She-Hulk's world. He destroys things? That's kinda par for the course.

It's simply not fair that Marvel seems to portray him as a loser beneath Demolition Man. Did he not conduct himself with distinction during the first Marvel Civil War? Did he not face ALL the Masters of Evil alone, with no thought of surrender, and nearly die in the process? Did he not lead two groups of gods/demi-gods first against the Skrull gods and then again in the Chaos War? Society, the Avengers, actually owe him a great debt of gratitude.

But no, they dismiss him as a drunkard who they might even have to "take care of" one day.

If you need proof that Hercules is more than just a party animal that rang the bells of the Black Widow, Snowbird, Namora, Psylocke (He actually forgot that he slept with her - doesn't speak well about her sexual prowess), Queen Alfphyse of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim. Northstar, Sersi, possibly the Scarlet Witch, Amora the Enchantress, Deathcry, Black Mamba: simply grab a copy of New Mutants # 91 where Hercules cries over the death of a mortal.

Yes, Hercules is a man-whore, but he's also a hero, a leader, and a friend/team-mate who has proven that he would go down swinging for the Avengers - clothing optional.

UPDATE: On  November 2, 2016, Avengers # 1 was released with a brand new team being led by Captain America (Falcon) that includes Hercules

Alex "I married the Wasp" Summers

5) Havok. Created by Arnold Drake and Don Heck. Alex Summers became the leader of the Avengers Unity Squad following the end of the AvX story-line.

By the end of his reign as leader, team-member Wonder-Man has been completely absorbed by Rogue - who now can't touch people again; She's also killed; Sunfire has been transformed into pure energy; the Earth is destroyed by the Celestials (Don't worry, Timetravel), Havok marries and impregnates the Wasp but loses their daughter to the timestream; Havok loses half his face and he's now essentially evil.

That's just so not fair. Not only did Havok have to live in the shadow of his brother Cyclops, he had to live in the shadow of Captain America who quite honestly kept him second guessing his decisions. It wasn't fair for him and it was a sad waste of a character. Now that things have normalized. Havok's current whereabouts are unknown. The Wasp, his wife, seems to have all but forgotten about him.

Sad.