The Avengers were in the news yet again. Katherine Langford has been cast for Avengers 4 (the Infinity War sequel) and may perhaps play Kate Bishop (Hawkeye 2) or, maybe, one of the Eternals, possibly Circe. In any case, since the Marvel movie 'Avengers' is originally based on the ultimate version of the team and has, by this point, morphed into its own unique version of the team, in this post I want to take a look at other incarnations of the Avengers in Marvel comics and possibly in the future MCU.
The ‘West Coast Avengers’, an early alternate line-up has its fans, and a lot of people seem to rave about the ‘Young Avengers,’ who are currently led by Kate Bishop, but for my money the one alternate universe lineup of the team that fails to get their fair-share of love is A-Next.
Created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz the origins of this alternate line up of the Avengers team goes back to What If…? Vol. 2 #105, where we are first introduced to the alternate earth from which this line up of the Avengers team comes from. That would be Marvel’s MC2 or, as its also known, Earth-982.
A-Next #1 (October 1998) – First Appearance of MC2 Avengers
Originally growing out of the gathering of MC2 versions of: Thunderstrike (Kevin Masterson), Stinger (Cassandra Lang), Mainframe, J2 (Zane Yama), Jubilation ‘Jubilee’ Lee, Jolt (Helen Takahama) and Speedball (Robert Baldwin), the team’s first lineup was formed at the end of the first issue which ended on Asgard.
After Speedball, Jubilee, and Jolt refuse to sign up for duty, the new Avengers team is formed out of the remaining characters.
This comic is an easy to find for an affordable price. The only sale recorded on eBay is a November 2016 transaction where a 9.8 CGC copy sold for all of $16.50. Like I said above unloved.
A-Next #2 (November 1998) – First appearance of Earth Sentry (John Foster)
A-next were then introduced to the Sentry of Earth aka John Foster, son of Bill Foster after Maria Stark and the elder Foster request their help to investigate two crash sites outside Washington, DC. Sentry gains his powers from a downed Kree ship but refuses, in this comic, to join the Avengers. This is a key but has no recorded sales and can be found for dirt cheap in near mint condition.
A-Next #4 (January 1999) – First Shannon Carter as American Dream
Here’s a sleeper key you should own from the original A-Next run. In issue #4 Shannon Carter becomes a female version of Captain America. In the MCU of course, Steve Rogers has a temporary fling with Sharon Carter (the cousin of Shannon). We know that the MCU wants to replace Captain America. While it’s highly likely that the Falcon or Winter Soldier would take his place, imagine what would happen if actress Emily Van Camp takes over the role as American Dream? Again, you can own a near mint copy of this comic for less than the price of a fancy cup of coffee. I’ve got my copy.
A-Next #12 (September 1999) – First Revengers and first appearance of Hope Pym as the Red Queen
Finally, we get this issue. The last issue of the first volume of A-Next is also the only issue currently worth any money. Remember Thor’s quip about an alternate Avengers group that he would form with Bruce Banner and Valkyrie in Ragnarok? Well, the writers were alluding to this comic. It also features the first appearance of Hope Pym as the villain Red Queen who forms 'the Revengers' specifically to battle the Avengers. With 31 copies on the CGC census, A-Next #12 currently sells for around $120.00 in certified 9.8 grade. After twelve sales since 2015, returns on investment are also positive at +11.9%. So a valuable issue of A-Next.
