Avengers: July 2009 Archives

Adam Hughes has always excelled at drawing babes and adding a little humor to his compositions as well.  In 1994 he contributed a number of stellar pinups for the fourth Marvel Swimsuit Special--which took place in Attilan and the Blue Area of the Moon.

The cover featured Sue Storm getting her freak on with Namor the Sub-Mariner.  Is there any reason why Sue wouldn't want to have a fling with the undersea prince?  She looks pretty fantastic and her leg is slightly opaque to reveal Namor's speedo.

Janet Van Dyne looks pretty luscious in this one piece outfit.  My first impression was there is nothing funny going on here.  But look behind the Wasp to see the bulging thongs behind her, belonging to Wonder Man and Captain America.

This Scarlet Witch pinup is really clever.  She's not wearing a swimsuit per se.  Wanda has used her magic to disassemble her costume--helmet, gloves, cape, etc--leaving only her red centerpiece intact.  How many thirteen year old boys fantasized about undraping the Scarlet Witch?  Adam Hughes sure did.

Here is the funniest piece of this 1994 set.  The Sensational She-Hulk--a must-have babe for any swimsuit special--sitting on top of my favorite dog in the Marvel Universe: Lockjaw!  Clearly, Jen has been using Lockjaw's teleportation powers to zip around to the best beaches.  They've been to Rio and Jamaica and god knows where else, from the stickers plastered on Lockjaw's back.  Jen's bag is packed with thongs, and the creepy Watcher is lurking in the background on the left.  I pity poor Lockjaw, he just looks exhausted from hauling Jen all over the world!  Nuff said.

Beginning in 1991, Marvel started publishing an annual series of Swimsuit magazines, full color pinups of heroes and villains in skimpy beach ware.  Modeled after Sports Illustrated, each issue took place in one of Marvel's fictional locations.  The first issue took place in the Savage Land.  Here's a trio of pinups from 1991 featuring the Avengers.

Captain America and Diamondback.  Although it's not signed, I believe this was drawn by Michael Golden!  The other Swimsuit issues often featured Cap in a red white and blue speedo, but this was probably the best one.  If you like that sort of thing...not that there's anything wrong with that.  Diamondback was Cap's gal pal during this period.  I have fond memories of her.  She's featured in all the other swimsuit issues as well.

Thor and Sif relaxing as Loki lurks in the background.  Drawn by Ron Frenz and Joe Sinnott.  Thank goodness that Frezy didn't draw Thor in a speedo.  Hard for me to imagine a Thunder God on the beach in a resort:  Verily, I'd like another Pina Colada.  What would Loki do?  Make it a virgin?

Here is one of the best illustrations in all these swimsuit specials: Scarlet Witch by Mike Mignola.  She's sexy without being voluptuous and Mignola's use of shadows and blacks really makes the magic seem wonderful.  Nuff said.

The Marvel Swimsuit specials in the early 1990s contained some of the funniest depictions of Marvel's characters.  As evidence, I present to you this double page spread from the 1991 issue, by Paul Ryan:

Avengers (from New York City) versus the West Coast Avengers in a tug of war match!  It only takes 4 classic Avengers (Thor, Hercules, She-Hulk, Captain America) to compete with six West Coasters (Hawkeye, Mockingbird, US Agent, Wonder Man, Scarlet Witch, Iron Man).  Sersi is in the middle as the referee.  The outfits here would give Tim Gunn nightmares.  Cap wearing just his mask and thong--man, that just seems x-rated.  Nuff said.

Now here’s a blast from the past—anyone remember artist Ken Steacy?

Steacy worked on a number of remarkable comics in the 1970s and 80s.  He started off at Comico and later did work for Marvel—one Iron Man story in Marvel Fanfare stands out in my memory.  Since 2004, Steacy has been running his own publishing company.

What I find impressive about this cover is not the Hulk—he looks a bit ragged here.  It’s Ant-Man who really stands out on the left.  What could be more imaginative than Kirby’s costume design, the nutty antennae helmet, and steering an airborne insect like it was a flying horse?  And the lovely Janet Van Dyne for company.  Just think, if Marvel could produce computer animated movies, Ant-Man would be a perfect character for that medium.  Nuff said.

George Olshevsky was able to corral a number of great artists* to provide the covers for his Marvel Comics Index series in the 1970s.  Neal Adams drew this nifty cover to issue #3, which featured the Avengers, Defenders, and Captain Marvel.

On this cover, my favorite Avenger, the Vision, is featured front and center.  The Scarlet Witch is providing cover over him and Captain Marvel is taking care of the rear guard.  All three characters were featured prominently in the classic Kree-Skrull war arc that Adams illustrated in the Avengers.  The only Defenders representative is Valkyrie hacking away on the right.  Adams really did a great job with all these characters.

*Editor's Note:  Check out Steranko's Cover to the Marvel Comics Index, Nuff said!