Mighty Avengers | An Avengers Resource, for the fans, by the fans

From the Knights of Wundagore to the New Men of Counter-Earth, this geneticist's creations exist throughout the Marvel Universe. With little regard for morality, only results, this well-intentioned but self-absorbed scientist will let none stand in the way of his quest for evolutionary perfection. Today's Spotlight highlights the many feats and uneven career of... HIGH EVOLUTIONARY!

By the grace of the Hawk-God, the One-Who-Knows and his bride Aleta were forged into a single entity with cosmic power. The enigmatic traveler had a rocky relationship with his fellow Guardians, always keeping the secret of his knowledge to himself. Today's Spotlight shines on the Light & the Giver of Light... STARHAWK!

Born with photographic reflexes, this performance artist became a vigilante after Kingpin tried to convince her Daredevil killed her father. After using several identities, she became the latest host for the Phoenix Force. Today's Spotlight shines on the Cheyenne street-fighter and cosmic firebird known as... ECHO!

The most beautiful goddess in the world has had a strange history in Marvel Comics. Starting as a typical fickle goddess she went on to become a hero in the late 1940s, briefly facing a strange assortments of different foes from aliens, ancient fish people, vampires, serial killers, Satan(?) and a very, very jealous secretary.... her changeable nature has brought her into both conflict and friendship with various different Avengers over years. She was even part of the alternate 1950s Avengers line up that inspired the Agents of Atlas spin-off. Read here about Venus, or as she was last known… APHRODITE!

Spotlight On... HIGH EVOLUTIONARY

Herbert Edgar Wyndham was a self-taught geneticist convinced he would be the one to uncover the secrets of life. His genetic accelerator elevated simple animals into sapient bipeds known as the New Men. In order to teach them ethics and a code of conduct, Wyndham stylized himself as the Lord High Evolutionary to train his Knights of Wundagore. Wyndham's ego has only grown since then, and exposure to his own genetic accelerator unlocked evolved powers which feed his ideas of grandeur. A tinkerer and perfectionist, the Evolutionary will experiment on living things just to see what will happen, then destroy sentient lifeforms or entire societies he had created for not meeting his exacting standards. While not strictly a villain, the High Evolutionary has little regard for the rights and lives of creatures he considers beneath himself, and his God Complex has extended that disregard towards all of humanity.

Spotlight On... STARHAWK

Wrapping up MightyAvengers.net's five year anniversary, today's entry spotlights a minor addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. An iconic member of the original Guardians of the Galaxy and honorary Avenger, Stakar of Arcturus is better known as Starhawk, the One-Who-Knows. Initially bonded to his wife, Aleta, the two shared the same body for years until the deaths of their children and a falling out led to their separation. Like Groundhog Day or Layla Miller, Stakar was revealed to be trapped in an endless loop, living his own lifetime over and over. His selfish efforts to break this loop led to Aleta claiming his power to become Starhawk II. Stakar eventually returned, with he and Aleta making peace and going their separate ways. The original Guardians' timeline hasn't been revisited since 1996, but several alternate versions of Starhawk and the Guardians have appeared to interact with the present day Guardians led by Peter Quill.

Spotlight On... ECHO

Debuting in Marvel's Hawkeye series, Echo is the latest hero to receive a show on Disney Plus.* Maya Lopez was a pianist, a prize-fighter, and a performance artist thanks to her natural gift of photographic reflexes, allowing her to duplicate any action she sees someone perform. The deaf daughter of Hispanic and Cheyenne parents, Maya's father was business partners with Wilson Fisk before the Kingpin killed him. Fisk adopted Maya as his ward and encouraged her abilities, using her years later as a weapon against Daredevil. Echo found the right path instead, and became an undercover operative for the Avengers under the identity of Ronin. Passing out of the limelight for several years, Maya recently returned in a big way when the Phoenix Force held a tournament to locate its next host, and chose Echo as the new Phoenix. Now with incredible raw power at her fingertips, Echo struggled to ascend from a street-level vigilante to a cosmic weight class. Still, she's always been a...fast learner.

* (Apparently. Eventually. What do we know?)

Spotlight On... APHRODITE

Venus was introduced in 1948 as one of Marvel's earliest female super-heroes. Based on the Roman goddess of love and beauty of the same name, her solo series was truly genre-bending, going from romance to science fiction to horror to more straight forward super-heroics. Resurfacing in the 1970s, she fought alongside the Champions and Namor and was part of the proto 1950s Avengers team featured in What If (1st series) #9 that was used as inspiration for the group called the Agents of Atlas. Since then, she has both allied with the Avengers and fought them, in addition to attempting to destroy her own impersonator and finding something exceptional for an immortal goddess, humility. She has since returned to her first name. Read here all about the “mighty” Aphrodite.

Spotlight On... HERA!

Born to an abusive father, only to be liberated by a husband who himself became abusive, this vain and vengeful goddess has spent thousands of years taking out her misplaced anger on others, none more so than her husband Zeus' favored son or (as she thought of him) “bastard,” Hercules. Still, her focus on Hercules did not stop her scheming and continuing the cycle of abuse with own natural born children, Hephaestus, Hebe and Ares. Her plots over the years have brought her into conflict not just with Earth's Mightiest Heroes but also the psychopath Norman Osborn and his Dark Avengers. Read here about the Queen of the Gods, the Mother of Olympus: HERA

Crossover entry on... the ALL-ACCESS

The sequel to DC vs Marvel took place in a time of unprecedented collaboration between the big two comic book companies and was one of several crossover titles. This particular one is perhaps a more personal tale that follows neophyte superhero, Access (an unusual superhero who is reputedly owned by both Marvel and DC) and his efforts to keep the realities separate and figure out his own place in the world. During the course of this adventure Access teams up with some of comic greats like Superman, Spiderman, Batman and......Jubilee? P.S The X-Men also fight the Justice League. Read here about DC/Marvel All-Access.