Great Lakes Avengers

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imagesize=
caption=The Great Lakes Avengers appear on the cover of "The West Coast Avengers" #46 (vol. 2, Jul. 1989). Art by John Byrne.
team_name=Great Lakes Avengers
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="The West Coast Avengers" #46 (vol. 2, Jul. 1989)
creators=John Byrne
base=GLA Headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
members=Mr. Immortal, Dinah Soar, Big Bertha, Flatman, Doorman, Squirrel Girl, Grasshopper, Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Deadpool, Leather Boy
memberlist=List of Great Lakes Avengers members
subcat=Marvel Comics
hero=y
villain=
sortkey=PAGENAME|

The Great Lakes Avengers are a superhero group team that appear in the fictional Marvel Universe. The characters first appear in "The West Coast Avengers" #46 (vol. 2, Jul. 1989) and were created by John Byrne.

Publication history

The Great Lakes Avengers first appeared in issue #46 of "The West Coast Avengers" (vol. 2, Jul. 1989), and then made sporadic appearances throughout the title in issues #48 - 49 (Sep. - Oct. 1989), #55 (Apr. 1990), #60 (Sep. 1990), #64 (Jan. 1990) and #69 (Jun. 1990) (all vol. 2). The team also made two appearances in issues #309 and #313 of "Avengers" (vol. 2, Nov. 1989 and Mar. 1990) and in the 1990 Annual. This was followed by several appearances in issues #15 - 17 (vol. 1, Jun. - Aug. 1998) and 25 (vol. 1, Apr. 1999) of the "Thunderbolts" and "Deadpool", with issues #10 - 11 (Nov. - Dec. 1997) and #61 (2002) respectively.

The Great Lakes Avengers then featured in a four-issue mini-series titled "G.L.A.: Misassembled" and a "GLX-Mas Special" (reflecting the team name change) in 2005. This was followed in 2006 by a minor appearance in the one-shot "I Heart Marvel:Masked Intentions" and then "The Thing" #8 (vol. 2) and "Cable and Deadpool" #30. In 2007 the team appeared in "Deadpool/GLI Summer Fun Spectacular" with yet another name change.

Team name

The team has changed their name on several occasions. The Avenger Hawkeye first protests over their illegal use of the name "Avengers", ["The West Coast Avengers" #46 (vol. 2, Jul. 1989)] and eventually the Great Lakes Avengers are issued with a "cease and desist" order from the Maria Stark Foundation (despite being allowed to use an Avengers computer with limited access). ["GLA: Missassembled" #1 - 4 (2005)] The team then call themselves the Lightning Rods, named after fellow superhero team the Thunderbolts. ["Thunderbolts" #15 (vol. 1, Jun. 1998)] While working for the organization S.H.I.E.L.D. Mister Immortal then suggests the title S.W.O.R.D. ("Thunderbolts" #17 vol. 1, Aug. 1998), although the name is changed to "Great Lakes X-Men" when the members realize that they are in fact all mutants. ["GLA: Missassembled" #1 - 4 (2005)] After team member Flatman wins a poker tournament and beats many other superheroes, the team call themselves the "Great Lakes Champions". ["Thing" #8 (vol. 2, 2006)] Following the events of the "Civil War", the team operates as the Great Lakes Initiative in the state of Wisconsin. ["Civil War: The Initiative" (2007)]

Fictional team biography

Craig Hollis discovers he is immortal and decides to fight crime as Mr. Immortal, but after being shot in the head by a group of thieves realizes that operating alone may not be suitable. After placing an advertisement for costumed adventurers in the local paper, Mr. Immortal then recruits and assembles the Great Lakes Avengers, with roster including Dinah Soar; Big Bertha; Flatman and Doorman. Mr. Immortal does, however, refuse one candidate, being Gene Lorrene, who calls himself "Leather Boy", and is a leather fetishist. Despite being advised that he has no superpowers and is therefore ineligible, Lorrene takes the rebuttal personally. [Seen in flashback in "GLA: Misassembled" #1–4 (2005)]

The team is first seen in public by Avengers Hawkeye and Mockingbird, who watch the group stop a robbery. Despite Hawkeye's annoyance at the fact that the team have a naive insistence on trying to be superheroes, and have used the name "Avengers" without consultation, he and Mockingbird act as the team's mentors. ["The West Coast Avengers" #46 (vol. 2, Jul. 1989)] The Great Lakes Avengers assist the Avengers and Avengers West Coast from time to time, against threats such as the entity Terminus. ["Avengers" Annual 1990] After an encounter with the team the Thunderbolts — and aiding them against the villain Graviton — the Great Lakes Avengers clash with the mercenary Deadpool. [Thunderbolts #15–17 (vol. 1, Jun. – Aug. 1998) and 25 (vol. 1, Apr. 1999) and "Deadpool" #10–11 (Nov. – Dec. 1997) and #61 (2002)]

After a period of inactivity, the team learn that the Avengers have been disbanded and Hawkeye has apparently been killed. ["Avengers" #500–503 (2004) and "Avengers Finale" 2004] The team then reemerge and battle the entity Maelstrom, who is building a doomsday device and subsequently kills Dinah Soar. New members Squirrel Girl (who has a pet squirrel Monkey Joe) and Grasshopper are then recruited. Although Maelstrom is defeated via Mr. Immortal's trickery, Doorman, Grasshopper and Monkey Joe are all killed (the last is murdered by Gene Lorrene, who seeks revenge for being refused membership) during the course of the adventure. Mr. Immortal is also killed several times but always recovers. Doorman is revived soon after his death and realizes he is connected to the Darkforce, while Mr. Immortal learns that he is actually "Homo Supreme" and has evolved beyond death. Despite defeating Maelstrom and saving the world, the Great Lakes Avengers' victory goes unnoticed. Discovering that they are all mutants, the team decide to rename themselves the "GLX-Men". ["GLA: Missassembled" #1–4 (2006)]

A series of unusual events follow: Squirrel Girl acquires a new mascot, a female squirrel called Tippytoe, the second Grasshopper dies in orbit after misjudging his armor's capabilities; and Doorman becomes an "angel of death" and conveys the dead to the afterlife. ["GLX-Mas Special" (2005)] After Flatman wins a superhero poker tournament, the team regards themselves as "champions" and change their name to the "Great Lakes Champions". ["The Thing" #8 (vol. 2, 2006)]

Civil War/Initiative

With the beginning of Civil War, the GLC decide to comply with Superhuman Registration Act, and actually wait in line to register the day the act is announced. The team is renamed the Great Lakes Initiative and becomes the official -sponsored team for the state of Wisconsin. ["Cable and Deadpool" #30 (2006)]

Later, the team and Deadpool stop A.I.M. from using an "inebriation ray" that will induce the effects of drunkenness on all superheroes. Deadpool is granted reserve membership on the team, but he is then forcibly evicted from their headquarters after proving too much of an annoyance. ["Deadpool/GLI Summer Fun Spectacular" (2007)]

Equipment

When first formed, the team depended on Big Bertha's modeling income to provide funding for their headquarters (the team also used Bertha's private jet). The team also possessed a Quin-Jetta, with the GLA logo on its sides (later destroyed in the battle with Maelstrom). After receiving government funding, the team receive a state-of-the-art headquarters with several new items such as Squirrel Girl's Squirrel-A-Gig and Big Bertha's Bumper Buggy.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.greatlakesavengers.com Great Lakes Avengers]