This is it, my friends, time to lay some cards on the table. Maybe I’ll lost the majority of you along the way but it’s high time to talk about my favorite female Avenger. Heck, how about my favorite female Marvel super-heroine?

I personally liked Mantis from her first appearance, back in Avengers #112 (June 1973), where she was wearing a different costume than the one she’s more known about (with the same colors) and looked more like a sophisticated Japanese lady than a young Vietnamese orphan. To top it off, when I learned that she lead the evil Swordsman to a new life of righteousness, I couldn’t be more glad: he had always been one of my favorite villains, acting noble and snotty in his own unique way. In my book, she couldn’t be a bad person. Of course, when she dropped-kicked a whole team of Avengers soon after (including Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Vision, Black Panther…), oh boy, there was more to meet the eyes here. And on the chauvinistic side, I have a weakness for beautiful, Asian-type girls, as if you didn’t know… I found interesting the way she talked (the «this one» part) and her «humbleness». Of course, the Celestial Madonna story is classic Avengers material (though it was never developed to my satisfaction in future years, if developed at all…).

When Mantis appeared, there were only three official female Avengers: Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp (who at that point, had still the sadly topical «bimbo-headed» etiquette around her); Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch (who had been under the shadow of her brother Quicksilver for too long, was beginning to develop a much-appreciated «power-up» and was more and more committed to future husband the Vision) and Natasha Romanova, the Black Widow (who made quite a list of guest-appearances and finally became a member for the grand total of two issues at the time). Not much girl action around Avengers Mansion. I found Mantis a different and intriguing addition to the team: she was very independent and mysterious, more powerful than presumed and was the lead player in her romantic liaison with the Swordsman, contrary to the other three gals (at that time, remember?: Jan overshadowed by husband Henry Pym, Wanda overshadowed by Quicksilver or Vision, Natasha by Hawkeye or Daredevil). Swordsman was the weak link in this relationship. Now maybe the majority of young male readers didn’t like to see the male hero on the receiving end?

After mating with an intelligent tree from outer space (?) and producing an unique being that is destined to be a new form of benevolent life in the universe, Mantis was lost in comic limbo for many years, as Marvel didn’t have a clue of what to do with her. A shame, as she was quite an unique creation, from the mind of writer Steve Englehart, who even more or less recreated her in different comic book companies, mainly the DC character Willow and the Eclipse Comics character Lorelei! Talk about dedication! More recently, Mantis has been glimpsed in the mini-series House of M: Avengers and in a more active role in the galactic mini-series Annihilation: Conquest. Check out her chronological apparitions and some personal info available via my Avengers site.