Solo Avengers

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Solo Avengers/Avengers Spotlight
Publisher Marvel Comics Schedule Monthly Format Ongoing Publication dates December 1987 - July 1989 (Solo Avengers) August 1989 - January 1991 (Avengers Spotlight) Number of issues 40 (1-20 as Solo Avengers, 21-40 as Avengers Spotlight) Main character(s) Hawkeye various Avengers Creative team Writer(s) Various Artist(s) Various

Solo Avengers, later Avengers Spotlight, was an American comic book, published by Marvel Comics.

A spin-off from the company's popular team title Avengers, it began life in December 1987 under the title Solo Avengers. It changed title to Avengers Spotlight in August 1989, with issue 21. It was cancelled in January 1991 with issue 40.

The format of the title was usually two stories, one featuring the character Hawkeye (a sarcastic archer who had been first introduced to the Avengers title in 1964) and a back-up strip showcasing current or former Avengers who didn't have their own title. Some issues featured one long story, and others dropped Hawkeye altogether.

With issue 35, the comic changed format to exclusively focus on one full-length story (apart from issue 36, which carried a Hawkeye story intended for #35 but not completed in time), in a failed attempt to avoid cancellation.

Solo Avengers was part of a then-current trend at Marvel to expand its various "franchises" such as Spider-Man and the X-Men into as many as a dozen titles, and the name change to Avengers Spotlight (together with the concurrant renaming of West Coast Avengers to Avengers West Coast), with a logo based heavily on that of the parent title was an attempt to force retailers, who usually sorted their comics in alphabetical order, to rack them beside the parent title in an attempt to increase sales.

[edit] Bibliography

• Solo Avengers #1-20 (December 1987 - July 1989)
• Avengers Spotlight #21-40 (August 1989 - January 1991)