Well my victory celebration was cut short by another dramatic loss to Shaun in May. Our teams shattered point totals for the month, thanks in large part to big Avengers appearances and the launch of Original Sin, but my 54-point tally falls short of Shaun’s epic 56-point month. I renamed my team and finally took a chance on Captain Marvel (powers: Energy Blast, Flight, Piloting), and I also picked up one of Shaun’s discarded heroes, Thor (Hammer Strike, Hammer Throw, Lightning); I dropped Nova and Nightcrawler. Shaun stayed with the reliable Deadpool and Iron Man combo, but changed Tony’s power set to include a Suit Change and Shield instead of Flight and Uni-Beam. They were joined by the shady-Soviet-spy duo of Black Widow (Widow’s Bite, Acrobatic TKO, Stealth) and the Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes (Offensive Use of Arm, Electrical Discharge, Stealth). Let’s see how Shaun screwed me over this month. Here is the audio feed for anybody interested in following along with our tally via the MMA Podcast:
Selfish Avengers (3-1): 56
Captain, My Captains (1-3): 54
Week 17 (May 28, 2014):
Shaun pulls off the upset at the end of the month with an impressive 23-point week to capture his third victory. Shaun’s team of heroes proves to be much more balanced than mine, as Captain Marvel is not able to live up to my expectations for her. She even fails to appear in her new team book, Guardians of the Galaxy.
Captain, My Captains: 14 points (54 total)
Captain America: Appearance, 3 points (Avengers #30, All-New Invaders #5, Inhuman #2); Power, 2 points (two Shield Throws); Leads the Team, 1 point (Invaders)
Spider-Man: Appearance, 1 point (Giant-Size Spider-Man #1); Power, 2 points (Webbing and Spider-Sense); Defeated Villain, 1 point (flashback stories of him defeating bad guys from the early part of his career)
Captain Marvel: 0 points
Thor: Appearance, 2 points (Uncanny Avengers #20, Avengers); Power, 2 points (two Hammer Strikes)
Iron Man: Appearance, 3 points (Iron Man #26, Deadpool #29, Avengers); Power, 2 points (two Repulsor Rays); Team-Up, 1 point (with Malekith)
Deadpool: Appearance, 2 points (Deadpool, Thunderbolts #26); Power, 3 points (Healing Factor and two Creative Kills: making someone choke on a frog and using a Wakandian death ray); Character Development, 2 points (learns his daughter is alive, and he dies in Thunderbolts as the timeline is reset); Team-Up, 1 point (with Dazzler); Defeated Villain, 1 point
Black Widow: Appearance, 1 point (Avengers); Power, 1 point (Widow’s Bite)
Elektra: Appearance, 2 points (Winter Soldier: The Bitter March #4, All-New Invaders); Power, 1 point (use of Bionic Arm); Character Development, 1 point (frees himself of the brain-washing); Civilian Save, 1 point; Defeated Villain, 1 point
Week 16 (May 21, 2014):
Spider-Man snags 11 points for me, giving him the most points for an individual character in a week this month. His big week helps propel me into the lead and gives me the most weekly points for May as well. Shaun manages another respectable performance, maintaining four-straight weeks of double-digit points.
The Real Uncanny Avengers: 24 points (40 total)
Captain America: Appearance, 4 points (Original Sin #2, Avengers World #6, Amazing Spider-Man #2, Hulk #3); Power, 1 point (Shield Throw – it’d be nice if he did one of these every issue); Leads the Team, 1 point (against the Hulk)
Spider-Man: Appearance, 4 points (Amazing Spider-Man, Original Sin, Amazing X-Men #7, Deadpool Annual #2); Power, 3 points (Three uses of Webbing); Character Development, 1 point (Discovers Flash has become Venom); Team-Up, 2 points (with his Amazing Friends, Iceman and Firestar; and with his ‘frenemy,’ Deadpool); Defeated Villain, 1 point (with Deadpool)
Captain Marvel: Appearance, 2 points (Avengers World, Hulk); Power, 1 point (Energy Blast)
Thor: Appearance, 3 points (Thor: God of Thunder #22, Original Sin, Avengers World); Power, 1 point (Hammer Throw)
Iron Man: Appearance, 2 points (Original Sin, Amazing Spider-Man); Power, 1 point (Repulsor Ray); Leads the Team, 1 point (Calls out villains in Original Sin)
Deadpool: Appearance, 1 point (Deadpool Annual); Power, 1 point (Healing Factor); Team-Up, 1 point (with Spidey); Civilian Save, 1 point; Defeated Villain, 1 point
Black Widow: Appearance, 1 point (Original Sin)
Winter Soldier: 0 points
Week 15 (May 14, 2014):
Iron Man returns with the point-getting in a big way as he helps Shaun outpace a decent week by Captain America. The guidelines for what should count as a Character Development point begins to get pretty blurry.
Captain, My Captains: 10 points (16 total)
Captain America: Appearance, 3 points (Captain America #20, Avengers #29, Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu #1); Power, 1 point (Shield Throw); Character Development, 1 point (Remembers the mind-wipe the Illuminati had performed on him); Defeated Villain, 1 point
Spider-Man: 0 points
Captain Marvel: Appearance, 1 point (Captain Marvel #3); Power, 1 point (Energy Blast)
Thor: Appearance, 1 points (Avengers); Power, 1 points (Hammer Strike)
Iron Man: Appearance, 3 points (Iron Man #25, New Avengers #18, Avengers); Power, 3 points (Repulsor Ray in two issues, and Suit Change); Character Development, 1 point (The Illuminati is discovered and confronted)
Deadpool: Appearance, 1 point (Deadpool #28); Power, 2 points (Healing Factor, naturally; Mows Down with Guns)
Black Widow: Appearance, 2 points (Secret Avengers #3, Avengers); Power, 1 point (Physical TKO)
Winter Soldier: 0 points
Week 14 (May 7, 2014):
Nothing unusual about the first week of the month. I score six points and overpowered-Deadpool scores a few points for Shaun.
Captain, My Captains: 6 points (6 total)
Captain America: Appearance, 1 point (Original Sin #1)
Spider-Man: Appearance, 2 points (Amazing Spider-Man #1.1, Original Sin); Power, 1 point (Webs!)
Captain Marvel: 0 points
Thor: Appearance, 2 points (Loki: Agents of Asgard #4, Original Sin)
Iron Man: Appearance, 1 point (Original Sin)
Deadpool: Appearance, 1 point (Deadpool Vs. Carnage #3); Power, 1 point (Healing); Team-Up, 1 point (with the Symbiote offspring)
Black Widow: Appearance, 2 points (Black Widow #3, Original Sin); Power, 1 point (Physical TKO); Defeat Villain, 1 point
Winter Soldier: Appearance, 1 point (Original Sin); Team-Up, 1 point (with Gamora and Moon Knight in Original Sin)
Mixed Marvel Arts 