Marvel has a knack for reinvention, titillating fans by shaking up even their most iconic heroes. Whether it's Spider-Man's symbiote, or Wolverine's post-adamantium story, these bold moves breathe fresh life into the stories we love.

So once again, Xhibition (@Richard__Prins) and I decided to whip up a fun review of our Top 10 re-invented Marvel heroes whose digital collectible comics are available for purchase on both VeVe and the VeVe Comics (modern Marvel titles) platforms.  As always, the list is our opinion and not that of VeVe or Marvel, but we think you’ll all enjoy this one.  Yeah, we know Top-10 lists are arbitrary and there are MANY other characters we could have included, but for now this is the list for today!

10. Black Widow

Tales of Suspense #52

Everyone one knows Natasha Romanova as the Black Widow. However, not as many know she is actually a super-soldier who is somewhere around 100 years old, and was rescued by Steve Rogers and Logan in WWII when she was kidnapped by the Hand.

We have more than one Black Widow now in the Marvel universe, but she wasn’t the first - meet Claire Voyant.

Clair is a golden age character (FA Mystic Comics #4) with some paranormal powers who was recruited by Satan to help him ‘recruit’ souls of people before they could repent. It's pretty metal, but, nothing good lasts forever, and when her ‘mission’ didn’t kill everyone she was supposed to, one of the victims who survived took revenge by murdering her.

She was subsequently revived by Satan, becoming the super-naturally powered assassin known as the Black Widow. Mystic Comics #4 made her the first female, costumed, super-powered comic book character.

These days she pops up here and there, but is hardly used and we would love to see her in Strange Academy for a small adventure. Or maybe a cool 4-issue limited series, as she’s pretty awesome!

9. Mister Sinister

Uncanny X-Men #221

The thing we love the most about Mister Sinister is he's just evil, plain and simple. You have the good guys, and you have the bad guys. Mister Sinister is always a bad guy.

Honestly, we cannot tell how many versions there are of Mister Sinister there are now. Heck, do we still have the original Nathaniel Essex? If not, I’m sure he will pop up again “Muhahaha, it was me all along!”

You see, Sinister is more than a character, he embodies the Saturday morning supervillain, intentionally designed so. Yet, at the same time is he is one of the most fleshed out characters, completely interwoven in the Marvelous world of the X-Men, sometimes literally (Sins of Sinister).

The Krakoa Era saw a new Mister Sinister, although we saw snippets of this Sinister in earlier adventures, it is absolutely a reinvented character in the Krakoa Era and man was he a HOOT - hard laughs indeed!! What a complete, narcissistic idiot, who at the same time was cunning, smart, petty, hilarious, stupid all wrapped in a smirky looking fashionista. Brilliant.

8. Vision

Avengers #57

The Vision, synthezoid and Witch Magnet. Pillar of the Avengers, and one helluva character to have in your corner.

Originally created as an updated version of the Human Torch from the Golden Age, who was also a synthetic man, our Vision is mainly based on another golden age character who is, wait for it… also named Vision.

Vision Aarkus is a superhero from outer space, created by Joe Simon & Jack ‘the King’ Kirby. He was basically a space cop looking for a place to dump a prisoner, when he accidentally came in contact with an Earth scientist, who asked him to fight crime on Earth.

An invitation he accepted, as it was World War II and the US government had hired Timely Comics to pump out comic superheroes who punched Nazi’s in the face. Especially as part of the Invaders. These days he's pretty chill, but his old buddies can always call upon him. The Vision will be watching...

7. Elsa Bloodstone

Blood Stone #1

Now, this is a kick-ass character in the style of Buffy the Vampire slayer (who in turn was based on Kitty Pryde and supposed to be the sister of Cyclops, hence her name Buffy Summers).

Elsa started out as a hot blonde monster hunter, later turning into a foul mouthed red headed monster hunter, who was part of the Agents of H.A.T.E - one of the funniest comic books ever, Mark Millar licks goats!

Like many other Marvel characters, Elsa has found her way into the MCU. The television special Werewolf by Night (now available on Disney+) is a side of Marvel we need to see more of onscreen - give us horror Marvel, you got plenty of it. Like red heads, really.

6. Captain Marvel

Marvel Superheroes #13

Shazam! Already at number 6!

Mar-Vell was the first character to use the moniker Captain Marvel in the Marvel Universe, one of the best Heroes ever who unfortunately passed away after he fell ill of lung cancer. But, fear not! In a time where costumes are too tight and breasts are too big, a heroine makes a stand and Ms. Marvel becomes Captain Marvel!

Not gonna lie, we like Carol Danvers more as Ms. Marvel, than as Captain Marvel, where every time we see her on a page she’s simply unpleasant. But we can’t deny she’s been heavily pushed for about 2 decades or so, so she has a spot in the top 10.

5. Human Torch

Marvel Comics #1

Now we’re getting to the good stuff! Johnny Storm, funny as Spider-Man, cocky as Iceman, and hotter than Emma Frost in a bikini.

Fantastic Four’s little rascal is a fan favorite since the start of that Marvel title in 1961. Without that first family, would we even have Marvel Comics? Regardless (as we don't need to worry about that!), they drew 'a little inspiration' from the first comic published by Marvel back in August 1939 (then Timely Comics), namely, the Human Torch!

Now this version was very different, as he wasn’t even human (was a human android), but he was covered in flames and had the name. Other than that, the character is completely reinvented.

4. Namor

Fantastic Four #4

Hide the blondes!

Namor, the Submariner also has his first appearance in Marvel Comics #1 and he, unlike the Human Torch, is the same character as we have today.

Reinvented as a mutant, Charles Xavier and Magneto find Namor wandering the streets with amnesia, thus giving the writers a blank sheet to fill it with creativity.

The King of Atlantis, the first mutant, ruler of the Speedo. The cattiest of them all, with a level of arrogance that falls right between Magneto and Doom, Namor is always a joy on the comic pages. He has a preference for blondes, but really, Namor doesn’t shy away from the unconventional - if Deadpool is Peter, then Namor is the Pan King.

3. Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy #1

Show me a better Cosmic book than Annihilation, as this is a gold standard.

So basically, thanks to this event, half of Cosmic Marvel received a new polish, reimagined and reinvented, blasting a bunch of new books like Guardians of the Galaxy.

Star-Lord is a seasoned veteran who mentors Nova, Gamora single-handedly ushered us in this whole thick gothic girl era, Drax becomes a tattooed badass destroyer, and Groot & Rocket do Groot & Rocket things.

We could also quite easily do a "top-20 characters reinvented by Annihilation." It is a modern classic.

The MCU portrayed the Guardians a little differently and that version has become somewhat the standard in the comics now, which is okay. Trying to marry Kitty Pryde is not...looking at you, Star Lord.

2. Nova

Nova (2013) #1

The main character of the Cosmic Marvel Era, his reinvented origin is somewhat different than others in the list.

For Nova, his history is not forgotten nor changed, he isn’t a completely different character, he’s still Richard.

Annihilation and his solo series Nova, IS his origin. Xandar gets destroyed with the Nova Corps completely obliterated. The World Mind (Xandar’s supercomputer containing the whole of what Xandar is) seeks refuge in Richard Rider’s suit until they find a safe haven. Such power is not made to hold by one person and nowhere is it safe.

The whole universe depends on Nova, but Richard is insecure about his leadership and driven mad by the world mind. The weight of his task is literally crushing him, mentally and physically, and it is all up to him.

For the extra-curious, here's a good review link to The go-to guide to Cosmic Marvel on Reddit

Galactus, Quasar, Super-Skrull, Thanos, Silver Surfer, Guardians of the Galaxy, Adam Warlock, Ronan the Accuser, just to name a few in this truly Epic Cosmic battle for the ages. This is where heroes are forged, this is the final stand.

“It’s all up to me” (Richard Rider - Nova).

1. Captain America 

Captain America #4

We’re still awaiting "he, who took punch in face" on VeVe (maybe 'PC' issues for Captain America #1?) but we do have Avengers #4 and that’s what this list is all about, punching Nazi’s. No wait, that’s a coincidence, but we do have a lot of Nazi punchers in this list, so it’s fitting that the #1 can do it all day.

Steve Rogers, Captain America, got stuck in the ice saving the world. Everyone knows this origin story, but it’s completely reinvented.

And it's the best retelling there is and the only Golden Age A-lister of Marvel, which they have the MCU to thank Chris Evans for, who played Captain America with a self awareness without it becoming ironic. Thus, Captain America became cool. His role was at least as important as what RDJ did with Doom… er, Iron Man (sorry - we couldn't resist!)

BONUS THOUGHTS

Look, history is history - it isn't something we're always proud of, nor can it be changed. Comics like Captain America #1 published to support an allied global war effort, as a symbol of American support to thwart the monstrous global threat facing humanity by Hitler's ideologies. So, Cap landing a solid right hook across THE NAZI'S face is just one of the great moments in comic history. Like it or not.

If you want a great review of this Comic Grail, check out this "Origins" blog by OSU.Edu:
https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/captain-america-changing-conscience-nation

Captain America #1 isn't currently available as a digital collectible, but those of you who own a physical copy (or aspire to), know why we wanted to add this extra piece. It's kind of a big deal comic, just going by GoCollect current valuations for its physical format:

Currently, you CAN at least, own a portion of that iconic cover in premium digital collectible format from Marvel and VeVe.

Though the technical "first appearance" of Cap' as a digital collectible dropped as a "Marvel Mighty" (a unique collection of Marvel characters, in more 'gaming / toy' appearance formats, created by Marvel for distribution within the VeVe app), "THE PUNCH" came as what the partnership called their "MARVEL FIRSTS." Five memorable statuesque poses of Captain America, usable in augmented reality from the app, with that iconic "Punch" pose released as the 'rare' edition (only 8,000 exist globally).

You can read all about the 2021 Season One drop over on Medium:
https://medium.com/veve-collectibles/marvel-1sts-captain-america-series-1-345404e5052

So one last time, we're seeing even the reinvention of collectible types themselves, quickly happening right before our eyes! After several years in this journey, Richard & I are both humbled to say even we physical comic readers & collectors have been reinvented, finding such a fun way to engage and enjoy our comic passions with so many new friends.

Thank You again for Reading!