Trying To Figure Out The Hero/State Pairings Of Marvel’s USAvengers Covers

Marvel is getting ready to roll out its stars and garters for its All-American USAvengers comic, and one major way it’s been doing it is by putting out a ridiculous amount of variant covers for issue one — one for each US state, and then some. With them all now revealed, we broke down the state/hero match-ups that work… and the ones that don’t.

All covers, above and below, by Rod Reis. Yes, they got Rod Reis to draw ALL of these.

Genuinely Appropriate

Ms Marvel, New Jersey

A great character and one who actually lives in the state she’s featured on. This combination is going to be rarer than you’d think.

Luke Cage, New York

Although Luke Cage of Netflix’s TV series was originally from Georgia, the comics Luke Cage was born and raised in Harlem. But TV Cage also adopted Harlem as his home, so we have zero problems with this.

Hulk, New Mexico

It’s where Bruce Banner got hit with and irradiated by a gamma bomb and first turned into the Hulk. If he wasn’t currently dead in the comics I’m sure he’d be totally fine being reminded of that. “Ah yes, New Mexico, I remember it well! It was the place where a horrific accident turned me into a radiation-infused monster.”

Iron Man, California

Tony Stark was born on Long Island, but, thanks to the movies giving him a mansion and a headquarters in California, there’s a strong association there. Also: Tech genius, Silicon Valley and so on.

Rogue, Mississippi

Anna Marie grew up in a hippie commune in Mississippi, so once again, solid choice. But it is also actually impossible to think of Rogue without thinking of her extremely Southern accent/drawl.

White Tiger, Puerto Rico

The first White Tiger, Hector Ayala, was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The other White Tigers don’t have their hometowns so clearly revealed, but they’re all related and they’re all Puerto Rican. Wise choice!

Spectrum, Louisiana

Yep, Monica Rambeau is very much from New Orleans; it’s a pretty big part of her backstory and this is a perfect fit. Frankly, we should probably be thankful Marvel remembered Monica Rambeau enough to give her a state cover.

She-Hulk, Idaho

Her hometown is there! Also, she once had an anxiety attack there and destroyed a ton of it!

Hawkeye, Iowa

He was born in Waverly, Iowa. And there’s a Hawkeye, Iowa. And the University of Iowa’s sports teams are the Hawkeyes. Hawkeyed out the butt, is Iowa. On the other hand, Clint left Iowa after his parents died in a car accident to join the circus, so he probably doesn’t have a lot of fond memories of the state.

Winter Soldier, Indiana

Bucky was actually born here, despite his association with famous New Yorker, Steve Rogers.

Captain Marvel, Massachusetts

Yep, Carol Danvers hails from Massachusetts. About a year ago, Boston-born Carol would have been a big star for her home state. Now… less so.

Havok, Hawaii

Surprisingly, Alex Summers is Hawaiian, thanks to his state-hopping father’s Airforce career. I guess it was him or obscure new mutant Loa.

US Agent, Georgia

At least one former Captain America gets to represent their home state.

Cannonball, Kentucky

Was not just born there, but saving himself and a fellow worker from a collapsing Kentucky coal mine is his origin story. Although a pretty minor character, Cannonball is actually going to be in the USAvengers, so it makes sense he gets a cover.

Beast, Illinois

Dundee, Illinois’ hairiest child is getting some good representation.

Nova, Arizona

Hey, at least they used the Nova that actually came from Arizona! Sam Williamson was born in the city of Carefree.

Irredeemable Ant-Man, Vermont and Ant-Man, Florida

Both Ant-Men were born in the states they were assigned. The non-irredeemable Ant-Man, Scott Lang, spend most of his time and superhero adventures in Florida, too.

Whizzer, Missouri

He was born in St Louis. We feel like most Missourans would be happier being represented by a more famous (or at least better named) superhero, even if he/she was born out of state.

Kind of Reaching

Doctor Strange, Pennsylvania

He was born in Philadelphia, sure. But he’s much more associated with New York. Hell, he’s more associated with the Astral Plane than he is Pennsylvania.

Marvel Boy, South Carolina

Noh-varr was 100 per cent not born in South Carolina, because as a Kree he was not born on Earth. But he once had a confrontation with Carol Danvers here, so he has visited the state at least one time.

Thor Odinson, Oklahoma

When Thor was cast down to Midgard in his first movie, it was to New Mexico. In the comics, Asgard was located over Oklahoma (long story). Either way, it’s a bit suspect.

Firebird, Texas

She was born in New Mexico but her superhero team is the Rangers and Texas’s Major League baseball team is also the Rangers so *shrug*

Hellcat, Alaska

Patsy Walker was randomly assigned to Alaska during the Civil War storyline. She left quickly, though.

Red Wolf, Wyoming

There have been many incarnations of Red Wolf almost all of whom have been of Cheyenne heritage. The lands of the Cheyenne ranged all over the American West. The only thing that makes Wyoming notable of this group is that its capital is named Cheyenne, which seems… weird.

Red Hulk, Nevada

He had a giant fight there once.

Two-Gun Kid, Montana

Two-Gun Kid was a hero of the Wild West. Montana is part of the West. But he also specifically stopped a corrupt businessman in the state.

Sam Wilson: Captain America, Maryland

Like the original Captain America, Sam Wilson was born in New York City. But since the state of New York has been otherwise assigned, it seems Marvel has figured “close to Washington DC” is patriotically appropriate.

Tigra, Arkansas

She led Arkansas’ Initiative team for some reason.

Totally Awesome Hulk, Utah

He went to Utah once. Not when he was the Hulk, mind you, but when he was just Amadeus Cho, sidekick of Hercules.

Thor (Jane Foster), Alabama

I swear, if the connection here is that they once used a Thor cover as inspiration for a university football cover featuring Alabama and USC, I will cry. But it is the first thing that comes up when you google “Marvel, Thor, Alabama”. The other option is, “Well, she’s also Thor, and Alabama is kinda close to Oklahoma?”

Seriously, WTF

The Sentry, Kansas

We don’t actually know where Rob Reynolds came from, but considering Sentry was born out of a secret Canadian project, his presence here is a bit odd.

Quake, Minnesota

Daisy Johnson was born in Louisiana, so it seems like a weird transplant to move her to Minnesota. Is Minnesota… known for earthquakes? Didn’t think so.

Valkyrie, West Virginia

Truly, West Virginia is the Asgard of the US, is it not?

Jack of Hearts, South Dakota

He was born in Connecticut and is terrible. Not sure who at Marvel hates South Dakota enough to make this happen.

Black Widow, Connecticut

She’s not American.

Quicksilver, Virginia

He’s not American either.

Machine Man, North Dakota

North Dakota gets a Californian robot man? Sure.

Black Knight, Ohio

There have been several incarnations of the Black Knight, but none of them are from Ohio. Hell, at least two of them were British.

Quasar, Wisconsin

Wendell Vaughn was indeed from Wisconsin, but he’s not even Quasar any more, so womp womp.

Sunspot, Oregon

How the hell did Oregon get a Brazilian to represent it?

Jocasta, Washington

Based on the brain patterns of a hero from New Jersey, made in Long Island, and… I guess maybe she served as Tony’s house AI in Washington for a bit?

Scarlet Witch, Maine

Because witches. And New England. And because Massachusetts, home of Salem, was already taken.

Vision, Washington DC

I guess technically every Marvel superhero has some DC experience. I just don’t know what makes Vision’s special. In the very excellent Vision comic, the Vision brings his family to live in the suburbs of Arlington, Virginia — which is a DC suburb but is also definitely in Virginia.

Hercules, Colorado

It hardly matters what states Hercules was assigned, our thought would be the same: He is a mythological Greek god.

Iron Fist, Rhode Island

Marvel seems to have attempted to tackle its issue of most of its famous characters being from New York by just slightly shunting them to nearby states. Poor Danny.

Wasp, Tennessee

There’s actually was, at one point, a community in Tennessee called Wasp, which I think might be the most stretching Marvel has done for one of these covers.

The Thing, Michigan

Yeah, we have no clue whatsoever.

Namor, North Carolina

Unless North Carolina is about to sink into the ocean, it’s kind of weird to have them represented by an Atlantean, no?

D-Man, Nebraska

As pointed out by others: A hero that just came out as gay is representing a state famous for its regressive politics. Well done, everyone.

Steve Rogers: Captain America, Delaware

HE’S FAMOUSLY FROM NEW YORK.

Spider-Man, New Hampshire

HE’S EVEN MORE FAMOUSLY FROM NEW YORK.

Deadpool, Canada

Deadpool claims to be Canadian, so why not. Still, while it is typically Canadian to want to help out, Canada is not part of the United States and would probably be offended by the implication.

Captain Britain, UK

Sigh.