We all have trade paperback (TPB) collections we'd like to see. Here's one of mine:

Gallery

Gallery

Alright, I know: there's not a high demand - or probably even any demand - for a Team America TPB, but "Would U Buy It" asks if you would buy it, and not every answer has to be a "yes." This one's just for me, because I liked the series as a kid, and think it has some untapped potential, begging to be revisited. That potential lies almost completely with the Black Marauder. The story with Team America (now known as the Thunderiders) was that they were genetically engineered by Hydra. They all had the power to project the Black Marauder, which was an entity something like Captain Planet or Psi-Force's Psi-Hawk - a central entity with the whole team's attributes, amplified to their highest potential. In effect, the Black Marauder was intended to be a Hydra super-soldier.

Throughout the series, the team unwittingly projected the Marauder onto various people - sometimes a team member, sometimes not - until their appearance in New Mutants, where Wolf managed to project the entity onto himself (although he called to it, as if it would possess him). This is where I see the potential, because how long until the five team members had learned to project the Marauder onto themselves, all at the same time - making five Black Marauders? Also, what's the possibility that Hydra has since engineered an army of these Marauder-projecting soldiers (or recaptured and asserted control over the originals)? In a sense, this would make the team's conflict somewhat like DC's original Manhunter, who had to fight a Council-created army of his own clones. I think this has such potential, because of Marvel revisiting Jessica Drew's connections to Hydra in recent years. Seems like a good time to find out that she's not the only super operative they were grooming. Not only that, but team leader Honcho was formerly a CIA field agent, and could be connected to SHIELD just as easily as Drew - giving the team some support, if they were to encounter an army of like-powered soldiers.

For me, if Marvel were ever to revisit the potential in these characters, I'd like to see a TPB of their earlier appearances. They have one other appearance I know of, in New Warriors Annual #1, but I think it would be better suited to a Kings of Pain collection, if Marvel ever collected the crossover annual stories, from the early 1990's. This collection would be a little hefty, at 17 issues (actually 18, since #12 was a "double sized" issue), but I don't see it selling in more than one volume. This volume would be cool, because it features other Marvel characters as well, like Captain America, Ghost Rider, Iron Man, Madame Hydra (and Hydra, of course), Silver Samurai, The New Mutants, and the ever lovin', blue eyed idol of millions, The Thing.

For the cover, I think I'd probably use the cover of Team America #1. Issue #3 is an awesome shot of the Black Marauder, and #10 is a shot of the whole team, but #1 is a more dynamic cover, with a better shot of the Black Marauder and the team.

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