I would have liked to see the Wasp, although I can see why they went with the in-your-face characters.

...You know, if you look at the roster over the years, it becomes clear that The Avengers is where Marvel's b-list characters go to die.  The 80s and 90s were a very drab time for comics, weren't they?

I'll take your word for it; my knowledge of superhero comics is fairly limited (though somehow a lot less limited than it should be given how few I've actually read; I'm not sure how I managed to pick up as much trivia on the subject as I have!). I have read a fair bit of Vertigo (The Sandman etc); the most offputting thing about the superhero stuff is the sheer volume of it.

True fact.  And to say the quality is erratic would be putting it mildly.  I tend to follow writers rather than characters.