How To Start Reading Avengers Comics

Because of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Avengers have become the most popular superteam in the world. The group has always been a rather simple concept—combine all of Marvel’s greatest heroes into one potent team. Readers get to see multiple heroes for the price of one comic and witness the most pulse-pounding battles in the Marvel Universe’s history. The Avengers are the gold standard for superhero action and have given readers amazing stories for over sixty years.

Of course, superhero comics can be daunting to newcomers, especially a team that’s been around as long as the Avengers have. There are multiple key story arcs and series; a new reader can have difficulty deciding where to start. Luckily, several Avengers stories and runs are the perfect place for new readers to jump into the Avengers. Understanding the Avengers is the key to understanding Marvel, and these stories will go a long way towards making a new reader get the Avengers.

The Original Run By Stan Lee And Jack Kirby Is Integral To Loving The Avengers

Oftentimes, new comic readers shouldn’t start at the beginning. There are multiple reasons for that, but the simplest is the most important. Comics have changed a lot since the olden days of the Golden and Silver Age. Returning to those comics can be difficult even for longtime readers who love them, so it’s doubly hard for newer readers. The stories are told differently, and the art doesn’t always appeal to the more modern eye. However, with the Avengers, the best place to start is the beginning. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s brilliant Silver Age Avengers remains one of their best works as a team and is a great place for a new reader to see what the fuss is about with the Avengers.

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were the powerhouse creative team that made Silver Age Marvel so special. Their creative relationship has been dissected to death in the years since they worked together. Still, whether someone is Stan Lee forever or a servant of the King, it’s impossible to deny that the two did amazing work together. Most call Fantastic Four their best work, but Avengers is nearly as great and much shorter. The two worked together on Avengers (Vol. 1) #1-8, and Kirby returned to do layouts on issues #14-16.

The first eight issues of the book give readers the Avengers’ origin, battles against Loki, Namor, and Hulk, the return of Captain America, and so much more. Lee and Kirby’s skills combine to create an amazing superhero book with the type of bombast and hyperbole that can only come from two of the greatest ever to work together. Marvel has done much better with reprints lately, so it’s pretty easy to find these early issues, whether fans want a physical edition or to read it online. Lee and Kirby’s style is old-fashioned, but it’s also a lot of fun, which is why it still stands up well.

The Kree-Skrull War Is An Early Avengers Masterpiece

The Avengers quickly made a name for themselves as Marvel’s foremost superhero team. Stan Lee left the book and was replaced by his protege, Roy Thomas. Thomas is a best-of-all-time Marvel and DC writer, but much of his best work is on Avengers. There are a lot of great issues from Thomas’s tenure on the title, but the one that every new reader needs to get is The Kree-Skrull War. Thomas worked with several legendary artists on the story – Neal Adams, John Buscema, and Sal Buscema – and it ran from Avengers (Vol. 1) #89-97.

The story introduces the ancient war between the Kree and Skrull – the two most powerful alien races in the early Marvel Universe – as it spills over to Earth. The Kree and Skrull have reached the end of their evolutionary potential and target Earth so they can jump-start their evolution and end their long-running war. The Avengers spring into action to protect the Earth, teaming up with the first Captain Marvel and the Fantastic Four to fight off the two sides. Even then, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes need help in the form of Rick Jones, who is possessed by the mysterious Destiny Force.

The Kree-Skrull War is a turning point in Avengers history. Before this story, the Avengers protected the Earth mostly from homegrown threats like supervillains. The Fantastic Four was usually the team that dealt with threats from space, but this story argued why the Avengers were the greatest defense force on Earth. It featured the greatest roster of Avengers ever – Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hank Pym, the Wasp, the Vision, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, and Hawkeye – participating in one of the biggest Avengers battles ever.

The Kree-Skrull War is considered a classic, so it’s easy for a new reader to find. Thomas is on another level in this book, and the Buscemas and Adams supply amazing art, even by today’s standards. This story shows the Avengers as the force they would become and marks the moment they truly lived up to their name as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. It’s an integral moment in the Avengers’ history and will help new readers understand many modern storylines.

Avengers: Under Siege Shows An Entirely Different Side Of The Avengers

The Avengers built an aura of invincibility over the years, but all that changed with Avengers: Under Siege. Roger Stern and John Buscema created this classic 1980s story and pit the Avengers against their most dangerous fes – the Masters Of Evil. The Masters Of Evil had been through multiple rosters over the years, and Under Siege gives them their biggest and most powerful roster to date. The team is led by Baron Helmut Zemo, the son of founding Masters leader Baron Heinrich Zemo, who has devised the ultimate plan to defeat the Avengers.

Earth’s Mightiest Heroes always win because of teamwork. Zemo and the Masters decide to divide and conquer the team, taking out powerful members and attacking Avengers Mansion, taking Captain America and Jarvis hostage. The Masters of Evil completely blitz the Avengers and have to figure out a way to defeat Zemo’s brilliance, which has completely neutered the team. Under Siege isn’t the first time the Avengers lost, but it’s their first defeat where their foes completely outclass them. Zemo had thought of everything and the Avengers find themselves facing off against a master tactician without their own master tactician.

There are some amazing moments in the story, from when Hercules figured he could win the fight all on his own to the Masters tormenting Jarvis to Cap learning that the Masters destroyed the last mementos of his life. Seeing the Avengers lose everything and then still figure out a way to win is exhilarating, as it shows that despite being the most powerful team on Earth, they are still vulnerable but also highly adaptable and can overcome any situation. A new reader needs to see the Avengers at their worst to understand how great the team can be. Under Siege is yet another easily found story, with many prints of its collected material available in any way a reader wants to experience.

Avengers Disassembled And New Avengers (Vol. 1) Is A Snap Shot From Marvel’s Best Recent Era

The Avengers fall off a cliff in the ’90s. While the early years of the ’90s had some good Avengers stories, they didn’t sell very well because ’90s readers were all about the X-Men and more extreme heroes. The latter part of the ’90s held the landmark Kurt Busiek and George Pérez run, but it’s not exactly new reader-friendly. It depends on a lot of knowledge of Avengers lore, so it’s a little advanced for new readers. After Busiek left the book in the early ’00s, there were some lean years for the team before Marvel made the Avengers truly important again. They tapped Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch for Avengers Disassembled.

This story birthed years of Marvel events and gives the Avengers their worst day, as Scarlet Witch has a breakdown and attacks the team for wiping the memories of her lost children. It’s an excellent story, still standing up twenty years later. The Avengers call it quits, but this doesn’t last long. Spider-Man villain Electro is hired to attack the Raft, using his electricity-controlling powers to shut down the power grid and allow its supervillain inmates to escape. This leads to an all-new group of Avengers forming when Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Luke Cage, and later Wolverine and the Sentry team up to stop the breakout.

New Avengers (Vol. 1) ran for 62 issues from 2005 to 2010. Bendis worked with artists Finch, Mike Deodato, Steve McNiven, Frank Cho, Howard Chaykin, Jim Cheung, Pascual Ferry, Leinil Yu, Chris Bachalo, Billy Tan, Michael Gaydos, David Mack, and Daniel Acuña. New Avengers begins with a bang and never really lets up. The book was the most important in the Marvel Universe during the last half of the first decade of the twenty-first century. It was hugely successful because Bendis made a book that anyone with any level of Avengers knowledge could follow.

It doesn’t really dig too far into Avengers lore; instead, it creates its own vibe and history. The book goes through several iterations over its run as the Marvel Universe changes around it, and it’s an amazing ride for a new reader. It’s a book that pretty much has the best characters, the biggest stories, the greatest Marvel artist of the ’00s, and a writer hitting his stride as one of the best of all time. Original editions of the collected editions aren’t easy to find, but the book is available in omnibuses, making it easy for new readers to find. Plus, it will lead readers to other great stories of the period – House Of M, Civil War, Secret Invasion, and Siege. This period of time was Marvel’s most fertile period of recent years and is a great jumping-on point for new readers.

Dark Avengers (Vol. 1) Is A Very Different Kind Of Avengers Team

The Avengers are the best Marvel superheroes and often showcase some great villains. However, at one point after Secret Invasion, Norman Osborn – Spider-Man’s arch-nemesis Green Goblin – is granted power over a government-backed group of registered superheroes. Osborn transforms S.H.I.E.L.D. into H.A.M.M.E.R. and creates an entirely new team of villainous members of the Thunderbolts who masquerade as heroes. along with leftovers from the Mighty Avengers to form one of the strongest Avengers rosters ever.

Bullseye dressed as Hawkeye, Moonstone took on Ms. Marvel’s alter ego, Venom took a serum to resemble Spider-Man better, and Daken is given the mantle of his father as Wolverine. Osborn convinces Ares, the God of War, and the Sentry to join the team and brings Noh-Varr, a Kree supersoldier from another universe, to become the new Captain Marvel. The Dark Avengers were pulled into battles with classic Avengers foes like Morgan Le Fay and the Molecule Man before leading the assault on Asgard. It’s a wild book full of big action moments, but the characters make it shine.

Bendis is known as a character writer, and he invests each character with the right mixture of humor, villainous brutality, and a proclivity to make secret plans and backstab one another. Avengers/X-Men: Utopia is also recommended reading, as the Matt Fraction/Luke Ross issues are crossovers with that event. A new reader can skip over these issues, especially since the X-Men are in a very confusing place. New readers might not want to bite into that apple, but it’s an excellent story.

Dark Avengers is constantly entertaining and brilliantly plays its central premise—what happens if a group of villains becomes the most important team of heroes in the world? A new reader doesn’t really have to know much about the characters’ lore, as the book lays out what they need. It doesn’t hinge on having a massive knowledge of the Avengers or Marvel history. This is a very dark yet fun comic, making it a treat for new readers.

Jonathan Hickman writes brilliant stories. There’s really no other way to describe his writing and even bad Hickman is very, very good. Hickman became a superstar on Fantastic Four and was tapped to take over the Avengers during the Marvel NOW! publishing initiative. Hickman launched Avengers (Vol. 5) and New Avengers (Vol. 3), building an amazing story between the two books. Avengers (Vol. 5) ran for 44 issues, and Hickman was joined by amazing artists on his various books.

Each book had a different focus – Avengers (Vol. 5) revolved around the biggest and most powerful team of Avengers fighting the greatest threats and New Avengers (Vol. 3) focuses on a new iteration of the Illuminati – Mister Fantastic, Iron Man, Beast, Namor, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Black Panther – trying to deal with the Incursions, an event where alternate Earths slam into each other that is destroying the multiverse. Infinity, by Hickman and artists Cheung, Opeña, and Weaver, deals with the Avengers fighting an intergalactic war against the Builders while Thanos and his Black Order attack the Earth with only the Illuminati able to stop them. Avengers (Vol. 5) and New Avengers (Vol. 3) overlap during Time Runs Out, as the two teams do their best to destroy the source of the Incursions while protecting the Earth, which leads to Secret Wars (2015), by Hickman and Ribic, which opens with the Final Incursion between the 616 and the Ultimate Universe, which leads to an all-new Marvel Universe ruled by Doctor Doom.

Hickman’s time writing The Avengers is perfect for a new reader. Knowing decades of Avengers lore isn’t important to the books; they lay out everything readers need to know. The books are quite self-contained, introducing plots and paying them off. The art is frequently phenomenal, and the books star the greatest stars of the Marvel Universe – Captain America, Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Thor, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Hulk, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and many, many more – all facing off against the greatest threats they’ve ever encountered. These books are superhero/sci-fi at their peak, with huge stakes and great character moments buoying the books along. This is peak Avengers and any new reader will be satisfied with the greatest adventure in Marvel history.