Avengers (comics)
| Avengers | |
|---|---|
 A variant cover of New Avengers #1 (February 2005). Art by Joe Quesada. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Avengers Vol. 1, #1 (September 1963) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Base(s) | Stark Tower (current) Avengers Mansion (traditional) Hydrobase |
The Avengers are a superhero team, consisting of many of Marvel Comics' most popular heroes. They first appeared in The Avengers #1 (September 1963)
Known for their rallying cry "Avengers Assemble!" and the nickname of "Earth’s Mightiest Heroes", the team originally featured Ant-Man, Wasp, Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk, all of whom were popular, established superheroes. A rotating roster has been a hallmark of the team, and other heroes who have had long histories as Avengers include Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Hawkeye, Vision, Black Widow, and the team’s leader, Captain America.
Unlike DC Comics' all-star Justice League, The Avengers have rarely featured a who’s who of Marvel heroes. Although more solitary heroes — like the Hulk and Spider-Man — and heroes associated with other teams — like the Thing and Wolverine — have had brief histories with the team, most Avengers line-ups feature both headlining characters and characters primarily known as Avengers.
The series has dealt with diplomacy as the Avengers have received official recognition or at least consideration from the United States government and/or the United Nations. Although members of the team have varying degrees of humanity — human champions, ancient gods, superpowered mutants, androids and scientifically enhanced humans have been parts of the team — the Avengers have had to learn to get along with each other and interact with the human world. Stories explored the meaning of what it means to be human or superhuman and the role and responsibilities of superheroes.
The team has remained popular since its inception and were adapted into the short-lived 1999-2000 animated series The Avengers: United They Stand and the 2006 direct-to-DVD animated film Ultimate Avengers.
Publication history
The Avengers debuted in their own comic book series in the same month as the debut of the X-Men and were created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers as an answer to DC Comics' Justice League of America. Lee and Kirby had originally created the Fantastic Four as a competitor to the Justice League, but since Marvel did not have a roster of already popular heroes at the time, the FF were a team of original characters. The Avengers, created two years later, were truer to the concept of the all-star superhero team.
Unlike most other superhero teams in the Marvel Universe, the Avengers team received official recognition from the government almost from the beginning and their authority was recognized internationally throughout most of their history, although the extent of that recognition has waxed and waned. As stated in the preamble that graced the top of the first page of the comic throughout the 1970s, the Avengers' purpose is to "fight the foes no single super hero could withstand." To that end, the roster of "Earth's Mightest Heroes" has featured humans, nonhumans, mechanical heroes, former villains and supernatural beings. Despite their many differences (which often erupted into infighting), they have managed to unite into a cohesive team to combat extraordinary threats.
Two companion titles were published in the 1980s. West Coast Avengers Volume 1 was a four-issue limited series, with #1 debuting September 1984; Volume 2 (later re-titled Avengers West Coast with #47) was a regular series lasting for 102 issues from October 1985 to January 1994. Solo Avengers (later Avengers Spotlight), ran for 40 issues from 1987 to 1989.
The comic has been relaunched three times in the past ten years. The first time, in 1996, was part of the Heroes Reborn reboot, the second, a year later, returned the team to its original continuity, and the third time, in 2005 with New Avengers.
History
The 1960s
Loki, the Asgardian god of mischief, plotted revenge against his half-brother Thor, and tricked the Hulk into doing his bidding. Loki diverted a call for help to Thor, which was also answered by Ant Man, the Wasp and Iron Man. After defeating Loki, Ant-Man pointed out that the five worked well together and suggested they form a combined force. The Wasp named the group, and the Avengers were born.
The team's line-up changed almost immediately. Ant-Man became Giant-Man and when the Hulk realized how much the others feared his unstable personality, he left at the end of the second issue. Trying to contain the Hulk led the Avengers to combat Namor the Sub-Mariner, and that in turn led to the first major milestone in the Avengers' history — the return of Captain America in Avengers #4 (March 1964). The 1940s patriotic hero was discovered frozen in suspended animation since the end of World War II, and needed a place where he could adjust to being a man decades out of time. Captain America joined the Avengers, beginning an almost indelible association with the team, typically as its leader. Even when the chairmanship of the team was held by others, Captain America has always been the de facto tactical commander of the Avengers in the field, and few hesitate in carrying out his orders.
The original members who put their names to the Avengers Charter are known as the "founding members", responsible for the good name of the team. As a result, their wishes regarding the direction of the team are given additional weight and deference. Captain America was given "founding member" status in the Hulk's place (as revealed in Avengers Vol. 3 #1, February 1998). Together, the Avengers fought foes such as Captain America's wartime enemy Baron Zemo, who formed the Masters of Evil; the time-traveling villainy of Kang the Conqueror; Count Nefaria; and the Lava Men.
The next milestone was Avengers #16, which saw the resignation of all the members of the team except for Captain America. They were replaced by Hawkeye, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver; all former villains who wanted to turn over a new leaf.
Don Heck took over the art chores from Jack Kirby. With less raw power than the team that preceded them, "Cap's Kooky Quartet" (as they were known) were not expected to be able to hold their own, but they proved their worth by fighting and defeating the Swordsman, the original Power Man, Doctor Doom and Kang once again. They were soon rejoined by Henry Pym (who changed his name to Goliath) and the Wasp. The team began to grow once more, with the Greek demigod Hercules, the Black Knight and the Black Widow also joining. The constant changing of the roster, with heroes joining, leaving and returning, became a hallmark of the series, with "the old order changeth" becoming a catch phrase.
Under the tenure of Roy Thomas as writer, the stories began to focus more intently on characterization. Thomas introduced the hero the Vision in Avengers #57 (October 1968), a "synthezoid" — an android with artificial human organs — and creation of the homicidal android Ultron. After the Vision turned on his creator to help the Avengers, he was voted onto the roster. John Buscema was the primary artist on the book during Thomas's 1960s run. Another highlight came in #60 (January 1969) when Goliath (who had become Yellowjacket) finally married Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp.
Thomas also established that the Avengers were headquartered in a New York City building named Avengers Mansion, which was provided by Tony Stark, the secret identity of Iron Man. Stark not only provided the mansion and Edwin Jarvis, the Avengers' faithful butler, but also furnished the mansion with state-of-the-art technology and defense systems, including the Avengers' primary mode of transport, the five-engined quinjets. Tony Stark also funded the Avengers through the Maria Stark Foundation, a non-profit organization.
The 1970s
Thomas continued his run into the early 1970s, introducing a pastiche of the Justice League called the Squadron Supreme in #85 (February 1970). Buscema left the title later that year, and the run up to #100 (June 1972) included the Kree-Skrull War, an epic interstellar conflict between the Kree and Skrull alien races, involving the Kree hero Captain Marvel, with Earth caught in the crossfire. The war ended when the Kree Supreme Intelligence unlocked the latent mental powers of Rick Jones, which paralyzed the warring fleets long enough for an uneasy truce to be called.
The Kree-Skrull War also featured early work by Neal Adams, and marked the beginning of a period where the Avengers' adventures steadily grew more cosmic in scope. The Vision's love for the Scarlet Witch became more and more apparent, but although she returned his feelings, he held back because he believed himself to be inhuman and unworthy of her.
Steve Englehart continued this emphasis on the cosmic, introducing Mantis in #113 (August 1973), who joined the team along with the reformed Swordsman. Englehart linked her origins to the very beginnings of the Kree-Skrull conflict in a time-spanning adventure involving Kang the Conqueror and the mysterious Immortus, who were revealed to be past and future versions of each other.
Mantis turned out to be the Celestial Madonna, who was destined to give birth to a being that would save the universe. The Celestial Madonna saga also revealed that the Vision's body had just been appropriated by Ultron, and that it originally belonged to the 1940s Human Torch. With his origins now clear to him, the Vision finally summoned up the courage to propose to the Scarlet Witch. The Celestial Madonna saga ended with their wedding, presided over by Immortus, a future version of Kang.
Englehart's tenure coincided with the debut of George Pérez on the book in #141 (August 1975). A newcomer to comics, Pérez's early work was strongly reminiscent of Kirby's, and he would go on to become one of the most popular comic book artists of the next 15 years.
After Englehart's departure, Jim Shooter took over the writing chores. Shooter conceived and wrote the Korvac Saga, a multi-issue storyline which involved Michael Korvac, a villain from the 30th century who acquired the powers of a god from an alien device belonging to Galactus. He planned to remake the universe in his own image, but his plans were interrupted by the Avengers. In an explosive confrontation with the Avengers in #177 (November 1978), nearly all the team died. However, betrayed by Carina, the woman he loved, and therefore losing the will to live, the dying Korvac used the last of his god-like powers to restore the heroes to life. The saga examined the tension between Korvac's claimed goals of universal order and questioned whether the Avengers were right to oppose him. Although the original ending was ambiguous as to the answer, when the Korvac Saga was reprinted years later in a collected edition an additional epilogue was added to make it clear that Korvac was in the wrong.
David Michelinie and John Byrne also contributed stories and art to the book in the 1970s. New members added during this time include the Beast, a resurrected Wonder Man, Captain America's former partner the Falcon, and Ms. Marvel, while the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver took a leave of absence from the team to seek out the truth of their parentage. It was during this time that steps were taken to pare down the size of the team, which had gathered over a dozen active and supporting members.
During the Korvac Saga, Shooter introduced the character of Henry Peter Gyrich, the Avengers' liaison to the United States National Security Council. Gyrich was prejudiced against superhumans, and acted in a heavy-handed, obstructive manner, insisting that the Avengers follow government rules and regulations or else lose their priority status with the government. Among Gyrich's demands was that the active roster be trimmed down to only seven members, and that the Falcon, an African American, be admitted to the team to comply with affirmative action laws. This last action was particularly resented by Hawkeye, who because of the seven-member limit, had lost his slot to the Falcon. The Falcon, in turn, was none too pleased to be a beneficiary of what he perceived to be tokenism, and decided in the end to resign from the team, after which Hawkeye rejoined.
The 1980s
Shooter returned with #211 (September 1981); his biggest contribution during this period being a storyline that chronicled the breakdown of Henry Pym. Shooter saw Pym's frequent changes of costume and name as symptomatic of an identity problem and an inferiority complex. Jealous of his wife's fortune and frustrated by the failure of his own research, his personality growing increasingly unstable, Pym eventually lost his temper with Janet and struck her in a case of spousal abuse. Put before an Avengers court martial for his growing number of reckless and dangerous actions, Yellowjacket tried to "redeem" himself by constructing a robot to attack the Avengers, so that he could then heroically save the day. However, it was the Wasp who deactivated the robot, revealing Pym's ruse. Yellowjacket was expelled from the Avengers in disgrace. At his lowest ebb, Pym was contacted by his old enemy Egghead, and blackmailed into stealing top secret government information. Pym was caught, but with no evidence to prove his innocence, was sent to jail pending trial. Janet also filed for divorce.
After a few fill-in issues by other writers, Roger Stern took over the Avengers, writing the book for the next 6 years, primarily illustrated by Al Milgrom, Joe Sinnott, John Buscema, and Tom Palmer. Stern introduced a new Captain Marvel to the Avengers, an African American woman named Monica Rambeau. He also picked up the threads of Pym's shattered life, leading to Pym finally defeating Egghead's latest incarnation of the Masters of Evil single-handed and proving his innocence. Pym made his peace with the Wasp, but they decided to remain apart. Pym also retired from superheroics, but returned to it some years later.
Stern's era saw several major storylines, including the "Ultimate Vision" storyline, when the Vision, who had merged with the Titanian Eternal computer ISAAC and was also under the influence of a control crystal, decided that the Avengers should take over the world for its own good. The Vision began to manipulate the team towards this goal. Under ISAAC's mental influence, Gyrich stepped down as NSC liaison, to be replaced by the milder Raymond Sikorski, who removed most of the strictures Gyrich had imposed. The Vision expanded the team's roster, creating a new branch of the Avengers in California led by Hawkeye. Eventually, the other Avengers discovered the Vision's plan and stopped him, the Vision coming to his senses and removing the control crystal himself. The Avengers decided to retain the West Coast Avengers team, which graduated into their own title (published concurrently with Avengers) that lasted about ten years. Captain America decided to pare down Gyrich's member limit further to six per branch to prevent the team from becoming too unweildy.
Another significant storyline was the "Siege of Avengers Mansion". The second Baron Zemo had reformed the Masters of Evil and performed a coordinated attack on the Avengers in an attempt to break Captain America's spirit. The Masters separated the team, trapping several members within the Mansion. Jarvis was nearly killed by Mr. Hyde, Captain America's keepsakes were destroyed and Hercules was beaten into a coma. Captain America, however, refused to break, and with the Wasp coordinating efforts from the outside, eventually the Avengers triumphed once more.
New Avengers during the 1980s included She-Hulk, Tigra, Namor and Hawkeye's wife Mockingbird. Henry Pym emerged from retirement to join the West Coast Avengers. Stern's run became notable for its strong female characters, like Monica Rambeau, who even chaired the Avengers for a time. Also in the chairman's seat at one point was the Wasp, whose previously flighty exterior concealed a strong leader.
Stern left the title abruptly in 1988, in the middle of a storyline after a disagreement with editor Mark Gruenwald over the removal of Captain Marvel as Avengers chairman. She was to appear incompetent and be replaced by Captain America whose solo title (which Gruenwald was then writing) was losing readers at the time. Gruenwald believed that Captain America's return to status as Avengers chairman would help the sales of the solo title. Stern did not see how this would work without looking racist or sexist, and after voicing his misgivings, was dismissed from the title. Stern then went over to DC Comics. [1] After a few fill-in story arcs by Walt Simonson and Ralph Macchio, the writing was taken over by John Byrne, who was also doing the Avengers West Coast title at the time.
A storyline which had repercussions in both the Avengers and Avengers West Coast titles was a plot by several world governments to abduct and dismantle the Vision for his near takeover of the world. The Vision was reassembled, but his personality was largely a blank, emotionless state. His "twin" Wonder Man, harboring feelings for the Scarlet Witch, declined to serve as a template for his "brother's" thoughts again, while the Scarlet Witch discovered that her and the Vision's twin sons, who were born of magic, were actually illusory, fragments of the demon Mephisto. The loss of her sons and the Vision drove the Witch into madness and villainy for a time, but she eventually recovered and rejoined the team. However, this would have repercussions years later.
The 1990s
The 1990s were a turbulent time for the Avengers, as Marvel Comics was aggressively trying to expand its business by greatly increasing the number of comics it published. This coincided with the speculators' boom in the industry as a whole. Marvel then fell on hard times in the ensuing industry-wide slump, and filed for bankruptcy in 1997. Bob Harras and Steve Epting took over the title, and reintroduced a stable lineup, with ongoing storylines and character development largely focused around the Black Knight, Sersi, Crystal, Quicksilver, Hercules and the Vision. During this period, the team found themselves facing increasingly murderous enemies, and were forced to question their rule against killing.
Things came to a head in the epic "Operation: Galactic Storm", a 19-part storyline that was told across seven related titles, Captain America, Avengers West Coast, Quasar, Wonder Man, Iron Man, Thor and of course Avengers. This title featured the conflict between the Kree and the Shi'ar Empire and was sequel of sorts to the Kree-Skrull War. The Supreme Intelligence tried to jump start the Kree's evolution by manipulating the various factions involved into detonating a Nega-Bomb over the Kree homeworld. The Avengers tried to stop this, but they were unsuccessful and the explosion decimated the Kree Empire, killing a large percentage of its population, but succeeding in restoring the evolutionary potential of the race. Faced with the scale of destruction and the entity that had orchestrated such genocide, a schism developed between those that wanted to execute the arguably inhuman Supreme Intelligence for its crimes and those that felt that they did not have the right to do so. Eventually, Iron Man led the group that apparently killed the Supreme Intelligence. This led to a deeper split and ultimately to the disbanding of the West Coast team. Iron Man used the opportunity to recruit a number of ex-Avengers into a more proactive and aggressive team named Force Works.
When Wonder Man was killed again and Force Works split up, Iron Man attempted a reconciliation with the Avengers and rejoined the ranks. However, it was revealed soon after that a traitor was among the Avengers, and it turned out to be none other than Iron Man himself. It appeared that Kang the Conqueror had been manipulating Stark for years, using him as a sleeper agent and causing him to push aside his friends and unconsciously serve Kang. Stark, fully in Kang's thrall, killed Marilla (the nanny of Crystal and Quicksilver's daughter Luna) as well as Rita DeMara, the female Yellowjacket, an ally of the Avengers. (It was revealed later that everything had actually been the machinations of a disguised Immortus, not Kang, and the mental control had only gone back for a few months.) To defeat Stark and Kang, the Avengers recruited a younger, teenage Tony Stark from an alternate timeline. The sight of his younger self shocked the older Stark into regaining momentary control of his actions, and he sacrificed his life to stop Kang.
"Teen Tony" remained in the mainstream timeline, and was part of the Avengers team that went up against the gestalt psychic entity Onslaught, dying together with the rest of the heroes. It transpired that Franklin Richards had preserved these heroes in the "Heroes Reborn" pocket universe, but this was not known to the world at large. In the heroes' absence, the Black Widow disbanded the Avengers, with only Jarvis remaining to look after the Mansion. The first series of Avengers ended in September 1996, after 402 issues, 23 Annuals and 5 Giant-Sized specials.
Heroes Reborn (Vol. 2)
Marvel contracted out several books to Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld, two of the founding creators of Image Comics. These books were set in this pocket universe where the previous continuity of the Marvel Universe was thrown aside as the heroes were "reborn" in this new setting. The Avengers was reborn briefly as a new series, starting with Vol. 2, #1 (November 1996) by Rob Liefeld. The "Heroes Reborn" line ended after only a year, and the license reverted to Marvel. The Avengers were returned to their own world, with Iron Man restored to adulthood and the Wasp to her old self.
Heroes Return (Vol. 3)
Avengers, Vol. 3, began with another #1 (February 1998), written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by George Pérez. A rash of attacks by Asgardian creatures on every person who had ever been an Avenger caused the majority of them to gather back together at the Mansion. The attacks were traced to the magics of Morgan le Fay, who had kidnapped the Scarlet Witch and was using her to shape reality into le Fay's own image. Defeating le Fay and reversing her spell, the founding members culled the team down to a manageable number and announced the reforming of the Avengers. They regained their priority status from the government and a new liaison in Duane Freeman who, unlike Gyrich, admired the Avengers and did his best to help them.
Busiek's run harkened back to the heyday of the Avengers in the 1970s and 1980s, and both restored Wonder Man to life and added new members to the team, including Justice, Firestar, Silverclaw and Triathlon. Busiek's writing and Pérez's art were widely praised by fans and critics alike and were known for its attention to continuity and the bringing back of elements from the series' past. "Live Kree or Die", for example, dealt with the consequences of "Operation: Galactic Storm" and saw the return of the Supreme Intelligence. It also dealt with Carol Danvers' (at the time known as Warbird) alcoholism.
Simultaneously, Busiek wrote a limited series, Avengers Forever, illustrated by Carlos Pacheco, a time travel story involving Rick Jones, the Supreme Intelligence, Immortus and Kang, that explored the history of the Avengers and several continuity loose ends.
Another major storyline during Busiek's tenure was "Ultron Unlimited", which featured Ultron on a scale never seen before, with hundreds of Ultron drones laying waste to an entire country and stretching the team's resources to the breaking point. Because of this, the Avengers decided to become more proactive, keeping firmer tabs on potential threats around the world. The end of Avengers Forever would also dovetail with other storylines and culminate in the Maximum Security crossover miniseries where the Supreme Intelligence, using the Forever Crystal obtained at the end of Avengers Forever, evolved the Kree into the Ruul, a species that could change their evolutionary stages at will.
1998 also saw the launch of A-Next, a series about a "next generation" Avengers, set in the same alternative future of Spider-Girl. However, this series only lasted 12 issues, although the characters continue to occasionally appear in the pages of Spider-Girl.
The 2000s
Pérez eventually left the title and Busiek wrapped up his run with the epic "Kang War", which saw the destruction of several major cities, including Washington, D.C. Busiek wrote Kang as a master strategist, who was only defeated when he was betrayed by his son Marcus, the Scarlet Centurion. Geoff Johns took over as writer on the Avengers title with Vol. 3, #57 (October 2002), which dealt with the aftermath of the war as the Avengers were given international authority by the United Nations. Members joining during this period included Jack of Hearts and the second Ant-Man.
Johns left the book after signing an exclusive agreement with DC and was followed by Chuck Austen who added a new Captain Britain to the team. Subsequently, the writing reins fell to Brian Michael Bendis. Bendis planned to reboot the title, and with the blessings of Marvel editorial wrote the "Avengers Disassembled" storyline, which was highly controversial, drawing both criticism and praise. The story ran through several titles, with the climactic chapters in Avengers (vol. 3), #85-88 (October-December 2004), renumbered #500-503 for the occasion.
Appropriately titled "Chaos", it saw the return of an undead Jack of Hearts, the destruction of the mansion, the death of Ant-Man, destruction of the Vision, and apparent death of Hawkeye. Tony Stark was also forced to resign as the United States Secretary of Defense and the United Nations severed their ties with the Avengers.
All this senseless mayhem turned out to have been caused by the Scarlet Witch, who had gone insane once more over the memory of her lost children and had lost control of her reality-altering powers. Eventually, Doctor Strange was forced to put the Witch in a coma and she was taken away by her father, Magneto. Her story continued in the House of M series.
With the team in disarray and the Mansion a wreck, She-Hulk, Henry Pym, the Wasp, Captain Britain and Warbird expressed their desire to leave in the Avengers Finale one-shot (January 2005). Faced with this as well as the loss of both funding by Tony Stark and the authority of the United Nations, the team agreed to disband.
New Avengers
New Avengers was launched in November 2004, written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by David Finch (with additional arcs by other popular artists such as Steve McNiven, Frank Cho, and Mike Deodato, Jr.). With the Avengers team disbanded, and the Fantastic Four and the X-Men unable to act, supervillain Electro shut down the S.H.I.E.L.D Raft installation, a "maximum-maximum security" prison for super-powered criminals. S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman), Daredevil and Luke Cage, already at the Raft, were joined by Captain America, Iron Man, and Spider-Man, as well as a seemingly insane Sentry. The riot was quelled, although some forty-two inmates escaped. Captain America decided that fate had brought this group together, just as it had the original Avengers. All but Daredevil accepted the offer to reform the Avengers as a result. X-Men member Wolverine joined the team following a trip to the Savage Land.
Iron Man sought approval from such pillars of the superhero community as Professor Charles Xavier, Doctor Strange and Mister Fantastic and headquartered the new team in Stark Tower.
The team's ongoing mission is the capture the remaining super-powered criminals who escaped during the riot that brought them together. The emergence of the Young Avengers is also a matter of concern and the team find themselves divided in what actions they should take. Also, there is the growing sense of unease with S.H.I.E.L.D. after the disappearance of Nick Fury. The new team was not well received and certain governmental bodies, unsure of the new Avengers, sent the Thunderbolts to remind them of their place. Template:Spoiler Marvel has mentioned that the New Avengers tie-in arc to the Civil War event will be called New Avengers Disassembled. The Superhuman Registration act has fractured the Avengers. Captain America continues to fight crime illegally with a team the press has dubbed the Secret Avengers, while Iron Man has put a team of Registration enforcers together. In late July 2006, Marvel also announced that a new Avengers title, The Mighty Avengers, written by Bendis and drawn by Frank Cho, would spin off from Civil War.
Alternate Avengers
1950s Avengers
What If #9 (June 1978) featured a short-lived team of superheroes who banded together in the 1950s and called themselves the "Avengers". This team consisted of Marvel Boy, Venus, the 3-D Man, Gorilla-Man, the Human Robot, Jimmy Woo, Namora and Jann of the Jungle. Together they defeated the Yellow Claw, but disbanded at the request of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who felt that the public was not ready to learn about the heroes or their exploits. Originally, despite the story's appearance in What If, it was left ambiguous if this was actually the history of the mainstream Marvel Universe. It was confirmed years later in Avengers Forever that these events occurred in an alternate timeline, one that was erased by Immortus using the Forever Crystal.
However, while the timeline where they called themselves the Avengers was erased, it has now been confirmed that a version of the group existed in the Marvel Universe, and remained together for "several months." They will reform in the present day in the Agents of Atlas series.[2]
Avengers Next
In the alternate future timeline known as MC2, the Avengers have disbanded and Avengers Mansion is now a museum. An emergency forces Edwin Jarvis to sound an alert, and a new generation of heroes form a new team of Avengers. Most of the new Avengers are children of established Marvel superheroes, although in later issues some new characters are introduced.
The Ultimates
In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, the Avengers are named "The Ultimates", and were formed by Ultimate Nick Fury to protect America against superhuman threats. Mark Millar wrote the first two volumes (consisting of 13 issues each) of the series, and an annual for the second. The recent Ultimate Avengers cartoon is loosely based on the early issues of this series.
Marvel Adventures: The Avengers
In the spring of 2006, Marvel Adventures (Marvel Comics' "All Ages" line) began a new Avengers series, featuring a line-up of Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Storm, the Hulk, and "Giant-Girl" (Janet van Dyne, the Wasp in regular continuity, adopting her husband's powers for this version). Recent issues have referred to Storm as the co-leader of the team, after Captain America.
The series takes place in its own continuity, as with most of the other titles in the Marvel Adventures line. The first issue features the team already existing, and being replaced by super-soldiers: a new version of the Ultron character modelled after Skynet.
Subsequent issues have continued with the self-contained, single issue stories, many featuring revamped versions of classic Marvel super-villains.
Other media
Animated series
Guest appearances
The Avengers appeared in the 1966 The Marvel Superheroes Show, in the Captain America segments, alternating with the Captain's solo stories during World War II. This series is remembered for the poor quality of its animation, which often simply transferred comic book panels directly to film without adding much in the way of motion. The Avengers also appeared in an episode of the Namor the Sub-Mariner segment from the same series. Titled "Doctor Doomsday", it featured Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye and Quicksilver.
They have also made appearances in the 1980 Spider-Man animated series ("Arsenic and Aunt May"), the 1994 Fantastic Four cartoon ("To Battle the Living Planet" and "Doomsday"), and in the X-Men animated series ("One Man's Worth, Part One" - notably as villains fighting the Mutant Resistance in an alternate timeline).
The Avengers: United They Stand
The Avengers (also known as The Avengers: United They Stand), was an animated series consisting of 13 episodes. It originally aired from October 30, 1999 to February 26, 2000, and was produced by Avi Arad and distributed by 20th Century Fox Television. This series featured a team comprising of the Wasp, Wonder Man, Tigra, Hawkeye, and Scarlet Witch, led by Ant-Man. The Falcon and the Vision were added to the roster in the opening episodes. Paradoxically, the characters best-known as Avengers hardly appeared at all: Captain America made only one appearance in episode #6; Iron Man only briefly in episode #8. Thor did not appear in the series outside of the opening titles. The team's roster appeared to be based on the West Coast Avengers roster, which had all of them (except for the Falcon) serving at various points.
The series saw the Avengers battle such comic book enemies as Ultron, Kang the Conqueror and Egghead. The team itself had undergone some very drastic changes from their comic representation. These Avengers were consideribly more militaristic and their efforts were more formally coordinated, with a plethora of 'maneuvres' and offensive and defensive formations, as well as various gadgets and vehicles.
The complete series was released on DVD in 2005, comprising of two volumes featuring all thirteen episodes.
The Avengers: United We Stand comic book series by Ty Templeton and Derec Aucoin was published to accompany the series. Due to low sales it lasted only seven issues.
Throughout the years, Avengers in various groupings have made cameo appearances in several Marvel cartoons, and they often cross over into other Marvel comics.
Animated films
Marvel released two Avengers animated, direct-to-DVD feature films, Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2:Rise of the Black Panther, (both based on the Ultimates), the first released in February 2006, followed by its sequel in August 2006.
Video and computer games
In 1991, the Avengers were featured in the arcade and console game Captain America and the Avengers. The Avengers are expected to play a significant role in the upcoming Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.
Film
It was revealed in early August 2006 by a stock market report that The Avengers was listed under Marvel films in development. It was later revealed that Zak Penn, writer of X-Men: The Last Stand, will be writing a live-action Avengers script. [3]
Bibliography
Published titles
- Main article: Bibliography of Avengers titles
- Avengers Vol. 1 #1-402 (Marvel Comics; September 1963 - September 1996)
- Avengers Annual #1-23 (Marvel Comics; 1967-1969, 1971-1972, 1976-1979, 1981-1994)
- Avengers: The Crossing (Marvel Comics; September 1995)
- Avengers: Timeslide (Marvel Comics; February 1996)
- Avengers Vol. 2 #1-13 (Marvel Comics/Wildstorm; November 1996 - November 1997)
- Avengers Vol. 3 #1-84, #500-503 (Marvel Comics; February 1998 - December 2004)
- Avengers #0 (Marvel Comics/Wizard Entertainment; 1999)
- Avengers Annual '99 (Marvel Comics; 1999)
- Avengers Annual 2000 (Marvel Comics; 2000)
- Avengers Annual 2001 (Marvel Comics; 2001)
- Avengers Finale (Marvel Comics; November 2004)
- New Avengers #1-present (Marvel Comics; January 2005 - present)
List of significant issues
Avengers, Vol. 1
- #1: "The Coming of the Avengers": The first incarnation
- #4: "Captain America Lives Again!"
- #8: First encounter with Kang the Conqueror
- #16: "The Old Order Changeth!": The old Avengers leave, except for Captain America, and new Avengers replace them for the first time.
- #57-58: Introduction of the Vision.
- #88-97: The Kree-Skrull War, a cosmic epic partly illustrated by Neal Adams.
- This storyline features the first disbanding of the Avengers, as Skrulls impersonating Captain America, Thor and Iron Man use their authority as founders of the team to disband it (Captain America, while not a true founder of the team, is administratively so). The true founding Avengers, minus the Wasp, reform it the following issue in response to complaints from Jarvis.
- Notable issues in the Vision/Scarlet Witch romance: #106-108, #113. They married at the end of the Celestial Madonna saga, in Giant-Size #4.
- #129-135: The Celestial Madonna saga.
- #167-177: The Korvac Saga.
- Annual 10: "By Friends Betrayed": Ms. Marvel returns to Earth, and after months of avoiding the Avengers, has her powers stolen by Rogue before giving the team a piece of her mind for allowing her to be mind-controlled, raped and kidnapped.
- #212-230: The decline, fall, and redemption of Henry Pym.
- #243-252: "Ultimate Vision": The Vision takes over the Avengers, and nearly the world.
- #273-277: "Siege of Avengers Mansion": The fourth incarnation of the Masters of Evil take over the Avengers' Mansion.
- #291-297: The team is torn apart by the manipulations of Terminatrix and her pawn, Doctor Druid, and the Avengers disband.
- #300: Captain America, in his short-lived guise as the Captain, reforms the team with only Thor continuing from the previous lineup.
- #345-347: "Operation: Galactic Storm": The Avengers decide the fate of the genocidal Supreme Intelligence.
- Notable issues in the "Proctor and the Gatherers Saga": #343-344, 348-349, 355-357, 359-364, 372-375.
- Avengers: The Crossing, Avengers: Timeslide and #390-395: "The Crossing": Iron Man betrays the Avengers.
- #402, Onslaught: Marvel Universe: "Onslaught": The Avengers apparently die battling Onslaught.
- Avengers Annual 1999 (published during vol. 3): Black Widow, as the sole remaining active member of the team, attempts to scratch together a new lineup, but fails and officially disbands the team.
Avengers, Vol. 2 (Heroes Reborn)
- #1: "Heroes Reborn": The Avengers are reborn in the pocket universe.
- #12: Crossover with the other Heroes Reborn titles, where they fight Galactus.
Avengers, Vol. 3
- #1-4: "The Morgan Conquest": Returned from the pocket universe, the Avengers reform, a year after their disbandment, to face Morgan le Fay.
- #19-22: "Ultron Unlimited": Ultron slaughters a small country and launches his most devastating plan yet - to use the brain patterns of Avengers to breed an army of Ultrons.
- #40-55: "The Kang Dynasty": The Avengers' time-travelling adversary declares war on Earth, devastating Washington D.C. and actually conquering the planet for several months.
- #500-503 (renumbered from #85-88) and Avengers Finale: "Chaos": Part of the "Avengers Disassembled" event, the Avengers face their "worst day ever", as a series of disastrous events lead to death, betrayal, and the dissolution of the Avengers.
New Avengers
- #1-6: "Breakout": The Avengers reform
See also
- Bibliography of Avengers titles
- List of Avengers members
- Solo Avengers
- West Coast Avengers
- Ultimates
- Young Avengers
- Great Lakes Avengers
- New Avengers (comic)