1960s and
Dick Ayers The five founding members were: Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, The Wasp, and The Hulk. The team debuted in
The Avengers #1 (September 1963). Much like the
Justice League of
DC Comics, the original line-up of the Avengers consisted of heroes who each had existing series of their own. All of the characters were created by
Stan Lee and
Jack Kirby. This initial series, published bi-monthly through issue #6 (July 1964) and monthly thereafter, ran through issue #402 (Sept. 1996). As set out in the first issue, when the
Asgardian god
Loki seeks revenge against his brother
Thor, his machinations unwittingly lead the Hulk's friend, the teenager
Rick Jones, to collect
Ant-Man, the
Wasp, and
Iron Man to help Thor and the
Hulk, the latter of whom Loki used as a pawn. After the group vanquished Loki, Ant-Man stated that the five worked well together and suggested they form a team; the Wasp named the group
Avengers. The roster changed almost immediately; in the second issue (November 1963), Ant-Man assumed the new name and identity of Giant-Man, and at the end of the issue, the Hulk left once he realized how much the others feared his unstable personality.
Captain America joined the team in issue #4 (March 1964), and he was later given the status of "founding member." The Hulk, upset about being replaced by Captain America and the apparent betrayal by Rick, sought revenge against the Avengers, who teamed up with the
Fantastic Four to stop him in
The Fantastic Four #26 (May 1964). The Avengers went on to fight foes such as
Baron Zemo, who formed the
Masters of Evil,
Kang the Conqueror,
Wonder Man, and
Count Nefaria. In issue #16 (May 1965), every member but Captain America resigned. They were replaced by three former villains:
Hawkeye,
Scarlet Witch and her brother
Quicksilver. In issue #28, Giant-Man, now calling himself Goliath, and the Wasp rejoined. while the
Black Knight and
Black Widow abetted the Avengers but did not become members until years later.
Spider-Man was offered membership but did not join the group. The
Black Panther joined in issue #52 (May 1968), after rescuing the team from the
Grim Reaper and
Klaw.
The X-Men #45 (June 1968) featured a crossover with
The Avengers #53 (June 1968). This was followed by the introduction of the android
Vision, in issue #57 (October 1968). Pym assumed the new identity of Yellowjacket in issue #59, and married the Wasp the following month. The Avengers headquarters was in a New York City building called
Avengers Mansion, courtesy of Tony Stark (Iron Man's real identity). The mansion was serviced by
Edwin Jarvis, the Avengers' butler, and furnished with state of the art technology and defense systems, and included the Avengers' primary mode of transport: the five-engine
Quinjet.
1970s The team encountered new characters such as
Arkon in issue #75 (April 1970) and
Red Wolf in #80 (Sept. 1970). The team's adventures increased in scope as the team crossed into an alternate dimension and battled the
Squadron Supreme, and fought in the
Kree-Skrull War, an epic battle between the alien
Kree and
Skrull races and guest-starred the Kree hero,
Captain Marvel. The Avengers briefly disbanded when Skrulls impersonating Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man used their authority as founders of the team and disbanded it. The true founding Avengers, minus the Wasp, reformed the team in response after complaints from Jarvis.
Mantis joined the team along with the reformed
Swordsman. "The Avengers-Defenders Clash" storyline crossed over with issues of another Marvel superhero team,
The Defenders. "The Celestial Madonna" arc linked Mantis' origins to the very beginnings of the Kree-Skrull conflict in a time-spanning adventure involving Kang the Conqueror and
Immortus, who were past and future versions of each other. Mantis was revealed to be the Celestial Madonna, destined to give birth to a being that would save the universe. It was revealed that the Vision's body had only been appropriated, and not created by Ultron, and that it had belonged to the original
Human Torch, who had been an android created by Professor Horton. With his origins clear to him and a new feeling of rootedness, the Vision proposed to the Scarlet Witch. The "Celestial Madonna" saga ended with their wedding, presided over by Immortus. The
Beast and
Moondragon joined the team soon after. A seven-part story featured the Squadron Supreme and the
Serpent Crown. The series spawned spinoffs including several
annuals and
miniseries, and a giant-size quarterly sister series that ran briefly in the mid-1970s. Writers of the first series included Stan Lee,
Roy Thomas,
Steve Englehart,
Gerry Conway,
Jim Shooter,
David Michelinie, and
Roger Stern. Artists included Jack Kirby,
Don Heck,
John Buscema,
George Tuska,
Gene Colan,
Barry Smith,
Tom Palmer,
Neal Adams,
Bob Brown,
Dave Cockrum,
Sal Buscema,
George Perez,
John Byrne and
Steve Epting. Other classic storylines included "
The Bride of Ultron", the "
Nefaria Trilogy", and "The
Korvac Saga", which featured nearly every Avenger who joined the team up to that point.
Henry Peter Gyrich became the Avengers' liaison to the
United States National Security Council. Gyrich was prejudiced against superhumans and acted in a heavy-handed, obstructive manner, and insisted 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 act was resented by Hawkeye, who because of the seven-member limit lost his membership slot to the Falcon. The Falcon, in turn, was unhappy to be the beneficiary of what he perceived to be
tokenism, and decided to resign from the team, after which Wonder Man rejoined. The true origins of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were revealed in a three-part story that ran in issues #185–187 (July–Sept. 1979). After this adventure, the Scarlet Witch took a leave of absence and
Ms. Marvel officially joined the team as her replacement.
1980s The first major development in this decade was the mental breakdown of Hank Pym, with his frequent changes of costume and name being symptomatic of an identity problem and an
inferiority complex. After he abused his wife, failed to win back the confidence of the Avengers with a ruse and was duped by the villain
Egghead, Pym was jailed. Pym would later outwit Egghead and defeated the latest incarnation of the Masters of Evil single-handedly, and proved his innocence. Pym reconciled with the Wasp, but they decided to remain apart. He retired from super-heroics, This was followed by several major storylines, such as "Ultimate Vision" in which the Vision took over the world's computer systems in a misguided attempt to create world peace; the formation of the
West Coast Avengers; and "Avengers Under Siege" which involved the second
Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil taking over the mansion and severely injuring Jarvis and Hercules. "Assault on Olympus" featured Hercules' father, Zeus, blaming the Avengers for his son's injuries and bringing them to Olympus for trial, and the "Heavy Metal" arc saw the
Super-Adaptoid organize several robotic villains for an assault on the team. New members during the 1980s included
Tigra; the
She-Hulk;
Monica Rambeau (then going by the name Captain Marvel);
Starfox (the brother of
Thanos); Hawkeye's wife,
Mockingbird; while Hank Pym emerged from retirement to join the West Coast Avengers. but failed to gain admission due to security concerns by the Avengers' government liaison. The villain
Nebula falsely claimed to be the granddaughter of
Thanos. The team relocated for a period to a floating island off the coast of New York called Hydrobase after Avengers Mansion was severely damaged during the events in "Under Siege". Hydrobase was later sunk during the
Acts of Vengeance crossover. The Avengers and West Coast Avengers changed to allow members to be active when available and reserved when not available and merged the two separate Avengers teams into one team with two bases. The Vision had his personality fundamentally altered, along with the discovery that the children of the Scarlet Witch and the Vision were actually illusions. The loss of the Scarlet Witch's children and the Vision, who was disassembled by government agents in retaliation for the
Ultimate Vision storyline, drove her insane, although she eventually recovered and rejoined the team. This story revealed that the Scarlet Witch's powers included wide-range reality manipulation and she was what the time-traveling Immortus refers to as a "nexus being" setting the stage for 2004's eventual
Chaos and
Avengers Disassembled storylines. This played out in the
Darker than Scarlet storyline which ran in
Avengers West Coast from issues #51–62 (Nov. 1989–Sept. 1990). The Avengers titles in late 1989 were involved in the major crossover event "
Acts of Vengeance" where Loki assembled many of Marvel's arch-villains, his inner circle consisted of Doctor Doom,
Magneto,
Kingpin,
Mandarin,
Wizard, and
Red Skull, in a plot to destroy the team. Loki orchestrated a mass breakout of villains from prison facility, the
Vault, as part of his "Acts of Vengeance" scheme, but he ultimately failed in his goal to destroy the Avengers. Spin-off series include
West Coast Avengers, initially published as a four-issue miniseries in 1984, followed by a 102-issue series (Oct. 1985–Jan. 1994), retitled
Avengers West Coast with #47; and the 40-issue
Solo Avengers (Dec.1987–Jan. 1991), retitled
Avengers Spotlight with #21.
1990s The U.S. government revoked the Avengers' New York State charter in a treaty with the Soviet Union. The Avengers then received a charter from the United Nations and the Avengers split into two teams again with a substitute reserve team backing up the main teams. At this point, ongoing storylines and character development focused on the Black Knight,
Sersi,
Crystal, Hercules, Vision, and Black Widow. Their primary antagonists in this run were the mysterious
Proctor and his team of other-dimensional Avengers known as the Gatherers. During this period, the Avengers found themselves facing increasingly murderous enemies and were forced to question their rule against killing. This culminated in "
Operation: Galactic Storm", a 19-part storyline that ran through all Avengers-related titles and showcased a conflict between the Kree and the
Shi'ar Empire. The team split when Iron Man and several dissidents executed the
Supreme Intelligence against the wishes of Captain America. After a vote disbanded the
West Coast Avengers, Iron Man formed a proactive and aggressive team called
Force Works. During the team's first mission, Wonder Man was killed again, though his atoms were temporarily scattered. Force Works later disbanded after it was revealed that Iron Man became a murderer via the manipulations of the villain Kang, the same storyline seeing Iron Man sacrificing himself and being replaced by his teenage counterpart from a parallel timeline. During the "
Heroes Reborn" event, many of the Avengers together with the
Fantastic Four and others, died trying to stop the psychic entity
Onslaught, although it was revealed that
Franklin Richards preserved those heroes in a pocket universe. Believing the main team to be gone, the
Black Widow disbanded the Avengers, and only butler Edwin Jarvis remained to tend to the Mansion. The previous continuity of the
Marvel Universe was set aside as the heroes were "reborn" in the pocket universe created by Franklin Richards to save his parents and their friends, while the "Heroes Reborn" line ended and the heroes returned to the prime Marvel Universe. This restoration also undid recent changes to the team members such as the Wasp being mutated into an insectoid form, Hawkeye being rendered deaf, and Stark being replaced by his teenage self, attributed to Franklin's childish perception recreating the heroes in the manner he was more familiar with. After the Heroes Reborn series concluded, the Avengers comic was restarted with vol. 3 #1 written by
Kurt Busiek and pencilled by
George Pérez. New members during this run included the revived Wonder Man,
Justice,
Firestar,
Silverclaw, and
Triathlon. The Avengers fought many of their traditional villains such as the
Grim Reaper,
Ultron,
Count Nefaria, and
Kang the Conqueror. The
limited series Avengers Forever, starting during this period, was a time travel story that explored the history of the Avengers and resolved many outstanding questions about Kang and Immortus's past manipulations of the team, featuring various Avengers from the past (Captain America immediately after "
Secret Empire", Hank Pym early in his Yellowjacket delusion, and Hawkeye just after the Kree-Skrull war), present (Hank Pym as Giant-Man and Janet as the Wasp) and possible futures (Genis-Vell and Songbird) working alongside Kang the Conqueror and Rick Jones as part of Kang's attempt to escape his perceived 'destiny' as Immortus. The prequel comic
Avengers #1 1/2 (Dec. 1999), by writer Roger Stern and artist Bruce Timm, told a retro-style story taking place between issues #1 and #2, detailing Ant-Man's decision to transform himself into Giant-Man. Between 1996 and 2004, Marvel relaunched the primary Avengers title three times. In 1996, the "
Heroes Reborn" line took place in an alternate universe, with a revamped history unrelated to mainstream Marvel continuity.
The Avengers vol. 3 ran for 84 issues from February 1998 to August 2004. Early issues were written by
Kurt Busiek and penciled by
George Perez. To coincide with what would have been the 500th issue of the original series, Marvel changed the numbering, and
The Avengers #500–503 (Sept.– Dec. 2004), the
one-shot Avengers Finale (Jan. 2005) became the "
Avengers Disassembled" storyline and final issues. In January 2005, a new version of the team appeared in the ongoing title
New Avengers, followed by
The Mighty Avengers,
Avengers: The Initiative, and
Dark Avengers.
Avengers vol. 4 debuted in July 2010 and ran until January 2013. Vol. 5 was launched in February 2013. After
Secret Wars, a new Avengers team debuted, dubbed the
All-New, All-Different Avengers, starting with a
Free Comic Book Day preview. Following
Civil War II, the book was relaunched in 2016 as
Avengers, while retaining the same writer and much of the cast from the
All-New, All-Different run. The series ran for 11 issues before reverting to the numbering of the original
Avengers series with issue #672. Starting with issue #675, all four Avengers titles being published at the time (
Avengers,
Uncanny Avengers,
U.S. Avengers and
Occupy Avengers) were merged into a single weekly series dubbed
Avengers: No Surrender, lasting 16 issues, designed to close out this era of the team's history. Following the conclusion of
No Surrender in 2018, the series was relaunched again as
Avengers.
2000s The Avengers were granted international authority by the United Nations. Members joining during that period included
Jack of Hearts and the second
Ant-Man. A new
Captain Britain was added to the team. The "
Avengers Disassembled" storyline followed. Titled
Chaos, the story featured the deaths of some members and a loss of credibility for the team. The culprit is revealed to be the
Scarlet Witch, who had gone insane after agonizing over the memory of her lost children and who subsequently lost control of her reality-altering powers. With the team in disarray and Avengers Mansion ruined, the surviving members agreed to disband. A new Avengers team formed, in the series
New Avengers after a group of heroes banded together to thwart a break-out at super-villain prison the Raft, composed of Iron Man, Captain America,
Luke Cage,
Wolverine,
Ronin,
Spider-Man,
Spider-Woman, and the mysterious
Sentry. This was soon followed by the
House of M event. In the company-wide "
Civil War" story arc, Marvel superheroes were split over compliance with the U.S. government's new
Superhuman Registration Act, which required all superpowered persons to register their true identities with the federal government and become agents of same. The New Avengers disbanded, with a rebel underground starring in a series retaining
The New Avengers in its
trademarked cover logo and
New Avengers in its
copyright indicia. Luke Cage led this team, consisting of himself,
Echo, Ronin, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Wolverine,
Iron Fist, and
Doctor Strange. During the long-term
Secret Invasion by the shape-shifting alien race the
Skrulls, it was revealed that Spider-Woman had been abducted and replaced by the Skrull queen
Veranke before she even joined the team. After the Skrulls' defeat, Spider-Woman was rescued along with other abducted and replaced heroes. During the company-wide story arc "
Dark Reign", Echo and Iron Fist left the team and the Avengers gained
Ms. Marvel,
Bucky Barnes as a fill-in
Captain America, and
Mockingbird. Iron Man, in the series
The Mighty Avengers, formed a team under the aegis of the government's
Fifty State Initiative program, and took up residency in New York City, joined by
Ares,
Black Widow, Sentry,
Wasp,
Wonder Man, and leader Carol Danvers as Ms. Marvel. After the events of the
Secret Invasion story arc,
Norman Osborn assumed control of the formerly S.H.I.E.L.D.-sponsored Avengers, now under the auspices of his own agency,
H.A.M.M.E.R. All but Ares and Sentry left this team — the Wasp appeared to have died — and the team migrated to the series
Dark Avengers. Osborn recruited
Marvel Boy to pose as Captain Marvel and
Daken to pose as his father,
Wolverine, bringing Moonstone, Bullseye, and Venom from his previous
Thunderbolts team to impersonate Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, and Spider-Man respectively. In
The Mighty Avengers, Pym, assumed the Wasp identity in tribute to his fallen ex-wife, led a new team of Avengers, and claimed the name for his team as he was the only founding Avenger on any of the three active Avengers rosters (Wasp and Cap were dead, Thor was acting solo, and Iron Man was on the run from Osborn). His team operated under a multinational umbrella group, the Global Reaction Agency for Mysterious Paranormal Activity (GRAMPA). This team featured the roster of
Hercules,
Amadeus Cho,
Stature, the Vision,
Jocasta,
U.S. Agent,
Quicksilver,
Magneto, and Pym.
Loki in disguise as the
Scarlet Witch was a recurring character. Iron Man and the Hulk were briefly with them.
2010s After Osborn's Dark Avengers are exposed as criminals and their attack on Asgard was thwarted, the next iteration of the Avengers roster consists of
Thor,
Hawkeye,
Spider-Man,
Wolverine,
Captain America,
Spider-Woman,
Iron Man, and team leader
Maria Hill.
Steve Rogers, briefly eschewing his Captain America persona, responds to Luke Cage's concerns about the team reverting to old methods by granting Cage's "New Avengers" recognition as an official team independent of Stark's more traditional Avengers. Bucky Barnes as Captain America joined the main Avengers, while Iron Fist,
Power Woman, and the
Thing joined Cage's team, Spider-Man and Wolverine maintaining dual membership in both teams. Rogers was an occasional presence and
Victoria Hand was added as a government liaison for the New Avengers with Rogers's backing. A second series, titled
Secret Avengers, was released in May 2010, written by
Ed Brubaker with
Mike Deodato as the regular artist. The second volume of the
New Avengers series was launched in June 2010, written by Bendis and drawn by
Stuart Immonen. A fourth title,
Avengers Academy, was launched in June 2010, replacing
Avengers: The Initiative.
Christos Gage served as writer, with
Mike McKone as artist. Following a meeting between Rogers and
MI-13,
Captain Britain accepts a position with the Avengers.
Noh-Varr later does as well.
Bruce Banner made arrangements with Rogers for the
Red Hulk to join. The "
Shattered Heroes" storyline leads to several changes in the main Avengers lineup, with
Quake and
Storm being recruited, and the
Vision rejoining the team. Wolverine and Spider-Man leave the main team and become more involved with the
New Avengers. During the events of the "
Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline, Storm quits to side with her fellow mutants as a member of the X-Men. The Avengers dismiss Noh-Varr after he attempted to betray the team, though ultimately he did not. The conflict ends with both teams united but defeated by an unrepentant
Cyclops. A new series,
Uncanny Avengers, debuted in the flagship title of the
Marvel NOW! initiative. The title is written by
Rick Remender with art by
John Cassaday, and the team contains members of both the Avengers and the X-Men. As well, a biweekly
Avengers title was launched, written by
Jonathan Hickman and drawn by different artists for each story arc. Hickman also began writing
New Avengers. During the 2014 "
AXIS" storyline, when a now-evil Scarlet Witch invades
Latveria, Doctor Doom forms his own team of Avengers consisting of
3D Man,
Elsa Bloodstone,
Stingray,
Valkyrie, and U.S. Agent. After various heroes and villains experience a moral inversion in the battle against the Red Skull empowered with
Professor X's abilities, Rogers later assembles Magneto, Doom,
Absorbing Man,
Carnage,
Deadpool,
Enchantress,
Hobgoblin,
Jack O'Lantern, Loki,
Mystique, and
Sabretooth, all temporarily 'inverted' to act as heroes, to assist him and Spider-Man in defeating the inverted Avengers and X-Men until the original spell can be undone. During the "
Time Runs Out" storyline,
Sunspot created a team of the Avengers, consisting of himself, Black Widow,
Cannonball,
Manifold,
Pod,
Shang-Chi,
Smasher, Spider-Woman, Validator, and the Children of the Sun. The "Multiversal Avengers" division of this team consists of
Abyss, the Ex Nihili (including
Ex Nihilo),
Hyperion,
Nightmask, Odinson, and
Star Brand. Following the destruction and reconstruction of reality in the 2015 "
Secret Wars" storyline, a new team is created known as Avengers Idea Mechanics, set to tackle Avengers-level threats beyond simply fighting villains, while the Avengers Unity Squad continues to operate to support mutant relations. Iron Man forms a new team of Avengers in the
All-New All-Different Avengers series consisting of himself, the Vision,
Nova,
Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan),
Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Captain America (Sam Wilson), and
Thor (Jane Foster). Following the "
Civil War II", storyline, the title was canceled and replaced with a new volume of the regular
Avengers title. The roster was also changed, where following Iron Man being placed in a coma, and Spider-Man, Nova, and Ms. Marvel's resignation from the team (who instead teamed up with other heroes their own age to form their own group the
Champions), the remaining three members are joined by Spider-Man (Peter Parker),
Hercules and
Wasp (Nadia Pym) to form a new team. During the 2017 "
Secret Empire" storyline, when Captain America was 'reprogrammed' to believe that he had been a
Hydra sleeper agent since childhood, the Hydra regime formed their own Avengers. This team consisted of Odinson (Thor currently doubting his worth and believing that Rogers must be 'right' as he could wield
Mjolnir when Thor could not, unaware that Hydra had used the cosmic cube to change the nature of the enchantment), Deadpool, a
Chthon-possessed Scarlet Witch, Vision (who was suffering from an A.I. virus created by
Arnim Zola),
Taskmaster,
Eric O'Grady's
Life Model Decoy counterpart
Black Ant, and
Superior Octopus. However, in the final stand, Odinson rejects Rogers' authority and sides with his old allies, while the Vision's daughter purges him of the virus and Brother Voodoo exorcises Chthon from the Witch. Taskmaster and Black Ant free the imprisoned Champions in exchange for leniency, and the true version of Steve Rogers was restored, using Mjolnir against his counterpart. In May 2018, another volume for the series was launched as part of Marvel's
Fresh Start initiative, written by
Jason Aaron and drawn by
Ed McGuinness. This new volume also saw the return of the main three core members, as Steve Rogers and Thor met up with Tony Stark to convince him to reassemble the group with themselves at its core. The reunion was consolidated by the machinations of Loki, who facilitated the arrival of the world-threatening Dark Celestials as a ploy to get the Avengers back in action, resulting in the participation of
Black Panther,
Captain Marvel,
She-Hulk,
Ghost Rider and
Blade, with the Black Panther being elected chairperson. After the Dark Celestials were defeated, the Celestials set upright the corpse of the long-time dead Progenitor in the North Pole. The Avengers refurbish the Progenitor's corpse, transforming it into their base of operations, the Avengers Mountain.
2020s The next Avengers line-up consisted of Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Sam Wilson's Captain America appearance, Iron Man, Vision, and Scarlet Witch. One of their missions took them to a Multiverse-traversing location called
Impossible City which was previously used for a group of superheroes before they abandoned it. The Avengers fought the Ashen Combine who had escaped from their prison in the Impossible City and have taken over it in their plot to invade the Multiverse and kill some of its inhabitants. After the Avengers learned about the Ashen Combine, used the explosives on Citysmith's invasive structures, and defeated and imprisoned the Ashen Combine, it was this act of heroics that caused Impossible City to ask the Avengers if it can join them. They accepted and have used Impossible City as their orbiting base. == Team roster ==