In 1960,
DC Comics launched a comic book series featuring a team of superheroes called the
Justice League. Impressed by that book's strong sales,
Martin Goodman, the owner of Marvel Comics predecessor
Timely Comics, asked
Stan Lee to create a title featuring a similar team of superheroes for Marvel. Lee recounts in
Origins of Marvel Comics: Much like the Justice League, the Avengers were an assemblage of pre-existing superhero characters created by Lee and
Jack Kirby. Kirby did the artwork for the first eight issues only, in addition to doing the layouts for issues #14–16. This initial series, published bi-monthly through issue #6 (July 1964) and monthly thereafter, ran through issue #402 (Sept. 1996), with spinoffs including several
annuals,
miniseries and a giant-size quarterly sister series that ran briefly in the mid-1970s. Marvel filed for a
trademark for "The Avengers" in 1967 and the
United States Patent and Trademark Office issued the registration in 1970. Between 1996 and 2004, Marvel relaunched the primary Avengers title three times. In 1996, the "
Heroes Reborn" line, in which Marvel contracted outside companies to produce four titles, included a new volume of
The Avengers. It took place in an
alternate universe, with a revamped history unrelated to mainstream Marvel continuity.
The Avengers vol. 2 was written by
Rob Liefeld and penciled by
Jim Valentino, and ran for 13 issues (Nov. 1996–Nov. 1997). The final issue, which featured a crossover with the other
Heroes Reborn titles, returned the characters to the main
Marvel Universe.
The Avengers vol. 3 relaunched and ran for 84 issues from February 1998 to August 2004. 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.
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.
1960s In the first issue, the Avengers team began with
Ant-Man (
Hank Pym),
Hulk (Bruce Banner),
Iron Man (Anthony Stark),
Thor, and the
Wasp (Janet van Dyne). The roster changed almost immediately after the first issue; in the second issue, Ant-Man became Giant-Man, and at the end of the issue, Hulk quit the team. Issue #4 brought the title's first major milestone: the revival and return of
Captain America (Steve Rogers).
1970s The creative team of writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema introduced 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, which guest-starred the Kree hero
Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell). Novelist
Harlan Ellison plotted two stories for the series. The first ("The Summons of
Psyklop") was published in issue #88 (May 1971) and the second ("Five Dooms to Save Tomorrow") in #101 (July 1972). Writer
Steve Englehart introduced
Mantis, who joined the team along with the reformed
Swordsman. During the summer of 1973, Englehart and artists
Bob Brown and Sal Buscema produced "The Avengers-Defenders Clash" storyline which crossed over between the two team titles. This eight-issue story was the first summertime cross-title event, and was very popular with readers.
George Pérez became the title's artist with issue #141 (Nov. 1975) which saw the start of a seven-part story featuring the Squadron Supreme and the
Serpent Crown. In 2010,
Comics Bulletin ranked Englehart's run on
The Avengers eighth on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels". After Englehart departed and a seven-issue stint by
Gerry Conway,
Jim Shooter began as writer, generating several classic adventures, including "
The Bride of Ultron", the "
Nefaria Trilogy", and "The
Korvac Saga". Shooter introduced the character of
Henry Peter Gyrich, the Avengers' liaison to the
United States National Security Council. 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).
1980s The first major development was the breakdown of Hank Pym, which writer
Roger Stern resolved by having Pym outwit
Egghead and defeat the latest incarnation of the
Masters of Evil single-handedly. Pym proved his innocence. Stern developed several major storylines, such as "Ultimate Vision"; the formation of the
West Coast Avengers; and "Avengers Under Siege".
Rogue, who would later become a member of the X-Men, was introduced in
The Avengers Annual #10 (1981) by writer
Chris Claremont and artist
Michael Golden. Stern created the villain,
Nebula, who falsely claimed to be the granddaughter of
Thanos. Following Stern's departure,
Walt Simonson wrote the series briefly but left due to editorial conflicts.
John Byrne took over writing both
West Coast Avengers and
The Avengers and merged the two separate Avengers teams into one team with two bases. Byrne's contributions included a revamping of the Vision, and the discovery that the children of the Scarlet Witch and the Vision were actually illusions. The Avengers titles in late 1989 were involved in the major crossover event "
Acts of Vengeance".
1990s Avengers. Cover art by
Michael Ryan and Sal Regla.
Bob Harras and
Steve Epting took over the title in the summer of 1991 and introduced a stable lineup with ongoing story lines and character development. Their primary antagonists in this run were the mysterious
Proctor and his team of other-dimensional Avengers known as the Gatherers. 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. Marvel contracted out
The Avengers and three related titles —
Captain America,
Fantastic Four, and
Iron Man to former Marvel artists
Jim Lee and
Rob Liefeld, two of the founding creators of
Image Comics. While
The Avengers was relaunched as a new series, the "
Heroes Reborn" line ended after a year as planned and the license reverted to Marvel. Writer
Kurt Busiek and penciler
George Pérez launched a new volume of the series with
The Avengers vol. 3, #1 (Feb. 1998). Busiek concurrently wrote the
limited series Avengers Forever. Busiek's run included many of the Avengers' traditional villains.
2000s Successor writer
Geoff Johns dealt with the aftermath of Busiek's Kang arc, as the Avengers were granted international authority by the United Nations.
Chuck Austen followed as writer. Writer Brian Michael Bendis then rebooted the series with the "
Avengers Disassembled" storyline.
2010s . All four Avengers series (
The Mighty Avengers,
New Avengers,
Dark Avengers, and
Avengers: The Initiative) were canceled, and a new ongoing series titled
Avengers was launched in May 2010, written by Brian Michael Bendis and penciled by
John Romita Jr. In 2012, a biweekly
Avengers title was launched, written by
Jonathan Hickman and drawn by different artists for each story arc. After "
Secret Wars", a new Avengers title (vol. 6) dubbed the
All-New, All-Different Avengers launched in 2015 written by
Mark Waid, with alternating artwork by
Mahmud Asrar and
Adam Kubert, and covers by
Alex Ross. Mark Waid and Alex Ross continued with
Avengers vol. 7, which launched in 2017, with artwork by
Mike del Mundo. It was relaunched once again in 2018 as part of Marvel's "
Fresh Start" relaunch featuring a creative by
Jason Aaron (w) and
Ed McGuinness (pen). ==Contributors==