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Avengers
Promotional art for a variant cover of New Avengers vol. 1, #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)	Avengers Mansion Hydrobase Stark Tower
Member(s)	Captain America Iron Man Luke Cage Sentry Spider-Man Spider-Woman Wolverine
Roster
See: List of Avengers members

The Avengers, an elite Marvel Comics superhero team, first appeared in The Avengers vol. 1, #1, 1963.

Known as "Earth’s Mightiest Heroes", the Avengers originally consisted of popular, well-established heroes such as Ant-Man, Wasp, Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk. Almost from inception, however, the roster has been fluid, with the Hulk departing and Captain America joining. The rotating roster has become a hallmark of the team, although one theme remains consistent: the Avengers fight the foes which no single superhero can withstand - hence their famous cry of "Avengers Assemble!" To that end, the team has featured humans, robots, gods, aliens, supernatural beings and even former villains.

Despite the diverse nature of the team (which often resulted in squabbling), the Avengers have always managed to unite into a cohesive unit to combat extraordinary threats.

Publication history

The Avengers, like the Uncanny X-Men, debuted in their own comic book series in September, 1963. Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers, the Avengers acted as Marvel's answer to DC Comics' Justice League of America, a team made up of many of the most popular Marvel characters.

A successful four-issue limited series in September 1984 paved the way for two expansion titles: being West Coast Avengers and Solo Avengers.

The main title has been relaunched three times in the past ten years: in 1996, as part of the "Heroes Reborn" reboot; in 1997 when the title returned to original continuity; and in 2005 with New Avengers.

History

The 1960s

The first issue features the Asgardian god of mischief, Loki, who seeks revenge against his adopted brother, Thor. Using an illusion, Loki tricks the Hulk into destroying a railroad track, and then diverts a radio call by Rick Jones for help to Thor, whom Loki hopes will battle the Hulk. Unknown to Loki, the radio call is also answered by Ant Man, the Wasp and Iron Man. After an initial misunderstanding, the heroes unite and defeat Loki. Ant-Man points out that the five work well together and suggests they form a combined team - with the Wasp naming the group the Avengers. The original members are known as the "founding members", and courtesy of an Avengers Charter are 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.

The roster changes almost immediately: in the second issue Ant-Man becomes Giant-Man, and the Hulk leaves once he realizes how much the others fear his unstable personality. Feeling responsible, the Avengers try to locate and contain the Hulk (a recurring theme in the early years of the team), which subsequently leads them into combat with Namor the Sub-Mariner. This would result in the first major milestone in the Avengers' history - the revival and return of Captain America. Captain America joins the team eventually becoming field leader. Captain America is also given "founding member" status in the Hulk's place. The Avengers go on to fight foes such as Captain America's wartime enemy Baron Zemo, who in turn forms the Masters of Evil; the Lava Men; Kang the Conqueror; Wonder Man; Immortus; and Count Nefaria.

The next milestone came when every member but Captain America resigns and is replaced by three former villains - Hawkeye, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Although lacking the raw power of the original team, "Cap's Kooky Quartet" (as they were sometimes jokingly called) proved their worth by fighting and defeating the Swordsman; the original Power Man; Doctor Doom and Kang once again. They are soon rejoined by Henry Pym (who changes his name to Goliath); the Wasp; Hercules; the Black Knight and the Black Widow, although the last two do not obtain official membership status until later in the book's history.

Under the tenure of Roy Thomas as writer, the stories begin to focus more intently on characterization. The Black Panther joins the team, followed by the Vision. Thomas also established that the Avengers are headquartered in a New York City building called Avengers Mansion - provided courtesy of Tony Stark (Iron Man's alter ego), who also funds the Avengers through the Maria Stark Foundation, a non-profit organization. The mansion is serviced by Edwin Jarvis, the Avengers' faithful butler, and also furnished with state-of-the-art technology and defense systems, including the Avengers' primary mode of transport: the five-engined quinjets.

The 1970s

Thomas continued his run into the early 1970s, with highlights including a version of the Justice League called the Squadron Supreme and the Kree-Skrull War - a ten-part storyline about an epic battle between the Kree and Skrull races and guest-starring the Kree hero Captain Marvel. This storyline also 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. The true founding Avengers, minus the Wasp, reform the team in the 100th issue in response to complaints from Jarvis.

The Vision also falls in love with the Scarlet Witch, who eventually responds with a love of her own. Their relationship, however, is tinged with sadness as the Vision believes himself to be inhuman and unworthy of her.

Writer Steve Englehart continued with the emphasis on the cosmic, introducing Mantis, who joins 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 are revealed to be past and future versions of each other. Mantis is revealed to be the Celestial Madonna, who is destined to give birth to a being that would save the universe. This saga also reveals that the Vision's body had only been appropriated - and not created - by Ultron, and that it had originally belonged to the 1940s Human Torch. With his origins now clear to him, the Vision finally summons up the courage to propose to the Scarlet Witch. The Celestial Madonna saga ends 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).

After Englehart's departure, Jim Shooter began as writer and penned several epics, including "Bride of Ultron"; the "Nefaria Trilogy" and the "Korvac Saga" in which almost every Avenger who ever joined is featured in a final, climatic battle. New members added during this time include the Beast; a resurrected Wonder Man; Captain America's former partner the Falcon and Ms. Marvel.

Shooter also introduced the character of Henry Peter Gyrich, the Avengers' liaison to the United States National Security Council. Gyrich is prejudiced against superhumans, and acts 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 is 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 is particularly resented by Hawkeye, who because of the seven-member limit, loses his slot to the Falcon. The Falcon, in turn, is unhappy to be the beneficiary of what he perceives to be tokenism, and decides to resign from the team, after which Hawkeye rejoins.

The 1980s

Shooter's greatest contribution during this period was 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. After abusing his wife; failing to win back the confidence of the Avengers with a ruse and being duped by the villain Egghead, Pym is jailed. The main writer during the 80's was Roger Stern, who resolved the Pym storyline by having Pym outwit Egghead and defeat the latest incarnation of the Masters of Evil single-handedly, thereby proving his innocence. Pym reconciles with the Wasp, but they decide to remain apart. Pym also retires from superheroics, but returns some years later.

Stern developed several major storylines, such as "Ultimate Vision"; the formation of the West Coast Avengers; and "Avengers Under Siege", which involves the second Baron Zemo. Zemo reforms the Masters of Evil - now a virtual army of super villains - and conducts a coordinated attack on the Avengers in an attempt to break Captain America's spirit. The plan finally failed, but not before Hercules was beaten and rendered catatonic. This immediately led into the "War on Olympus" storyline, as an enraged Zeus decides the Avengers are to blame for Hercules' injuries. New member during the 1980s include an African American Captain Marvel called Monica Rambeau; She-Hulk; Tigra, Namor and Hawkeye's wife, Mockingbird, while Henry Pym emerges from retirement to join the West Coast Avengers.

In 1988, Stern left the title 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. Gruenwald believed that Captain America's return as Avengers chairman would boost sales of the character's solo title. Stern disagreed and after expressing his views was dismissed from the title.

John Byrne eventually took over writing both titles and made several signifciant contribution, including a revamp of the Vision; Wonder Man harboring feelings for the Scarlet Witch and the discovery that the children of the Scarlet Witch and the Vision are actually illusions. The loss of the Scarlet Witch's children and the Vision drives her insane, although she eventually recovers and rejoins the team. This, however, will have repercussions years later.

The 1990s

The 90s were a turbulent time for Marvel Comics - and as result all titles such as Avengers - as the company adopted an aggressive business expansion model tied to increased publication. This coincided with a speculators' boom and then industry-wide slump, which proved devastating for Marvel: filing for bankruptcy in 1997. Bob Harras and Steve Epting took over the title, and introduced a stable lineup with ongoing storylines and character development focused on the Black Knight, Sersi, Crystal, Quicksilver, Hercules and the Vision. During this period, the team find themselves facing increasingly murderous enemies, and are forced to question their rule against killing.

This culminated in "Operation: Galactic Storm", a 19-part storyline that runs over all Avengers-related titles and showcases a conflict between the Kree and the Shi'ar Empire. An argument of the actions of The Supreme Intelligence - which resulted in mass genocide - splits the team. Iron Man and several dissidents execute the Supreme Intelligence against the wishes of Captain America. After the demise of the West Coast Avengers, Iron Man would form a proactive and aggressive team called Force Works. The team would later disband when Wonder Man is apparently killed once again (his atoms were simply scattered and would reform later).

Heroes Reborn (Vol. 2)

The team would be disrupted once again when in final battle against the gestalt psychic entity Onslaught. The main team, along with the Fantastic Four and others apparently die stopping Onslaught, although it is later revealed that Franklin Richards preserves these heroes in the "Heroes Reborn" pocket universe. Believing the main team to be dead, the Black Widow disbands the Avengers, with only Jarvis remaining to look after the Mansion.

Marvel contracted out several titles set in the pocket universe to Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld, two of the founding creators of Image Comics. The previous continuity of the Marvel Universe was set aside as the heroes were "reborn" in this new setting. While the Avengers was relaunched as a new series, the "Heroes Reborn" line ended after a year and the license reverted to Marvel.

Heroes Return (Vol. 3)

The third volume of the title by writer Kurt Busiek and artist George Perez harkened back to the heyday of the Avengers in the 1970s and 1980s, and was known for its attention to detail and correction of many continuity errors. Busiek's finest work on the Avengers was arguably the limited series, Avengers Forever, illustrated by Carlos Pacheco, a time travel story that explores the history of the Avengers and resolves many outstanding questions and loose ends. New members included the revived Wonder Man; Justice; Firestar; Silverclaw and Triathlon.

The new millenium

The Busiek Era

Pérez eventually left the title and Busiek completed his run with an epic storyline involving Kang and the destruction of several cities. Geoff Johns began as writer and much of his run deals with the aftermath of the war as the Avengers are given international authority by the United Nations. Members joining during this period included Jack of Hearts and the second Ant-Man. Johns was followed by Chuck Austen who added a new Captain Britain to the team. The writing was then taken over by Brian Michael Bendis, who rebooted the title courtesy of the controversial storyline "Avengers Disassembled". Entitled "Chaos", the story features the deaths of several members and a loss of credibility for the team. The culprit is revealed to be the Scarlet Witch, who has gone insane again after agonising over the memory of her lost children and subsequently loses control of her reality-altering powers. Eventually, Doctor Strange is forced to put the Scarlet Witch in a coma and she is taken away by her father, Magneto. With the team in disarray and the Mansion a wreck, the surviving members agree 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.). The first storyline parallels the original circumstances that first brought the team together: a supervillain shuts down a prison for super-powered criminals and the heroes unite to combat the common foe. The heroes that feature are S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman); Daredevil; Luke Cage who are joined by Captain America; Iron Man, and Spider-Man, as well as a seemingly insane Sentry. Most of the super villains are stopped, although some forty-two escape. Captain America decides that fate has brought this group together, just as it had the original Avengers. All but Daredevil accept the offer and join the New Avengers, with X-Men member Wolverine joining following a trip to the Savage Land.

The team's ongoing mission is to 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. There is also a growing sense of unease with S.H.I.E.L.D. after the disappearance of Nick Fury.

The events of Civil War splits the new team, and Captain America continues to fight crime illegally with a team the press dubb the Secret Avengers - against the wishes of Iron Man.

In July 2006, Marvel announced that a new Avengers title, named The Mighty Avengers, will be published at the conclusion of Civil War.

In mid-December Joe Quesada announced during his weekly interview with Newsarama that another Avengers title called Avengers: The Initiative will be published and written by Dan Slott.

Alternate Avengers

1950s Avengers

A short-lived team of superheroes who band together in the 1950s and call 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. It is confirmed years later in Avengers Forever that these events occurred in an alternate timeline - one that was erased by Immortus using the Forever Crystal. Recent developments confirm that a version of the group did exist in mainstream continuity, and eventually reform in the present day.

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.

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. The series takes place in its own continuity, as with most of the other titles in the Marvel Adventures line.

Other media

Animated series

Guest appearances

• The Avengers appeared briefly in the 1966 The Marvel Superheroes Show.

• The team 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.

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 Ant-Man (leader); the Wasp; Wonder Man; Tigra; Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch. The Falcon and the Vision were added to the roster in the opening episodes. Captain America and Iron Man only make one appearance, while Thor does not appear in the series outside of the opening titles.

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. A Teen Avengers is in production and scheduled to come out in 2007.

Video and computer games

In 1991, the Avengers were featured in the arcade and console game Captain America and the Avengers.

In 1995 a videogame called "Avengers In Galactic Storm" based on the events of the Operation: Galactic Storm was published by Data East Corporation in the arcades in Japan and USA. It is now emulated by MAME.

The Avengers are featured prominently in the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance videogame.

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.

See also

• Bibliography of Avengers titles
• List of Avengers members
• List of Avengers issues
• Solo Avengers
• West Coast Avengers
• Ultimates
• Young Avengers
• Great Lakes Avengers
• New Avengers (comic)
• Mighty Avengers

References

1. Avengers vol. 1 #2
2. Avengers vol. 1 #4
3. The series ran for 102 issues from October 1985 to January 1994. Re-titled Avengers West Coast as of #47.
4. The series ran for 40 issues from 1987 to 1989. Retitled Avengers Spotlight as of #21.
5. Avengers vol. 1 #4
6. Avengers vol. 3 #1, February 1998
7. Avengers vol. 1 #16
8. Roger Stern's reason for leaving
9. The first series of Avengers ended in September 1996, after 402 issues, 23 Annuals and 5 Giant-Sized specials
10. The title ran for 12 issues (November 1996 - November 1997) and was written by Rob Liefeld with art by Jim Valentino. The final issue features a crossover with the other Heroes Reborn titles, and a return to the true Marvel Universe.
11. Avengers vol. 3, #1 was published in February 1998.
12. The story ran through several titles, with the final chapters featured in Avengers vol. 3, #85 - 88 - renumbered #500 - 503 for the historic occasion.
13. The Scarlet Witch's story continues in House of M # 1 - 8 (2005)
14. New Avengers vol. 4, #4
15. http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=94501
16. What If vol. 1, #9
17. Avengers Forever #1 - 12 (1999 - 2000)
18. Agents of Atlas #1 - 6 (2006)
19. Zak Penn Writing The Avengers movie

External links

• Official webpage at Marvel.com
• MDP:Avengers - Marvel Database Project
• Avengers Assemble! fan site
• Avengers Forever fan site
• The Avenger Files fan site
• Knightmare6.com, Avengers
• Avengers comic book list at Big Comic Book DataBase
• Avengers (1963 series) cover gallery

• Avengers
• Captain America supporting characters
• Marvel Comics superhero teams
• Marvel Comics titles
• 1963 introductions