As we go deeper into the Lobdell/Nicieza Legacy Virus era of the X-Men, things are about to get fairly confusing. This is sort of a last gasp of logical stories for quite a while. While there are some phenomenal issues in some of these stories ("X-Aminations" and "Fatal Attractions", in particular, there's a lot of filler and a ton of continuity porn that ends up not being terribly important. There's also a ton of Genosha storylines which at least gives this era a strong feeling of purpose. As usual, anything boldfaced represents a highly recommended book that I include in my actual headcanon. ![]() 11. X-Factor Epic X-Aminations by Peter David, Scott Lobdell, Skip Dietz, JD DeMatteis, Shana David, Joe Quesada, Jae Lee, Chris Batista, Buzz, Jan Duursema, Terry Shoemaker, Paul Ryan, Greg Luzniak, & Cliff Van Meter X-Factor: Havoc, Polaris, Rahne, Quicksilver, Madrox, Strong Guy, Val Cooper, Forge 1st Appearances: Haven, Monsoon Also Featuring: Doc Samson, Random, Trish Tilby, Moira MacTaggert, Crystal, Prodigal, Amelia Voght, Unuscione, Katu, Colossus, Milan, Frenzy, Scanner, Kleinstock Bros, Rusty, Skids, Spoor, Sentinels, Robert Kelly, Cortez, Archangel, Icaman, Colossus, Cyclops, Prof X, Lila Cheny I'm skipping the X-Cutioner's Song issues in this volume because I already talked about them when reviewing X-Men: X-Cutioner's Song. The next issue is the story the collection takes its name from. It's part of David's farewell storyarc, and it's fantastic. It's each of the members of the team meeting with psychiatrist and Hulk antagonist, Doc Samson and trying to work out their benefits/problems with being part of X-Factor. It's a very twenty-first century issue but it came out in the early 90s. The team's trip to Genosha ends up adding a fascinating angle to the Havoc/Rahne issue as well as introducing the team to The Legacy Virus, which is going to ravage the X-portion of the Marvel Universe for years. We even see the introduction of a questionable guru character whose motivations and behaviors don't precisely align, as well as some inner-team turmoil when there's a possible betrayal. This is just a really solid collection of stories, especially if you skip the X-Cutioner's stuff. Nothing against the overall X-cutioner's story, it's a decent crossover but you only get three non-consecutive portions of it here which makes for a choppy and unsatisfying read. Otherwise, this is a must-have for Peter David fans while also being a decent primer for Scott Lobdell who does his best to keep David's charm while also adding his own ideas into the story. ![]() Cable Classic Vol 2 by Fabien Nicieza, Scott Lobdell, Glenn Herdling, Darick Rbertson, Dwayne Turner, Aron Wisenfeld, MC Wyman, Mike Miller, & Steve Skroce Also Featuring: Cannonball, Siryn, Sinsear, Zero, Domino, Mr Sinister, Askani, Tolliver, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Prof X, Kitty Pryfe, Rachel Summers, Moira MacTaggert, Omega Red, Amelia Voght, Unuscione, Katu, Colossus, Milan, Frenzy, Scanner, Kleinstock Bros, Rusty, Skids, Lee Forrester, Senyaka, D'spayre, Belasco, S'ym It's impressive that this book ends up falling victim to The Law Of Diminishing Returns given how terrible it begins. This is just a hodge-podge of half baked continuity ideas in a desperate attempt to make Cable seem interesting. It's a shame because Cable was interesting the moment that Louise Simonson introduced him. The idea of a time traveling military-styled leader of a generation of mutants is cool. The idea of him being the son that Cyclops had to send into the future to save him from a technovirus is also cool. But Nicieza's story about Cable being a clone of a villain or maybe the villain is a clone of him or maybe the moon is a potato clone of a dinosaur in chili sauce blah blah blah. Nicieza strikes me as someone who has never, in their life, completed a sentence. His ideas constantly shift, and they seem interesting on the surface but there's rarely any depth to them. He was sort of Vince Russo before Vince Russo was Vince Russo. This story is a mess. There's no reason to read it. Every time an interesting idea shows up (Lee Forrester is somehow back in the X-narrative?) it's squandered by bad 80's action dialogue (in a 90s book) and an aimless plot that doesn't take you to any of the potentially interesting destinations promised by the premise. If you love Cable, I guess you might like this. Otherwise, there's no real reason to bother with this. ![]() Deadpool Classic Vol 1 by Fabien Nicieza, Rob Liefeld, Mark Waid, Joe Kelly, Joe Madureira, Ian Churchill, Lee Weeks, Ken Lashley, and Ed McGuinness 1st Appearances: Slayback, Blind Al, T-Ray Also Featuring: Kane, Weasel, Copycat, Juggernaut, Black Tom, Banshee, Siryn, Sluggo, Sasquatch, Expediter Deadpool is as divisive a character in the comics as he is a beloved character in the Marvel movie franchise. It takes a really gifted writer with a particular turn of phrase to make Deadpool funny. Fabien Nicieza was never going to be that writer. And Mark Waid, one of my favorite superhero comic writers wasn't up to the task, either. While the comics in this issue aren't precisely terrible, they're just not very engaging. Whether it's Nicieza drowning anything interesting with the stupid Tolliver/Cable-adjacent storylines, or Waid's barely passable Juggernaut and the Cassiday family drama, I found myself waiting for this collection to be over, rather than hoping to see where it went. The jokes are mostly flat ginger ale. The pop culture references pick up a little at the end with Joe Kelly's issue but it still felt like an underwhelming beginning to Mr. Wade Ryan Bea Arthur Chimichanga Reynolds Wilson. I know the books get better because I've read them all before but I'm not sure I would have kept reading them if I'd started at the beginning. If you really love Deadpool and want to see his early appearances, I don't think this book is going to make you hate him, it's just not on-par with later volumes. ![]() Wolverine Epic Inner Fury by Larry Hama, Bill Sienkiewicz, Kent Williams, Mark Texeira, and Dwayne Turner 1st Appearances: Tribune Also Featuring: Jubilee, Rogue, Sauron, Sabretooth, Psi-Borg, Birdy, Mystique Apart from a very eventful issue that's also contained in Fatal Attractions, this is a collection of dull Wolverine stories that add nothing of interest to the character nor are they particularly fun or intriguing. I don't know why it's impossible to tell an interesting story in The Savage Land but it is. I feel like the writers who enjoy writing about The Savage Land eat a lot of Corn Flakes and think black pepper is a bold spice choice. Sauron should be an interesting character but his ties to the Savage Land make him a half-note dud. There's also some Jubilee background that I didn't need. I enjoy that we saw her in a mall scene, and then she followed a band of mutants to Australia, and was like "I'm going to hang out with Wolverine until they make me an X-Man." It makes her teenage aloofness/rebellion tenable when we only know the bare bones of her tragic backstory. I didn't need it explained upon. It isn't as disappointing as when they finally revealed Wolverine's origin but I do think it devalues her story rather than improving it. Sabretooth James Bond is a silly concept that doesn't work very well but it does include a ton of continuity points that are going to show up in various X-books including a pivotal Nightcrawler story in Excalibur. There are also some trite one-shots, including an environmental story that I believe was written and drawn by children. This is a hard pass for me. The only moderately interesting story is a collected in another trade. If you're not a completist, there's no reason for this to take up real estate on your bookshelf. ![]() 12. X-Men Fatal Attractions by Scott Lobdell, JM DeMatteis, Fabien Nicieza, Larry Hama, Joe Quesada, Brandon Peterson, John Romita Jr, Richard Bennett, Greg Capullo, Jan Duuresma, Andy Kubert, Adam Kubert, Ken Lashley, Roger Cruz, Cliff Van Meter, Jae Lee, Chris Sprouse, Paul Smith, Darick Robertson, & Matt Ryan X-Men: Prof X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Angel, Iceman, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Pylocke, Revanche, Jubilee, Gambit, Bishop X-Factor: Val Cooper, Havoc, Quicksilver, Polaris, Madrox, Wolfsbane, Strong Guy, Random X-Force: Cable, Cannonball, Sunspot, Boom-Boom, Rictor, Shatterstar, Feral, Warpath, Siryn Excalibur:Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, Rachel Summers 1st Appearances: Exodus, Kleinstock, Neophyte, Spoor, Milan, Seamus Melloncamp, Empyrean Also Featuring: Magneto, Colossus, Forge, Moira Mactaggert, Banshee, Magick, Reed Richards, Thing, Captain Britain, Sunfire, Fabien Cortez, Frenzy, Unuscione, Amelia Voght, Sanyaka, Trevor Fitzroy, Shinobi Shaw, Gamesmaster, Tribune, Toad, Blob, Pyro, Phantazia, Gabrielle Haller, Charlotte Jones, Trish Tilby, Robert Kelly, Sharon Friedlander, Tom Corsi, Lilandra As you might guess by the volume of names above, this is a messy mega-crossover. While it has one excellent issue, and a couple of very important plot points for many future storylines, I have a difficult time recommending this. Mostly because it pivots around Magneto being a villain again. Yes, Magneto started as a villain, but he evolved into an anti-hero, an actual hero, and then into the murky era of being an opponent to the X-Men for a very valid reason that didn't cast him precisely as a villain. And then he died, fairly heroically. So to bring him back as a villain again felt really tacky, lazy, and not very believable. I've grown to like Scott Lobdell's books more than I thought I did, and I do think he tells some compelling stories in this volume, but the conceit of Magneto being a villain just doesn't work for me. There is a death, from The Legacy Virus, in this volume that was devastating when the issue was written, and it's devastating now. The story of grief from the perspective of Jubilee, Jean Grey, and Kitty Pryde is possibly Lobdell's best comic. It's certainly the best Jubilee story I can think of. But then we have a character I most remember from The Age Of Apocalypse (which hasn't happened yet), Magneto and his Acolytes, a couple of minor but recurring character deaths, and a huge Wolverine moment. So, I think I'm going to begrudgingly put this volume as a recommendation with the caveat that there's a lot of material, and not all of it is great, but all of it does feed into the major storylines, and it does make sense. We're about to enter an era of X-Men where most logic goes out the window, so I guess you should check out this, as one of the last bastions of decent, if complex and sometimes annoying, X-books before that era begins. ![]() Avengers/X-Men Bloodties by Bob Harras, Scot Lobdell, Fabien Nicieza, Roy Thomas, Jan Duursema, Steve Epting, Andy Kubert, John Romita Jr, and Dave Ross Avengers/West Coast Avengers: Captain America, Black Widow, Black Knight, Crystal, Darkhawk, Hawkeye, Mockingbird, US Agent, War Machine, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Hercules, Sersi X-Men: Prof X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Storm, Rogue, Revanche, Gambit, Bishop 1st Appearances: Renee Majcomb Also Featuring: Magneto, Quicksilver, Colossus, Nick Fury, Peter Gyrich, Exodus, Fabien Cortez, Luna, Jenny Ransome, Trish Tilby Another messy crossover. This one is mercilessly shorter but has a ton of plotholes and doesn't really enrich the X-Men's storyline. I can't say for sure about the Avengers storyline, as I'm not super familiar with the 90s Avengers & West Coast titles. The weirdest plothole is that there is a very tight team of specific X-Men throughout this story. They go to Genosha to stop Magneto's Acolytes, as well as some rogue mutates, and then in the middle of a battle Angel and Revanche are just there, even though they did not accompany the X-Men to Genosha, nor were they already there. I think there was just a miscommunication between writers. I also couldn't keep track of all the Avengers characters. This is mainly the story of Acolytes wreaking havoc in Genosha and kidnapping Quicksilver and Crystal's daughter, Luna. This continues some of the fracturing of The Acolytes that we saw in the previous volume. It doesn't really have much of a bearing on future X-stories other than further connecting Genosha with Magneto, who is still suffering the effects of Fatal Attractions for the entirety of this volume. I do not recommend it unless you're an Avengers/X-Men/Acolytes/or Genosha completist.
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The Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to dive into one of the more interesting long-form stories they've told in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: The Secret Invasion. The comic book series took place throughout most of 2008, and was a sloppy, divisive mess with a lot of very cool moments and ideas buried under a pile of mediocre plot points and side stories. The main series was a bit of a turd, especially given how promising the build up to it had been. But the build up and then the fallout were some of the best bits of storytelling Marvel has done. I'm going to present this story three ways. First, All Of The Trade Paperbacks That Have Secret Invasion Somewhere In The Name. There are twenty-seven of them, and I'm going to give you a brief run down of all of them in as close to a satisfying chronological order as is possible, given Marvel's complicated relationship with how time functions. Next, I'm going to cut everything down to The Best Ten Books Of The Series. You might notice that the order is slightly different and that's because it doesn't have to track with a bunch of dull side-stories. I hope the upcoming series is similar to this core set of books. Finally, are the books surrounding Secret Invasion that tell a Marvel-encompassing story. It's my own continuity. All but one of the books on the list I consider to be four or five stars and they do build up to The Secret Invasion, and then give you a cool epilogue. Most of the reading guides I've encountered suggest you read the main title, Secret Invason, first, and then expand your knowledge by reading all the side stories. I politely disagree. The main volume of Secret Invasion is a jagged mess of continuity that tries to incorporate the main storybeats of the tie-in volumes which mainly take place in New York, while also telling the story of The Avengers and New Avengers dealing with a Skrull infestation in the Savage Land. I think the main title works best as a recap engine rather then setting up the story. S0 here's how I would read All Of The Secret Invasion Tie-Ins, if I had to. 1. The Complete Marvel Secret Invasion1. Captain Marvel Secret Invasion This volume begins back during Marvel's Civil War, where we discover that the Kree warrior, Captain Mar-vell, who has been dead in canon since the 1980s. No longer infected with the lung cancer that killed him many years ago, Mar-Vell is living in France where he obsesses over a painting in the Louvre. Soon, the outside world becomes aware of his seeming ressurection. A cult pops up. Tony Stark, the current head of SHIELD wants to know how Mar-Vell is alive again. Mar-Vell's mentee, Carol Danvers (herself, a future Captain Marvel) tries to help him understand his place in the world. Oh, and the Skrulls seem to somehow be involved, which makes Mar-Vell very nervous. This is one of the best books in the whole Secret Invasion line, and it shows a lot of heart and reverance for Mar-Vell and the universe he inhabits. It's on all three versions of my Secret Invasion list. 2. Secret Invasion Infiltration This is a prelude anthology featuring several of the issues that lead up to the actual Secret Invasion. Shows like Buffy The Vampire Slayer used to do pre-credit teasers to remind you of the important storybeats that led you to the current episode. And some series (I think "Lost" might have done this) do an entire full episode where they recap the series highlights just before the final episode. This is collection is like that. Here are four of the most important stories that set up Secret Invasion, stretching all the way back to the first appearance of The Skruls in the 1960s. It's a decent collection, and certainly does its job at setting up the event. 3. Secret Invasion: Inhumans A book of diminishing returns, this book focuses on the Kree-created inhumans who've discovered (as we did in Secret Invasion Infiltration, that one of their own has been replaced by a Skrull. While the Skrulls engage in a massive invasion of the Inhumans' base, a core group of Inhumans go off in search of revenge, and to discover what happened to the person who was replaced. There are some nifty art choices, but this was the first disappointing book in the series 4. Secret Invasion: Thor If you like mediocre Thor stories, this is every one issue mediocre Thor story extended into three issues using extensive narration boxes. It's supposed to be a feel good story about how the people of Midgard come to the aid of their Asgardian neighbors but it's really just an excuse to involve Asgard in the Secret Invasion. It's written by Matt Fraction, who must have been busy with other projects because this is one of his least impressive books. 5. Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four Read the second half of this volume first, it includes a couple of issues that set up the first half of this book (Marvel's trade collection editors are notoriously awful at understanding how narrative structure works). Once you've read the 20th century stories, flip back to the beginning and see how The Thing and The Flash, the Richards children, and the top of the Baxter Building end up in The Negative Zone, and what that has to do with the sudden influx of Skrulls in the Marvel Universe. I think this is one of the better Secret Invasion books but that opinion doesn't appear to be unanimous among Marvel fans. 6. Mighty Avengers Vol 3: Secret Invasion A really enjoyable pre-Secret Invasion book, this volume contains four behind-the-scenes skrull activities set just before/at the beginning of The secret Invasion. Nick Fury in hiding. Nick Fury and Quake (yes, from the Agents of SHIELD show) recruit and form The Secret Warriors, the Skrulls fuck with the mentally unstable Sentry, and Hank Pym is targeted. Each story is solid, and gives insight into some of the impending storylines from the main series. It's definitely worth reading, no matter how involved you would like to get with Secret Invasion. It's a top tier side story collection. 7. Avengers The Intiative Vol 3: Secret Invasion The Initiative was a post-Civil War book that threw 50 new teams together and tried to follow cool characters from several of them. It was too crowded with ideas and characters, and apart from a few interesting issues, it was mostly just a book to test out new characters as it waited to be canceled. Here, we got two interesting characters to focus on, and an ending that could have been really impactful is nerfed by bad pacing and general sloppiness. Even the timely return of Skrull Kill Krew went from oooooh to ewwwww pretty quickly. Feel free to skip this one 8. Secret Invasion: War Machine Spinning out of a scene in Avengers The Initiative 3: Secret Invasion is this story about how Rhodey (aka War Machine) deals with the Skrull infiltration. It is, by far, the worst of the Secret Invasion books. It doesn't have any interesting concepts, there are no impactful character beats, it's a very generic superhero story focused on a character that isn't given much personality. It could seriously kill the momentum of someone who's enjoyed this Secret Invasion readthrough thusfar, so if you do read it and are thinking of tapping out, know that it never gets worse than this book 9. Noval Vol 3: Secret Invasion Kieth Giffen, Dan Abnett, and Andy Lanning brought Marvel's cosmic universe characters back to relevance around the time that Civil War and Secret Invasion were dominating the Earth-focused stories. The space soap opera does a great job at explaining alien races' goals and interrelationships. In this volume, Marvel's top space cop has to deal with failing technology, Galactus, and intergalactic politics, and THEN he becomes aware of the impending Skrull invasion. There's an effortless flow of plots in this book that makes me want to go back and read the entire 21st century Marvel Cosmic stories 10. Captain Britain & MI3 Vol 1: Secret Invasion This is the first volume that had to over come one of my prejudices. I just don't care about the British portion of the Marvel Universe or its magical/historical aspects. This book didn't help me win me over. It's filled with really melodramatic British nationalism, including a character being resurrected by a bunch of British flags weaving themselves together in the air. The only part of the books I found interesting was another Good Skrull storyline. 11. New Avengers Vol 8: Secret Invasion Perhaps the strongest anthology style volume, so far, as Bendis shows us the setup to Secret Invasion through the eyes of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Wolverine, Maya Lopez, and the Skrulls on homeland. Each story is interesting but the first two are especially strong. There's also an issue that takes place in the Savage Land during the midst of the main series. That issue is a mess, and hard to follow, even if you have an A in Marvel comic reading. 12. Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust? A waste of paper. This should only be bought if you have a serious completist fetish. It has barely any stories in it, mainly devoting pages to Marvel Encyclopedia style information about the characters in the Secret Invasion. There is a brief story about Captain Marvel that comes after the excellent Captain Marvel Secret Invasion, and it's not great, and certainly not good enough to justify paying for the rest of this book. 13. X-Factor Vol 6: Secret Invasion This is the first part of a crossover with She-Hulk that I'm calling Secret Invasion: Detroit, it has a promising sense of story. There's a focus on recent X-Men character, Darwin, the return of Longshot, and an intriguing connection to the Skrull Invasion. Unfortunately, it's saddled with what may be the worst art in the history of Marvel Comics. Larry Stroman was talented. His work on David's 90s X-Factor run was very much of the era but with an interesting sense of style. His work here looks like he metaphorically and literally took a dump on a page and then ran his fingers idly through it. It's unreadable. 14. She-Hulk Vol 8: Secret Invasion Part Two of Secret Invasion: Detroit, there's some overlap here, as we see She-Hulk's friend, a reformed Skrull warn her of the impending Secret Invasion before they end up caught up in X-Factor's madness. This is followed by The Good Skrull battling her father and her past. It has some real cheesy moments but the idea behind the story is interesting. 15. Secret Invasion: Young Avengers/Runaways Part one of Meanwhile In New York. A messy crossover of two previously excellent books. Brian K Vaughan's Runaways was fantastic, as was Jim Cheung's Young Avengers. Neither of them workd on this book. Each team has Good Skrulls (TM) on them so it should lead to some theoretically interesting twists but it's just a boring paint by numbers Marvel adventure with some Skrull action sequences. 16. Secret Invasion: Home Invasion I tend to enjoy books where you see a superhero universe through the eyes of a reporter or some random schlub. This is a random schlub story about an unimportant girl whose brother turns out to be a Skrull, even though he doesn't appear to be anyone worth impersonating. She escapes to her prom to meet up with her bf, and then they're chased by Skrulls until they run into The Young Avengers (but no Runaways), Binary, and Nick Fury. It's a very melodramatic teen book which wasn't my favorite but doesn't deserve the wrath I've seen other reviewers direct towards it. Part 2 of Meanwhile In New York. 17: Secret Invasion: The Amazing Spider-Man Except it's not Spider-Man because he's in The Savage Land fighting The Secret Invasion so this book, the third Meanwhile In New York story follows relatively new Spider-family member, Jackpot, and some of Spidey's other B characters from the time. This is an inoffensive and unimpressive book that isn't necessary to follow the events of Secret Invasion, but it's a fun read. 18. Secret Invasion: X-Men The Skrulls in San Francisco think they'll have it easy until they realize that the mutants have recently settled in Utopia, an island off the coast of California. This book does an excellent job of using many characters but using them well, and tying into previous storylines that have nothing to do with The Skrulls but that become important to how they free The Bay Area from Skrull concentration camps. 19. New Avengers Vol 9: Secret Invasion Book 2 The best of the Secret Invasion anthologies, we see the setups and crises of Secret Invasion through the eyes of specific New Avengers and their rogues gallery. This volume is Bendis at his best. 20. Secret Invasion: New Warriors The previous New Warriors team was responsible for the incident that caused Marvel's Civil War. This newer roster is mainly just a bunch of C-grade or less characters thrown together. I just didn't care about anything that happened in this book 21. Incredible Hercules: Secret Invasion Despite the "Secret Invasion" label on this cover, it's referred to as the "Sacred Invasion" within the story. I found this story about various human gods versus various Skrull gods absoutely impenetrable. I would really have to struggle to care less about a single character or plot detail in this book. It has zero effect on the overall secret invasion story. 22. Carol Danvers: The Ms Marvel Years Book 2 The Secret Invasion focused portion of this book is long out of print, but this book stretches from the birth of The Initiative (which plays heavily in Secret Invasion anyway) to the aftermath of the invasion with a strong focus on some scenes from the main Secret Invasion title where Carol Danvers, a well-known Kree warrior, is believed to be a Skrull 23. Thunderbolts: Secret Invasion Norman Osborn is about to be The Big Bad of the Marvel Universe at the end of Secret Invasion. Here we see his team of supposedly reformed criminals trying to get good PR by fighting The Skrulls. Apart from a brief Captain Marvel scene (which also appears in the main Secret Invasion book), this is a story of some pretty good ideas, poorly written. 24. Deadpool: Secret Invasion For a better book explaining Osborn's rise to power (though he barely appears in the book), Deadpool is the way to go. It's a silly Wade Wilson vs Skrulls and Super Skrulls book that manages to include a key plot to the setup for Dark Reign that doesn't appear in any other book. This was the very beginning of Daniel Way's run on Deadpool, which is probably the best run in the title's history. 25. Mighty Avengers Vol 4: Secret Invasion Book 2 Marvel made some strange editorial choices when it came to telling the Secret Invasion story. This book is one of them. This is not the story of what The Mighty Avengers were going through during The Secret Invasion, it's five major events of The Secret Invasion that all took place behind-the-scenes of the main book. The only connective tissue is that Skrulls are involved. Each book focuses on different characters and at very different points in the main storyline. I love it, but it's not really connected to The Mighty Avengers. 26. Secret Invasion: Front Line One of two Secret Invasion books that focus on the point of view of non-superheroes, there is a lot to like in this collection. Ben Urich of one of Marvel's great background characters, particularly when he shows up in Daredevil. Here, he's doing an interview when the Skrull invasion hits and has to reckon with his mortality, his relationship with his wife, and his commitment to his job. We also see a police officer trying to do the right thing and a daughter trying to connect with her father during the crisis. There are a few great emotional beats in this story. It does suffer from some of that good old accidental racism of early 2000s comics. Why do we need to have a gang pop up in the middle of this story? Why do they have to be Black? What purpose does that story tell that couldn't have been more compelling if it were a group of skinheads or just a random assortment of people consumed by the chaos of the invasion? It took me out of the story for a few pages as I thought about why that particular storyline needed to be injected into this narrative. Otherwise, this was a solid read. 27. Secret Invasion In professional wrestling, there are all sorts of different type of matches. There are technical masterpieces, strong style sluggers, hardcore violent matches, and spotfests, to name a few. In comics, I'm usually a fan of technical masterpieces. Stories that build up to a complex confrontation with twists, and turns. Even when you can easily guess the outcome, it's fascinating to watch the journey. Secret Invasion is Brian Michael Bendis's spotfest. It's less a story, and more of a bunch of cool reveals that bounce you to the next surprise plot point. It never really settles enough for you to get invested in the characters because it's always And This Person Is A Skrull And That Person Dies And This Person Is A Skrull And Look At All These Skrulls Who Is A Skrull Now Oh My God What Will Happen Now That We Know That Person Is A Skrull. 2. The Best Of Marvel's Secret InvasionAll of the descriptions for this list are in the above entry. This is just the streamlined order for people who don't have time to read the mediocre to terrible books. 1. Captain Marvel Secret Invasion 2. Secret Invasion Infiltration 3. Mighty Avengers Vol 3: Secret Invasion 4. Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four 5. Nova Vol 3: Secret Invasion 6. Mighty Avengers Vol 4: Secret Invasion Book 2 7. New Avengers Vol 9: Secret Invasion Book 2 8. Black Panther: Secret Invasion 9. Secret Invasion 10. Frontline: Secret Invasion 3. The Marvelous Secret InvasionHere's a look at a few of the most important storylines of 21st century Marvel, with some preamble, a focus on The Secret Invasion, and an epilogue that ties up some loose ends that don't, necessarily, involve Skrulls. 1. Marvels The ultimate classic retelling of the early days of the Marvel Universe from the Golden Age of the 1930s to the early Silver Age of the 1970s, Kurt Busiek gives an in-depth study of the world's initial reactions to superheroes, mutants, and the mid-twentieth century science boom through the eyes of photographer Phil Sheldon. This is densely packed primer on Marvel history by one of its best writers. It's also the series that introduced the world to Alex Ross. Long gone are the days when I was interested in his endlessly static and uninspiring covers, but in this book, you really get a sense for why he was such a big deal when the world was first exposed to his art. 2. West Coast Avengers Epic Coll Vol 3: Vision Quest A spin-off of the Avengers series, the West Coast Avengers were a chance for writers to explore some of the less popular but equally interesting characters. So, no Iron Man, Captain America, or Thor but Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Hawkeye, Vision, and Scarlet Witch. There are several stories of varying quality in this collection, but for us, there's the problem of The Scarlet Witch's children. Where they came from, who they are. This book is the inspiration for WandaVision, as well as some later books on this list. It's a fascinating conceit. 3. The Death Of Captain Marvel Marvel's first ever graphic novel, this is the story of how an early hero succumbs to cancer as a result of his superheroing career. It features a bunch of Avengers, and other hero cameos. 4. Skull Kill Krew Two of the biggest writers of early 21st century comics, Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, cut their Marvel teeth on this violent mini-series where the Skrulls who were turned into cows way back in Fantastic Four #2 are slaughtered and served as beef, infecting the human population who became heroes who hunted down Skrulls who were already, in the mid-90s, infiltrating the Marvel Universe. 5. Marvel Boy By Grant Morrison A Kree warrior is on a quest to kill Skrulls when he gets caught on Earth, and loses all of his friends and loved ones and has to start his life over after being a prisoner of one corporation, only to be re-imprisoned by SHIELD. It's there that he declares war on Earth. 6. Avengers Disassembled Brian Michael Bendis is the main architect of Secret Invasion, and this was the first huge Marvel event by him that caught my attention. The Avengers are in a flux period, their roster isn't exactly The Best Team Ever. At a pool party, someone inadvertantly mentions an event from the past that ends up completely destroying the team. 7 & 8. New Avengers Vol 1 & 2 Six months after Diassembled, a breakout at a supervillain prison called The Raft means that a new, all-star team of Avengers comes together, featuring Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Spider-Woman, and The Sentry. And once the supervillains have been rounded up, the new team must figure out who exactly The Sentry is, and whether they can help him stay sane. 9. & 10. House Of M Prelude: Exclaibur, House Of M While discussing staying sane, Wanda is stil recovering from Disassembled, and her father, Magneto, wants to protect her from the rest of the world. Professor X and a small team of mutants joins him to try and keep Wanda from harming herself and the world. Only they do a terrible job, and Wands creates an entire new universe where mutants rule, and humans are the oppressed minority. Every mutant essentially gets what they wanted. But a new character who "knows things" starts showing up and giving mutants and humans their memories of the previous universe. This temporary group of heroes must band together and restore the proper universe. 11. Young Avengers Ultimate Collection This original run of Young Avengers by Jim Cheung features a new generation of Avengers assembled by Vision who believes the real Avengers team will never get back together (apparently, he isn't reading my chronology). These young versions of the classic heroes have their own problems, and a couple of them seem like they might be connected to the Disassembled event. 12. & 13. The Road To Civil War, Civil War See the birth of the Marvel Universe's Illuminati. Check out how Iron Man is giving Spider-Man a new lease on crime fighting life. And, hey, The Fantastic Four battle (who else?) Dr. Doom when some Asgardian nonsense comes into play. Then the actual Civil War. A group of young heroes makes a mistake, and a villain kills 600 people while they're filming a reality TV show. Ooof. So the United States decides to pass The Superhero Registration Act, which doesn't go over well with, let's say half the heroes. This is one of the best Event Comics in Marvel history, despite a ton of delays, and some inconsistent side stories. 14. The Death Of Captain America Complete Collection This came out during the Batman Is Dead (actually, he's just traveling through time somehow) era of comics. I remember my coworker reading the issue where Cap dies, and flinging the book across the room, calmly walking over, picking it up, and tearing it in half before hanging it up on our Variant Wall as "Captain America Torn Variant". I think, as a piece of the larger Ed Brubaker run, it's fine. There's a lot of Winter Soldier in this volume, and once you get past the death of Cap and realize it's a comic book, and death is never permanent, you get a solid look at SHIELD and the Marvel Universe in a post-Civil War America. Brubaker is one of the best writers in comics, and he is at the top of his game here. The color scheme is a little dark for me, but this was during Marvel's muddy phase so there's not a lot to do about it. 15 & 16. Annihilation Ultimate Collection 1 & 2 If you love the MCU's Guardians of the Galaxy movies, you should know that the inspiration for those films starts here. The cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe had long been kind of dark, broody, and removed from everything else. The Guardians were often cheesy characters who screamed out the names of their loved ones during tragedies. It was super hokey in a way that some people love. Not my thing. But here, Keith Giffen, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and a host of other creators tell the story of how Annihilus assembles an armada of war ships so large and threatening that every major Marvel cosmic character must team up to stop them. One of the many casualties of this war are the Skrull, which hastens their push towards The Secret Invasion. 17. X-Men Endangered Species At the end of House Of M, The Scarlet Witch declared "No More Mutants", and the population of mutants in the Marvel Universe went from billions down to 198. While many of the other X-Men still act as superheroes, battling Apocalypse, and their usual cast of villains, Beast goes on a trek to restore the X-gene and see how to increase the number of mutants in the world. 18. Planet Hulk The Illuminati that we met during The Road To Civil War have had to make difficult decisions throughout Marvel history. One of them is what to do about the constant stream of destruction that surrounds Bruce Banner/The Hulk. So they ask him to go to space to fix a satellite, only for him to discover that they're actually shipping him off to a planet without other life so he can live out his days peacefully, not harming anyone. He reacts by wrecking the ship, taking him to a planet with plenty of hostile life, where he becomes a gladiator during his attempt to find a ship and return home. 19. World War Hulk Probably the weakest of any series in this chronology, we follow The Hulk and his surviving friends and family from the Planet Hulk saga as Banner returns to Earth for revenge on those who jettisoned him into space. 20. New Avengers The Trust Our ultimate team of super Avengers are on an away mission to Japan to battle The Hand when they discover that one of their best frenemies has, at some point, been replaced by a Skrull, and they worry about the possibility that an invasion is underway. Perhaps, a Secret Invasion. 21-30. The Best Of Marvel's Secret Invasion (see above) This is the Best Of Marvel's Secret Invasion in its entirety, except that I've removed the epilogue, Secret Invasion Frontline, as, instead of needing a wrapup, we're going to explore a little further into the aftermath of the invasion. 31. Punisher Dark Reign Norman Osborn rose to power during the Skrull Invasion, and has groups of Avengers and X-Men under his power. He's being treated as a new Iron Man figure called The Iron Patriot. Frank Castle decides that this can not stand, and sets out to destroy Osborn, as well as any surviving Skrulls. 32. Secret Warriors Complete Collection Vol 1 During the Secret Invasion, Nick Fury put together a new team to ferret out not only Skrulls but also Hydra members who infiltrated SHIELD. This is the story of how they operate during Norman Osborne's Dark Reign 33. Avengers Prime Captain America (oh yea, he's alive again, don't ask how), Thor, and Iron Man must put apart their Civil War differences to save Asgard, after it seems to be destroyed as a consequence to Seige (the final portion of Dark Reign, which isn't worth the read). This is a story about repairing relationships, and it's pretty well told. 34. Avengers Children's Crusade
The Young Avengers go off in search of The Scarlet Witch, who has been mostly missing since the end of House Of M (we did see her pop up in X-Men Endangered Species). We get some answers to some questions that have been lingering since the West Coast Avengers Epic Coll Vol 3 Vision Quest. It may not be a wrap up on The Skrulls (we haven't really had one yet, and their recent appearances require way more continuity than I want to put on this already long, complex list), but it's a fun read, and really feels like the end of a very long Marvel storyarc. The Avengers franchise is what made Marvel Studios the completely dominant force in comic based entertainment. The way they streamlined Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and other characters into an expansive universe that also includes television shows like Daredevil and Agents Of SHIELD is something that has never been achieved before in motion picture entertainment. The Avengers continuity, even without including the individual characters is supremely daunting. So, I’ve put together a chronology of some of the best Avengers related books that are currently or were recently available in collected editions (the recently available are still around for pretty cheap on various online outlets and in bookstores) into eleven! TV seasons. Ten seasons of Avengers took us up to the end of Marvel 616 continuity, and a little beyond. The new Marvel Universe, though it's certainly had as many missteps as the previous universes, has a number of really fun series, and they come together to form a whole season of Marvelly goodness. Check out a new team for a more fun generation. Not your racist-ass uncle's stale-ass Avengers. Art by Humberto Ramos Avengers Season 11: Champions (Showrunners: Mark Waid, G Willow Wilson, and Ryan North) Episode 1: Ms Marvel No Normal, Ms Marvel Generation Why, Ms Marvel Crushed
written by G Willow Wilson, art by Adrian Alphona, Jacob Wyatt, and Takeshi Miyazawa Kamala Khan is just your average superhero superfan until the Terrigen mists fall to Earth and she becomes a superhero. Initially patterning her costume and appearance after Carol Danvers, she eventually becomes her own hero, interacting with the old school heroes of te Marvel Universe. New Normal. 1 episode Episode 2: Nova Rookie Season, Nova Corpse written by Sean Ryan, art by Cory Smith and John Timms That upstart Nova kid who showed up in season 8 has finally been reunited with his father. Surely his life is going to get easier as his dad was a Nova Corps member, too, and will surely help him understand how to balance his superhero identity with his regular one. Rookie Season. 1 episode Episode 3: Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Squirrel Power, Squirrel You Know It's True written by Ryan North, art by Erica Henderson Doreen Green came from the mostly unnoticed Great Lakes Avengers but she eventually became a low-key assistant to The Avengers. She didn't fight much. She mainly did some babysitting and housesitting, and now she's going away to college to live a normal life of talking to squirrels and trying to keep out of trouble. But trouble keeps finding her, and she keeps kicking its tail. Squirrel You Know It's True. 1 episode Episode 4: Totally Awesome Hulk Cho Time written by Greg Pak, art by Frank Cho The kid genius from World War Hulk is now The Hulk! Where's Banner? Don't worry about it. Amadeus Cho is a very smart Hulk who goes around the world in a flying food truck, fighting kaiju and being very much a teenager. Totally Awesome Hulk. 1 episode Episode 5: Mighty Thor Thunder In Her Veins written by Jason Aaron, art by Russel Dauterman Jane Foster became Thor just before Secret Wars. She has different and seemingly cooler talents with Mjolnir than the Odinson did. But every time she becomes Thor, the chemotherapy she's been taking to battle her cancer is undone. Is she willing to destroy her life to save the world? Thunder In Her Veins. 1 episode Serial 1: All New All Different Avengers Magnificent Seven, Ms Marvel Super Famous written by Mark Waid, art by Adam Kubert and Mahmud Asrar Nova, Ms Marvel, the new Thor, Spider-Man (Miles Morales from The Utimate Universe), Captain America (Sam Wilson), and Iron Man (boring old Tony Stark) are the new face of The Avengers. A team that will undoubtedly stay together forever and ever. All New All Different. 2 episodes. Episode 8: The Ultimates Start With The Impossible written by Al Ewing, art by Kenneth Rocafort Carol Danvers runs The Avengers' cosmic arm, deciding to use new tactics to solve the recurring problems of the Marvel Universe. Outside The Box. 1 episode Episode 9: Avengers Standoff, All New All Different Avengers Family Business written by Nick Spencer, Al Ewing, Gerry Duggan, and Mark Waid, art by Jesus Saiz, Mark Bagley, Ryan Stegman, and Mike Norton Old and new Avengers alike team up when Maria Hill from SHIELD reveals an entire city of imprisoned supervillains. Much of this is a setup for Captain America storylines we won't be following, but it's also an interesting teamup and lays the groundwork for the next serial. Pleasant Hill. 1 episode Episode 10: Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Squirrel You Really Got Me Now, I Kissed A Squirrel And I Liked It written by Ryan North, art by Erica Henderson Marvel Universe's most fantastic squirrel-powered hero uses computer science and wackiness to take down some of the biggest villains in the Marvel Universe. I Kissed A Squirrel And I Liked It. 1 episode. Episode 11: Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur BFF, Cosmic Cooties written by Amy Reeder, art by Brandon Montclare With Reed Richards being MIA since Secret Wars, the smartest person in The Marvel Universe is....a fourth grader named Lunella Lafyette. Worried about becoming an Inhuman due to the Terrigen Mists that transformed Kamala Khan into Ms Marvel, Lunella creates an invention that beckons The Devil Dinosaur into her time. Awesomeness ensues. Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur. 1 episode Serial 2: Civil War II, Ms Marvel Civil War II, Ultimates Omniversal, All New All Different Avengers Civil War II written by Brian Michael Bendis, G Willow Wilson, Mark Waid, Faith Erin Hicks, and Al Ewing, art by David Marquez, Takeshi Miyazawa, Veronica Fish, and Christian Ward Carol Danvers has found an Inhuman who can predict possible futures and she's using him to try and stop problems before the occur. Unsurprisingly, this creates different problems and turns hero against hero. Again. Predictive Texts. 3 episodes Episode 15: Totally Awesome Hulk Civil War II written by Greg Pak, art by Alan Davis Is the biggest moment in Civil War II Amadeus Cho's fault? Plus, where was Banner during the period between Secret Wars and Civil War II? Fault Lines. 1 episode Episode 16: Vision Little Worse Than A Man, Vision Little Better Than A Beast written by Tom King, art by Gabriel Hernandez Walta and Michael Walsh In his quest to be more human, Vision creates a family. Because he didn't learn the lesson of House Of M. Stupid android. This time, he fails to help create a false reality that ruins his friends' lives, and, instead, might have ruined his own and those of his new family. Suburban Glamour. 1 episode Serial 3: Champions Change The World, Nova Resurrection, Totally Awesome Hulk Big Apple Showdown written by Mark Waid, Jeff Loveness, and Greg Pak, art by Humberto Ramos, Ramon Perez, and Luke Ross The younger faction of The All New All Different Avengers goes rogue. Enough with those stale-ass old Avengers. Most of them are dead, depowered or irrelevant now anyway, right? Change The World. 2 episodes Episode 19: Invincible Iron Man Ironheart written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Stefan Caselli With Tony Stark either missing or dead after Civil War II, his most recent mentee, Riri Williams dons her own armor to become the new Iron Man of the Marvel Universe. Ironheart. 1 episode Episode 20: Occupy Avengers Taking Back Justice written by David F. Walker, at by Carlos Pacheco Since his role in Civil War II, Clint Barton has become a political touchstone, and he's decided to use his newfound anti-hero fame to do some damn good for those without superpowers. Hawkguy's First Stand. 1 episode Season 11 manages to also be 20 episodes! Season 12 will exist, probably in 2018 or so, with more stories of Kate Bishop, Jen Walters, Patsy Walker Hellcat, and The Champions! And maybe by then Avengers and New Avengers will be interesting enough to return to my chronology. The Avengers franchise is what made Marvel Studios the completely dominant force in comic based entertainment. The way they streamlined Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and other characters into an expansive universe that also includes television shows like Daredevil and Agents Of SHIELD is something that has never been achieved before in motion picture entertainment. The Avengers continuity, even without including the individual characters is supremely daunting. So, I’ve put together a chronology of some of the best Avengers related books that are currently or were recently available in collected editions (the recently available are still around for pretty cheap on various online outlets and in bookstores) into ten TV seasons. When last we left our heroes, everything seemed bleak. The Universe was ending. The Ultimate Universe was ending. No villain was victorious, except possibly the concept of entropy. And yet, at the last minute someone stepped in and saved as much as they could and has built a new universe. All hail God Doom. Just another night Doom wakes up with that name on his tongue. Season 10: Secret Wars (showrunner: Jonathan Hickman) Episode 1: Master Of Kung Fu Battleworld
(written by Haden Blackman and Peter Milligan, art by Dalibor Talajic) Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, Kitty Pride, and Lockheed are just some of the somewhat familiar faces in this world where all will battle to determine the next Master Of Kung Fu. Yeup, we’re starting Secret Wars off in an unusual manner. Master Of Kung Fu. 1 episode Episode 2: Marvel 1872 (written by Gerry Duggan, art by Nicole Verella and more) Next up, the Wild West, where Sheriff Steve Rogers is the drunk sheriff of Timely. Tony Stark is trying to get the sheriff sobered up because Wilson Fisk has put together a Wild West version of the Marvel rogues gallery. Plus, Dr. Banner and Red Wolf have to help out somehow, right? 1872. 1 episode Episode 3: Siege Battleworld (written by Kieron Gillen, art by Filipe Andrade) Abigail Brand guards the wall between battleworlds. She must defend them from characters trying to move between worlds. But how is she going to deal with Thanos when there are the hordes of Marvel Zombies, Ultrons, and other horrible things waiting just on the other side of the wall? The Great Wall. 1 episode Episode 4: Captain Marvel And The Carol CORPS (written by Kelly Sue Deconnick, art by Kelly Thompson) The Banshee Squad is an all female flight crew protecting the skies from Hydra. But when Carol believes her commanding officers have betrayed and lied to them, she takes things into her own hands. There will be consequences. Carol CORPS. 1 episode Episode 5: Ultimate End (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Mark Bagley) The Ultimate Universe was destroyed. Earth 616 was destroyed. Yet both of their Manhattans still seem to exist and overlap. Different versions of multiple characters are at odds with each other to figure out exactly what’s going on and if it’s fixable. Ultimately. New York Is The Cockroach Of Cities. 1 episode Episode 6: Civil War Warzones (written by Charles Soule, art by Leinil Francis Yu) What if the Civil War over the Superhuman Registration Act never ended. What if it kept going through The Secret Invasion. What if it kept going through Dark Reign, and Siege, and AvX, and dear God Doom, what if it was still happening? Civil War Eternal. 1 episode Episode 7: Guardians Of Knowhere (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Mike Deodato JR) The Guardians Of The Galaxy are living in a Celestial’s head. Most of them are acting like usual, but there’s one huge difference Gamora isn’t sure she believes that Doom is God. Blasphemy. Guardians Of Knowhere. 1 episode Episode 8: A-Force Warzones (written by G Willow Wilson, art by Marguerite Bennet) All your favorite female Avengers and heroes are living together in one world. But when one of them crosses the borders into another realm, Doom is displeased. And when God Doom is displeased, worlds tremble. A-Force. 1 episode Episode 9: Secret Wars Journal Battleworld (written by many, with art by a different many) An anthology adventure where we check in with all sorts of familiar Avengers characters and see how they’re doing in this zany series of worlds. Battleworlds. 1 episode Episode 10: Red Skull (written by Joshua Williamson, art by Luca Pizarri) Red Skull displeased God Doom, so God Doom sent him into the wasteland of Zombies and Ultrons to die. But did he die? A group of villains including The Winter Soldier and Magneto are sent to either find out or die. Or both. It’s not a mutually exclusive thing. Red Skull. 1 episode Episode 11: Runaways Battleworld (written by Noelle Stevenson, art by Sanford Greene) The Victor Von Doom Institute for Gifted Youths in Doomstadt? This is where the next generation of heroes is educated to love The God Doom, and to survive a constant series of battles. Rebelling against a death school SEEMS like a logical choice, but Bucky Barnes and The Doombots stand in their way. Runaways. 1 episode Episode 12: Infinity Gauntlet Warzones (written by Gerry Dugan and Dustin Weaver, art by Dustin Weaver) A small tale of a family that is just trying to survive Battleworld when they find an Infinity Gem and the good natured, always trustworthy, Thanos shows up to help them find more. I’m sure this will end happily for all. Infinity Gems Are Truly Outrageous. 1 episode Episode 13: Planet Hulk Warzones (written by Sam Humphries, art by Marc Laming) Steve Rogers and his trusty steed, Devil Dinosaur!, team up with Doc Green to battle all the rest of the Hulks. All. The rest. Of the. Hulks. Planet Hulks. 1 episode Episode 14: House Of M Warzones (written by Dennis Hopeless, art by Marco Failla) Oh, yea, it’s like if Magneto and his family ruled The Marvel Universe again. I remember that! Is Quicksilver a traitor in this universe, too? Bad Pietro! Houses Of M. 1 episode Episode 15: Age Of Ultron (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Bryan Hitch, Brandon Peterson, and Carlos Pacheco) Technically, this isn’t a Secret Wars book at all. I didn’t want to shoehorn it anywhere else into continuity, though, so while we’re investigating all these other odd possible worlds, why not throw everybody’s favorite evil android into the mix. Age Of Ultron. 1 episode Episode 16: Thors (written by Jason Aaron, art by Chris Spouse) It’s Law & Order where every character is a Thor. Frog Thor. Beta Ray Bill. Storm. Ultimate Thor. Odinson. Odin. The only person missing is Jane Foster. That is, until versions of her body start popping up dead across the Battleworlds. Thors. 1 episode Serial 1: Secret Wars (written by Jonathan Hickman, art by Esad Ribic) Everything explained! (We hope, the series hadn’t ended yet when I was making this list) How did Doom save the multiverse? Why didn’t Doctor Strange? How does Reed Richards from The Ultimate Universe fit into this? How does Reed Richards from Marvel 616 fit into this? Who, from those worlds, survived? Secret Wars. 4 episodes The final episode is 20 episodes, just like the rest. But wait, upon further reflection, this whole project was a misnomer! Look for Season 11 in January 2017! It's like Netflix saving your favorite show. The Avengers franchise is what made Marvel Studios the completely dominant force in comic based entertainment. The way they streamlined Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and other characters into an expansive universe that also includes television shows like Daredevil and Agents Of SHIELD is something that has never been achieved before in motion picture entertainment. The Avengers continuity, even without including the individual characters is supremely daunting. So, I’ve put together a chronology of some of the best Avengers related books that are currently or were recently available in collected editions (the recently available are still around for pretty cheap on various online outlets and in bookstores) into ten TV seasons. Season 8 was all a big lead up to the end of all things Avengers and Marvel. The complete destruction of 616. But it wasn’t just 616 that got destroyed, there was a whole nother universe completely eradicated, and that’s where we start season nine. The Vision’s harddrive failure led to a most unfortunate over-tanning during The Avengers beach vacation. Season 9: Time Runs Out (Showrunners: Mark Millar and Jonathan Hickman) Serial 1: The Ultimates Ultimate Collection
(written by Mark Millar, art by Bryan Hitch) Super powered being are popping up all over the place, and the government decides to form a team to deal with them. It’s a whole different version of The Avengers. The Ultimates. 2 episodes Episode 3: Ultimate Fantastic Four The Fantastic (written by Mark Millar and Brian Michael Bendis, art by Adam Kubert, John Dell, and Danny Miki) Awww, look at the adorable little fantastic fourlings. They’re all teenaged and excited about life. I hope they never ever change. The Fantastic. 1 episode Episode 4: Ultimate Galactus Nightmare, Ultimate Galactus Secret, Ultimate Galactus Extinction (written by Warren Ellis, art by Trever Hairsine, Mark Bagley, Steve Mcniven, and Scott Hannah) The devourer of worlds descends on The Ultimate Universe, and a team of Ultimates, and a team of X-Men need to figure out how to stop him before it’s too late. Ga Lak Tus hungers. Even The Fantastic Four join in on the, uhhh…fun? Ga Lak Tus. 1 episode Episode 5: Ultimates 2 Gods And Monsters, Ultimates 2 Grand Theft America (written by Mark Millar, art by Bryan Hitch) The origin of Thor, Ultimates dating Ultimates, the celebrity life of being superheroes, The Hulk gets outed, and one of the Ultimates is probably a traitor. Dra-ma. Gods And Monsters. 1 episode Episode 6: Ultimate Origins (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Butch Guice) Everything. is connected. The Ultimate Connection. 1 episode Episode 7: Ultimate Comics Avengers Next Generation, Ultimate Comics Avengers Crime & Punishment (written by Mark Millar, art by Carlos Pacheco and Francie Lienil Yu) Nick Fury must protect Captain America at all costs. AT ALL COSTS. What does The Punisher have to do with any of this? Crime And Punisher. 1 episode Episode 8: Ultimate Comics Doomsday (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Rafael Sandoval) There’s a new Big Bad in The Ultimate Universe. And he’s going to be doing some major damage. The Face Of Evil. 1 episode Episode 9: Ultimate Comics Ultimates By Hickman Volumes 1 & 2 (written by Jonathan Hickman and Sam Humphries, art by many) The Ultimates have to contend with Reed Richards and his Children Of Tomorrow. The Universe is, of course, at stake. The Children Of Tomorrow. 1 episode Episode 10: Ultimate Comics Ultimates Disassembled (written by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Carmen Di Giondomenico) It’s Reed Richard’s world, and you’re just living in it. New World Order. 1 episode Episode 11: Original Sin (written by Jason Aaron, Ed Brubaker, and Mark Waid, art by Mike Deodato JR, Javier Pulido, and Jim Cheung) I bet you thought we were never going to get back to the 616. Well, surprise, we’re back in the old continuity. And whenever some huge event is about to take place in the Marvel Universe, Uatu The Watcher can be seen observing. So, what do you do when someone shoots and kills him? PANIC!!!! Original Sin. 1 episode Episode 12: Avengers Infinite Avengers (written by Jonathan Hickman, art by Leinil Francis Yu) Remember that time Steve Rogers was part of The Illuminati? Well he doesn’t. Remember how they mindwiped him? Well, now he does. That and other revelations come out due to Original Sin. It could distract our heroes from some very important going-ons. The Past Catches Up To The Future. 1 episode Serial 3: Secret Avengers Let’s Have A Problem, Secret Avengers The Labyrinth, Secret Avengers God Level (written by Ales Kot, art by Michael Walsh) It really does seem like the whole world is coming undone, doesn’t it? Can the addition of Deadpool and MODOK possibly help take down AIM? Probably not. Plus, Fury the monster threatens to completely destroy the team put together by Fury, the man, The Labyrinth. 2 episodes Episode 15: Thor Goddess Of Thunder, Thor Who Wields The Hammer (written by Jason Aaron, art by Russel Dauterman) After being deemed unworthy during Original Sin, the Odinson can no longer lift Mjolnir (his hammer). While we’ve seen many heroes attempt to lift it over the years, apart from Storm of the X-Men, frogs and horse faced aliens are way more likely to be worthy of the hammer than any humans. And yet, a woman on the moon picks up the hammer easily. Who is this new Thor? Odinson would like to know. Goddess Of Thunder. 1 episode Episode 16: Avengers World Before Time Runs Out (written by Frank J Barbiere, art by Marco Checchetto) The super, mega, universe destroying event is about to occur, so let’s tie up as many loose threads as possible before we get the…we’re introducing new plots? Why? Before Time Runs Out. 1 episode Serial 4: Avengers Time Runs Out Books 1-4 (written by Jonathan Hickman, art by Jim Cheung, Kev Walker, and many more) This is it. This is really it. All of the plots from the Hickman run, plus all the plots from The Ultimates universe converge in one dizzying story where all continuity unravels. Truly, the end of Marvel 616 and The Ultimate Universe. How will any of our heroes survive the destruction of The Universes? Time Runs Out. 4 episodes This penultimate season (“but how”, you ask, “is not everything gone?”) is 20 episodes The Avengers franchise is what made Marvel Studios the completely dominant force in comic based entertainment. The way they streamlined Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and other characters into an expansive universe that also includes television shows like Daredevil and Agents Of SHIELD is something that has never been achieved before in motion picture entertainment. The Avengers continuity, even without including the individual characters is supremely daunting. So, I’ve put together a chronology of some of the best Avengers related books that are currently or were recently available in collected editions (the recently available are still around for pretty cheap on various online outlets and in bookstores) into ten TV seasons. Last season saw the falls of Norman Osborn, and some in-depth time with Captain Marvel and the Hawkeyes. This season there’s one of those The World Will End Crises that our heroes always end up solving. This time, though, they might be out of luck. Could someone call The Night Nurse? I think Steve has “assembled” in his red, white, and blue Depends. art by Stuart Immonen Season 8: Avengers World (showrunner: Jonathan Hickman) Episode 1: Captain America The Tomorrow Soldier
(written by Rick Remender, art by Carlos Pacheco, Paul Renaud, Stuart Immonen, and Bruce Timm) It’s the end of the Dimension Z storyline from last season. What happens when Captain America has to make the penultimate sacrifice, and lose the effects of The Super Solider Serum? Well, for starters, we’re gonna need a new Captain America. The Tomorrow Soldier. 1 episode Episode 2: Avengers Avengers World (written by Jonathan Hickman, art by Jerome Opena and Adam Kubert) Something is on the horizon that’s going to require every Avenger ever, and some who haven’t been Avengers before to work together to save not just the planet but the entire Universe. Tony Stark just might be able to pull it all together. Avengers World. 1 episode Serial 1: New Avengers Everything Dies, Avengers The Last White Event (written by Jonathan Hickman, art by Steve Epting, Dustin Weaver, and Mike Deodato JR) Apocalyptic space shenanigans as The Builders prepare to rebuild a universe over the remains of the Marvel 616. Everything Dies. 2 episodes Episode 5: Avengers Prelude To Infinity (written by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Spencer art by Mike Deodato JR and Stefano Caselli) The High Evolutionary and The Builders aren’t the only problem the Marvel Universe is facing. The Savage Land is giving birth to something new, and there’s a big purple faced Death fetishist looming on the horizon. The Builders. 1 episode Serial 2: Infinity (written by Jonathan Hickman, art by Jim Cheung, Jerome Opena, Dustin Weaver, Mike Deodato JR, Stefano Caselli, Francis Leinil Yu) Thanos and Builders and Avengers, oh my. The Avengers get Even Bigger as the stakes get Even Higher. Do yourself a favor, don’t buy the Avengers Infinity and New Avengers Infinity trades, buy the big Infinity trade paperback, as it contains the entire storyline in the order in which it’s meant to be read. This is possibly the first time Marvel has ever actually collected the story in a precise way. Infinity. 2 episodes Episode 8: Hawkeye LA Woman (written by Matt Fraction, art by Amy Wu and Javier Pulido) Screw that Barton guy, let’s follow Kate Bishop to the West Coast where she falls into one of Madame Masque’s schemes. This is an almost noir story and is the most west coast this comic has been since Scarlet Witch had those imaginary babies! LA Woman. 1 episode Episode 9: All New Captain America Hydra Ascendant (written by Rick Remender, art by Stuart Immonen) Falcon is the new Captain America. Watch him battle Steve Rogers’s old foes. When you cut one down, two more appear in their place. Hydra Ascendant. 1 episode Serial 4: Hawkeye Rio Bravo (written by Matt Fraction, art by David Aja, Annie Wu, and Francesco Francavilla) It’s the end of the Bro saga, as Hawkeye and Hawkeye are reunited to take down the mob that threatens Clint’s apartment complex. Such tiny stakes. Such big adventures. Rio Bravo. 2 episodes Episode 12: Secret Avengers Reverie, Secret Avengers Iliad (written by Nick Spencer, art by Butch Guice, Luke Ross, and Ed Brisson) Nick Fury creates yet another Secret Ops team to deal with yadda yadda yadda. Amongst their first problems? AIM. The Somewhat Secret Avengers. 1 episode Episode 13: Avengers World AIMpire (written by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Spencer, art by Stefano Caselli) With all of the cosmic going-ons in this season, we need a team on Earth to handle the global problems that actually take place on the globe. A couple of former X-Men and some of the new space spawned Avengers team up to take down AIM from the inside. AIMpire. 1 episode Episode 14: Avengers Undercover Descent, Avengers Undercover Going Native (Written by Dennis Hopeless, art by Kev Walker, Tigh Walker, and Timothy Greene) Remember those teenagers who barely survived Arcade’s Murderworld last season? Well, The Avengers have decided to send them all undercover to help solve a case that they don’t have time for. This might backfire. Avengers Undercover. 1 episode Episode 15: Avengers Adapt Or Die (written by Jonathan Hickman, art by Esad Ribic and Salvador Larroca) The Avengers go back into their past to fix their future. That solution ALWAYS works. Just asks the X-Men. Adapt Or Die. 1 episode Serial 3: Avengers World Ascension, Avengers World Next World (written by Nick Spencer and Al Ewing, art by Marco Checchetto, Stefano Caselli, and Dale Keown) AIM is a huge problem but they’re not the only problem Earth has. Avengers are sent all over the world from Madripoor to Italy to deal with “trouble spots”. Next World. 2 episodes Serial 4: Young Avengers Style>Substance, Young Avengers Alternative Cultures, Young Avengers Mic Drop At The Edge Of Time And Space (written by Kieron Gillen, art by Jamie McKelvie) Things have been getting super apocalyptical for all of the Avengers team, let’s take a lighthearted break to see how the next generation handles it when all parents go Evil. Ok, so this gets apocalyptical, too, but in a different, more stylish youthy way. Parents Just Don’t Understand. 2 episodes Episode 20: Captain Marvel Higher Further Faster More (written by Kelly Sue Deconnick, art by David Lopez) Carol Danvers goes back into space to solve a refugee crisis. The Guardians Of The Galaxy make a brief attempt to help her but she’s mainly on her own. This is one of the more well-thought-out, well-written, non-preachy political comics Marvel has put out in years. Original Sin. 1 episode Season 8, like all of its predecessors is 20 episodes The Avengers franchise is what made Marvel Studios the completely dominant force in comic based entertainment. The way they streamlined Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and other characters into an expansive universe that also includes television shows like Daredevil and Agents Of SHIELD is something that has never been achieved before in motion picture entertainment. The Avengers continuity, even without including the individual characters is supremely daunting. So, I’ve put together a chronology of some of the best Avengers related books that are currently or were recently available in collected editions (the recently available are still around for pretty cheap on various online outlets and in bookstores) into ten TV seasons. Now that Osborne has been defeated. Again. Like, twice last season. It’s time to move on. (Checks series for Osborn appearances). Yes, it’s time to move on. And speaking of time to move on, just imagine The Scarlet Witch muttering “No More Bendis” after one more ridiculous ending, we move into some other writers’ opportunities to tell Avengers stories. The AvX crossover would have been so much more interesting if it were just a six part dance-off. Hulk got SERVED. art by Bobby Rubio Season 7: Some Reassembly Required (showrunners Kelly Sue Deconnick, Matt Fraction, and Rick Remender) Serial 1: Avengers X Sanction, Young Avengers The Childrens’ Crusade
(written by Allen Heinberg and Jeph Loeb, art by Jim Cheung and Ed McGuinness) Remember? Remember that time when Wanda Maximoff blew up Avengers Mansion, killed a slew of lesser Avengers, remade the entire universe, and then disappeared? Well, she doesn’t. Wiccan and Speed believe that they might be her imaginary children from way back in the first season, so they and Magneto go traipsing around the globe looking for her. What they find is….you know, the whole point of the book. The Cable story is not super compelling but it sets up the impending super crossover The Childrens’ Crusade. 3 episodes Episode 4: Nova Origin (written by Jeph Loeb, art by Ed McGuinness) Sam Alexander’s dad was a guy named Nova who was part of a giant space opera storyline that we’re not going to get into in this continuity. But he died. Now Sam has his helmet, and with the help or The Guardians Of The Galaxy, he’ll become a hero. And he’ll see something that he should probably tell The Avengers about. Nova. 1 episode Serial 2: Avengers Vs X-Men, Avengers Academy AvX, Avengers AvX, New Avengers AvX, Secret Avengers AvX (written by everyone at Marvel, art by everyone and their grandmother at Marvel) The Phoenix Force is back! Which is, uhhhh, a big deal to the X-Men but The Avengers haven’t cared until now. But when it appears that Hope, the first mutant born after M-Day is going to host the most powerful entity in the universe, Cap and the crew get a little anxious and put Wolverine on the spot about fixing the problem. There are a bunch of cool side stories, including Iron Fist taking Hope to learn how to master The Phoenix Force. And, oh yea, The Scarlet Witch is back. For good. This is probably the worst trade I'm putting in this continuity. It's inexcusable garbage written by writers who should have told editorial that writing a series by committee with each person writing a an issue (sometimes, seemingly without having read any of the previous issues) was awful. But it feels important to the continuity. Hopefully, if I'm redoing this continuity in the future, this trade will be far far away from the list. AvX. 4 episodes Episode 9: Avengers Assemble (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Mark Bagley) A team called The Zodiac is being run by Thanos? That…that can’t be good. The Zodiac. 1 episode Episode 10: Thanos Rising (written by Jason Aaron, art by Simon Bianchi) How did Thanos get to be the big bad bad in the Marvel Universe? By hitting every cliche in the Why I’m A Supervillain Handbook. But he did it on a different planet with beautiful art, so let’s check it out. Thanos Rising. 1 episode Episode 11: Captain Marvel In Pursuit Of Flight (written by Kelly Sue Deconnick, art by Dexter Soy, Emma Rios, and Filipe Andrade) Carol Danvers is a Captain again. And it’s time for her to get her time travel on. Captain Marvel. 1 episode Episode 12: Hawkeye My Life As A Weapon (written by Matt Fraction, art by David Aja and Javier Pulido) Clint Barton lives in an apartment building in New York where totally nobody knows he’s Hawkeye. He and his friend Kate Bishop (Hawkeye from The Young Avengers) have a serious problem with some Russian bros. What kind of Avenger story is this? Hawkeyes. 1 episode Serial 3: Avengers Arena Kill Or Die, Avengers Arena Game On, Avengers Arena Boss Level (written by Dennis Hopeless, art by Alessandro Vitti, Kev Walker, Dave Johnson, Karl Moline, and Ricardo Burchielli) Arcade has trapped sixteen young superheroes on an island where they are going to have to fight to the death. Only the lone survivor will be able to escape. Why aren’t The Avengers or The X-Men coming to help them? Hasn’t anyone noticed they’re missing? Avengers Arena. 2 episodes Episode 15: Hawkeye Little Hits (written by Matt Fraction, art by David Aja and Javier Pulido) Clint Barton is really bad at love, and dating, and, well, pretty much everything. Kate Bishop and a bunch of his exes guest in this adventure, and we get a story told completely from the perspective of Pizza Dog. My Cherry Amour. 1 episode Serial 3: Captain Marvel Down, Avengers The Enemy Within (written by Kelly Sue Deconnick, art by Scott Hepburn, Matteo Buffagni, and Filipe Andrade) After a run in with former Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, Carol starts to lose her powers, just when a bunch of mysterious events from Avengers past start popping up in NYC. Maybe some Avengers can help. The Enemy Within. 2 episodes Episode 18: Captain America Castaway In Dimension Z Books 1 & 2 (written by Rick Remender, art by Jonathan Romita JR) Arnim Zola ships Steve Rogers into another dimension where nothing is familiar. Unfortunately, like many Remender Avenger books this isn’t great but it did have a huge impact on Steve Rogers’ storyline. Art by Romita JR looks a bit like he had to rush out issues of Hit Girl, as all of his young characters look the same: poorly drawn. Castaway In Dimension Z. 1 episode Serial 4: Captain America Loose Nuke, Captain America The Iron Nail (written by Rick Remender, art by Carlos Pacheco, Nic Klein, and Pascal Alixe) Fortunately, this Remender storyline works better and has far superior art. Cap was in Dimension Z so long that he’s having trouble reacclimating to the 616. And, unfortunately, his battle against some new villains is not going to end up returning everything to normalcy. The Iron Nail. 2 episodes Season 7 has the requisite 20 episodes. The Avengers franchise is what made Marvel Studios the completely dominant force in comic based entertainment. The way they streamlined Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and other characters into an expansive universe that also includes television shows like Daredevil and Agents Of SHIELD is something that has never been achieved before in motion picture entertainment. The Avengers continuity, even without including the individual characters is supremely daunting. So, I’ve put together a chronology of some of the best Avengers related books that are currently or were recently available in collected editions (the recently available are still around for pretty cheap on various online outlets and in bookstores) into ten TV seasons. Can you believe Norman Osborne was still in charge at the end of last season? Surely this Dark Reign can’t last forever. Can it? Norman Osborne: If Trump were a little richer, and a little less evil. art by Mike Deodato JR. Season 6: The Heroic Age (showrunner: Brian Michael Bendis) Episode 1: Dark Wolverine Prince
(written by Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu, art by Guiseppe Camuncoli) If there was a Wolverine continuity (and I’ll probably get to it), you’d already know all about Wolvey’s son, Daken. But all you have in this continuity is that there’s a Wolverine looking guy on the Dark Avengers that you met briefly last season. Well, get to know him a little better, and maybe understand why all his teammates hate him. Dark Wolverine. 1 episode Episode 2: Dark Avengers Molecule Man (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Mike Deodato JR) Molecule Man is one of the least used Megavillains. He’s got a lot in common with The Scarlet Witch. Of course, Norman Osborne is probably a much bigger problem. Or, is either of them a match for The Sentry? Molecule Man. 1 episode Serial 1: Siege, Siege New Avengers, Siege Mighty Avengers, Siege Avengers The Initiative Siege Dark Avengers, Siege Thunderbolts, Thor Siege (written by Brian Michael Bendis and many more, art by Alex Coipel and many more) Norman Osborne’s next target is…Asgard. This doesn’t sit well with Asgardians or Midgardians, and the time has finally come to fight back at full power. In the end, an Avenger will die (but not one anyone remembers…fondly) and heroes will go back to being heroes again. No more fighting amongst themselves ever again. Cough cough cough cough cough. Siege. 6 episodes Episode 9: Avengers Prime (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Alan Davis) Now that Osborne has fallen, everyone can calm down and be friends ag…damn it, are Tony Stark and Steve Rogers STILL fighting? What will get these two back together? Maybe if we toss them and Thor into Asgard they can hash out their issues? The Big Three. 1 episode Episode 10: Avengers By Bendis Vol 1 (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by John Romita JR) Formerly Mighty, the regular team of Avengers loses their adjective. Also, a certain purple faced time traveling jerk is back. Kangtankerous. 1 episode Episode 11: New Avengers by Bendis Vol 1 & 2 (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Stuart Immonen, Daniel Acuna, Mike Deodato JR, and Howard Chaykin) Steve Rogers hands leadership of the team, and the keys to the mansion to Luke Cage. And now we go back to your usual sort of Avengers stories, like how Nick Fury messed everything up for these guys way back in the 1950s. Old Business. 1 episode Episode 12: Secret Avengers Mission To Mars (by Ed Brubaker, art by Mike Deodato JR, and Will Conrad) The former Captain America, Steve Rogers, has assembled a special ops team to deal with issues that the public shouldn’t find out about. But who is The Shadow Council that opposes them? Secret Avengers. 1 episode Episode 13: Avengers by Bendis Vol 2 (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by John Romita JR) Red Hulk. Red Hood. Loads of Infinity Gems. Uhoh. The Infinity Hood. 1 episode Episode 14: Osborn Evil Incarcerated (written by Kelly Sue Deconnick and Warren Ellis, art by Emma Rios) While the various Avengers teams are out gallivanting around the world, poor Norman Osborn is in prison. But maybe not for long. Evil Incarcerated. 1 episode Serial 2: Avengers Academy Permanent Record, Avengers Academy Will We Use This In The Real World (written by Christos Gage, art by Mike McKone) Hank Pym continues the idea behind The Initiative but without all the bad politics. A new class of Avengers steps into the spotlight, hoping to learn how to be the heroes of tomorrow. Avengers Academy. 2 episodes Serial 3: Fear Itself, Avengers Academy Fear Itself, Avengers Fear Itself (written by Matt Fraction and more, art by Stuart Immonen and more) Thor isn’t the only hammer wielder in The Marvel Universe. A few more of the troublesome Asgardian weapons fall to Midgard, and various heroes and villains take possession of them to wreak havoc. Luckily, Tony Stark has a plan. Thor? Not so much. Fear Itself. 2 episodes Serial 4: New Avengers Volume 3, Avengers Volume 3 (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Neal Adams, Mike Deodato JR, Will Conrad) Osborne is on the loose. Again. But now he has a whole new team of Dark Avengers at his disposal. Plus AIM and other things Osborn should never have access to. Stop HAMMER Time. 2 episode Season 6 is 20 episodes. The Avengers franchise is what made Marvel Studios the completely dominant force in comic based entertainment. The way they streamlined Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and other characters into an expansive universe that also includes television shows like Daredevil and Agents Of SHIELD is something that has never been achieved before in motion picture entertainment. The Avengers continuity, even without including the individual characters is supremely daunting. So, I’ve put together a chronology of some of the best Avengers related books that are currently or were recently available in collected editions (the recently available are still around for pretty cheap on various online outlets and in bookstores) into ten TV seasons. Ok, so I had some fun setting up The Secret Invasion as the climax for Season 4 and then yanking it away. That’s because we need a whole lot of time for Secret Invasion. Perhaps, an entire season. As we saw in the last season, certain heroes and villains were switched out by Skrulls. When? Nobody knows. Nobody knows how far back this goes, and how many people might be Skrulls. That’s going to make for an interesting season. Season 5: Dark Reign (Showrunner: Brian Michael Bendis) Episode 1: New Avengers Illuminati
(written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Brian Reed and Jim Cheung) The most powerful people in The Marvel Universe meet up periodically to deal with the biggest events that transpire. See how The Kree/Skrull war fit into Secret Invasion, and reminisce about The Infinity Gauntlet and the original Secret Wars (which I’ve spared you from) before getting to the super problem of the coming Invasion. The Cabal. 1 episode Episode 2: New Avengers Secret Invasion Book 1 Episode 3: Mighty Avengers Secret Invasion Book 1 Episode 4: Avengers The Initiative Secret Invasion Episode 5: Secret Invasion Runaways/Young Avengers Episode 6: New Avengers Secret Invasion Book 2 Episode 7: Secret Invasion Thor Episode 8: Ms Marvel Secret Invasion Episode 9: Thunderbolts Secret Invasion Episode 10: Deadpool Secret Invasion Episode 11: Secret Invasion (written by Bendis and many authors, art by Leinil Francis Yu and many artists) There’s almost no use in describing each individual collection. This is the least spoilery order to read the trades. Discover why The Skrulls are invading and watch as each team/hero deals with their doubts and methods for stopping wave after wave of Skrulls. There are about ten other trades dealing with The Secret Invasion, but these are the most relevant to Avengers continuity. The only one that might look like it shouldn’t be here is Deadpool, but, surprisingly enough, he’s entirely responsible for what happens for the rest of the season. Secret Invasion. 10 episodes Episode 12: Secret Warriors Nick Fury Agent Of Nothing (written by Brian Michael Bendis and Jonathan Hickman, art by Stefano Caseli) Thanks to Deadpool and the Skrulls, SHIELD is no more. Norman Osborne is running things now, and his organization is called HAMMER. But Nick Fury has assembled a covert ops team to keep him and his mission alive. Nick Fury Agent Of Nothing. 1 episode Episode 13: Dark Reign The List (written by many, art by many) Norman Osborne has assembled a list of the people he’s got to destroy or gather to his side in the coming era. Now all he needs is a team or two of people to help him out. The List. 1 episode Episode 14: Avengers The Initiative Disassembled (written by Dan Slott and Christos Gage, art by Steve Kurth) Does The Initiative even have a place in the age of HAMMER? New Direction. 1 episode Episode 15: Thunderbolts Bringing Down The House (written by Andy Diggle, art by Roberto De La Torre) Norman has big plans for the future but before he can launch them, he needs to clear up The Thunderbolts team he used to run. Luckily, he has just the former Thunderbolts to take down the current Thunderbolts. Bringing Down The House. 1 episode Episode 16: Dark Avengers Assemble (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Mike Deodato JR) Norman Osborne is now The Iron Patriot and has assembled his own team of Avengers who look a lot like previous Avengers but have a lot more in common with The Thunderbolts. Some of them even used to be Thunderbolts. Dark Avengers Assemble. 1 episode Episode 17: Dark Reign Sinister Spider-Man (written by Brian Reed, art by Chris Bachalo) Venom gets to play Spider-Man for a while. And eat people. He also gets to eat people. Sinister Spider-Man. 1 episode Episode 18: Deadpool Dark Reign, Dark Reign Deadpool Thunderbolts (written by Daniel Way, art by Paco Medina) The Merc With A Mouth is a little put off that Norman Osborne intercepted the key to stop The Secret Invasion before it could reach Nick Fury. He doesn’t care about the ethics. He cares that Nick was going to pay him, and Norman didn’t. So now he’s got to kill Norman Osborne. Unfortunately, The Thunderbolts are just one of many obstacles in his way. Deadpool. 1 episode Serial 2: New Avengers Power, New Avengers Powerloss (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Philip Tan, Alex Maleev, and Stuart Immonen Someone has kidnapped Luke Cage and Jessica Jones’s baby, and The New Avengers won’t stop until she’s back. While all the other teams have had to adjust to going underground during the reign of Norman Osborne, this team was prepared by having an entire season of hiding after Civil War. But now they want to make their presence felt. Powerloss. 2 episodes Season 5 has 20 jam packed episodes revolving around green things. The Avengers franchise is what made Marvel Studios the completely dominant force in comic based entertainment. The way they streamlined Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and other characters into an expansive universe that also includes television shows like Daredevil and Agents Of SHIELD is something that has never been achieved before in motion picture entertainment. The Avengers continuity, even without including the individual characters is supremely daunting. So, I’ve put together a chronology of some of the best Avengers related books that are currently or were recently available in collected editions (the recently available are still around for pretty cheap on various online outlets and in bookstores) into ten TV seasons. Now that all the superheroes are forced to register with the government, there’s a whole new status quo. Tony Stark is the head of SHIELD, and each state has their own team of superheroes. Truly, then, NOW is a great time to be a superhero, right? As long as you’re registered? Also, I’m avoiding The Death Of Captain America storyline because, while I thought his death was handled well, his return was so ridiculous, that it’s much more fun to think he’s in hiding for a bit than “traveling through memories” or whatever he was doing while the Marvel Universe thought he was dead. Get behind me, suckas. art by Jim Cheung Season 4: The Initiative (showrunners: Brian Michael Bendis and Dan Slott) Episode 1: Civil War Front Line Book 2
(written by Paul Jenkins, art by Ramon Bachs and Steve Lieber) Sally Floyd and Ben Ulrich at The Daily Bugle have ethical problems with the way Civil War is/was being reported and struggle with journalistic integrity. But, more interestingly, Speedball, whose actions caused The Civil War tries to cope with his survivor’s guilt and creates a whole new persona: Penance. Front Line. 1 episode Episode 2: Iron Man Director Of SHIELD (written by Daniel and Charles Knauf, art by Roberto De La Torre) Tony Stark is the new Nick Fury. How is he going to handle it.? The New Fury. 1 episode Serial 1: She-Hulk Planet Without A Hulk (written by Dan Slott, art by Rick Burchett) She-Hulk is now a registered agent of SHIELD and she might be having a fling with the new director. After the Hellicarrier is attacked by a bunch of Nick Fury Life Model Decoys, she discovers a clue as to why her giant green cousin is missing. That’s probably going to cause some friction with Director Stark She-Hulk Agent Of SHIELD. 2 episodes Episode 5: The Irredeemable Ant-Man (written by Robert Kirkman, art by Phil Hester and Cory Walker) One of Tony Stark’s SHIELD agents just got his hands on Hank Pym’s new Ant-Man suit, and he has no ambition to save the world with it. The Irredeemable Ant-Man. 1 episode Episode 6: Elektra The Hand (written by Akira Yashida, art by Christian Gossett) Daredevil’s ex has an extensive history with The Hand. This story just innocently checks in with her and he life among the Ninja clan. That’s all. There’s nothing foreshadowed in this episode at all. The Hand. 1 episode Episode 7: The Mighty Avengers Ultron Initiative (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Frank Cho) Carol Danvers is the new leader of The Avengers. And the official Avengers team has big problems because there’s a new Ultron in town. Stupid Hank Pym. The Mighty Avengers. 1 episode Episode 8: The New Avengers Revolution (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Leinel Francis Yu and Alex Maleev) Captain America’s team has to go underground to avoid the superhuman registration act but The Mighty Avengers do end up finding them and it’s Avengers vs. Avengers. Underground. 1 issue Episode 9: Avengers The Initiative Basic Training (written by Dan Slott, art by Stefano Caselli) Tony Stark’s Initiative means fifty teams of Avengers in fifty different states. Yellowjacket, She-Hulk, and War Machine teach some new recruits how to be Avengers. Basic Training. 1 episode Episode 10: Young Avengers Presents (written by many authors, art by many) Check out where The Young Avengers are in the post Civil War Marvel Universe. Coping Mechanisms. 1 episode Serial 2: Thunderbolts Faith In Monsters, Penance Relentless, Thunderbolts Caged Angels (written by Warren Ellis and Paul Jenkins, art by Mike Deodato JR and Paul Gullacy) A team full of supposedly reformed villains, along with Penance (formerly Speedball) work under the direction of Norman Osborne (formerly The Green Goblin) to solve problems in The Marvel Universe. The Thunderbolts team has actually been around for quite a while, but they really shine under Ellis’s direction. Penance. 4 episodes Episode 15: Mighty Avengers Venom Bomb (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Mark Bagley) A virus that turns normal people into symbiotes like Venom hits New York City, and it’s up to The Avengers to figure out a way to stop it. Plus, Tony gets a little green present in a bag. Venom Bomb. 1 episode Episode 16: Avengers The Initiative Killed In Action (written by Dan Slott and Christos Gage, art by Stefano Caselli, Clayton Henry, Steve Uy, Salvador Larroca, Tom Feister, and Patrick Sherberger) More training for the new cadets. But being a good guy ends up being fatal for some team member. Also, there’s been a thread running through almost all of this season. What is going on with Skrulls? Taskmaster. 1 episode Episode 17: New Avengers The Trust (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Leinil Francis Yu) Skrull. Problems. Plus, The Hood has designs on being the next Biggest Bad in The Marvel Universe. How will The Underground Avengers team keep him from rising to the top? The Trust. 1 episode Episode 18: New Warriors Defiant, New Warriors Thrashed (written by Kevin Grievoux, art by Paco Medina, Reilly Brown, and Joe Malin) There’s a new New Warriors team. Why? Since Civil War, that’s a super loaded team name. But this group of youngish familiar heroes in new costumes is out to help fight crime, even though they don’t appear to be registered. New New Warriors. 1 episode Serial 3: World War Hulk, World War Hulk Gamma Corps (written by Greg Pak and Frank Tieri, art by John Romita JR and Carlos Ferreira) This is not the green invaders from space we’ve been building up to all season long? Why is The Hulk back? And who are The Gamma Corps? Invasion. 2 episodes Season 4 is 20 misdirect episodes long. Don’t worry, we get back to the other green space problem next season. The Avengers franchise is what made Marvel Studios the completely dominant force in comic based entertainment. The way they streamlined Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and other characters into an expansive universe that also includes television shows like Daredevil and Agents Of SHIELD is something that has never been achieved before in motion picture entertainment. The Avengers continuity, even without including the individual characters is supremely daunting. So, I’ve put together a chronology of some of the best Avengers related books that are currently or were recently available in collected editions (the recently available are still around for pretty cheap on various online outlets and in bookstores) into ten TV seasons. Last season ended with The Scarlet Witch’s nervous breakdown nearly taking down the entire Avengers roster. We start this season with them tracking her down, not to hurt her but to figure out if they can help her. We’re kidding. Without macguffins, Bendis stories would never resolve. art by Olivier Coipel Season 3: The New Avengers (showrunner: Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar) Serial 1: New Avengers Breakout, Spider-Man Breakout
(written by Brian Michael Bendis and Tony Bedard, art by David Finch and Manuel Garcia) The Avengers are all broken up but when dozens of prisoners break out of a prison called The Raft, someone has to keep the streets safe. Spider-Man tries on his own but doesn’t have much success so he joins The New Avengers, a virtual Who’s Who of Marvel heroes. Breakout. 2 episodes Episode 3: New Avengers Sentry (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Steve Mcniven) One of the New Avengers is totally new. A Superman like hero with some serious mental problems could fit perfectly on to this team, or, you know, could cause a lot of problems. New Avengers. 1 episode Serial 2: Young Avengers Sidekicks, Young Avengers Family Matters (written by Allan Heinberg, art by Jim Cheung) A group of teenagers who seem to resemble classic Avengers shows up in New York City and start fighting crime. What are their ties to the original team? Are there ties? Jessica Jones, Iron Man, Captain America and…J Jonah Jameson? are on the case. Young Avengers. 2 episodes Episode 6: The Pulse Fear (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Michael Gaydos and Oliver Copiel) Jessica Jones and Luke Cage have a baby. Then they get married, and The New Avengers are at the wedding. Enjoy the somewhat fun sidetrack while you have the chance. The Baby. 1 episode Serial 4: New Avengers Secrets & Lies, The Amazing Spider-Man New Avengers (written by Brian Michael Bendis and J Michael Straczynski, art by David Finch and Mike Deodato JR) Spider-Woman gets caught up in some New Avengers drama, and Spider-Man is upgrading to life in the big leagues with a swanky new apartment and new friends. Isn’t it just a great time to be a superhero? Oh, who the hell is Ronin? Secrets & Lies. 2 episodes Serial 5: House Of M (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Oliver Coipel) Still suffering from her nervous breakdown, Wanda uses her powers to distort reality so that every hero gets everything they’ve ever wanted. But in this fantasy world, one little girl keeps activating the memories of certain heroes who know that what they need to do is convince The Scarlet Witch to return reality to the way it was. That is not, precisely, what she does. House Of M. 2 episodes Serial 6: Captain America Winter Soldier, Captain America Red Menace (written by Ed Brubaker, art by Steve Epting, Michael Lark, Jon Paul Leon, Mike Perkins, Javier Pulido, and Marcos Martin) The Red Skull gets killed over possession of The Cosmic Cube, and it’s up to Captain America to find out who killed him. Also, there’s an assassin running around who seems to be Captain’s long dead partner, Bucky. Someone should make a movie about this. Red Menace. 2 episodes Episode 13: The Road To Civil War (written by Brian Michael Bendis and J Michael Straczynski, art by Alex Maleev, Ron Garney, Mike McKone, and Tyler Kirkham) A group of top tier Marvel heroes have been meeting every few years to solve major crises like The Infinity Gauntlet. Their current problem is what to do about The Hulk. Thor’s hammer appears to have fallen and Dr. Doom and The Fantastic Four are all trying to prove worthy of it. Plus, Peter Parker works for Tony Stark now, and his new Spider-Man costume is definitely more useful, but it feels as though something is about to go horribly wrong for everyone. Illuminati. 1 episode Episode 14: Iron Man Extremis, Iron Man Execute Program (written by Warren Ellis, Daniel and Charles Knauf, art by Adi Granov and Patrick Zircher) It’s the Extremis storyline, so uhhh, Iron Man 3. But then Nick Fury, Captain America, and The New Avengers step in to stop Tony and a rogue assassin. Extremis. 1 episode Episode 16: Ms Marvel Best Of The Best (written by Brian Reed, art by Roberto De La Torre) Carol Danvers woke up from House Of M remembering how her life could have been. So the former Avenger who’s gone by Ms Marvel, Captain Marvel, Binary, and Warbird, returns to her Ms. roots to fight crime. Doctor Strange and The Fantastic Four are on hand for a few of her exploits before Captain America shows up with an offer. Ms. Marvel. 1 episode Serial 7: Civil War, Amazing Spider-Man Civil War, Peter Parker Spider-Man Civil War, Young Avengers Civil War, New Avengers Civil War (written by Mark Millar, J Michael Straczynski, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, and Zeb Wells, art by Steve McNiven, Ron Garney, Angel Medina, Clayton Crain, Sean Chen, and Stefano Casselli) After a group of reality TV superheroes called The New Warriors are involved in a massacre that wipes out an elementary school, The Government finally decides to push for a Superhuman Registration Act. Tony Stark leads the movement to get all superheroes to unmask for the government, including Spider-Man (and, oh that does not go well for him). Meanwhile, Captain America runs an underground group of superheroes who don’t want to register. A few deaths, and some personal conflicts surface that aren’t going to disappear for a while. Civil War. 5 episodes Season 3 is 20 episodes Interseason Special: Planet Hulk (written by Greg Pak, art by Carlo Pagulayan and Aaron Lopresti) Remember how, in episode 13, The Illuminati thought it would be a good idea to fling The Hulk into space and let God or Science or whatever sort him out? Wellllll, he went a little off course and is now a gladiator on an unfamiliar planet. He has one thing on his mind, though, escaping, and getting back to Earth. The Avengers franchise is what made Marvel Studios the completely dominant force in comic based entertainment. The way they streamlined Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and other characters into an expansive universe that also includes television shows like Daredevil and Agents Of SHIELD is something that has never been achieved before in motion picture entertainment. The Avengers continuity, even without including the individual characters is supremely daunting. So, I’ve put together a chronology of some of the best Avengers related books that are currently or were recently available in collected editions (the recently available are still around for pretty cheap on various online outlets and in bookstores) into ten TV seasons. Last season ended with an almost out of control three cosmic battles. It’s hard to imagine how this season could have more cosmic consequences, and more at stake without tossing in the DC Universe, too. But that will never hap---oh, ok. Cosmic Scavenger Hunt, anyone? art by Ed Benes Season 2: Crossing Worlds (showrunners Kurt Busiek and Geoff Johns) Serial 1: Avengers Epic Coll Operation Galactic Storm
(written and with art by many) The Sh’iar and The Kree go to war, and, of course, The Avengers are caught in the middle. Galactic Storm. 3 episodes Serial 2: JLA/Avengers (written by Kurt Busiek with art by George Perez) Yeup. DC’s greatest heroes and Marvel’s greatest heroes collide as we get a typical cosmic entity presents heroes with a quest to save their universe. It’s only fun because you get to hear what DC heroes think of Marvel 616, and Marvel characters react to DC’s Earth One. It’s otherwise a pretty typical tale of betrayal, finding understandings, and saving the day. It did take twenty-five years between when Perez started working on the first issue and when DC and Marvel finally got it together and release the final issue, though JLA Avengers. 3 episodes Serial 3: Avengers Citizen Kang (written by Roy Thomas and Mark Gruenwald, art by Larry Alexander, Geof Isherwood, and Herb Trimpe) An entire town goes missing in Wisconsin, as does The Vision. The Fantastic Four and the Avengers team up to try and find him, and the town. Of course, Kang is involved, so things are about to get weird.er. Citizen Kang. 2 episodes Serial 3: Avengers Supreme Justice (written by Kurt Busiek, art by George Perez) Scaling things back just a bit. What if a similar story happened between The Avengers and The Squadron Supreme. Of course, The Kree are involved, too. And Carol Danvers just doesn’t feel as important as she wishes she was. Be patient, Carol, your time is coming. Supreme Justice. 2 episodes Episode 11: Marvel Boy (written by Grant Morrison, art by JG Jones) One of the Kree’s greatest weapons is a child named Noh-Varr who crashes on Earth, only to be abducted for his technology. The way he is handled by Earth’s heroes might be a terrible mistake. Noh-Varr. 1 episode Serial 3: Avenger World Trust, Avengers Standoff, Avengers Red Zone (written by Geoff Johns, Dan Jurgens, and Mike Grell, art by Keiron Dwyer, Rick Remender, Gary Frank, Jon Sibal, Alan Davis, Ivan Reis, and Oliver Coipel) After some Kang-centric shenanigans, The government decides to make The Avengers an official task force, as opposed to Nick Fury and SHIELD’s secret friends. But how will the nation react to The Avengers becoming sanctioned American superheroes? Plus, Jack Of Hearts has custody issues. Thor gets reprimanded by Secretary Of Defense, Tony Stark, and a familiar terrorist releases chemical warfare at Mount Rushmore. World Trust. 5 episodes Serial 4: The Search For She-Hulk (written by Geoff Johns, art by Scott Kollins and Stephen Sadowski) Jack Of Hearts searches for purpose, Ant-Man tries to patch things up with Wasp, and both The Avengers and The Hulk try to help She-Hulk with her rage issues. And someone totally dies (but not anyone most people remember). What Happens In Vegas. 2 episodes Serial 5: Avengers Disassembled (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by David Finch) Dead Avengers come back to life, only to immediately die again. Kree attack. She Hulk goes even crazier. The Avengers mansion is burned to the ground. One drunk slip by an Avenger causes all hell to reign down on them, and they’re going to have to seriously rebuild if they’re going to remain a team. Disassembled. 2 episodes This season falls apart at 20 episodes Interseason Special: Jessica Jones Alias (AKA Jessica Jones) Vols 1-3 (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Michael Gaydos) A small-time New York City detective specializing in superhuman affairs used to be an Avenger named Jewel (no, she didn’t live in her car and put out a popular folk-pop album in the 90s). This story is also part of my Daredevil continuity because it plays a big part in his story, but she also has a relationship with Luke Cage that’s going to make her an important part of this continuity, as well. The Avengers franchise is what made Marvel Studios the completely dominant force in comic based entertainment. The way they streamlined Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and other characters into an expansive universe that also includes television shows like Daredevil and Agents Of SHIELD is something that has never been achieved before in motion picture entertainment. The Avengers continuity, even without including the individual characters is supremely daunting. So, I’ve put together a chronology of some of the best Avengers related books that are currently or were recently available in collected editions (the recently available are still around for pretty cheap on various online outlets and in bookstores) into ten TV seasons. Season 1 isn’t just The First Team of Avengers. I’m not a big fan of silver age books, so I want to get at least into the 80s by the end of the first season, so be prepared for a lot of team shake ups pretty quickly, which is actually in the spirit of the Avengers book, whose entire lineup changed three times in the first five issues. Did the photographer just say ‘Cap puts the ass in assemble?’ art by George Perez Season 1: Assemble (showrunner: David Michelinie and Jim Starlin) Serial 1: Avengers Epic Collection: Always An Avenger
(written by Stan Lee, art by Jack Kirby and Don Heck) The team forms to fight off the threat of Loki. Then the team nearly breaks up. They go through an assortment of villains and team rosters, as well as crossing over with nearly every other property Marvel had at the time, including The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, and Spider-Man. Assemble. 2 episodes Serial 2: Avengers Kree/Skrull War (written by Roy Thomas, art by Neal Adams, Sal Buscema, and John Buscema) The Fantastic Four once battled a race of shape-shifting aliens called The Skrulls. When they defeated them, Reed Richards turned three of them into cows. After the Avengers deal with the possible threat of Captain Marvel’s race, The Kree, Vision is attacked by the Skrull cows. Featuring The Fantastic Four, Annihilus, and the subject of a certain android Ant-Man created called Ultron gets breached. The Kree. 1 episode Skrullelujah. 1 episode Episode 5: Avengers Celestial Madonna (written by Roy Thomas and Steve Engleheart, art by Sal Buscema, Dave Cockrum, and Bob Brown) There’s a new star in the sky and it’s going to mess up the Avengers, handing them their first of many deaths (not an Avenger most people can name, though). But now time traveling villains, including the rascally Kang have descended on their time to take out The Avengers. Plus, more damned Skrulls, and Vision and The Scarlet Witch get married? Celestial Madonna. 1 episode Episode 6: Avengers The Serpent Crown (written by Steve Engleheart, art by George Perez) The Avengers battle The Squadron Supreme, some Old West themed Marvel villains and Kang. GO AWAY KANG, YOU’RE TAKING UP A LOT OF SPACE HERE. This is a fun and odd team of Avengers that includes Beast (usually an X-Men) and Patsy Walker, Hellcat. Crisis On A Different Earth. 1 episode Episode 7: Iron Man Prelude To Armor Wars, Iron Man Armor Wars (written by David Michelinie and Bob Layton, art by Mark Bright, Bob Layton, and Barry Windsor-Smith) Tony Stark thought he’d been keeping a tight wrap on his technology, but when AIM starts crime sprees using Stark Tech, Iron Man decides to go at them full throttle. He even lets Jim Rhodes in on the Iron Man action. Nick Fury, Captain America and a variety of Avengers get in on Stark’s quest to take AIM down. Armor Wars. 1 episode Episode 8: Iron Man Demon In A Bottle (written by Dave Michelinie, art by Bob Layton and John Romita JR) In order to deal with his constant state of stress, Mr. Stark has developed quite the alcohol dependency. Ant-Man, Nick Fury, and a cast of Avengers try and help him with that. But he doesn’t need their help. Well, until he might have accidentally killed a UN Ambassador. Demon In A Bottle. 1 episode Episode 9: Avengers Vision & The Scarlet Witch A Year In The Life (written by Steve Engleheart, art by Richard Howell and Al Milgrom) The Avengers power couple “retires” to New Jersey to start a family. But their own families, including Magneto, Quicksilver, and Ultron are less than supportive, as Quicksilver’s own marriage to the Inhumans’ Crystal is a huge mess. You know what will solve their problems? Having kids. That certainly isn’t going to cause massive problems down the line. Featuring a slew of Avenger and non-Avenger guest stars, and Dr. Strange actually acts as a doctor for once. Family Matters. 1 episode Serial 3: Avengers The Legacy Of Thanos (written by Roger Stern and John Byrne, art by John Buscema and John Byrne) The new Captain Marvel investigates Thanos’s abandoned ship, she gets a bit of a surprise. Nebula plots to destroy The Skrulls, and then sets her sites on Earth. All this while Captain America and the rest of The Avengers battle Terminus in The Savage Land (a terrible place to battle when there are Skrulls around). Plus, The Fantastic Four, Firelord, and The Beyonder. The Legacy Of Thanos. 2 episodes Serial 4: Avengers West Coast Vision Quest, Avengers West Coast Darker Than Scarlet (written by John Byrne, Roy and Dann Thomas, art by John Byrne and Paul Ryan) It’s a little weird that a magical mutant and an android had children together, right? So when a series of nannies mention that occasionally the children just disappear, The West Coast Avengers start to think that something must be up. And what’s up is not Wanda’s sanity. Darker Than Scarlet. 2 episodes Serial 4: The Infinity Gauntlet (written by Jim Starlin, art by George Perez and Ron Lim) Thanos takes a play at complete control of The Universe, tracking down all the gems that, when assembled, power The Infinity Gauntlet, and it’s up to all of The Avengers and, really, all the Marvel heroes to come together and stop him before he ends all of creation itself. The Infinity Gauntlet. 2 episodes Serial 5: Infinity War (written by Jim Starlin, art by Ron Lim, Tom Raney, Angel Medina, and Shawn McManus) Adam Warlock may have helped keep Thanos from ascending during Infinity Gauntlet, but what if he’s not entirely a hero, himself? His evil half, Magus, surfaces and takes possession of The Gauntlet. Once again, all the Marvel superheroes in the universe have to band together to save the universe from a mad tyrant. And this time, their salvation might be…Thanos? Infinity War. 3 episodes Serial 6: Infinity Crusade (written by Jim Starlin, art by Ron Lim, Tom Raney, Angel Medina, Tom Grindberg, and Kris Renkewitz) While Infinity War was going on, the evil side of Adam Warlock (Magus) expelled his own good side, creating The Goddess. Her agenda appears to be saving the universe from evil? So why has she assembled an army of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes? Thanos, The Silver Surfer, Professor X, and a cabal of heroes left behind must save the universe from…good? Infinity Crusade. 2 episodes Season 1 is 20 cosmic episodes The X-Men franchise has had a few animated series, and is on their way to a sixth live action movie. But how would you put together a ten season live action show with continuity and including the best stories from the various X-books over the years? The events of the last season brought the mutant population from millions to 198. Despair ran through the Xavier school, the ashes of Genosha, Mutant Town and beyond. This season Beast tries to come up with a way to bring the species back from the brink of extinction. Look at all them pretty graves. Art by Marc Silvestri and Stjepan Stejic Season Seven: Messiah Complex (showrunners Peter David and Mike Carey) Backup of the first six episodes: Endangered Species
(written by Mike Carey, Christopher Yost, and Christos Gage, art by Scot Eaton, Mark Bagley, Mike Perkins, Tom Grummet, and Andrea Divito) Beast goes across the globe in search of a solution to the decimation crisis, running into a slew of villains, old friends, and surprises along the way. Episode 1: New Avengers The Collective (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Steve McNiven and Mike Deodato) The Avengers know all about what happened during House Of M so they’re super worried when a new cosmic entity shows up in Alaska that appears to be a mutant. What it is is much, much worse. The Collective. 1 episode Serial 1: X-Factor Life & Death Matters, X-Factor Many Lives Of Madrox, Heart Of Ice (written by Peter David, art by Pablo Raimondi, Ariel Olivetti, Dennis Calero, Renato Arlem, and Roy Allen Martinez) The heart of the post House Of M world is X-Factor. Peter David’s decision to draw from the event and then only skirt around the other crossovers works really well, making this book much more engaging than any of the other X-books. In these two volumes they deal with mutant terrorist cells, the truth behind Decimation, the enigmatic Layla Miller, and the X-Men who really want them to pick aside in Civil War. The Many Lives Of Madrox. 5 episodes Serial 2: Messiah Complex (written by Ed Brubaker, Mike Carey, Peter David, Craig Kyle, and Christopher Yost, art by Marc Silvestri, Billy Tan, Chris Bachalo, Humberto Ramos, and Scot Eaton) A mutant child is born in Alaska and every mutant and villain are fighting for control of it. Marauders. Purifiers. Reavers. Mr Sinister. Forge. Lady Deathstrike. Mystique. Pretty much everybody but Apocalypse is involved. And in the end, the X-Men are betrayed by several of their own. But at least there’s hope. Also, Madrox and Layla Miller go to the future to learn what they can. It doesn’t go well. Messiah Complex. 6 episodes Serial 3: X-Factor The Only Game In Town (written by Peter David, art by Pablo Raimondi and Valentine De Landro) X-Factor had a rough time during Messiah Complex and Madrox and Layla’s return to Mutant Town isn’t precisely restful. Plus, Quicksilver has had a rough time of it since House Of M but maybe things will finally turn around for him. Also, Val Cooper from the early X-Factor days gets some comeuppance. The Only Game In Town. 2 episodes Episode 14: Wolverine Get Mystique (written by Jason Aaron, art by Ron Garney) Mystique wreaked havoc during Messiah Complex, and Logan decides he needs to make her pay. Get Mystique. 1 episode Serial 5: Cable Messiah War, Cable Waiting For The End Of The World (written by Duane Swierczynski, art by Ariel Olivetti, and Ken Lashley) Tasked with keeping the future of mutantkind safe, Cable travels through the future with Hope but they are constantly being trailed by a certain turncoat X-Men who thinks Hope is the key to mutantkind’s extinction, not their salvation. Waiting For The End Of The World. 2 episodes Serial 6: X-Factor Time And A Half, X-Factor Overtime (written by Peter David, art by Valentine De Landro and Marco Santucci) Just when you think X-Factor couldn’t get any darker, it does. Longshot, Darwin, and Shatterstar join the team. Madrox goes back to the future and we finally learn why Layla Miller “knows stuff”. Overtime. 3 episodes Serial 7: Cable X-Force Messiah War (written by Duane Swierczynski, Craig Kyle, and Christopher Yost, art by Ariel Olivetti, Jamie Mckelvie, Mike Choi, Sonia Oback, Clayton Crain, and Larry Stroman) Returning from their adventures through time, Cable and the child are greeted by X-Force and a litany of villains still trying to claim the messiah child as their own. Remember how I said it was everybody but Apocalypse? Yea, well, Apocalypse shows up. Plus, Deadpool and Cable have some long unfinished business. Messiah War. 2 episodes Season seven. 22 episodes Interseason Special: X-Men Legacy Divided He Stands, Uncanny X-Men Divided We Stand (written by Mike Carey and Ed Brubaker, art by Scot Eaton, John Romita Jr, Billy Tan, Greg Land, Brandon Peterson, Mike Deodata, and Mike Choi) Having been shot by a traitorous X-Man earlier in the series, Professor X is being put back together by an unknown benefactor memory by memory. Meanwhile Cyclops and Emma Frost go to the west coast to examine the future of mutantkind. The X-Men franchise has had a few animated series, and is on their way to a sixth live action movie. But how would you put together a ten season live action show with continuity and including the best stories from the various X-books over the years? Season two focused on Mr. Sinister and The Marauders and the dissolution of the team that came together in the first season. Well season three returns us to Xavier’s school, introduces us to The Legacy Virus, and gives us a new big bad who is so bad, he gets the whole season named after him. Onslaught and Dr Doom art by Skottie Young Season Three: Onslaught (showrunners: Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza) Serial 1 & 2: X-Men Mutant Genesis.
(written by Chris Claremont, Scott Lobdell, and Jim Lee, art by Jim Lee) See how the new teams come together, learn uncomfortable truths about the X-Men’s relationship with Magneto. See Rogue and Gambit mercilessly flirt. Delve into Wolverine’s backstory as Omega Red shows up. Oh yea, and Jubilee’s around. Must be the 90s. Avalon. 2 episodes Omega Red. 2 episodes Serial 3: X-Cutioner’s Song (written by Scot Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza, and Peter David, art by Brandon Peterson, Andy Kubert, Jae Lee, and Greg Capullo) Who tried to kill Professor X? Who is Cable? How many 90s characters happen to have that shining eye thing that Longshot and Cable and Ahab and Stryfe and everybody seem to have? While all of the mutants try and solve the mystery (ok, they don’t care about investigating the eye thing but I want answers, damn it), we learn a whole mess of more confusing things about Jean Grey and Cyclops. They must be important or something. X-Cutioner’s Song. 3 episodes Serial 4: X-Men: A Skinning Of Souls (written by Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza, and Dan Slott, art by Andy Kubert, Brandon Peterson, Richard Bennet, and more) Picking up right after X-Cutioner’s song, we meet a new villain let loose in Russia who will take on the X-Men AND Omega Red. More Jean Grey Cyclops drama. Rogue and Gambit continue to make kissy-face. Mr. Sinister just won’t go away. And then you get two Psylockes for the price of one! Why are there…is this a clone thing….are they…I mean…huh. Skinning Of Souls. 3 episodes Episode 11: Avengers & X-Men: Bloodties (written by Bob Harras, Fabian Nicieza, Roy Thomas, and Scott Lobdell, art by Steve Epting, Andy Kubert, Matt Ryan, Dave Ross, and John Romita Jr) The X-Men, The Avengers, and The West Coast Avengers team-up as The Acolytes who once served Magneto (who is totally dead, of course) wreak havoc on all the superheroes. The two most prominent Acolytes, Fabien Cortez and Exodus battle for control of the team, each believing they are truly following in Mag’s footprints. A lot of this takes place on good old mutant hating island nation, Genosha. Bloodties. 1 episode Serial 5: The Wedding Of Cyclops And Phoenix (written by Fabian Nicieza, Scott Lobdell, Glen Herdling, and Kurt Busiek, art by Richard Bennett, Andy Kubert, Ian Chuchill, Mike McKone, John Romita Jr, Tim Sale, and Ron Randall) Because somebody in the 90s demanded it The Wedding Of Cyclops And Phoenix not only delivers on the promise of the title but also delves into The Legacy Virus, dealing with the multiple Psylocke issue and gives us a whole mess of Sabretooth. And for the love all that’s Summers, GO AWAY MR. SINISTER, YOU ARE NOT SCARY. It’s a big collection but I’m only giving The Wedding. 3 episodes Serial 6: The Road To Onslaught, Prelude To Onslaught, and The Complete Onslaught Epic Volumes 1-4 (many writers and artists) Now we get to our first big skip. You don’t need to read Age Of Apocalypse. It has a fun set-up where Legion goes back in time to kill Magneto but accidentally takes out Professor X instead, but the ensuing storyline is utter madness. It’s a whole different world that, by the end of the series ceases to exist. So don’t invest! Instead, it’s time for The Road To Onslaught featuring Bishop, The X-Babies, a dude who looks but does not act an awful lot like Magneto, and Psylocke trying to cure Sabretooth of his rage (it doesn’t go well). Plus a bunch of planted seeds about the coming of Onslaught. Prelude To Onslaught is the perfect primer. It starts with pivotal snippets of storylines (some which are already represented in the previous seasons, some which aren’t, including a glimpse of the aforementioned missing Age Of Apocalypse) and then throws you right into The Complete Onslaught Epic. See the ultimate consequence of Professor X shutting down Magneto’s mind at the beginning of the season. Guest starring pretty much every Marvel superhero who existed in the 90s. And not leaving very many of them alive at the end. Onslaught. 6 episodes Season 3 has 20 episodes. Interseason Special: Zero Tolerance. (written by Scott Lobdell, John Francis Moore, Larry Hama, and James Robinson, art by Chris Bachalo, Carlos Pacheco, Leinil Francis Yu, and Adam Pollina) After the cataclysmic events of Onslaught (what other kind of events are there when the X-Men are involved?) the government declares open season on mutants (again). Lots of Wolverine, Cable, Cecelia Reyes, Generation X, and even some Deadpool. Plus, sad kids. The X-Men franchise has had a few animated series, and is on their way to a sixth live action movie. But how would you put together a ten season live action show with continuity and including the best stories from the various X-books over the years? Personally, I’m skipping all the silver age comics. No offense to silver age fans. The silver age X-Men books are fun but the book didn’t really hit its stride until the 70s, where we’ll start off Season 1. In place of episodes, I’m calling each book a serial, like old school Doctor Who storylines because you shouldn’t try and cram a Chris Claremont story into forty-five minutes. The Uncanny X-Men art by Dave Cockrum Season 1: Uncanny (showrunner: Chris Claremont) Serial 1: X-Men Epic Collection: Second Genesis
(written by Chris Claremont, art by Dave Cockrum, Bob Brown, Tony Dezuniga, and John Byrne) Chris Claremont isn’t The Father of The X-Men (Stan Lee and John Byrne are the My Two Dads for our mutant heroes) but he’s the mentor who raised them into what they’ve become. We start off with Professor X recruiting a team of mutants to rescue his previous team of mutants (the original X-Men) who went on a mission to Krakoa and, apart from team leader, Cyclops, did not return. This is a very 1970s shot at diversity. There’s an eastern European demon-looking guy, a Russian who seems to be made of metal, an African storm goddess, a Japanese flamethrower, a Canadian with adamantium claws, a Scottish guy with a debilitating scream, and a super strong Apache. By 2015 standards, their characters and origins are hugely problematic, but this team was incredibly progressive for 1975. In this volume, the team comes together, suffers a tragedy, integrates with the original X-Men and hits all the tropes from the original run of X-Men in a slightly more modern manner. We’re then introduced to The Phoenix, the Sh’iar, we spend some time learning about Professor X’s backstory via Juggernaut and Black Tom and some other crucial X-Men villains make appearances. A lot of what will become important X-history is laid down here by Claremont, Cockrum, and Byrne, and though its over-exposition is dated, the actual story is worth the read. This serial is called Hope You Survive The Experience. 4 episodes Serial 2: X-Men Proteus (written by Chris Claremont, art by John Byrne) This serial presents us with the first Claremont-conceived villain. Moira Mactaggert discovers something bad is going down on Muir Island, and it isn’t long before the X-Men show up to help some of their beleaguered comrades. The hardcover collection also contains some issues of Classic X-Men that delve deeper into the Proteus story, and have some fun artistic takes on what happens to mutants when you bend reality. Polaris and Havoc show up in this volume, and we also get to meet Madrox. Proteus. 2 episodes. Serial 3: X-Men The Dark Phoenix Saga (written by Chris Claremont, art by John Byrne) This is pretty much the ultimate X-story. Every time the X-Men have crossed into another media, the writers tell some version of this space saga. Phoenix (formerly Marvel Girl/Jean Grey) is manipulated by members of The Hellfire Club. In this volume you meet Kitty Pride, Emma Frost, Dazzler, and more (but who needs more than them?), you get to see Wolverine be all Wolveriney for the first time, and the Sh’iar show up to put a stop to a villain who threatens their very existence. There are also some cameos by Oatu The Watcher and Dr. Strange. The Dark Phoenix Saga can not be containted. 4 episodes Serial 4: X-Men Days Of Future Past (written by Chris Claremont, art by John Byrne) This is not quite like the movie of the same name. We start at a funeral (omg, did someone die in the last storyline? I wonder if it’s forever), then we spend some time with Alpha Flight, and then we get into the storyline that the movie is based on. Sentinels. Mystique. Destiny. The future. And how to keep all the X-Men from being massacred by a corrupt government. The series closes off with a Christmas story where Kitty Pride battles an alien that is in no way at all inspired by the xenomorphs in Alien. Days Of Future Past. 4 episodes. Serial 5: God Loves, Man Kills (written by Chris Claremont, art by Brent Anderson) We take a break from Byrne (but not Claremont) for what was originally a graphic novel with art by Brent Anderson. We see how religion and politics are at odds with the science based mutant X-Men. This graphic novel was the basis for the second X-Men movie, with the main difference being that the villain (Stryker) is a minister, not a military guy. Also we get to see Magneto be more of a good guy, as his aim doesn’t seem to be “kill all non-mutants”. God Loves Man Kills. 2 episodes Serial 6: From The Ashes (written by Chris Claremont, art by Paul Smith, Walter Simonson, and John Romita Jr) “Professor X is a jerk!” is one of the most iconic Kitty Pride moments. In this serial, we spend more time with The Hellfire Club, Mystique and Destiny. Rogue joins the X-Men, Wolverine goes to Japan, the X-Men meet The Morlocks, Storm gets a mohawk, and Cyclops meets Madeline Pryor who looks just a teensy bit like his ex. There is a metric ton of story packed into this volume, and not just because of Claremont’s exposition. This is a good closing spot for season one, not just because many of the characters are at rest points in their stories, but because there is a vast amount of X-Men books after this that haven’t been collected anywhere. From The Ashes. 4 episodes This puts Season 1 at 20 episodes. BUT WAIT. One of the recent traditions in Doctor Who is to have an Interseason (usually Christmas) special. I’ll be using this device as a setup for a coming season. Interseason Special: Fantastic Four By John Byrne Vol 07. (written by John Byrne, Roger Stern, and Bob Layton, art by John Byrne, John Buscema, and Jackson Guice) It’s possible that I’ll do an FF chronology someday, but for now, you don’t need to know anything to pick up this book. It opens with the Fantastic Four (Reed Richards, The Invisible Woman, The Human Torch, and She-Hulk) calling in The Avengers to fight a bunch of Skrulls. Once that crossover is finished, The Beyonder shows up and then the FF and The Avengers find a cocoon in the ocean. Inside the cocoon? An X-Men believed to be dead. Yeup, Phoenix is back and she joins up with the original X-Men team (Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, and Angel) to form a new superhero group: X-Factor. Yeup, Cyclops leaves his wife and baby boy (born between seasons) behind to bro out with his high school friends and his ex-girlfriend. Scott Summers has always been The Real Worst X-Man. |
January 2025
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