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.

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.

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

For six months, my graphic novels sat lonely in a basement in Cambridge, Massachusetts, while my cats and I wandered around New England doing very non-comic booky things.  I let my websites lapse, stopped reading comics every week, and yet, somehow, still did not end up being a productive member of society.  So I now have a new apartment, with many places to store my immense graphic novel collection.  Arranging my graphic novels always proves difficult, but I thought it would be fun to turn one of my closets into a Batcave filled with only the graphic novels for this Batchronology, plus the Elseworld books.

Step two was getting back into reading comics.  I first punished myself by reading the complete run of Jim Valentino's Shadowhawk.  I then washed the taste out of my brain with the complete run of Warren Ellis's Transmetroplitan.  You should read that, if you're into non superhero comics that are amazing.  (Please note, I did not link to Amazon for Shadowhawk.  No sin you've committed can possibly warrant you having to read that terrible, terrible series.  Stay away.  Stay far...far...far away.)  Starman came next.  And then, I decided I was ready to immerse myself in some comic book themed cartoons.

A friend of mine just got me into Young Justice, a DC Universe cartoon that doesn't involve Bruce Timm, yet manages to be equally amazing as his work.  It's a reimagining of a Teen Titans-esque team of super sidekicks set in a universe different from the Teen Titans cartoon.  It's fun, filled with running gags, and excellent character design and artwork.  And it got me feeling all nostalgic for the Teen Titans.   So, imagine my joy at realizing that the next two books for the Chronology project were the two most famous Teen Titan collections of all time.

I am not including every issue/collection of Teen Titans as part of The Batman Chronology.  Teen Titans Year One was in the last entry, and you'll just have to imagine that in the time that you read that the team lineup has changed to include Dick Grayson Robin, Kid Flash, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven, and Changeling (a.k.a Beast Boy from the cartoon).

I've never read the first 25 issues of the series, so I can't tell you of their quality, but for an early 80s comic (this run starts in 1982) the storytelling is excellent, and the art is damned fine.  Marv Wolfman does an excellent job of introducing the Titans as they enter the story.  Unlike the happy-go-lucky (sort of) child glee of the animated series, these Titans are in their mid teens and bristling with hormones.  Changeling/Beast Boy uses all the swagger he can muster to win over the villainess Terra and convert her to the Titans team.  Hormonewhile, Robin and Starfire have lots of feeling for each other that they converse about between make out sessions.  And Raven tells Kid Flash that she would love him but that being in love will release the Trigon portion of her (man, the back story sounds so intriguing that I may go out and buy the Teen Titans Omnibus).

While this collection is a complete and insular story, it's clear that it's also part of a larger story arc involving the villains Brother Blood, and a separate, and opposing, set of villains called The Brotherhood of Evil (no relation to Magneto.  Wolfman (no relation to Jack) is a master of making each issue feel complete in and of itself, while making it a small piece of an overarching story.  This collection is so dense with plot and interpersonal drama, to try and recount all of it would be a disservice.

The major themes of the collection are the struggle of the Titans to control their powers and to master their interpersonal relationships.  Each of them have a major love life issue that has them thinking whether or not they should remain on the team.  And Wolfman makes very salient points about the eighties that you wouldn't think would have been noticed as the 80s unfolded.  It almost reads like a really well written mocking love note to the 80s, complete with snappy patter, faux commercials, preppy humor, and lots of references to the lawsuit happy culture that was beginning to unfold.

As an important Batman note, we learn in this volume that Bruce Wayne has taken on a new ward, Jason Todd.  There aren't many Jason Todd era Batman comics collected in graphic novel, so it's a shame we have to learn about it in such an offhand fashion, but, get out your hankies, Dick Grayson ceases to be Robin in this volume, and his replacement isn't nearly as cool as Sarah Chalke.

There are also a different set of villains in nearly every issue.  While the large drama unfolds, the Titans are distracted by Thunder and Lightning, the death of Trident, a mobster named Scarapelli, and Deathstroke The Terminator (who appears to be part of a new unfolding drama).  We also witness the debut (and not just in this chronology, but in the entire DC Universe) of The Vigilante.

I'm tempted to say that this collection is right up there with Year One and The Long Halloween, but really this is an entirely different creature.  This is not just a solid run of a few issues but part of dense continuity that is above and beyond what most people are doing now, certainly above and beyond the other comics of 1982/3.

Story: Perhaps a 6, but we'll call it 5, Art: 5