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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.
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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 I was never much into The Green Lantern, but I started working in comic book stores right before Geoff Johns brought Hal Jordan back to prominence as a major character in the DC Universe. There are about five seasons worth of stories that I’ve read that fit pretty neatly into the continuity that Johns mined from, and then created himself. This is pretty much the easiest season to put together. Just read anything that says Blackest Night on the cover, and you’re good. There is already enough post-Blackest Night material to create a sixth and possibly seventh season, but they’re kind of a letdown after this massive event, so I’m just going to call it quits at the end of this season.  Darkest days, indeed. art by Ethan Van Sciver Season 5: Blackest Night (showrunner: Geoff Johns) Episode 1: Blackest Night Tales Of The Corps
(written by Geoff Johns, Peter J Tomasi, and Sterling Gates, art by Jerry Ordway, Rags Morales, Dough Mahnke, and more) How did The Red Lanterns form? What caused the Orange Lantern to even exist? How did The Star Sapphire become The Star Sapphire? There are a lot of origins to get us ready for the main event. Plus, there’s an Indigo Tribe? Not So Secret Origins. 1 episode Serial 1: Blackest Night Rise Of The Black Lanterns (written by Geoff Johns, Peter J Tomasi, Tony Bedard, Dan Didio, JT Krul, Dennis O’Neil, Greg Rucka, James Robinson, and Eric Wallace, art by an obscene amount of artists) During The Blackest Night era, many of the popular DC titles that had been cancelled in the last decade were resurrected for one more issue, if possible, by the original creative team. Learn the fears of a ton of DC heroes as the dead come back to life. Rise Of The Black Lanterns. 2 episodes Serial 2: Blackest Night Black Lantern Corps Volumes 1 & 2 (written by many, art by many) Batman, Superman, The Titans, The Flash, JSA, and Wonder Woman all have to deal with dead friends and enemies coming back to life and trying to destroy them. They’re going to have to fight the good fight and then track down those pesky lanterns to get to the bottom of this. Black Lantern Corps. 3 episodes Serial 3: Blackest Night, Blackest Night Green Lantern, Blackest Night Green Lantern Corps (written by Geoff Johns and Peter J Tomasi, art by Ivan Reis, Doug Mahnke and Patrick Gleason) This is the section where you really want to put each book down after a chapter, pick up another book, read a chapter, put it down, pick up the third book, read a chapter, etc. Featuring favorite DC characters both alive and dead. Read about who is behind this new Black Lantern Corps, and how the Green Lanterns intend to bring him down with the help of the other corps. Blackest Night 6 episodes Episode 13: Superman The Black Ring Books 1 & 2 (written by Paul Cornell, art by Pete Woods) Having briefly held The Orange Ring during Blackest Night, Lex Luthor will do anything to get his hands on another power ring. Even his creepy android Lois Lane thinks he might be going too far. There are a bunch of cool cameos by DC heroes and villains, including Death from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman! Power. 1 episode Serial 4: Brightest Day Volumes 1-3, Green Lantern Brightest Day (written by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi, art by many) Twelve DC heroes came back to life after the events of Blackest Night. Why? And what is The White Lantern all about? Plus, one member from each lantern corps assemble as a team to sort out one last mystery. Brightest Day. 2 episodes Season 5. 15 episodes I was never much into The Green Lantern, but I started working in comic book stores right before Geoff Johns brought Hal Jordan back to prominence as a major character in the DC Universe. There are about five seasons worth of stories that I’ve read that fit pretty neatly into the continuity that Johns mined from, and then created himself. This season starts of with the second coolest event in the chronology and then builds up to the start of the final season. There are so many new corps and characters in this season, you’d imagine it would be difficult to follow, but Johns and Tomasi put together a powerful storyline designed to not only reform the foundation of the Lantern mythos, but the entire DC Universe as well.  The Skittle Corps pose together before deciding whether or not to fight to the death. Art by Ivan Reis Season 4: Ring Quest (showrunners Geoff Johns and Peter J Tomasi) Serial 1: Green Lantern The Sinestro Corps War Books 1 & 2, Green Lantern Corps Tales Of The Sinestro Corps
(written by Geoff Johns, Dave Gibbons, Peter J Tomasi, Ron Marz, Alan Burnett, and Sterling Gates, art by Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleason, Ethan Van Sciver, Dave Gibbons, and more) Hal Jordan’s greatest opponent, Sinestro is back and he’s harnessed the power of the yellow ring and used it to start his own corps. Now he seeks the power of Ion and the complete destruction of all things wearing green rings. Did I say Ion? I might have meant Parallax. Hank Henshaw seems to fit into this, somehow, too, and the Justice League has been called in to take care of him. The Sinestro Corps War. 4 episodes Serial 2: Green Lantern Corps Ring Quest (written by Peter J Tomasi, art by Patrick Gleason) With the Sinestro War behind them, Kyle, Guy, Jon and the rest of the corps to relax on Earth drinking Midori based drinks. Nahhh. Mongul is back and he has several of the yellow rings that were unable to find hosts after the war. Clearly, the Green Lanterns need some more recruits. And It Was All Yellow. 2 episodes Episode 5: Booster Gold 52 Pickup (written by Geoff Johns, art by Jeff Katz and Dan Jurgens) The most annoying superhero from the future must save the timeline from utter destruction, which seems to have something to do with a certain purple bodied former Green Lantern. Booster. 1 episode Serial 3: Green Lantern Rage Of The Red Lanterns (written by Geoff Johns, art by Ivan Reis and Shane Davis) Red Lanterns? Alpha Lanterns? Blue Lanterns? Angry, projectile vomiting villains and peaceful mystic sages join in the fray for control of the universe, as the spectrum of lanterns grows wider and wider in anticipation of the prophesied Blackest Night Rage Of The Red Lanterns. 2 episodes Serial 4: Green Lantern Corps Sins Of The Star Sapphire (written by Peter Tomasi, art by Patrick Gleason and Luke Ross) Will couldn’t completely overcome fear, so now a race called the Zamoans, led by The Star Sapphire are going to try and conquer fear by infusing it with love, an emotion abandoned by the guardians well before they even thought of creating the Green Lantern corps. Sins Of The Star Sapphire. 2 episodes Episode 12: Justice League When Worlds Collide (written by Dwayne McDuffie, art by Ed Benes) Dissatisfied with the current direction of The Justice League, Hal Jordan and his good buddy Oliver Queen break off to form their own Justice League. Featuring the characters from the defunct Milestone universe. When Worlds Collide. 1 episode Serial 6: Green Lantern Agent Orange (written by Geoff Johns, art by Phillip Tan) The most awesome character/villain introduced in the Geoff Johns era has to be Larfleeze, The Orange Lantern. Unlike all those other corps that stock their ranks with creatures who harbor a similar emotional background, The Orange Lantern is defined by avarice, so There Can Be Only One. One armed with the ghosts of many. Larfleeze is the current wielder of the ring, and he’s gonna go all Gollum if you try and take The Precious from him. Agent Orange. 2 episodes Episode 15: Green Lantern Corps Emerald Eclipse (written by Peter J Tomasi, art by Patrick Gleason) Mongul was down but not out, and now he’s looking for a new homeworld for the Sinestro Corps. But those loyal to the deposed Sinestro have some feelings about that. Plus, Ion wants to save his home planet without actually having to go to it. Tricky. Emerald Eclipse. 1 episode Season 4 is 15 episodes I was never much into The Green Lantern, but I started working in comic book stores right before Geoff Johns brought Hal Jordan back to prominence as a major character in the DC Universe. There are about five seasons worth of stories that I’ve read that fit pretty neatly into the continuity that Johns mined from, and then created himself. Now that Hal Jordan and The Green Lantern Corps are back, we can fully submerge ourselves into the greatest era in the history of The Green Lantern. The Geoff Johns era.  What? The middle finger is where I wear my ring. (art by Ivan Reis) Season 3: Recharge (showrunner: Geoff Johns) Serial 1: Green Lantern Secret Origin
(written by Geoff Johns, art by Ivan Reis) Geoff Johns’s take on Hal Jordan’s origin sets up the events of this season, adding a few relevant surprises. Secret Origin. 2 episodes Serial 2: Green Lantern No Fear (written by Geoff Johns, art by Carlos Pacheco, Ethan Van Sciver, and Darwyn Cooke) Hal! Hal! Hal! Hal! Yea, the OGL is back and, in many ways, this is just a modern retelling of his first few stories. But the amount of love poured into the retelling makes it totally worth it. No Fear. 2 episodes Serial 3: Revenge Of The Green Lanterns (written by Geoff Johns, art by Carlos Pacheco) Hal Jordan has a lot of fences to mend. Not only was there the whole Parallax thing, and the whole Spectre thing. There was also the whole Infinite Crisis thing. So now he’s got to renew his friendships with Ollie and Batman, as well as try to get the surviving members of the corps on his side, even if it means breaking some rules to do it. Mending Fences. 3 episodes Serial 4: Green Lantern Corps Recharge, Green Lantern Corps To Be A Lantern (written by Geoff Johns and Dave Gibbons, art by Dave Gibbons and Patrick Gleason) If the guardians are back, so is the corps. Come see old faces and new, speaking The Green Lantern oath on Oa. "Oath on Oa" is one of my favorite tongue twisters. Guy Gardner, Kilowog, and a whole bunch of rookies get the spotlight treatment. Eat your heart out, Duck Dodgers! Recharge. 3 episodes Episode 11: Green Lantern Wanted Hal Jordan (written by Geoff Johns, art by Ivan Reis, Daniel Acuna, and Oclair Albert) Man, can Hal Jordan get a break? Now the Green Lantern is accused of murder after violating Russian airspace. Amon Sur and a Star Sapphire each show up in this very straight-forward adventure. Violation. 1 episode Episode 12: Ion The Torchbearer (written by Ron Marz, art by Greg Tocchini and Jay Leisten) Has Kyle Rainer gone full bananatown? He seems to have destroyed a ship and beaten up some fellow lanterns. But he also appears to be on Earth trying to put a new life together. And he also appears to be on Mogo being haunted by his past. The guardians should be helping with this. Instead, Hal Jordan shows up, as does an angry Thanagarian. Is Kyle going to end up the next Hal Jordan in more of a Parallax sort of way than a Green Lantern way? The Torchbearer. 1 episode Serial 5: Green Lantern Corps The Dark Side Of Green (written by Dave Gibbons and Kieth Champagne, art by Patrick Gleason and Dave Gibbons) The Green Lantern Corpse? The Black Ops sector of the Lantern Corps comes out of the, uhhh, Oan closet? to fight insidious crime. Plus, it’s Guy Gardener’s turn to be framed for murder, and Mogo factors in somehow. Dark Emeralds. 2 episodes Episode 15: Ion The Dying Flame (written by Ron Marz, art by Greg Tocchini and Fernando Pasarin) Kyle has to discover who is trying to take out the guardians (as in kill them, not buy them dinner and try to hook up). Also, the monitors are, uhhh, monitoring, and Kyle’s mom takes a turn for the worse, which may be tied into the person bugging out the guardians. The Dying Flame. 1 episode Season 3 is 15 episodes. I was never much into The Green Lantern, but I started working in comic book stores right before Geoff Johns brought Hal Jordan back to prominence as a major character in the DC Universe. There are about five seasons worth of stories that I’ve read that fit pretty neatly into the continuity that Johns mined from, and then created himself. Season 2 brings us the downfall of Hal Jordan, and introduces us to yet another Green Lantern of Earth, Kyle Rainer.  Almost an entire season of Kyle as The Green Lantern? Haters gonna haaaaate. Art by Dale Eaglesham Season 2: Ion (showrunners Ron Marz and Judd Winnick) Serial 1: Emerald Twilight New Dawn, Zero Hour Crisis In Time
(written by Ron Marz, art by Darryl Banks) Hal Jordan’s hometown, Coast City, is destroyed in the wake of The Death Of Superman. Because the guardians won’t allow him to save the city where he was raised, Hal goes absolutely bonkers, destroys Oa, and kills as many Green Lanterns as he can. Once he becomes Parallax, he tries to repair Coast City as well as the timeline. Several DC superheroes step in to try and stop him. Emerald Twilight. 2 episodes Serial 2: Green Lantern Baptism Of Fire (written by Ron Marz, art by Darryl Banks, Paul Pelletier, Romeo Tanghal, and Albert de Guzman) Kyle Rainer is the new Green Lantern of Earth and has no corps or guardians to train him. So he seeks out some of The Justice League to try and teach him how to wield the green power ring. Batman, The Flash, and Wonder Woman guest star. Baptism Of Fire. 2 episodes Episode 5: Green Lantern Emerald Allies (written by Ron Marz and Chuck Dixon, art by Darryl Banks and others) It’s the next generation of Green Lantern/Green Arrow as Kyle Rainer teams up with Connor Hawke to solve some serious daddy issues. Emerald Allies. 1 episode Episode 6: Green Lantern Emerald Knights (written by Ron Marz and Chuck Dixon, art by Darryl Banks) Kyle goes into the past and brings Green Lantern Hal Jordan back to the present to battle Parallax Hal Jordan. Emerald Knights. 1 episode Episode 7: Justice League New World Order (written by Grant Morrison, art by Howard Porter and John Dell) Now that Justice League International has been stripped down to a core group of superheroes, Kyle Rainer is given a spot in the Big Seven. New World Order. 1 episode Episode 8: Green Lantern Traitor (written by Steven Grant) Another three stories across time collection. This time it’s Abin Sur, Hal Jordan, and then Kyle battling a villain called The Traitor. The Hal Jordan portion is the least compelling, but it’s nice to spend some time with Abin Sur, particularly in The American West. Traitor. 1 episode Episode 9: Green Lantern Circle Of Fire (written by Brian K Vaughan and Scott Beatty) Kyle Rainer gathers a group of fringe DC heroes to battle a villain called Oblivion. This is the only DC proper story I’ve read by Brian K Vaughan, and it’s of a higher quality than much of the Kyle Rainer stuff. Circle Of Fire. 1 episode Episode 10: Green Lantern New Journey Old Path (written by Judd Winnick) Yellow power rings? Oh, dear. A prisoner at a mental hospital is given access to a yellow power ring before escaping and wreaking havoc that captures the attention of The Justice League and Kyle Rainer. Yellow. 1 episode Episode 11: Green Lantern The Power Of Ion (written by Judd Winnick, art by Dale Eaglesham, Eric Battle, Brandon Badeaux, Jamal Igle, and Pat Quinn) Kyle loses his Green Lantern identity in a battle with Oblivion. But fear not, he’s now the Green Lantern-like hero called Ion. Ion. 1 episode Episode 12: Green Lantern Brother’s Keeper (written by Judd Winnick) This is a fairly preachy story, pretty consistent with Judd Winnick’s early work. Homophobia and bigotry are bad, yo. And Judd’s not afraid to let you know it. Repeatedly. There’s also an interesting Alan Scott story here. Brother’s Keeper. 1 episode Episode 13: Green Lantern Passing The Torch (written by Judd Winnick) The end of Winnick’s run. Ion and Jade go to the reformed Oa and meets with the reformed guardians. Jon Stewart stays behind to protect Earth. Passing The Torch. 1 episode Serial 3: Green Lantern Rebirth (written by Geoff Johns, art by Ethan Van Sciver and Prentis Rollins) That was an intensely long season of Kyle Rainer to read through but there needed to be some dramatic tension before Hal Jordan, former Green Lantern, former Paralaxx, and former Spectre, comes back to the Green Lantern Corps. Yes, Corps. The Corps is back! Jon Stewart, Kyle Rainer and the Justice League are onhand for Hal’s redemption. Rebirth. 2 episodes Season 2 is 15 episodes I was never much into The Green Lantern, but I started working in comic book stores right before Geoff Johns brought Hal Jordan back to prominence as a major character in the DC Universe. There are about five seasons worth of stories that I’ve read that fit pretty neatly into the continuity that Johns mined from, and then created himself. In season one we meet the original Green Lantern of Earth, Hal Jordan, and briefly meet two of his future replacements: Jon Stewart and the unfortunately irrepressible Guy Gardner.  Even if “bromance” was a word in the 70s, it couldn’t possibly describe these two reluctant partners. Art by Neil Adams Season 1: Emerald Dawn (showrunners Dennis O’Neil and Neil Adams) Serial 1: Hal Jordan Green Lantern Vol 1
(written by Keith Giffen, Gerard Jones, and Jim Owsley, art by MD Bright) The 90s origin of Hal Jordan has been slightly improved upon in more modern years, but this is a great place to start continuity. A fighter pilot’s son watches his father die, and grows up to be a rule-flaunting pilot in his own right. When an alien lands on Earth and gives him a green power ring, his entire life changes for the weird. Emerald Dawn. 2 episodes Serial 2: Tales Of The Green Lantern Corps (written by Mike Barr, Len Wein, Paul Kupperberg, Robin Snyder, and Todd Klein, art by Carmen Infantino, Dave Gibbons, and more) See how Hal Jordan fits into his new extended space family, including those troublesome blue bodied guardians. This is a series of very 1980s era space opera, mainly designed to familiarize you with some of the lantern family. The Corps. 3 episodes Serial 3: Green Lantern Green Arrow (written by Dennis O’Neil, art by Neil Adams) This season started with a 90s comic, moved back to the 80s, and now we are solidly in the 70s as Hal Jordan reluctantly teams up with Oliver Queen for many Earth-bound, politically charged adventures. The first storyline plays the two off each other due to their very different political ideals. And focuses on Green Arrow’s relationship with Black Canary, and Hal Jordan’s tempestuous collaboration with the guardians. The second half of the collection gets even grittier, as Arrow’s sidekick, Speedy, gets addicted to heroin, and Hal Jordan selects a new Green Lantern, Jon Stewart. Broken Arrow. 2 episodes Even An Immortal Can Die. 2 episodes Killing Greens. 2 episodes Snowbirds Don’t Fly. 1 episode New Lantern. 1 episode Death Of The Archer. 2 episodes Season 1 of Green Lantern is 15 episodes Interseason Special: Guy Gardener Reborn (written by Gerard Jones, art by Joe Stanton, Josef Rubenstein, and Jose Marzan Jr) The jerkiest of the lanterns from Earth, Guy Gardener tried to lead Justice League International (a tale for another continuity) but was removed by Batman. Now Guy is journeying through space, trying to get some semblance of order back into his life. Featuring a lot of Lobo, and appearances by some guardians and other Green Lantern Corps members. 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? Here it is, the final season. Will the two units of X-Men be able to resolve their differences and become one happy franchise again? Everything’s been cheery since this point, why not, right?  Season 10: All New X-Men (Showrunners: Brian Michael Bendis and Jason Aaron) Episode 1: Avengers X-Sanction
(written by Jeph Loeb, art by Ed Mcguiness) In order to protect Hope from being killed in the future, Cable is back, and he’s here to kill the Avengers. X-Sanction. 1 episode Serial 1: Avengers Vs. X-Men (written by Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, and Jonathan Hickman, art by John Romita JR, Oliver Coipel, Adam Kubert, and Frank Cho) This is a giant mess to read but it’s necessary. The Avengers, thanks to Cable, believe that Hope is going to turn into The Phoenix, so they go to Utopia to contain her, and the X-Men (either faction) aren’t happy about it. But as it turns out, The Phoenix may not be targeting Hope, per se. Or is it targeting her in a different way? AvX. 4 episodes Serial 2: Wolverine & The X-Men Volumes 5-7 (written by Jason Aaron, art by Nick Bradshaw, Ramon Perez, David Lopez, and Steve Sanders) Closing off the Hellfire Club saga, we get to see the post AvX Jean Grey school as an idyllic place where almost nobody dies too often. Hellfire. 3 episodes Episode 9: X-Men Primer (written by Brian Wood, art by Oliver Coipel and David Lopez) Vampire Jubilee is back. With a baby. Storm forms an all female X-team to protect it from….everything. Primer. 1 episode Serial 3: All New X-Men Yesterday’s X-Men, Uncanny X-Men Revolution, All New X-Men Here To Stay, All New X-Men Out Of Their Depth, Uncanny X-Men Broken (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Stuart Immomen, Chris Bachalo. David Marquez, David Lafuente, and Frazer Irving) Beast goes back in time and retrieves the original X-Men team, hoping past Cyclops can bring current Cyclops back from the dark place he’s been in since AvX. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to be able to send the team back. Time. Line. Problems. All New X-Men. 4 episodes Serial 4: X-Men Battle Of The Atom (written by Brian Michael Bendis, Brian Wood, and Jason Aaron, art by Chris Bachalo, Stuart Immonen, Frank Cho, David Lopez, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Esad Ribic) X-Men from the future show up to warn what will happen if the X-Men from the past aren’t returned to their timeline Battle Of The Atom. 2 episodes Episode 16: Guardians Of The Galaxy All New X-Men Trial Of Jean Grey (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Stuart Immonen and Sara Pichelli) Remember when Jean Grey used to be The Phoenix? The Sh’iar do. They show up to put Jean Grey on trial for the crimes of…the Jean Grey that’s been dead for five seasons. The Guardians Of The Galaxy might be able to help with that. Trial. 1 episode Serial 5: Wolverine The Death Of Wolverine, All New X-Men All Different, All New X-Men One Down, Uncanny X-Men The Omega Mutant, Uncanny X-Men Revolution (many writers, many artists) The final serial takes us all the way up to Secret Wars, which ends this timeline. It includes a fond farewell to one of everyone's favorite Canadian metal salesmen. End Of Days. 4 episodes Season 10 is 20 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? Now that the X-Men are tucked safe and sound in a place called Utopia, one would imagine they’re all happy together and throwing the best psychic slumber parties ever, right? Not so much.  Art by Ilias Kyriazis Season 9: Schism (Showrunners: Mike Carey & Rick Remender) Serial 1: X-Men Legacy Aftermath, X-Men Age Of X, Lost Legions
(written by Mike Carey, art by Paul Davidson, Harvey Tolibao, Jorge Molina, Rafa Sandoval, and many others) Legion, Professor X’s mentally ill son, is one of the most powerful mutants in existence. He has a long and complicated backstory intertwined with The Age Of Apocalypse (which he accidentally created) but let’s pretend we are seeing him for the first time here. He’s brought to Utopia by The New Mutants and in the first half of The Aftermath trade, he accidentally creates Age Of X. So put Aftermath down, check out The Age Of X trade, you can skip the Avengers and Spider-Man stories at the end of Age Of X, and then resume reading Aftermath, as Utopia struggles to understand how many of the mutants spent seven days in an imaginary world. Age Of X. 3 episodes Episode 4: X-Men Legacy Lost Legions (written by Mike Carey, art by Khoi Pham) Professor X forms a team of X-Men to track down six of Legion’s missing personalities. Lost Legions. 1 episode Serial 3: Uncanny X-Force Apocalypse Solution, Uncanny X-Force Deathlok Nation (written by Rick Remender, art by Jerome Opena, Esad Ribic, and Rafael Albuquerque) There is a run of X-Force that goes back a few years before this, and it’s a good run, but Remender’s run is excellent. X-Force is a team assembled by Cyclops to handle situations that the now public X-Men can’t be publicly involved with. Wolverine is the team leader and they do all sorts of morally dubious things. Their first mission lead them to a reborn Apocalypse who is still a child when they discover him. Their second mission gives them an opportunity to get their revenge on The Reavers from waaaay back in Season One. The only problem? Deathloks programmed to kill Fantomex. Ok, that’s not their ONLY problem. X-Force. 2 episodes Serial 4: Uncanny X-Force The Dark Angel Saga Volumes 1 & 2 (written by Rick Remender, art by Jerome Opena, Dean White, Esad Ribac, Billy Tan, and Mark Brooks) Fiiiiine, here’s your Age Of Apocalypse story. Angel has been able to transform back and forth into Archangel for a while now, but Archangel is becoming a bit of a monster. In fact, he may be the next Apocalypse. Can his teammates stop him before he destroys this world? Dark Angel. 3 episodes Serial 5: X-Men Schism (written by Jason Aaron and Kieron Gillen, art by Carlos Pacheco, Frank Cho, Daniel Acuna, Alan Davis, Adam Kubert, and Billy Tan) The whole point of X-Force is to be the soldiers of the X-Men’s Utopia, so when Cyclops responds to a new Hellfire and Sentinel threat by using members of Generation Hope, Wolverine decides that the X-Men have gone astray and decides to come up with a solution. Breaking up the X-Men. Schism. 2 episodes Serial 6: Uncanny X-Force Otherworld, Uncanny X-Force The Final Execution Volumes 1 & 2 (written by Rick Remender and Sam Humphries, art by Jerome Opena and Ron Garney) Wolverine has some unfinished business to attend to before he can take on his new role as headmaster of the Jean Grey school. This arc is probably not going to win him the prestigious Father Of The Year Award. The Final Execution. 4 episodes Serial 7: Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen Volumes 1 & 2 (written by Kieron Gillen, art by Carlo Pacheco and Brandon Peterson) Back on Utopia, Cyclops uses the adult X-Men to handle events that would previously be X-Force’s problem and dubs them The Extinction Team. Mr Sinister returns to help them live up to their name. Everything Is Sinister. 2 episodes Serial 8: Wolverine & The X-Men Volumes 1 & 2 (written by Jason Aaron, art by Chris Bachalo and Nick Bradshaw) Wolverine opens the Jean Grey school for mutants on the grounds of the former Charles Xavier school in Westchester. For a guy who’s all about making younger mutants students and not soldiers, he sure puts them in a lot of life or death situations, though. Blame the Hellfire club. New School. 3 episodes Season 9 is 20 episodes Interseason Special: Avengers The Childrens’ Crusade (written by Allan Heinberg, art by Jim Cheung) The Young Avengers go off in search of Wiccan’s mom, The Scarlet Witch, who has only been seen once since House Of M. How will the possibility of her return affect the population whose genocide she’s responsible for? 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? After years of destroying and rebuilding Westchester New York, The X-Men decide they need to freshen up their routine, so they head west to go about destroying the Pacific coast for a change. They even form their own little island called Utopia.  Season 8: Utopia (Showrunner: Matt Fraction) Episode 1: X-Men Manifest Destiny
(various writers and artists) The mutants head west to San Francisco. Follow the journeys of Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and many more as all 198ish surviving mutants are invited to take up residence in the new mutant haven. Manifest Destiny. 1 episode Episode 2: Deadpool Secret Invasion (written by Daniel Way, art by Paco Medina and Carlo Barberi) While the mutants have been moving west, all the NY based superheroes have been battling Skrulls during The Secret Invasion. That’s not really the X-Men’s problem, though. Everyone’s favorite merc with a mouth, on the other hand, sees a profit in taking down the impending Skrull empire. And make a profit he does but at the cost of the entire Marvel Universe as he single handedly ushers in Marvel’s Dark Reign era. One Of Us. 1 episode Serial 1: Uncanny X-Men Lovelorn, Uncanny X-Men Sisterhood (written by Matt Fraction, art by Greg Land and Yanick Paquette) Back in San Fran, Emma Frost does a little therapy in Cyclops’s head while Colossus battles his past. Also, some old school mutants come back into the picture. Then, everyone’s favorite redhead is back and she and some female villains are kicking X-ass. Also meet the X-Men’s Science Team. Sisterhood. 4 episodes Serial 2: X-Men Curse Of The Mutants (written by Victor Gischler, art by Paco Medina) Vampire Terrorists? Vampire Bombs? One of the X-Men’s long-shelved c-list characters becomes a Vampire Mutant? San Francisco is not great for this team (please note, I did not use the phrases “San Francisco bites” or “San Francisco sucks” or “bloody hell in San Francisco”). Cursed. 2 episodes Serial 3: Avengers & X-Men Utopia (various writers and artists) Dark Reign has a team of Dark Avengers and Dark X-Men. Basically, if there’s a team, HAMMER (the organization that replaced SHIELD) has their own version filled with villains.It’s like every team is The Thunderbolts. Well, Cyclops has had enough. He decides to take on Norman Osborne once and for all. Emma will undoubtedly be the key to ending the standoff. Of course she’ll be on the winning side. Dark Reign In Utopia. 4 episodes Episode 13: X-Men Psylocke (written by Christopher Yost, art by Harvey Tolibao) After the events of Sisterhood, Psyclocke decides to go back to Japan to clear up some loose ends from the early seasons of the X-Men. Revanche. 1 episode Episode 14: X-Men Legacy Emplate (written by Mike Carey, art by Daniel Acuna) Now that the X-Men are safely on Utopia they shouldn’t have to worry about any…wait. Emplate? Devil At The Crossroads. 1 episode . Serial 4: X-Men Second Coming (various writers and artists) Having been absent all season, Cable and Hope return from the future. Hope is now sixteen years old and her mutant gene is active. But what are her powers? Who, aside form Bishop, is chasing her now? Will she be the savior or the end for all mutantkind? Find out as one pivotal X-Men completely and totally dies. For a little bit. Second Coming. 3 episodes Serial 5: Uncanny X-Men The Birth Of Generation Hope, Generation Hope The End Of A Generation (written by Matt Fraction, James Asmus, and Allan Heinberg, art by Whilce Portacio, Leonard Kirk, Jamie Mckelvie, Steven Sanders, Oliver Coipel, Ibraim Roberson, Tim Green II, and Takeshi Miyazawa) Now that Hope is back, new mutants have started showing up all over the globe, and it’s up to her to track them down and try and recruit them to the X-Men. But sometimes, the new recruits are a bad idea. Generation Hope. 2 episodes Episode 20: Uncanny X-Men Quarantine (written by Matt Fraction and Kieron Gillen, art by Greg Land) Sublime is back and he has a new drug that can turn anyone into an X-Man. Downside? There’s a plague on Utopia sapping the powers of all the mutants. Maybe these two things are connected? Also, Emma deals with one of the mutants Hope brought back from her mission. Quarantine. 1 episode Season 8 has 20 episodes Interseason Special: Deadpool X Marks The Spot (written by Daniel Way, art by Paco Medina and Shawn Crystal) The merc with a mouth has spent years as foe or unlikely ally to the X-Men, just ask Cable. But he really, really wants to be an X-Man. And now that all the mutants are on Utopia, he’s determined to join their ranks. They’d be crazy not to accept him. 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? After all the problems at the school last season, Professor X hands the reigns of the school to a new generation. We also see a new class of students. Isn’t change wonderful? And by the end of this season, mutants will finally get everything they ever wanted. I’m sure it will be permanent.  Logan explores his sensitive side. Art by John Cassaday Season Six: Astonishing (Showrunners: Joss Whedon and Brian Michael Bendis) Serial 1: Astonishing X-Men By Joss Whedon & John Cassady Ultimate Collections Vol 1 & 2
(written by Joss Whedon, art by John Cassaday) Joss Whedon was supposed to take over the X-Men directly after Grant Morrison but things didn’t go as planned. That’s ok, though, his run with John Cassady is one of the finest X-arcs there is. Headmasters Emma Frost and Cyclops welcome Kitty Pride to the school and then shenanigans occur. Wonderful shenanigans. Many of them in space. Just read the whole run all the way through. It’s totally worth it. Gifted & Dangerous. 6 episodes Episode 7: X-Factor Madrox Multiple Choice (written by Peter David, art by Pablo Raimondi) After that fun but long serial, let’s step in and visit Multiple Man. This spectacular noir miniseries delves further into Jamie Madrox’s power. A man who can duplicate himself a large but finite amount of times learns some interesting skills. In this series he acts a detective for hire, teaming up with some of his old friends from the 90s X-Factor team. Multiple Choice. 1 episode Serial 2: New X-Men Academy X Vol 1 Choosing Sides, Wolverine Enemy Of The State, New X-Men Academy X Volume 3 X-Posed (written by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, and Mark Millar, art by Randy Green, Staz Johnson, Michael Ryan, Rick Ketcham, and John Romita Jr) I avoided the classic New Mutant series because one can only read so much Claremont before one starts carving cuneiform on their arms and narrating their lives unnecessarily. “Now I am going the bathroom because that is a biological function humans have. Now I am flushing the toilet because human waste is gross and indoor plumbing, which was invented in…” you get the idea. But this adventure introduces us to a new generation of students (with some that were introduced during Morrison’s run) who have a much smaller scale story but with more serious consequences than the original New Mutants. I know I said there wouldn’t be any Wolverine but there is one Really Important storyline for all of the X- books. Enemy Of The State shows what happens when everyone’s favorite walking cutlery is brainwashed into being evil. Characters die and stuff. And the repercussions are felt in the next Academy X book. Choosing Sides. 4 episodes Episode 11: X-23 Target X (written by Craig Kyle and Christoper Yost, art by Mike Choi) We check back in with X-23 to see what happens when Captain America tries to help Stabby Jr. Also, Stabby Jr. meets Stabby Sr. as X-23 goes claws-to-claws with Wolverine. Target X. 1 episode Serial 3: Excalibur Forging The Sword, Excalibur Saturday Night Fever, House Of M Prelude: Excalibur (written by Chris Claremont, art by Aaron Lopestri) This period of X-Men comics was mainly written by Chuck Austen and Peter Milligan, and almost none of it is worth reading, but Chris Claremont picked up his old Excalibur title and helped set up this season’s huge event. In this series we see Professor X, Magneto, and some lesser known X-characters try and rebuild Genosha from the destruction in season five. But does Magneto have another motivation for being there? One that, maybe, isn’t even evil? Also, a bunch of X-Corps offices are attacked around the globe. Plus Genoshan humans are jerks, and Doctor Strange steps in to help fix The Wanda problem. Unfixable. 2 episodes Serial 4: House Of M (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Olive Coipel) But Doctor Strange fails, and thus House Of M. The Scarlet Witch alters all of reality so that every mutant gets everything they ever wanted. But that just isn’t enough for the greedy mutants, and their utopia, like everything else the X-men touch, falls apart. House Of M. 2 episodes Serial 5: Decimation The Day After, Decimation The 198 (written by Chris Claremont, Peter Milligan, and David Hine, art by Salvador Larroca, Randy Green, Jim Muniz, and Kevin Conrad) Three words from The Scarlet With in House Of M undid a whole mess of Morrison’s X-Men idea, and now there are only 198 Mutants left in the world. In this serial we see how the mutants’ lives are changed now that there aren’t so many of them. Featuring a ton of sentinels. Decimation . 2 episodes Serial 6: New X-Men Childhood’s End Volumes 1-3 (written by Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost, art by Mark Brooks and Paco Medina) But what about all those kids we met at the beginning of the season? In Childhood’s End we see how those kids live and die in the post-House of M world. Many are depowered and all of them are in serious risk of being killed. Plus, X-23 joins the Academy, and The New Avengers stop by to help the surviving mutants battle Nimrod. Childhood’s End. 2 episodes Season 6 is 20 episodes Interseason Special: X-Factor The Longest Night (written by Peter David, art by Ryan Sook and Dennis Calero) Picking up after House of M and Multiple Choice, Madrox’s detective agency goes from being in the thriving “Mutant Town” section of New York City to a city of depressed depowered mutants. The detectives need to solve a series of mutant related problems and do their best to handle the consequences when some of Jamie’s multiples go rogue. No, they don’t speak with a Southern accent and leech your powers. |
October 2018
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