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Avengers (comics)

The Avengers is a team of fictional superhero characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally created using preexisting Marvel characters, variously created by writer-editor Stan Lee, artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby and others, the team first appeared in The Avengers #1 (Sept. 1963).

Labeled "Earth's Mightiest Heroes", the Avengers originally consisted of Ant-Man, Wasp, Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk. Almost from inception, however, the roster has been fluid: The Hulk departs; Captain America joins and soon afterwards leads a whole new team. The rotating roster has become a hallmark of the team, although one theme remains consistent: the Avengers fight the foes no single superhero can withstand — hence their battle cry, "Avengers Assemble!" The team has featured humans, robots, gods, aliens, supernatural beings, and even former villains.

Publication history

The titular team debuted in The Avengers #1 (Sept. 1963), using existing characters created primarily by writer-editor Stan Lee and penciler and co-plotter Jack Kirby. This initial series, published bi-monthly through issue #6 (July 1964) and monthly thereafter ran through issue #402 (Sept. 1996), with spinoffs including several annuals, miniseries and a giant-size quarterly sister series that ran briefly in the mid-1970s.

Other spinoff series include West Coast Avengers, initially published as a four-issue miniseries in 1984, followed by a 102-issue series (Oct. 1985 - Jan. 1994), retitled Avengers West Coast with #48; and the 40-issue Solo Avengers (Dec. 1987 - Jan. 1991), retitled Avengers Spotlight with #21.

Between 1996 and 2004 Marvel relaunched the primary Avengers title three times. In 1996, the "Heroes Reborn" line, in which Marvel contracted outside companies to produce four titles, included a new volume of The Avengers. Taking place in an alternate universe with a revamped history unrelated to mainstream Marvel continuity, The Avengers vol. 2 was written by Rob Liefeld and penciled by Jim Valentino of Image Comics, and ran 13 issues (Nov. 1996 - Nov. 1997). The final issue, which featured a crossover with the other "Heroes Reborn" titles, returned the characters to the main Marvel Universe.

Relaunched with a new first issue, The Avengers vol. 3 ran 84 issues (Feb. 1998 - Aug. 2004). Then, to coincide with what would have been the 500th issue of the original series, Marvel changed the numbering to release The Avengers #500-503 (Sept.-Dec. 2004), followed by the one-shot Avengers Finale (Jan. 2005), which together presented the Avengers Disassembled storyline. That story, in which the Avengers disband following the insanity of one member (Scarlet Witch) and the death of two others (Ant-Man and Hawkeye), led to the series New Avengers (#1- , Jan. 2005- ).

Following New Avengers came Young Avengers, beginning with #1 (Feb. 2005), featuring teenage heroes patterned after former members of the Avengers; and Mighty Avengers, also beginning with #1 (May 2007).

Fictional biography

1960s

The first adventure features the Asgardian trickster god, Loki, who seeks revenge against his adopted brother, Thor. Using an illusion, Loki tricks the Hulk into destroying a railroad track, after that he then diverts a radio call by Rick Jones for help to Thor, whom Loki hopes will battle the Hulk. Unknown to Loki, the radio call is also answered by Ant-Man, the Wasp and Iron Man. After an initial misunderstanding, the heroes unite and defeat Loki. Ant-Man states the five work well together and suggests they form a combined team — with the Wasp naming the group the Avengers. The original members are known as the "founding members," and courtesy of an Avengers Charter are responsible for the good name of the team. As a result, their wishes regarding the direction of the team are given additional weight and deference.

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

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

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

1970s

The adventures increased in scope as the team cross into an alternate dimension to battle the Squadron Supreme and fight in the Kree-Skrull War, an epic battle between the alien Kree and Skrull races and guest-starring the Kree hero Captain Marvel. The Avengers also briefly disband when Skrulls impersonate Captain America, Thor and Iron Man use their authority as founders of the team to disband it. The true founding Avengers, minus the Wasp, later reform the team in response to complaints from Jarvis.

The Vision and the Scarlet Witch fall in love, although the relationship is tinged with sadness as the Vision believes himself to be inhuman and unworthy of her. Writer Steve Englehart then introduces Mantis, who joins the team along with the reformed Swordsman. Englehart linked her origins to the very beginnings of the Kree-Skrull conflict in a time-spanning adventure involving Kang the Conqueror and the mysterious Immortus, who are revealed to be past and future versions of each other. Mantis is revealed to be the Celestial Madonna, who is destined to give birth to a being that will save the universe. This saga also reveals that the Vision's body had only been appropriated, and not created, by Ultron, and that it had originally belonged to the 1940s Human Torch. With his origins now clear to him, the Vision proposes to the Scarlet Witch. The Celestial Madonna saga ends with their wedding, presided over by Immortus. Englehart's tenure also coincided with the debut of George Pérez as artist.

After Englehart's departure, Jim Shooter began as writer, generating several classic adventures including "Bride of Ultron", the "Nefaria Trilogy" and "The Korvac Saga", featuring nearly every Avenger in the canon. New members added during this time include the Beast; a resurrected Wonder Man; Captain America's former partner the Falcon; and Ms. Marvel.

Shooter also introduced the character of Henry Peter Gyrich, the Avengers' liaison to the United States National Security Council. Gyrich is prejudiced against superhumans, and acts in a heavy-handed, obstructive manner, insisting that the Avengers follow government rules and regulations or else lose their priority status with the government. Among Gyrich's demands is that the active roster be trimmed down to only seven members, and that the Falcon, an African American, be admitted to the team to comply with affirmative action laws. This last act is resented by Hawkeye, who because of the seven-member limit loses his membership to the Falcon. The Falcon, in turn, is unhappy to be the beneficiary of what he perceives to be tokenism, and decides to resign from the team, after which Hawkeye rejoins.

1980s

The first major development was the breakdown of Henry Pym, with his frequent changes of costume and name being symptomatic of an identity problem and an inferiority complex. After abusing his wife, failing to win back the confidence of the Avengers with a ruse and being duped by the villain Egghead, Pym is jailed. Writer Roger Stern later resolves this by having Pym outwit Egghead and defeat the latest incarnation of the Masters of Evil single-handedly, thereby proving his innocence. Pym reconciles with the Wasp, but they decide to remain apart. Pym also retires from superheroics, but returns some years later.

Stern developed several major storylines, such as "Ultimate Vision"; the formation of the West Coast Avengers; and "Avengers Under Siege" (which involves the second Baron Zemo) and "War on Olympus". New members during the 1980s included an African American Captain Marvel named Monica Rambeau (who became the team's new leader); She-Hulk; Tigra, Namor, and Hawkeye's wife, Mockingbird, while Henry Pym emerges from retirement to join the West Coast Avengers. The team also relocated for a period to a floating island off the coast of New York called Hydrobase.

John Byrne eventually took over writing both titles. His contributions included a revamping of the Vision, and the discovery that the children of the Scarlet Witch, and the Vision, are actually illusions. The loss of the Scarlet Witch's children and the Vision drives her insane, although she eventually recovers and rejoins the team. The destruction of Avengers Island during Acts of Vengeance leads to building a new facility on the Mansion site.

1990s

The decade was turbulent for Marvel Comics, as the company adopted an aggressive business expansion model tied to increased publication. This coincided with a speculators' boom, followed by an industry-wide slump and Marvel filing for bankruptcy in 1997. Bob Harras and Steve Epting took over the title, and introduced a stable lineup with ongoing storylines and character development focused on the Black Knight, Sersi, Crystal, Quicksilver, Hercules and the Vision. During this period, the team finds themselves facing increasingly murderous enemies, and are forced to question their rule against killing.

This culminated in "Operation: Galactic Storm", a 19-part storyline that ran through all Avengers-related titles and showcases a conflict between the Kree and the Shi'ar Empire. The team splits when Iron Man and several dissidents execute the Supreme Intelligence against the wishes of Captain America.

After a vote disbanding the West Coast Avengers, Iron Man forms a proactive and aggressive team called Force Works. During the team's first mission Wonder Man is apparently killed again (his atoms are actually only temporarily scattered). Force Works later disbands after it is revealed that Iron Man has become a murderer via the manipulations of the villain Kang.

"Heroes Reborn"

Together with the Fantastic Four and others, many of the Avengers apparently die stopping the gestalt psychic entity Onslaught, although it is later revealed that Franklin Richards preserves these heroes in a pocket universe ("Heroes Reborn"). Believing the main team gone, the Black Widow disbands the Avengers, with only butler Jarvis remaining to tend to the Mansion.

Marvel contracted out The Avengers and three related titles - Captain America, Fantastic Four, and Iron Man - to former Marvel artists Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld, two of the founding creators of Image Comics. The previous continuity of the Marvel Universe was set aside as the heroes were "reborn" in the pocket universe. While the Avengers was relaunched as a new series, the "Heroes Reborn" line ended after a year as planned and the license reverted to Marvel. ^{[see publication history]}

"Heroes Return"

Writer Kurt Busiek and penciler George Pérez launched a new volume of the series with Avengers #1 (vol. 3, Feb. 1998). Busiek also concurrently wrote the limited series Avengers Forever, a time-travel story that explored the history of the Avengers and resolved many outstanding questions and loose ends. New members during this run included Ms. Marvel; the revived Wonder Man; Justice; Firestar; Silverclaw; and Triathlon.

"Avengers Disassembled"

Pérez eventually left the title after nearly three years and Busiek remained on longer and completed his run with a story arc involving the despotic time-travel master Kang and the destruction of several cities. Successor writer Geoff Johns dealt with the aftermath, as the Avengers are granted international authority by the United Nations. Members joining during this period included Jack of Hearts and the second Ant-Man. Chuck Austen followed as writer, and added a new Captain Britain to the team. Writer Brian Michael Bendis then rebooted the title with the "Avengers Disassembled" storyline. Titled "Chaos", the story featured the deaths of some members and a loss of credibility for the team. The culprit is revealed to be the Scarlet Witch, who has gone insane after agonizing over the memory of her lost children and who subsequently loses control of her reality-altering powers. With the team in disarray and Avengers Mansion ruined, the surviving members agree to disband.

Schism

With the original Avengers organization disbanded, a mass-escape attempt at the supervillain prison the Raft led Captain America and Iron Man to form a new Avengers team. The previously solo heroes Luke Cage, Ronin, the Sentry, Spider-Man, and Spider-Woman, plus X-Men member Wolverine were recruited for the team.

Following the "superhero Civil War" over the U.S. government's new mandate that all superhumans be federally registered, all the new recruits save the Sentry formed an underground splinter group opposed to registration, retaining the name "New Avengers". Stark reformatted the official team under the aegis of the government's Fifty State Initiative program, taking up residency in New York City with the roster of Ares, the Black Widow, Iron Man, the Sentry, the Wasp, Wonder Man, and leader Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers).

Other versions

1950s Avengers

A short-lived team of superheroes in the 1950s called themselves the "Avengers". This team, which consisted of Marvel Boy, Venus, the 3-D Man, Gorilla-Man, the Human Robot, Jimmy Woo, Namora and Jann of the Jungle existed in an alternate timeline that was erased by the time-manipulating Immortus. A version of the group without the 3-D Man or Jann existed in mainstream continuity, and eventually reformed in the present day.

Avengers Next

In the alternate future timeline known as MC2, the Avengers have disbanded and Avengers Mansion is now a museum. An emergency forces Edwin Jarvis to sound an alert, and a new generation of heroes form a new team of Avengers. Most of the new Avengers are children of established Marvel superheroes.

The Ultimates

In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, the Avengers are named "The Ultimates", and were formed by Ultimate Nick Fury to protect America against superhuman threats.

Marvel Adventures: The Avengers

In 2006, Marvel Adventures (Marvel Comics' "All Ages" line) began a new Avengers series, featuring a line-up of Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man (supplanting Ant-Man), Wolverine, Storm, the Hulk and Giant-Girl (Janet van Dyne, the Wasp in regular continuity).

House of M: Avengers

In the alternate reality created by the Scarlet Witch, Luke Cage forms a team of superpowered humans to fight for human rights.

X-Universe

A humanized version of the Avengers band together during the Age of Apocalypse.

Other media

Novels

The Avengers Battle the Earth-Wrecker by Otto Binder was published as a mass market paperback novel by Bantam Books (F3569) in June 1967. The cover illustration depicts Captain America, Goliath, Hawkeye, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Iron Man and the Wasp are active members, with the mutant siblings and Thor mentioned as past Avengers.
The team was also featured in the Pocket Books line of Marvel-based paperback novels of the late 1970s.

Animated series

Guest appearances

The Avengers appeared briefly in the 1966 The Marvel Superheroes Show.
The team also made appearances in the 1980 Spider-Man animated series ("Arsenic and Aunt May"); the 1994 Fantastic Four cartoon ("To Battle the Living Planet" and "Doomsday"), and in the X-Men animated series.

The Avengers: United They Stand

The Avengers (also known as The Avengers: United They Stand), was an animated series consisting of thirteen episodes. It originally aired from October 30, 1999 to February 26, 2000, and was produced by Avi Arad and distributed by 20th Century Fox Television. This series featured a team composed of Ant-Man (leader); the Wasp; Wonder Man; Tigra; Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch. The Falcon and the Vision were added to the roster in the opening episodes. Captain America and Iron Man only make one appearance each, while Thor does not appear in the series outside of the opening titles.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

Recently, Marvel announced a brand-new television show based on the Avengers to premiere in 2011, in order to correspond with the Avengers film's release date.

Video and computer games

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

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

The Avengers feature in the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance videogame.

Film

In August 2006, Marvel Entertainment's "Marvel Studios Overview Presentation" listed the Avengers as a property under development for a film, with Zak Penn as screenwriter. In a May 5, 2008, report to shareholders, Marvel Entertainment announced the release dates for two planned Avenger movies. The First Avenger: Captain America (working title) is scheduled for May 6, 2011, followed by The Avengers, scheduled for July 15, 2011.

The first film reference to the Avengers is in Iron Man (2008), in a post-credits scene of Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) speaking with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) about the "Avenger Initiative". At the conclusion of The Incredible Hulk (2008), Stark briefly speaks with General Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt) regarding the formation of a team.