Marvel Masterworks: Avengers, Vol. 1.
The Avengers were founded by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963 when Ant-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and the Wasp battled the evil Norse god Loki. This hardcover collected edition contains that story and the next nine issues of the original series as the team bounced from a close encounter with Namor, the Sub-Mariner, to the addition of Captain America and the formation of the Masters of Evil. In 2004, Joe Casey and Scott Kollins gave readers Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, which took a closer look at this formative era by expanding on moments between adventures.
Avengers: Kree/Skrull War
In this 1971 space saga, written by Roy Thomas with art by Neal Adams and brothers John Buscema and Sal Buscema, the team must defend Earth in the battle between two alien races. A ton happens here, but one scene in particular has stuck with fans: The heroes are attacked by three cows (!) that are actually the shape-changing Skrulls (who also wreak havoc by pretending to be Avengers). The villainy of Skrulls will be a shock to those who know them only from the recent “Captain Marvel” film, which presented them as peaceful refugees seeking asylum.
Avengers: Under Siege
Written by Roger Stern, drawn by John Buscema and published in 1986, this has the heroes attacked at home (a mansion on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan) by the Masters of Evil, led by Baron Zemo, a longtime adversary of Captain America. The baddies come incredibly close to winning — they brutalize Jarvis, the team’s faithful aide, and leave a hero in a coma — which makes the eventual victory bittersweet. One powerful moment amid the mansion’s post-battle wreckage finds Captain America in tears, but resolved to rebuild.
The Avengers Omnibus Vol. 1
In 1997, after a failed reboot of many of Marvel’s heroes, writer Kurt Busiek and artist George Pérez brought the classic versions back. This collection has more than 40 issues, and includes a fight with the medieval sorceress Morgan Le Fay, who gives the heroes Renaissance Faire-like names and costumes. (For instance, Captain America becomes Yeoman America.) There’s also a devastating battle against Ultron, and the time-travel tale Avengers Forever, drawn by Carlos Pacheco, sheds light on the past and teases the future. (Songbird, a former Master of Evil, becomes a trusted Avenger.)
Ultimates, Vols. 1 and 2
Would the Marvel Cinematic Universe be the same without Nick Fury as played by Samuel L. Jackson? We will never know, but the Ultimates, which began in 2002, six years before the actor would start appearing in the role, was the first story to depict Jackson as Fury, offering Avengers for modern times. Mark Miller and Bryan Hitch gave readers summer blockbusters in comic-book form. Take Issue No. 12, which has cinematic double-page spreads of Thor battling an alien armada, as well as a scene in which a baddie asks Captain America to surrender. Cap points to the “A” on his mask and yells, “You think this letter on my head stands for France?”
Avengers Disassembled
This collection, by Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch, ripped the team apart (sometimes literally, as a rampaging She-Hulk tore Vision in half), but there was a method to the carnage. Bendis rebuilt the Avengers, adding Wolverine and the normally solitary Spider-Man to the roster. He also raised the profile of Spider-Woman, Captain Marvel and Luke Cage, who ends up becoming a leader, a husband and a father. Bendis wrote the Avengers from 2004 to 2012 and made them Marvel’s No. 1 franchise, dethroning the X-Men after many years on top.
Young Avengers: The Complete Collection
In 2005, writer Allan Heinberg and artist Jim Cheung introduced a charming cast of new heroes (including some with familial connections to senior Avengers) who band together in the wake of the events of Disassembled. The collection has sprightly dialogue and stunning visuals. The less said about the plot, the less spoiled. After this, read Avengers: The Children’s Crusade, in which two heroes search for their mother, and then the Young Avengers Omnibus, by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, which further develops the team.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.