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The Avengers have been the bestselling superhero team on the market and they’ve been the worst, but they’ve always given readers adventures that were truly epic. Marvel has published some great stories over the decades, and the team has given them some of the best. These ten Avengers stories are the best in Marvel history, a veritable cornucopia of awesome superhero action.
10) “The Kang Dynasty”
The ’00s had some excellent Avengers stories, but the best of them was “The Kang Dynasty”, by Kurt Busiek, Alan Davis, and Kieron Dwyer. This story ended Busiek’s run on book with a bang, as one of the group’s greatest enemies returned with a fiendish plot to take over the world. Kang is able to triumph over the heroes, finally becoming the ruler of the world, with the only hope for freedom being the Avengers. Kang is one of Marvel’s most unsung villains and this story shows why he can be so great. This is everything a story starring the team should be, an action-packed epic with brilliant writing and incredible art.
9) Uncanny Avengers (Vol. 1) #6-22
The ’10s were a great time for the Avengers, especially that period after Avengers vs. X-Men. The Avengers Unity Squad was created in Uncanny Avengers, and they faced their greatest challenge in issues #6-22, by Rick Remender, Daniel Acuna, Adam Kubert, and Steve McNiven. The Apocalypse Twins are unleashed on the Avengers by Kang, as a way for him to finally take over the world and destroy the Avengers. However, the Twins have their own plans and it will take everything the Unity Squad has to win. Unfortunately, they’re missing the one thing they truly need: unity. This story is told over the course of three story arcs, an epic that will wow you with its scope and action. Great writing combines with excellent art for a story you won’t want to miss.
8) Avengers: Twilight
Avengers: Twilight is a perfect Avengers story. The tale, by Chip Zdarsky and Daniel Acuna, opens up in a future where the team was outlawed after H-Day, when their most deadly villains launched an attack on the world. Superheroes are outlawed, and the government becomes more and more fascistic. Captain America is recruited by Luke Cage to fight back, and the hero decides that the best way to win is to bring back the Avengers. Unfortunately, the son of Iron Man and the Wasp and a heretofore unknown relative of the Avengers’ butler Jarvis have their own plans, ones that will bring back the world’s worst villain. Zdarsky does a fantastic job of using real world politics in this one, giving readers a superhero epic that feels prescient. Acuna’s art is fantastic, and it gives this book the Kingdom Come feel that its story is going for.
7) Avengers Forever (Vol. 1)
Avengers Forever, by Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern, and Carlos Pacheco, is a story that every fan of the team needs to read. Rick Jones, The Wasp, and Giant-Man are teamed up with a group of Avengers from the past and future — super strong Captain America from the late ’70s, Captain Marvel III and Songbird from the future, Yellowjacket Hank Pym, and Hawkeye during his weird costume/Pym Particles phase — along with the villain Libra and the Supreme Intelligence to stop the machinations of Immortus and Those Who Remain. Cross time shenanigans ensue, Kang shows up, and fans get an epic unlike any another team could give them. The story digs into the snarls of Avengers history, fixing some major problems, all while giving readers an excellent tale. The late Pacheco’s art is outstanding; he was born for stories like this, giving readers, detailed, fluid action and amazing figure work. It’s the total package, and never fails to impress.
6) “Time Runs Out”
“Time Runs Out” is the last major story of Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers and New Avengers run. The world has discovered the Incursions and what the Illuminati has been doing to stop them. As one group of Avengers hunts down the Illuminati, another group decides to search for the origins of the multiverse-destroying event and do their best to end it before time runs out. The whole time, Doctor Doom is out there, making his own plans to save all of creation. Hickman works with a veritable army of artists in this spectacular epic, like Mike Deodato, Stefano Caselli, Kev Walker, and more, giving readers action and adventure like they’ve never seen before. This story is the culmination of two series, so it can be a little hard to follow if you haven’t read them, but that doesn’t change how amazing the story truly is.
