The Avengers: Where Do I Start?

They’re Earth Mightiest Heroes, but with such boisterous language it might be hard to get to know the Avengers. More than just a mere super-group consisting of the top heroes in the Marvel line, the Avengers have become an institution in comics and in recent years has become the focal point — and best-selling — title in comics. With the long-awaited movie just months away, iFanboy has pulled together a definitive list of books to get if you want to get to know Marvel’s Avengers.

Avengers: Under Siege: This lesser-known classic came out in the mid-80s from writer Roger Stern and artist John Buscema, and shows how Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil can methodically take apart the Avengers team and take over the Avengers Mansion itself. Stern shows Zemo pick apart the team one-by-one ala Benjamin Linus from Lost, giving each character a spotlight in their faltering and subsequent comeback.

The Ultimates Vol. 1: Superhuman: Produced as a 21st version of Marvel’s premiere super-team, The Ultimates shows a re-invented retelling of the core Avengers which has become the blueprint for the Marvel movies to come. From the stellar WW2-era story of Captain America that leads of this initial story-arc to the rampaging potty-mouth the Hulk, this arc is where to start for any non-comics reader wanting to get a head start on the movie.

Avengers: The Korvac Saga: Although it’s certainly not the first (or the last) interstellar time-spanning super-hero story in comics, this classic story sees the Avengers run across a man, Michael Korvac, on the run from the heroes of the 31st century after committing atrocious times. But Korvac’s villainous ways get the better of him as he starts tinkering with the modern-day world and brings the unwanted attention of the Avengers. In many ways this was the precursor to the later Secret Wars event series, but the Korvac Saga did it best.

Avengers: Kang Dynasty: This arc was the culmination of writer Kurt Busiek’s run on The Avengers, showing a futuristic dictator named Kang coming to conquer the world in what he says is an effort to save it from a darker path. Kang really tears through the Avengers and Earth itself, killing the entire population of the U.S. Capitol to make a point. This 16-part storyline was a true epic, and Busiek was ably joined by a great collection of artists including Alan Davis, Ivan Reis and Kieron Dwyer.

Civil War: Although it encompassed the entire Marvel U, at it’s core this 2006-2007 event series is about the Avengers. Featuring Iron Man and Captain America going head-to-head over the issue of secret identities and safeguards against rogue super-heroes, it draws a line in the sand and splits the Avengers and the larger hero population in half as they battle — in some cases, to the death. Writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven really capture lightning in a bottle with this series, crystallizing what the current Marvel regime had been working towards for years and set the stage for what was to come in the new Avengers-centric Marvel U.