Definitive guide to collecting Avengers comic books as graphic novels

The Avengers have always represented Marvel Comics’ heaviest hitters, from their beginning with Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and Hulk, to recent teams featuring Captain Marvel, Black Panther, and Ghost Rider

You might love those characters and the many Marvel Cinematic Universe movies that feature them, but when it comes to comic books it’s easy to get lost. The Avengers have appeared in comics for over sixty years. Where should you begin… and how?

Luckily, many those single issues are collected into graphic novels – hardcovers trade paperbacks, or “TPBs.” Figuring out which collections to buy and in what order turns out to be a very complex task – half research project, half detective novel.

I’ve taken all the work out of it for you. This guide can help you figure out what trade paperback to buy no matter what run of Avengers comics books you’re looking for. If it’s collected in a graphic novel, it’s in this guide.

Each of the following pages contain the titles, issue ranges, ISBNs, and links to the Avengers collections from each ongoing title.

Collecting Avengers team titles

The Avengers (1963-1996)
The original Avengers ongoing title spanning Silver, Bronze, and Modern ages.

Avengers West Coast (1984-1994)
The first Avengers spin-off team, it prominently featured Iron Man and Scarlet Witch for much of its run. This includes its brief sequel, Force Works.

Thunderbolts & Dark Avengers (1997-Present)
This team of heroic villains debuted while the Avengers were in the Heroes Reborn universe, and later spawned the Dark Avengers.

The Avengers (1996-2005)
A brief 1996 re-launch of the Avengers, followed by an ongoing launched by Kurt Busiek and George Perez that eventually rejoined the numbering of the original 1963 title, to end at issue #503.

New Avengers (2005-2010)
The title launched by Brian Bendis from the ashes of Avengers Disassembled in 2005.

Mighty Avengers, Vol. 1 & 2 (2006-2010 & 2013-2015)
Mighty Avengers was twice a sibling title to a main Avengers run – first spinning out of Civil War for Bendis’s Avengers, and later establishing a street-level team with cosmic connections during Hickman’s Avengers.

Young Avengers (2006 – Present)
Titles about young and in-training groups of Avengers – including Young Avengers, Avengers: The Initiative, Avengers Academy, Avengers Arena, and Avengers Undercover.

Secret Warriors & Secret Avengers  (2009 – Present)
Supporting Avengers titles about covert teams, often with some connection to SHIELD.

Avengers flashship series (2010 – Present)
In 2010 Avengers relaunched with a pair of side-by-side flagship titles, a status quo Marvel maintained through the end of 2o17 when it collapsed several Avengers titles down to a single book. This guide includes every main Avengers run from the Heroic Age in 2010 to present day, including closely-linked titles and mini-series, such as the 2014 expansion into Avengers World and the 2022 Avengers Aseemble.

Uncanny Avengers (2012 – Present)
An X-Men/Avengers hybrid initially launched in 2012 the wake of Avengers vs. X-Men. Includes other X/A mash-ups like A+X.

Marvel Universe Events – Marvel has gathered its heroes together for major, line-wide events for over forty years – and the Avengers are often at the center of them. Learn about every Marvel event and make sense of the main story without buying every comic involved.

Collecting Avengers solo titles

In addition to maintaining a core of guides collecting X-Men major characters with a long history of solo series, I also launch special complete reading order guides for other solo Avengers exclusively to Patrons of Crushing Krisis.