Image Credit... Marvel Entertainment

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?”

Image Credit... Marvel Entertainment

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.

Image Credit... Marvel Entertainment

Young Avengers: The Complete Collection

In 2005, the writer Allan Heinberg and the 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.