The Avengers are Marvel's biggest team, combining the publisher's most iconic heroes into one potent package. The MCU has lifted the team's profile significantly, showing the world what comic fans have known for years - the Avengers are amazing. Avengers stories are action-packed spectacles, ones that have enthralled fans for decades.

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That said, modern readers may want to steer clear of a lot of older Avengers comics. Comics were written and drawn very differently back in the day, and even runs from not so long ago don't stand up nearly as well as one imagines, let alone from decades ago.

10 Stan Lee And Jack Kirby's Time On The Avengers Isn't All It's Cracked Up To Be

The Avengers didn't appear until 2 years into Marvel's Silver Age.

Stan Lee is Marvel's biggest creative icon, even if the truth of the matter is that he did less work than advertised. Jack Kirby is considered comics' greatest artist, a man whose idiosyncratic style created unbelievable visuals. The two men were the architects of the early Marvel Universe and spectacular talents. They were the first creators on The Avengers, but their work can be difficult for modern readers.

Kirby's style may not appeal to every modern reader, but it's Lee's dialogue that is especially galling to new readers. It worked for the time, but it's basically ridiculous now. Beyond that, the stories' plots aren't the best. It all adds up to a difficult read.

9 The Early 2000s Weren't Great

Iron Man cradles Captain America's body in Marvel Comics

The Avengers had a tumultuous time of the '90s, but the end of the decade made up for it. The Kurt Busiek/George Perez run created amazing stories, and Busiek's run continued into the early 2000s. Unfortunately, after he left things took a bit of a dive. Writer Geoff Johns joined the book, and while his work was good, it wasn't as good as what came before.

After Johns signed an exclusive contract with DC and left, writer Chuck Austen took over. Austen is one of the most infamous writers in Marvel history and his time on The Avengers is as divisive as anything else he's done.

8 The Bendis Run Rarely Works Outside The Context Of Its Time

Bendis New-Avengers - Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Sentry, And Spider-Woman in Marvel Comics

It's weird to say that Brian Michael Bendis's run on the Avengers books is old, but it did end a decade ago. Working with Marvel's top artists, like David Finch, Steve McNiven, Jim Cheung, Leinil Yu, Mike Deodato Jr., John Romita Jr., and more, Bendis brought the Avengers back to prominence for fans and critics, not to mention sales wise, but reading it now shows how flawed it is.

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To begin with, it's heavily dependent on the continuity of the time; in fact, it sets it. There are few stories that can just be picked up and read, as they all add up to something in the run's future or an event book. Beyond that, the run can be kind of boring for someone looking for action packed Avengers stories, as Bendis's strong suit was dialogue and not action.

7 '70s Avengers Stories Are Kind Of Lackluster

Avengers 100 Cropped

When one thinks of classic Marvel, they're mostly thinking of the creative heyday of the Silver Age, the 1960s. They rarely ever think about the 1970s and there's a reason for that. Beyond a few very well-known stories and character debuts, the 1970s were not exactly the best time for Marvel. This is as true in The Avengers as anywhere else.

The manic creativity of the book's early days gave way to a more formulaic time. Things get better towards the end of the decade, but there really isn't much reprinted from this era for a reason - it's mostly forgettable.

6 The Avengers' Women Are Not Treated Well

Ms. Marvel decides to leave with Marus in panels from Avengers #200.

Marvel has long had a problem with stories about their women, and old Avengers comics put that on display. From the blatant sexism with which the Wasp was often treated to all of the Scarlet Witch stories where she goes crazy because she's a woman with emotions to the weird sexualization of Tigra, there's a lot of bad for women superheroes. But all of that pales in comparison to The Avengers #200.

The Avengers #200 is infamous among Marvel fans, as it revolves around Carol Danvers getting raped, getting pregnant, birthing a new version of her rapist, and then falling in love with him. This is the worst example, but it's by no means an outlier.

5 There's Very Little Diversity On The Team For A Long Time

Wonder Man surrounded by Avengers floating heads in Marvel Comics

The Avengers consist of Marvel's mightiest heroes, but for a long time, that was just the publisher's most powerful straight white men. The team did have some women, usually Wasp, Scarlet Witch, or Carol Danvers in the early years, but for the most part, the team's diversity was nil. Even when Black Panther is introduced to the group, he's usually not committed to the team and antagonistic towards the other members.

In fact, Black Panther was one of the few heroes of color on the team until Monica Rambeau joined and became leader, something Marvel made sure to ruin once writer Roger Stern left the book. As for LGBTQIA representation, aside from Living Lightning, who come out after leaving the team, there's pretty much no representation to speak of, something which holds up to this day, unfortunately.

4 The Villains Aren't Great

avengers-masters-of-evil-display

The Avengers have faced down some of the most dangerous villains ever, but going back and reading the old stories will definitely not give readers that impression. Take Ultron, for instance. In the modern Marvel Universe, he's an extinction-level event. In the old Avengers comics? He once pretended to be the Crimson Cowl to hide his identity and barely did anything dangerous.

Kang? He once took control of an Old West town with dinosaurs and was defeated by Hawkeye and Marvel's Western heroes. The original Masters of Evil was kind of pathetic. For a modern fan used to dangerous villains, old Avengers comics are going to be a disappointment.

3 There Really Aren't That Many Greatest Of All Time Avengers Stories

Avengers Forever. Kree-Skrull War, and Under Siege Comic Covers

There have been some amazing Avengers stories over the years, but one can take a look at disparate best-of lists and notice something peculiar; nearly every single one has the exact same stories on it. Compare that to, say, the X-Men or DC's Justice League and it's a bit distressing. Older Avengers stories are fun, but the greats are few and far between.

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It gets worse when one gets out of the '80s with the stellar Roger Stern written issues and gets to the '90s, which is a minefield of bad stories until the end of the decade when Busiek and Perez took over. For readers who believe the old Avengers stories are full of forgotten gems, a rude awakening is coming.

2 The Heroes Reborn Avengers Book Is Terrible

Heroes Reborn Avengers

The Heroes Reborn initiative produced some of Marvel's most disliked comics. Those include Captain America and The Avengers, both of which Rob Liefeld was heavily involved in writing and drawing, with help from writer Jeph Loeb and artists Ian Churchill, Chap Yaep, and more. Even when Liefeld left the books after issue six, things didn't get much better.

Heroes Reborn is not fondly remembered, but Avengers takes the cake. It's simply a bad comic and among the worst Avengers comics ever. Unfortunately, that was par for the course with '90s Avengers comics.

1 No One Should Re-Read Most '90s Avengers Comics

3 Avengers The Crossing With Iron Man, Black Widow, And Vision

One can point to Heroes Reborn as a definitive low point for the Avengers, but the truth of the matter is that it isn't. Looking at most of the '90s Avengers comics, the majority of them are, at best, mediocre. At worst, fans got stuff like The Crossing, which had one of Marvel's most surprising retcons. In this case, surprising doesn't mean good.

The beginning of the decade was fine, and the end was amazing, but from 1992 til 1998, The Avengers was consistently one of Marvel's worst books. It squandered all the goodwill it had built up. Re-reading these books is a bit of a chore.