A Guide To Read Marvel’s Avengers: Armageddon

Marvel just completed the latest shakeup of their universe in Avengers: Armageddon, leading to an all new Avengers team. There is a lot going on coming into the event, so here’s everything you need to read to fully understand it.

To avoid a spoiler that’s probably not a spoiler now, I added some additional option setup at the end of the article; if you want to avoid the big reveal at the end of Avengers: Armageddon #5, stop at the Fallout section. You could always come back for that last section after you’ve read it.

Optional Setup

• Spider-Man: One More Day: Yes, the 2007 arc that erases the marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane. This ties into Avengers #1 after Armageddon. The arc is 4 issues:
  • Amazing Spider-Man #544
  • Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24
  • The Sensational Spider-Man #41
  • Amazing Spider-Man #545
• One World Under Doom #1-9: While Doom isn’t involved with Armageddon, he essentially kicks it off by becoming Emperor Doom. The events in Latveria set up everything in Armageddon.
• Red Hulk #1-10: Thunderbolt Ross is the catalyst for Armageddon and this sets everything in motion from his point of view.
• The Will of Doom #1: Based off the title, you should be able to tell that Doom is dead (this does come up in the event). This bridges One World Under Doom and Armageddon. It also puts Red Hulk as an active player. It really sets up the geo-political landscape of the Marvel Universe.
• Dungeons of Doom #1-3: Dungeons of Doom shows the chaos left in Latveria after Doom is gone.

Actual Setup

• Captain America #1-5: Chip Zdarsky introduces another Captain America, David Colton. This is a modern retelling of Cap’s origin, shows their initial trip to Latveria, and leads to Cap joining the Avengers.
• Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion #1-5: Miles Morales goes into the remade Ultimate Universe to rescue his sister. This gives the background on Origin Boxes and how they get to the 616.

Prelude

The prelude features a search of Latveria for Doom’s weapons, setting up Captain America’s part of Armageddon, reintroduces S.H.I.E.L.D., and more story development for David Colton, which also brings in Wolverine.

• Captain America #6-7
• Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon #1
• Captain America #8
• Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon #2
• Captain America #9-10
• Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon #3
• Avengers: Armageddon/X-Men Free Comic Book Day #1
• Captain America #11
• Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon #4

The Crossover

You can just read the full event in the main book, but you would be missing out on many of the moving pieces in the background that lay the groundwork for Avengers #1.

The events of Captain America shape the ending of Avengers #1, specifically in regards to Spider-Man. Black Panther/Namor: Doomed go along with these events and set up the bigger Marvel political structure. I’m adding Amazing Spider-Man #1000 because it gives the reader a little context on his status quo coming into Avengers #1.

• Avengers: Armageddon #1
• Captain America #12
• Avengers: Armageddon #2
• Captain America #13-14
• Avengers: Armageddon #3
• Amazing Spider-Man #1000
• Captain America #15
• Avengers: Armageddon #4-5
• Captain America #16
• Black Panther/Namor: Doomed #1-3

Fallout

The fallout leads to the new Avengers #1, Maximum X-Men #1, and the one-shot Immortal Soldiers #1. The other books continue on with impacts of what has happened.

• Avengers #1
• Maximum X-Men #1
• Immortal Soldiers #1 (One-shot)
• Amazing Spider-Man #1003
• Captain America #17

Avengers #1 is out now, but the others will be showing up in the next few months.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, but it’s leading to some recycled storylines and I’m worried they’ll be subpar again (think Civil War II).

One More Thing…

I didn’t want to throw this up top, but another book that is optional setup is Miracleman. Anyone who has seen the cover of Avengers #1 knows David Colton becomes the new Miracleman. And people might need a refresher on his powers.

There are 3 volumes written by Alan Moore that give you all you need to know about his origin and powerset. If you want to track these down, you can get them digitally or used; Marvel hasn’t released new versions of the book in years.

There are also 2 modern volumes; the first is written by Neil Gaiman and the second by Mark Buckingham; these are currently in print as one book from Marvel as Miracleman – The Golden Age. It picks up from the Moore books and explores the level of power for the chracter.

Having Gaiman’s name on the book is a little problematic, but it’s been reported that anything he makes from Miracleman goes to various charities and the estate of Mick Anglo, the original creator of the book. If you are worried about supporting him financially, you could find the book pretty easily on the secondary market.