8 Strangest Avengers Comic Book storylines

Edgar Allan Poe once said, “There is no beauty without some strangeness.” I disagree. Sometimes, strange is just downright strange. The first Avengers comic book came out in 1963. These characters are now globally ubiquitous thanks to the billion-dollar MCU machine. However, some comic book fans, like myself, will tell you that not every Avengers story is a masterpiece. Some of them are painfully strange. Here are eight of the strangest Avengers comic book storylines.

1. Avengers The Crossing

This is one of the strangest Avengers comic book storylines ever. In 1995, Marvel decided they wanted a young Tony Stark in their comics. So, it is shown that Kang the Conqueror made Tony Stark into a traitor. Stark kills the Avengers’ nanny and other low-level Avengers.

The Avengers travel back in time, find 19-year-old Tony, and bring him to the present to fight and defeat modern-day Tony. The events of this comic are now forgotten and non-canonical.

It is very hard to find this comic on Amazon. A used hardcover collecting the storyline costs $125. 

2. Ms. Marvel Gives Birth to a Son…That Impregnates Her

1980 was a very weird time in comics. In Avengers #200, Carol Danvers gives birth to a child who rapidly grows into an adult overnight. It turns out her son is Marcus, the son of Immortus, an immortal being who can manipulate time.

Marcus, Carol’s grown, adult son, later lures Carol into a limbo realm, manipulates and scrambles her mind, impregnates Carol with himself, and retroactively causes his own birth. (It hurts my mind to write that sentence.)

Carol and Marcus become a couple at the end of the story. The Avengers even enable their coupling.

The story has since been rejected by its creators. Critics call the story misogynistic and insulting, and most fans pretend it does not exist. The issue sells for $23 on Amazon.

3. She-Hulk #6

“I’m With Cupid” is a 2006 story from She-Hulk #6. Starfox is an Inhuman and the brother of Thanos. Harry Styles portrayed Starfox in a post-credit scene in 2021’s Eternals. Starfox has the power to control the pleasure center in your brain and manipulate you to do his will.

A woman sues Starfox for sexual assault, and She-Hulk agrees to defend him. It is a very sensationalist story that is still written with tact, considering the politically explosive subject matter.

Buy the issue for $1.99 on Kindle.

4. Hank Pym Beats His Wife

Michael Douglas portrays Hank Pym in the MCU. However, the Hank Pym of Marvel comics has been the victim of character assassination for a long time. Instead of being known as the first Ant-Man, comic fans know Pym as a vile domestic abuser. In Avengers #213, from 1981, Hank backhands his wife, Janet Van Dyne, The Wasp. It was the 1980s, however, and most modern fans don’t know about it.

However, Hank’s comic book reputation as a wife-beater became undeniable in 2002’s Ultimates. This comic would inspire the MCU except for this plot point. Hank is shown to be an unrepentant and vicious wife-beater who unapologetically enjoys abusing Janet. It’s one of the strangest Avengers comic book depictions. The idea of Hank Pym, the wife-beater, still stains the character in comics today.

The Ultimates Vol. 1 collects the early issues of the series. Buy the paperback for $10.

5. Demon in a Bottle

This was one of the strangest Avengers comic book stories of the era because of its stark depiction of a superhero in 1979. Now a beloved classic, the story deconstructs Iron Man as a hero. Tony  Stark finds himself the victim of industrial sabotage, loses his role as leader of the Avengers, and begins drinking excessively. 

This Bronze Age story was one of the first times superheroes were not seen as perfect and seen with flaws that mirror real-world issues. While very common now, this was mind-blowing in 1979. This story was the inspiration for RDJ’s Tony Stark in the MCU.

Buy the 176-page paperback for $25 at Amazon now.

6. Avengers: Disassembled

This is also one of the strangest Avengers comic book stories. While it is a great read, it reduces Scarlet Witch into a mentally ill plot device. In 2011, Scarlet Witch was a weird character and not the household name she is now. Her husband, Vision, is a sentient cybernetic being, not a human. Her children were constructs of magic and not real; This fact was erased from Wanda’s memory by Agatha Harkness.

Scarlet Witch regains her memories and loses her mind. She kills several Avengers and warps reality into the House of M storyline. Wanda later erases most mutants from the world. While I love the story, the fact is that it is basically about a mentally ill witch who finally admits to herself that her husband and children are not real, and never were real.

She has been playing make-believe family for years while friends and colleagues awkwardly enable her, and then – she snaps. It’s a tragic and strange story. 

Buy the 176-page paperback for $24 at Amazon now.

7. Ultimates Twincest

Taking place in an alternate reality, the main plot of this Ultimates story is the murder of Scarlet Witch. A sex video of Tony Stark and Black Widow is shown to the public, causing a scandal. It is also heavily implied that Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are in an incestuous relationship.

Ultimates Volume 3 does not compare to the iconic first volume of the Ultimate series for many reasons, foremost being the story is not good. Still, the twin incest angle did not help.

The 120-page hardcover is available for $30 at Amazon.

8. Dark Avengers

In 2009, the Secret Invasion storyline was over. Shape-shifting Skrulls were all over Earth. The Avengers dramatically disband in the aftermath. Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin, is now the head of SHIELD. In disguise as the Iron Patriot, Osborn assembles his own Dark Avengers team. Sentry and Ares are on the team.

This group is just villains and antiheroes in disguise as heroes. Scorpion disguises himself as black suit Spider-Man/Venom, Daken, Logan’s son in the comics, disguises himself as Wolverine, and Bullseye pretends to be Hawkeye.

While not a bad comic, it repeats the concepts of the 1997 Thunderbolts comic. Also, fans of the era could not relate to such cynical villains pretending to be superheroes. Dark Avengers Modern Era Epic Collection is a 552-page paperback that collects the original storyline. Buy it for $50 at Amazon now.

Strangest Avengers Comic Book Storylines

“Strange” is a relative term. “Demon in a Bottle” was strange in 1979 because it was the first time superhero storylines could mirror real-world events. Fans had not seen alcoholic superheroes before; you think you live in culturally conservative times now, but back then, Drunk Tony Stark was mind-blowing.

The Ultimates portrayal of Hank Pym as a wife-beater is weird because I don’t know how that endears the character to readers. Fans of Michael Douglas’s MCU version would not enjoy the comic book version.

It’s almost 25 years later, and as a comic fan, it still burns me that Hank was written that way. I grew up reading about Hank Pym as Ant-Man in the Avengers; Hank Pym made his debut in 1962. Scott Lang made his debut in the comics in 1979. This stigma still haunts Hank Pym in the comic books today.

So, while the definition of strange differs from person to person, no one can deny that Avengers comic books have been entertaining readers for decades. Go and read some while you’re waiting for Doomsday and Secret Wars; the best stories are in the comics. 

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