The 1990s were not kind for Marvel Comics, but there were some Avengers comic book stories in that decade that still hold up today, and were rare great tales in the decade where marvel almost went out of business. After launching in 1963 with Avengers #1, the super-team in Marvel Comics underwent several changes over the years. While the 70s and 80s presented different members, the main core part of the team remained several of the early members, including Iron Man, Captain America, and the Wasp. However, things began to change in the 1990s, and there were points where the team looked nothing like any Avengers lineup, and even one hated storyline where one of the founding members turned evil.

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However, there were also some great Avengers stories in the 1990s, and these seven are the best from that decade.

7) Heroes Reborn

There are some people who hate everything about the 1990s version of Heroes Reborn. However, this was a storyline that started a slight reboot to the Avengers that was needed after the terrible Crossing event series where Iron Man turned evil and proved he had always been working for Kang. Add in a story that turned Wasp into a mutated creature and a teenage Tony Starch that everyone hated, and it was time for a change.

Onslaught showed up and killed the Avengers and Fantastic Four and it allowed both titles to reboot in a new world. What most people hate about the Avengers reboot is also what pother fans love about it. This is an art-first title, with Rob Liefeld working to reboot both Avengers and Captain America. Liefeld’s art-style has always been polarizing, While it only lasted for six months, it wasn’t as bad as some might claim, and it ended up as a test run for what would later become the Ultimate Marvel Universe.

6) The Last Avengers Story

The Last Avengers Story was released in 1995 from Peter David and Ariel Olivetti. This was almost seen as Marvel’s version of something DC was doing at the same time called Kingdom Come. However, David wrote The Last Avengers Story in 1986 and held onto it until he knew it would release how he wanted it without editorial interference. Kang the Conqueror finds a time capsule that details the Avengers downfall and travels back in time to kill them.

However, the original team had disbanded and the new team was less experienced, and they were who died. Hank Pym then forms a new team to fight (which includes a sorcerer named Tommy Maximoff, who was actually a version of Wiccan many years before he was introduced). This mishmash team of old heroes and second-generation heroes then have to battle Kang, Ultron, a new Grim Reaper, and Oddball to the death. It was a great series that remains a good read for people who love What If…? styled stories.

5) Avengers West Coast: Terminated

In the 1980s, Marvel introduced the West Coast Avengers, and thanks to several moments, this became a series that many fans loved even more than the original team’s comics. This series run saw Hawkeye finally step up and prove himself as a leader after being a rebel for years before this. It saw the incredible White Vision arrive in a storyline that included Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, and Jim Hammond’s Hunan Torch. It even included bringing U.S. Agent back to the forefront.

However, it all ended with this great storyline where the U.S. government sent the main Avengers to shut the team down, and the conflict that rose here was intense. It was amazing seeing Captain America, of all people, look like the government stooge, and when almost every member of the West Coast Avengers threw down their badges and quit the entire Avengers team, it was a great moment of solidarity. It led to the disappointing Force Works, but this final moment of the West Coast Avengers standing together was great.

4) Ultron Unlimited

“Ultron Unlimited” came at the very end of the 1990s, and it allowed the Avengers to end the decade with one of the team’s best storylines in history. Starting with Avengers (Vol. 3) #0 and running from Avengers (Vol. 3) #19-22, this was a massive storyline that brought the classic Avengers villain to the forefront in one of his best events.

If anything, this was the ultimate Ultron storyline and was better than Age of Ultron because this actually focused on the robot villain, his relationship with Hank Pym, and how powerful and manipulative he is from start to finish. This was part of Kurt Busiek’s run on the title, and he took a title that was almost dead before Onslaught and turned the title into one of Marvel’s best once again, with this storyline as a perfect example of how to write great Avengers stories.

3) Operation: Galactic Storm

“Operation: Galactic Storm” was an Avenger storyline that ran in 1992 and saw the team involved in a battle between alien races, something they had been dealing with since the 1970s. Once again, the Kree were involved here, but instead of the Skrulls, this time they were battling the Shi’ar Empire. This led to the Avengers to attempt to intervene, and this then led to a tense moment at the end.

The Avengers knew that they needed to stop this war and then Iron Man made the ultimate decision in the end to shut down the Supreme Intelligence, which was an actual living being, basically committing murder to end the war, which started a long animosity between Captain America and Tony. It also saw the Shi’ar annex the Kree Empire, which led to some major events a decade later. On its own, though, seeing the Avengers in these major battles is always fun, and this stands up alongside their 70s battles in the Kree-Skrull War.

2) Heroes Return

For fans who hated the Heroes Reborn storylines thanks to the change in status quo and Rob Liefeld’s art, there was a lot to love about the Heroes Return storyline. In fact, it is possible to love both storylines for different reasons. It turned out that Franklin Richards had created a pocket Earth where he hid the Avengers and Fantastic Four among an entire world of humans who Franklin created out of his mind. Once Franklin knew Onslaught was gone for good, he returned everyone to the main Earth.

This was the first storyline after their return, and it remains beloved because it reset things and eliminated several things that fans hated from before Onslaught (Iron Man as a villain, Wasp as a creature). This was also where Kurt Busiek started on the title, and his run remains among the best in Avengers history, with his Heroes Return standing as the best of that line of comics.

1) Avengers Forever

Avengers Forever was a 12-issue miniseries released in 1998 and 1999 and it featured Rick Jones as he attempted to create a new team of Avengers from the past, the present, and the future. In this storyline, Rick has the “Destiny Force,” which he received in the Kree-Skrull War, and Immortus sent a minion to kill him. However, Kang the Conqueror showed up and saved him, and the Supreme Intelligence convinced Rick to get help.

That already sounds like a lot, but with Kurt Busiek and Roger Stern at the helm, it worked out beautifully. The team included a disillusioned Captain America from the past, Yellowjacket from the era where he didn’t know he was Hank Pym, Hawkeye from after the Kree-Skrull War, Giant-Man and Wasp from the present, and Songbird and Captain Marvel from the future. What resulted was a highly entertaining story that proved the 1990s were not always great for the Avengers, but when Marvel did it right, it was brilliant.

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