Publication history of Marvel comics crossover events

Throughout its history of publication, Marvel comics has produced many crossover stories combining characters from different series of comics. The following is s list of crossover events involving superheros and characters from different series.

Events

Golden Age

Event	Date	Developments
Namor vs the Original Human Torch	1940	Namor and the Torch battle it out and cement the idea of a shared continuity of the Marvel universe. (Marvel Mystery Comics #8, June 1940)
All-Winners Squad	1946	A short lived creation, this team was composed of Captain America, Bucky, The Original Human Torch, Toro, Sub-Mariner, The Whizzer, and Miss America (All Winners #19, #21; Fall-Winter 1946).[1]

1960s

Event	Date	Developments
Emergence of the Avengers	1963	Iron Man, Thor, Ant Man, the Wasp and Hulk assemble for the first time in an effort to stop Loki (The Avengers #1, September 1963).[2]
Reed Richards and Susan Storm's Wedding	1965	On the wedding day of Reed Richards and Susan Storm, Doctor Doom and an assembly of super villains (consisting of Attuma, Awesome Android, Beetle, Black Knight, Cobra, Diablo, Electro, Enchantress, Executioner, Grey Gargoyle, Human Top, some HYDRA agents, Kang the Conqueror, Mandarin, Melter, Mister Hyde, Mole Man, Porcupine, Puppet Master, Red Ghost and his Super Apes, Super-Skrull, and Unicorn) crash the wedding but are defeated by every super hero who was attending the wedding. This is the first time that almost every super character in the Marvel Universe at the time were gathered into one book (Fantastic Four Annual #3, November 1965).

1970s

Event	Date	Developments
Emergence of The Defenders	1971	The Defenders are first organized, originally led by Dr. Strange and including The Hulk, Namor, and the Silver Surfer (Marvel Feature #1, December 1971)[3]).
The Korvac Saga	1978	The Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy track down a mysterious threat from the future (The Avengers #167-168, #170-177, January–February, April–December 1978).[4]

1980s

Event	Date	Developments
Contest of Champions	1982	The Grandmaster and Death manipulate the heroes of Earth in a game to decide the fate of The Collector (Contest of Champions #1 June 1982).[5]
Secret Wars	1984–1985	The Beyonder kidnaps selected heroes and villains of Earth to battle on a planet of his creation. Spider-Man finds his Symbiote costume. Doctor Doom steal the powers of the Beyonder, becoming almost god-like in the process, but is ultimately defeated by the present heroes (Secret Wars #1-12, May 1984-April 1985).[6]
Secret Wars II	1985–1986	The Beyonder heads to Earth in a bid to understand humanity, creating a human form for himself in the process.
The Evolutionary War	1988	The High Evolutionary unleashes attacks all over the world to guide the way of human evolution (Eleven part crossover starting in X-Factor Annual #3,including The Punisher Annual #1, The Uncanny X-Men Annual #12 and concluding in The Avengers Annual #17, September 1988).[7]
Inferno	1988–1989	Demons from Limbo invade earth.
Atlantis Attacks	1989	Under the influence of Set the Serpent God, the Atlanteans launch a massive assault on the surface world.
Acts of Vengeance	1989–1990	Loki unites Doctor Doom, Magneto, Kingpin, Mandarin, Wizard, and Red Skull in a plot to use lesser enemies to defeat the superheroes that aren't their usual enemies. (Story arc begins in Avengers Spotlight #26, December1989).[8]

1990s

Event	Date	Developments
The Infinity Gauntlet	1991	Thanos uses the power of the Infinity Gems to become Supreme Being (The Infinity Gauntlet #1-6, July–December 1991).[9]
Operation: Galactic Storm	1992	The Avengers become involved in a war between the Kree and the Shi'ar (Captain America #398-401, Avengers West Coast #80-82, Quasar #32-36, Wonder Man #7-9, Avengers #345-347, Iron Man #278-279, Thor#445-446).[10][11]
Infinity War	1992	Magus, Adam Warlock's "Evil Side", creates evil doppelgangers of Earth's heroes to gain ultimate power.
Infinity Crusade	1993	Goddess, Adam Warlock's "Good Side", recruits an army of heroes to fight her holy war. Thanos and Adam Warlock unite to stop her.
Age of Apocalypse	1995	Legion travels back in time to kill Magneto, but accidentally kills his own father, Charles Xavier, creating a dystopian alternative timeline in which Apocalypse rules the world (story arc commences in X-Men: Alpha, February 1995).[12]
Onslaught Saga	1996–1997	The seed was planted when Xavier mind-wiped Magneto during Fatal Attractions, and he was born by the time warp of the Age of Apocalypse. Onslaught has arrived and defeating him results in the apparent "deaths" of many superheroes (X-Men #53, June, 1996, Onslaught: X-Men Special, August 1996, Onslaught: Marvel Universe, October, 1996).[13]
Heroes Reborn	1997	The heroes who died during the Onslaught saga return from a Limbo created by Franklin Richards (Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4, November, 1997).[14]

2000s

Event	Date	Developments
Maximum Security	2000	Fed up with Earth's interference in intergalactic affairs, the starfaring alien community quarantines the Sol System and turns Earth into a prison for the universe's worst criminals.
Infinity Abyss	2002	Mad partial-clones of Thanos try to destroy the universe.
Avengers Disassembled	2004	Scarlet Witch goes insane and kills or incapacitates the current Avenger-roster, bringing to an end the Avengers as we knew them (main story-arc in Avengers #500-503, Avengers Finale, September–December 2004.).[15] Meanwhile Thor brings about the end of Asgard (Thor #80-85, 2004).[16]
Secret War	2004–2005	Nick Fury brainwashes several heroes in secret to start a secret war against Latveria, who he believes has been selling high-tech weaponry to super villains (Secret War #1-#5, Secret War: From the Files of Nick Fury (2005).[17]
House of M and Decimation	2005	The Scarlet Witch alters reality, creating a world in which mutants are in charge but ultimately resulting in the population of the world's mutants brought to near extinction (main story arc in House of M #1-8, August 2005-March 2006).[18]
Annihilation	2006–2007	Silver Surfer, Super-Skrull, Nova, and Ronan face the Annihilation Wave.
Civil War	2006–2007	Heroes are divided when the U.S. government passes the Super-human Registration Act. Captain America seeks freedom, while Iron Man seeks to institute the 50 State Initiative (main story arc in Civil War #1-7, July 2006-January 2007).[19] Major events in the saga include Peter Parker's revealing his identity to the public (Civil War #2, August 2006)[19] and Captain America's death (Captain America #25 (2007)).[20]
Annihilation: Conquest	2007–2008	After the devastation of the wake of the Annihilation Wave, Nova, Starlord, Wraith, & a new Quasar (Phyla-Vell) lead a group of cosmic heroes against the Phalanx, who threaten to conquer and annihilate all of Kree space.
World War Hulk	2007	Following his exile into space (New Avengers: Illuminati One-Shot, 2006),[21] The Hulk returns to Earth to exact revenge on those responsible (World War Hulk #1, August 2007).[22]
Secret Invasion	2008	A stealthy invasion by the Skrull race has gone unnoticed for years, but there is an even more secret purpose behind it (main story arc in Secret Invasion #1-8, June 2008-January 2009).[23]
Dark Reign	2009	In the aftermath of Secret Invasion, Norman Osborn grows to new heights of power as a beloved public figure taking over S.H.I.E.L.D. (re-christening the organization as H.A.M.M.E.R.), forming the Cabal, and founding the Dark Avengers (story arc begins in "Secret Invasion: Dark Reign", 2008[24] and "Secret Invasion #8", January 2009;[23] Dark Avengers first appear in "New Avengers #50", 2009[24] and "Dark Avengers #1", 2009[25]).
War of Kings	2009	Vulcan is rapidly expanding the Shi'ar Empire, while Black Bolt and the Inhumans become leaders of the Kree empire following the events of Secret Invasion, and a cosmic war begins, drawing in Nova, Darkhawk, the Starjammers, and the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Realm of Kings	2009–2010	The follow-up to War of Kings.
Siege	2009–2010	In the aftermath of Dark Reign, Norman Osborn invades Asgard.
Fall of the Hulks	2009–2010	The smartest minds in the Marvel Universe are being captured by a group known only as the Intelligencia which is a collection of some of the smartest supervillains in the Marvel canon.

2010s

Event	Date	Developments
Doomwar	2010	Black Panther, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and Deadpool wage war on the Latverian dictator Doctor Doom in an attempt to finally bring his empire down once and for all.
Heroic Age	2010	With the Superhuman Registration Act abolished, a major change in the status quo of the Marvel Universe begins.
The Thanos Imperative	2010	Thanos has returned from the dead, which prompts an important question: "What does this mean for the entire universe?"
World War Hulks	2010	The follow-up to Fall of the Hulks. The plan of the Intelligencia is put in action plus the identities of the Red Hulk and Red She-Hulk are finally revealed.
Curse of the Mutants	2010	Vampires from around the globe descend on San Francisco to claim the city as their own causing the X-Men and Blade to team up to stop them.
Shadowland	2010	A prison/temple is constructed on the ruins of a Hell's Kitchen building, destroyed (along with numerous lives) by Bullseye during the Dark Reign event. Murdock returns to Hell's Kitchen from Japan and seeks to utilise the Hand as a force for justice; however, Murdock is not the same person anymore.
Chaos War	2010–2011	The Chaos King Amatsu-Mikaboshi, the living embodiment of the void before time and space began, has chosen to annihilate all reality and to return the Marvel Universe back to its state of primordial darkness, thus launching a massive assault on Earth to wipe out all of existence with an army of thousands of alien deities at his back. This forces the remaining heroes, gods and cosmic beings, rallied by a restored Hercules, to join forces in an last desperate effort to stop him.
Death of Johnny Storm	2011	Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, risks his life to save Ben Grimm (The Thing) and the Richard kids. Marks the end of the Fantastic Four, and the beginning of the Future Foundation. Fantastic Four #588, FF#1
Age of X	2011	The reality as changed, the Earth-616 was replaced by a world where the X-Men never came to be, the mutant-kind has been hunted to extinction, the few remaining mutants band together to make their last stand.
Onslaught Unleashed	2011	It seems Onslaught has returned as a threat of the Marvel Universe once more, this time with a connection to Nomad. No telling what trouble he will create for both the teenage would be heroes of The Young Allies, and Steve Rogers' Secret Avengers
Fear Itself	2011	The Asgardian God of Fear is sowing fear and doubt among Marvel's Superheroes to use it against them.
Spider-Island	2011	The Jackal has given to every New Yorker spider-like powers, even heroes and villains.
Schism	2011	After a mutant-triggered international incident, anti-mutant hatred hits new heights. It's at this moment, when the mutant race needs most to stand together, that a split begins that will tear apart the very foundation of the X-Men.
Shattered Heroes	2011	Aftermath of Fear Itself.

References

1. ^ Marvel Chronicle: A Year by Year History (2008) Saunders, Catherine et al (eds), Dorling Kindersley, London. ISBN 978-1-4053-3263-7 pp32-33
2. ^ Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Volume 1(2002).Lee, Stan., Kirby, Jack. Marvel Comics, New York. ISBN 0-7851-0883-1 pp1-23
3. ^ Marvel Chronicle: A Year by Year History (2008) Saunders, Catherine et al (eds), Dorling Kindersley, London. ISBN 978-1-4053-3263-7 p151
4. ^ The Avengers Legends Volume 2: The Korvac Saga (2003) Shooter, Jim.,Michelinie, David., Mantlo, Bill. Marvel Comics, New York. ISBN 0-7851-0919-6
5. ^ Marvel Chronicle: A Year by Year History (2008) Saunders, Catherine et al (eds), Dorling Kindersley, London. ISBN 978-1-4053-3263-7 p 208
6. ^ Secret Wars (2005) Shooter, Jim. Marvel Comics, New York. ISBN 0-7851-1873-x
7. ^ Marvel Chronicle: A Year by Year History (2008) Saunders, Catherine et al (eds), Dorling Kindersley, London. ISBN 978-1-4053-3263-7 p 238
8. ^ Marvel Chronicle: A Year by Year History (2008) Saunders, Catherine et al (eds), Dorling Kindersley, London. ISBN 978-1-4053-3263-7 p 243
9. ^ Marvel Chronicle: A Year by Year History (2008) Saunders, Catherine et al (eds), Dorling Kindersley, London. ISBN 978-1-4053-3263-7 p 254
10. ^ Avengers: Galactic Storm Volume 1 (2006)Youngquist, Jeff., Grunwald, Jennifer., Beazley, Mark., Short,,Michael. (eds) Marvel Publishing Inc., New York. ISBN 0-7851-2044-0
11. ^ Avengers: Galactic Storm Volume 2 (2006)Youngquist, Jeff., Grunwald, Jennifer., Short, Michael. (eds) Marvel Publishing Inc., New York. ISBN 0-7851-2045-9
12. ^ Marvel Chronicle: A Year by Year History (2008) Saunders, Catherine et al (eds), Dorling Kindersley, London. ISBN 978-1-4053-3263-7 p 272
13. ^ Marvel Chronicle: A Year by Year History (2008) Saunders, Catherine et al (eds), Dorling Kindersley, London. ISBN 978-1-4053-3263-7. pp279-280
14. ^ Heroes Reborn: The Return (2009)Marvel Publishing, New York, ISBN 978-0-7851-3748-1
15. ^ Avengers Disassembled (2005), Bendis, Brian. Marvel Comics, New York. ISBN 0-7851-1482-3
16. ^ Avengers Disassembled: Thor (2004) Oeming, Michael. Marvel Comics, New York. ISBN 0-7851-1599-4
17. ^ Secret War (2005)Bendis, Michael. Marvel Publishing Inc., New York. ISBN 0-7851-1837-3
18. ^ House of M (2006) Marvel Publishing, New York, ISBN 0-7851-1721-0
19. ^ ^{a b} Civil War (2007): Millar, M., Marvel Publishing, New York, ISBN 0-7851-2179-X
20. ^ Captain America: The Death of Captain America (2007): Brubaker, E., Marvel Publishing, New York, ISBN 978-0-7851-2849-6
21. ^ Civil War: The Road to Civil War(2007), Grunwald, J. (ed), Marvel Publishing, New York, ISBN 0-7851-1974-4
22. ^ Marvel Chronicle: A Year by Year History (2008) Saunders, Catherine et al (eds), Dorling Kindersley, London. ISBN 978-1-4053-3263-7 p 336
23. ^ ^{a b} Secret Invasion (2009) Bendis, Marvel Publishing, New York, ISBN 978-0-7851-3297-4
24. ^ ^{a b} The New Avengers: Power (2009), Bendis, Marvel Publishing, New York, ISBN 978-0-7851-3559-3
25. ^ Dark Avengers: Assemble Vol 1, (2009), Bendis, Marvel Publishing, New York, ISBN978-0-7851-3851-8