Timeline · 13 story eras
The story,
mapped.
Browse all 374 books by story era. A creator’s run stays together even when it spans several eras. Each dossier explains where its stories fit and lists reading checkpoints for crossovers. Marvel time is elastic, and many large books straddle events. The timeline gives each book its place in the big story; each book’s reading checkpoints give the practical order.
Owned Next up Unowned Alternate worlds and retrospectives branch off the line↓ The book continues into a later era
The Heroic Age and the Incursions
Rebuilding in the light while worlds quietly collide overhead — everything ends, and it ends on Battleworld.
Era 10 · 49 books · 2 owned
- Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis: The Complete Collection Vol. 1The Avengers are rebuilt and reassembled openly as the Heroic Age begins.
- Daredevil by Mark Waid Omnibus Vol. 1Murdock tries to outrun his darkest years by putting a lighter face on the mask.
- Punisher: Enter the War Zone OmnibusRucka’s Earth-616 Punisher run intersects Waid’s Daredevil during The Omega Effect and concludes in War Zone.
- Punisher MAX by Aaron & Dillon OmnibusA later-life MAX crime tragedy, read after Ennis as Aaron’s separate closing interpretation of Frank Castle.
- Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus Vol. 2The Future Foundation era builds to Marvel’s First Family facing the war Reed saw coming.
- Wolverine Goes to Hell OmnibusThe Red Right Hand solo phase and Schism precede the Jean Grey School launch. Some later solo chapters continue alongside the first Wolverine & the X-Men stories.
- Iron Man Modern Era Epic Collection: The New Iron AgeStark starts a company from nothing and is dragged straight into the Serpent’s war.
- New Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis Omnibus Vol. 3Luke Cage’s street-level team runs alongside the main Avengers through the Heroic Age.
- Captain America: The Trial of Captain America OmnibusWith the Heroic Age underway, Bucky’s buried past as the Winter Soldier finally catches up with him.
- Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender OmnibusWolverine keeps a black-ops kill team running in secret while the X-Men rebuild in the open.
- Iron Man Modern Era Epic Collection: The FutureThe final act of Fraction’s run, with the Mandarin closing in on Tony’s legacy.
- Captain America: Return of the Winter Soldier OmnibusBucky’s private war on old Soviet ghosts, running through Fear Itself and its aftermath.
- Captain America by Rick Remender OmnibusAfter Brubaker’s final Winter Soldier movement, Remender turns to Dimension Z, ages Steve Rogers, and hands the shield to Sam Wilson before Secret Wars.
- Wolverine & the X-Men by Jason Aaron OmnibusStraight after the X-Men split in two, with Wolverine opening a school of his own.
- Fear ItselfAn ancient god of fear turns the world’s terror into weapons and Asgard is dragged back into war.
- Loki: Journey Into Mystery by Kieron Gillen OmnibusLoki returns as a boy and schemes to save Asgard during its darkest hour and the fallout after.
- Loki: Agent of Asgard — The Complete CollectionKid Loki’s legacy becomes a struggle over story, identity, and predestination before Secret Wars.
- Hawkeye by Fraction & Aja OmnibusClint Barton’s off-duty life in the gaps between Avengers assignments.
- Moon Knight Vol. 1: From the DeadMarc’s return to New York brings the white-suited Mr. Knight into supernatural street cases before Secret Wars.
- Black Widow Modern Era Epic Collection: ChaosNatasha’s private missions of atonement lead into the Chaos conspiracy during the years before Secret Wars.
- Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis: The Complete Collection Vol. 2The Avengers’ side of the fear war and the shaken team that comes out of it.
- Avengers vs. X-MenThe Phoenix conflict closes the Bendis Avengers period before Hickman’s team begins.
- Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis: The Complete Collection Vol. 3Bendis’s Avengers run passes through Avengers vs. X-Men and reaches its finale before Hickman’s relaunch.
- X-Men Legacy: Legion OmnibusLegion’s twenty-four-issue story follows Avengers vs. X-Men and develops separately from the main X-Men series.
- Secret Avengers by Rick Remender: The Complete CollectionRemender’s Hawkeye-led covert team and Agent Venom confront the Descendants around the Avengers vs. X-Men period.
- Uncanny Avengers OmnibusThe post-AvX Unity Squad carries Remender themes forward from Uncanny X-Force.
- Avengers by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus Vol. 1Hickman’s Avengers begins after Bendis’s closing stories and Avengers vs. X-Men.
- Avengers by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus Vol. 2The incursions accelerate from Hickman’s first omnibus toward Secret Wars.
- Deadpool by Posehn & Duggan OmnibusWade takes a ghost-hunting gig and drifts into the Avengers’ orbit as his past catches up.
- Amazing Spider-Man Modern Era Epic Collection: Big TimePeter joins Horizon Labs, faces the new Hobgoblin and the loss behind Nobody Dies, then joins the Future Foundation. This opening ends before Spider-Island.
- Superior Spider-Man Omnibus Vol. 1After a final confrontation with a dying Doctor Octopus, someone else is driving Spider-Man’s life and doing the job his way.
- Original SinThe Watcher’s murder reveals the secret that costs Thor his worthiness, between Thor: God of Thunder #25 and Thor (2014) #1.
- Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3: Spider-VerseAfter Superior Spider-Man’s setup and before Secret Wars, Peter assembles the multiversal Spider-Army across this seven-issue event.
- Thor by Jason Aaron Omnibus Vol. 1Thor across three ages against a killer of gods, up to the moment Mjolnir changes hands.
- Agent Venom OmnibusFlash Thompson is bonded to the symbiote as a covert government operative, and eventually carries it off Earth entirely.
- Daredevil by Waid & Samnee Omnibus Vol. 2The run picks up mid-stride and moves Daredevil’s whole life to the West Coast.
- She-Hulk by Soule & Pulido: The Complete CollectionJennifer’s independent law practice and courtroom clash with Matt Murdock sit in the pre-Secret Wars Marvel NOW period; the holiday framing story is a later post-Secret Wars coda.
- Ultimate Marvel by Jonathan Hickman OmnibusA parallel Earth rebuilds its heroes after losing its Spider-Man, entirely apart from the mainline.
- Silver Surfer by Slott & Allred OmnibusThe Surfer tours the cosmos with a human companion, and keeps wandering once reality is rebuilt.
- Avengers: Secret WarsThe colliding worlds finally run out of time and everything ends on Battleworld.
- Ultimate Spider-Man Omnibus Vol. 5Peter Parker’s Ultimate story reaches its ending and opens the door to Miles Morales.
- Miles Morales: Spider-Man Omnibus Vol. 1Miles inherits the Ultimate Spider-Man mantle and later meets Earth-616 Peter Parker.
- Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson: Kamala KhanKamala Khan discovers her powers and becomes Jersey City’s Ms. Marvel.
- Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson: MetamorphosisKamala grows into heroism through team-ups, family pressure, and the Last Days.
- X-Factor by Peter David Omnibus Vol. 4Peter David closes the investigations era and follows its DNA into All-New X-Factor.
- Captain Marvel by Kelly Sue DeConnick OmnibusCarol Danvers claims the Captain Marvel mantle and defines its durable modern voice.
- The Superior Foes of Spider-Man: The Complete CollectionBoomerang’s would-be Sinister Six turn petty super-crime into an expertly timed caper comedy.
- Young Avengers by Gillen & McKelvie OmnibusThe reunited Young Avengers confront identity, adulthood, and a reality-warping parent.
- Thunderbolts: Uncaged OmnibusLuke Cage rebuilds the team after Siege; Fear Itself sends the prisoners into a time-travel saga, followed by the Dark Avengers rebrand.