Essential Avengers  ESSK   (Marvel, 2001-2004, 2006) ™ and © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Ever since super-heroes appeared in comics, publishers have leaned toward putting several popular heroes together in an effort to boost sales. Marvel fell into the same pattern in 1963 by combining Thor, Iron Man, The Hulk, Giant-Man and the Wasp together to fight a common threat. It worked. The Avengers first battle against Loki was a hit and the stories kept coming. Stan Lee wrote the bulk of the early stories and kept what would be known as the Marvel style going as he had with Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four by telling stories of heroes with their own personal problems and lives who just happen to also have the abilities to battle everything from super-villians out to rule the world to more mundane bank robbers out for some cash.

Over the years, the membership has grown and the featured heroes have come and gone and come back again and again. Only one constant has remained the same: the Avengers are still Earth’s finest heroes banded together to protect the people and the planet.

Each Essential Avengers reprints about two dozen stories from the Avengers series in a black and white, ad–free format.

— Ron Black

		Notes	Writer	Artist
	Essential Avengers #1 Date: 11/1/1998 Cover Price: $14.95 NM Guide: $15.00 No copies available	Reptints Avengers (Vol. 1) #1-24	Stan Lee, Paul Laiken, Larry Lieber	Jack Kirby, Don Heck, Dick Ayers
	Essential Avengers #1 (2nd printing) Date: Cover Price: $14.95 NM Guide: $15.00 No copies available	2nd printing	Stan Lee, Paul Laiken, Larry Lieber	Jack Kirby, Don Heck, Dick Ayers
	Essential Avengers #1 (3rd printing) Date: 7/1/2001 Cover Price: $14.95 NM Guide: $15.00 No copies available	3rd printing	Stan Lee, Paul Laiken, Larry Lieber	Jack Kirby, Don Heck, Dick Ayers
	Essential Avengers #1 (4th printing) Date: Cover Price: $16.99 NM Guide: $16.99 No copies available	4th printing; Collects Avengers #1-24; ca. 2009	Stan Lee	Jack Kirby
	Essential Avengers #2 Date: 6/1/2000 Cover Price: $14.95 NM Guide: $15.00 No copies available	Reprints Avengers (Vol. 1) #25-46, Annual #1; A Selection from Tales To Astonish #27	Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Larry Lieber	Don Heck, George Roussos, Jack Kirby, John Buscema
	Essential Avengers #2 (2nd printing) Date: 7/1/2001 Cover Price: $14.95 NM Guide: $15.00 No copies available	2nd printing	Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Larry Lieber	Don Heck, George Roussos, Jack Kirby, John Buscema
	Essential Avengers #3 Date: 3/1/2001 Cover Price: $14.95 NM Guide: $15.00 No copies available	Reprints Avengers (Vol. 1) #47–68, Annual #2	Roy Thomas	John Buscema, George Tuska, Don Heck, Werner Roth, Gene Colan, Barry Windsor-Smith, Sal Buscema
	Essential Avengers #4 Date: 7/1/2004 Cover Price: $16.99 NM Guide: $16.99 No copies available	Reprints Avengers (Vol. 1) #69-97 & The Incredible Hulk #140	Roy Thomas, Harlan Ellison	John Buscema, Sal Buscema, Neal Adams, Herb Trimpe, Frank Giacoia
	Essential Avengers #4 (2nd printing) Date: 10/1/2004 Cover Price: $16.99 NM Guide: $12.50 1 copy available for $11.00	Reprints Avengers (Vol. 1) #69-97 & The Incredible Hulk #140	Roy Thomas, Harlan Ellison	John Buscema, Sal Buscema, Neal Adams, Herb Trimpe, Frank Giacoia
	Essential Avengers #5 Date: 1/25/2006 Cover Price: $16.99 NM Guide: $16.99 1 copy available for $16.99	Reprints The Avengers #98–119, Daredevil #99, The Defenders #8–11	Roy Thomas, Harlan Ellison, Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber	Barry Windsor-Smith, Rich Buckler, John Buscema, Sal Buscema, George Tuska, Jim Starlin, Don Heck, Bob Brown, Sam Kweskin, Gil Kane
	Essential Avengers #6 Date: 2/6/2008 Cover Price: $16.99 NM Guide: $16.99 1 copy available for $16.99	Reprints The Avengers #120-140, Captain Marvel (1st Series) #33, Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) #150, and Giant-Size Avengers #1-4	Steve Englehart, Jim Starlin, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway	Bob Brown, John Buscema, Jim Starlin, Rich Buckler, Sal Buscema, Dave Cockrum, George Tuska, Don Heck, Tom Sutton
	Essential Avengers #7 Date: Cover Price: $19.99 NM Guide: $19.99 1 copy available for $19.99	Reprints The Avengers #141-163, Annual #6, and Super-Villain Team-Up #9	Steve Englehart, Roy Thomas, Tony Isabella