What is the Avengers equivalent of "The Dark Phoenix Saga"?

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I'm getting into more Avengers comics, and was just wondering which story is generally considered their magnum opus.

Under Siege, which led to the Avengers being defeated and decommissioned by the Masters of Evil and ends with their entire headquarters blasted to bits.

[davew128]

Personally I'd go with Infinity Gauntlet which was primarily an Avengers story. Then check out Ultron story, which is done often.

Infinity Gauntlet was most definitely NOT an Avengers story. The primary protagonists were in no particular order, Silver Surfer, Adam Warlock, and Dr. Strange. The attacking Avengers were nothing more than cannon fodder to distract Thanos, and later Nebula.

[charliehustle415]

Would Disassembled count? A hero falling and attacking their team? Which then let to a massive change in status quo? Without this story the MCU wouldn't exist and the Avengers would still be a C-Tier team.

[davew128]

I'd have to say most closely resembling DPS would be Avengers Disassembled, where you had several members (Hawkeye, Ant-man, Vision) die as a result of Wanda's breakdown.

[GenericUsername]

The biggest difference between the Phoenix Saga and Disassembled was that the Phoenix stuff was Jean's story. There was no story there for Wanda, she doesn't even appear until the end when it's found out she was behind it all. It's Phoenix Saga if it was more fueled by plot than character driven story.

[TheBatman]

Mods, is there anyway you could re title this thread "What is often considered the best Avengers story?". or something like that?

[Wall-Crawler]

Kang Dynasty is the best Avengers story.

[MaximoffTrash]

Kang Dynasty is the best Avengers story.

Kang Dynasty certainly meet the requirement for quality but not so much in terms of historical like DPS impact I think.

[MaximoffTrash]

Would Disassembled count? A hero falling and attacking their team? Which then let to a massive change in status quo? Without this story the MCU wouldn't exist and the Avengers would still be a C-Tier team.

I don't think Dissembled really mattered to the fomation of MCU(it's not like they got other choice given circumstances then) and Avengers got "tier up" because they shove a bunch of A-listers into the team. Not because the brand itself suddenly elevated to another level.

[Snoop Dogg]

The objective Avengers equivalent to DPS is The Crossing. Both important stories later savaged by retcons. Of course, the stories and the retcons are both on opposite poles of quality from each other, but I'm telling the truth!

[Shadowcat]

If I had to call it, I'd say the Kree/Skrull War.

DPS was, what, 3 years in the telling? The Avengers have some really epic story arcs, but I don't think they have anything that approaches DPS in terms of build up and execution.

The Korvac saga did have quite a bit of mystery, but the ending left much to be desired. It felt like it was an exercise in how to press the "Undo" button, because none of the heroes suffered any lasting consequences of Korvac's cosmic intrigue. Maybe if several members of the team had been permanently killed off, I would rank the Korvac Saga higher. As with Warlock's death to Thanos the first time, stories where a hero makes the ultimate sacrifice always appeal to me more than epic yarns where everyone survives unscathed.

20 issues is a comparable timeline, since Shooter started planting seeds as far back as Avengers 158.

[Shadowcat]

The biggest difference between the Phoenix Saga and Disassembled was that the Phoenix stuff was Jean's story. There was no story there for Wanda, she doesn't even appear until the end when it's found out she was behind it all. It's Phoenix Saga if it was more fueled by plot than character driven story.

Wanda had no agency to call her own, and Bendis destroyed her character for a generation.

[ARkadelphia]

First one that came to mind for me was siege of the mansion, but lots of good ones mentioned. I certainly don’t think this qualifies as number 1 but I’ll throw in the Gatherers saga since it was such a slow build over many many issues.

[jsg2295]

Avengers #213
When Hank knocked the crap out of his wife.
Forever vilified the character and nothing he does can overcome the fact that he beat his wife.
Much like the phoenix saga did with Jean.
Hank is a wife beater.
Jean committed genocide.
A tale that forever changed Hanks character.
Hell, Quicksilver has betrayed the Avengers more time than I can count. But people will always forgive the speedster.
But no amount of good will that he does will ever help Hank be anything but an abuser.

[Somecrazyaussie]

Darker Than Scarlet is the thematic equivalent. Possibly Korvac Saga as well. But for a story that equals the epic scope of DPS? I'd have to go with Kree/Skull War. Like the DPS, the KSW has had follow up stories such as Operation: Galactic Storm.