Favorite Avengers writer?

[Smoov-E]

Hickman, he made the Avengers for once feel like a super team

[gurkle]

Though it was Busiek's Avengers that got me to love Marvel comics, and that run was heavily influenced by Steve Englehart, ultimately I have to go with Roy Thomas.

His run not only turned the Avengers from a somewhat un-defined team to a team with its own mythology and tropes (Ultron, Vision, the Zodiac, the Squadron Sinister/Supreme) but in some ways it's where the whole concept of the "Marvel Universe" was born. Lee and Kirby created most of the characters and crossed them over a lot, but Thomas took that to another level by crossing over stories and mythology from all periods of Marvel, including his beloved Golden Age.

The Avengers has generally been a lucky book in its writers; IMO the "Cap's Kooky Quartet" era has Stan Lee's best writing without Kirby or Ditko, but most writers do good work on the series, even Hickman, whose run I didn't care for because it was so lacking in traditional Avengers tropes. Still, if the Avengers have an identity as something more than just Marvel's JLA then I think more of that comes from Thomas than anyone else.

[lordozone]

1) Hickman: he made the Avengers truly epic. And he was the only writer who made a team this big manageable. It reminds me of the old X-men: an impressive rooster but everybody has his moment. The only problem that I have with him is that his Avengers and Secret wars run was like a season final: it's very difficult for other writers to create something bigger than that.
2) Bendis: Before him, I was a X-men fan and I did'nt care that much about the Avengers. I liked them, but he truly made them for me the first super-team of Marvel. It''s a pity that, like always, the ending was mediocre.
3) Kurt Busiek: All his stories with Kang were epic and cool. He was the first Marvel writer who invested me in the 616 team.

Honorable mention: MarK millar. I love the Ultimates, but they are not really the Avengers...

[Doctor Know]

Hickman - Avengers, New Avengers, Time Runs Out

Englehart - West Coast Avengers

Bendis - New Avengers vol 1 and Dark Avengers

Lee, Kirby, Thomas- Silver Age Avengers

Buisek and Perez - Avengers vol 3

Stern - 80s (East Coast) Avengers. I still geek out rereading the 80s crossovers with the FF, X-Men, Captain Marvel and Spider-Man. Stern, Byrne, Shooter, Perez, Starlin and others were really cooking with dynamite during this time period.

[acnblj]

So the same names keep coming up which is great. Would someone mind putting the writers in chronological reading order for me please? I'd really appreciate it.

[a moment closer]

Brian Michael Bendis

Come at me

New Avengers was the first book I read and I love how everything between Disassembled and the Heroic Age was one huge storyline mostly orchestrated by him.

Even most of my favourite Avengers event books have been written by him.

Same here. If you want a more modern take on the Avengers start with Disassembled by Bendis and read through to Secret Wars by Hickman. New Avengers and Avengers by Brian Bendis and Jonathan Hickman are the two main books to read.

The Mighty Avengers by Brian Bendis and then Dan Slott were great.

Secret Avengers by Ed Brubaker, Nick Spencer, Warren Ellis, and Rick Remender was one of my favorites.

Dark Avengers by Brian Bendis was another favorite of mine.

Avengers: Initiative by Dan Slott and Christos Gage, Avengers Academy by Christos Gage, Young Avengers by Allan Heinberg, Avengers Arena by Dennis Hopeless, Avengers Undercover by Dennis Hopeless, and Dark Reign: Young Avengers by Paul Cornell were all great reads about teen heroes and villains.

Uncanny Avengers by Rick Remender and then Gerry Duggan was interesting because it featured a mix of X-Men, Avengers and then later, Inhumans with the ultimate goal of unifying the races.

Avengers World by Nick Spencer and Jonathan Hickman is a must read if you're going to read Hickman's Avengers run.

Avengers Assemble by Brian Bendis and then Kelly Sue DeConnick was fun and had some synergy with the MCU team.

I'd also check out the Ultimates by Mark Millar. It's an alternate reality version of the Avengers. The whole Ultimate Universe of titles is great, IMO.

[itspopularnowitsucks]

So the same names keep coming up which is great. Would someone mind putting the writers in chronological reading order for me please? I'd really appreciate it.

Vol 1 (Old big numbering)
Stan Lee
Ray Thomas
Jim Shooter
Roger Stern
Steve Engleheart

Vol 3 (Heroes Return new numbering)
Kurt Busiek

Bendis
Return to old numbering
New Avengers
Vol 4 new numbering

Hickman
Avengers / New Avengers twin books

Not included: spin-offs and writers that has been mentioned by only one poster

[acnblj]

Vol 1 (Old big numbering)
Stan Lee
Ray Thomas
Jim Shooter
Roger Stern
Steve Engleheart

Vol 3 (Heroes Return new numbering)
Kurt Busiek

Bendis
Return to old numbering
New Avengers
Vol 4 new numbering

Hickman
Avengers / New Avengers twin books

Not included: spin-offs and writers that has been mentioned by only one poster

Perfect! Thank you! How are/were the volumes determined and what do they represent?

[DebkoX]

Brian Michael Bendis

Come at me

New Avengers was the first book I read and I love how everything between Disassembled and the Heroic Age was one huge storyline mostly orchestrated by him.

Even most of my favourite Avengers event books have been written by him.

Literally my exact thoughts.

[Nomads1]

Hands down, Roger Stern. The guy worked with a six member limit and still managed to gave us an incredible variety of Avengers. Assault on Olympus is my all-time favorite Avengers saga, followed closely by Under Seige. Plus, he also gave us the West Coast Avengers.
Roy Thomas created most of the most enduring concepts of the Avengers mythos. Ultron, The Zodiac, Akron, The Kree-Skrull War, etc... While the idea of the Avengers was always appealing to me, I was never much of a fan of Stan Lee's writing and, IMHO, it only began to truly blossom when Thomas came on board. Plus, his run on WCA is my favorite on that book.
Harras. After a long cold and creatively barren winter, Harras and Epting were a breath of fresh air, pushing the Avengers head first into the 90s and giving us Thane Ector and his army of bacteria Eternals (a concept that I truly found very intriguing, however, it was never again touched upon), and, soon after, The Gatherers made their debut. Operation Galactic Storm still remains as one of Marvel's best cross-overs, IMHO. Unfortunatly, Harras seemed to have lost steam after the Gatherers Saga concluded and Epting left, which led to Kavenaugh being his co-writer and replacement and one of the worst period of Avengers stories ever.
A period from which Kurt Busiek rescued us (aided by a roll call of some of the best artists to ever work on Avengers). Busiek's back to basic approach gave us some of the most defining stories for some of the most defining villains of the Avengers Mythos. Avengers Forever, Ultron Unlimited and the Kang Dynasty are all among my top ten Avengers stories, and set the bar for stories envolving, respectively, Immortus, Ultron and Kang. And, it didn't stop there. Busiek gave us great stories of classic Avengers adversaries such as Morgana LeFey, The Squadron Supreme, Arkon, Kulan Ga'rth, Count Nefaria, Blood Wraith, the Kree and so on. He also introduced some great new baddies, that, IMHO, should have had more impact on the mythos such as the Exemplars, Pagan, and Lord Templar.
Dan Slott. If pre Harras and Epting was a long winter for me in terms of good Avengers stories, Bendis rule over the MU was a new Ice Age. One of the few breaths of fresh air was Dan Slott's Mighty Avengers. Honestly, there was a lot about his choices for the team that didn't please me (Stature was so annoying, and I never liked teen heroes in the Avengers - felt the same about Justice and Firestar in Busiek's run, even if they were not so much teens anymore. Teen Vision really didn't hold a candle to classic Vizh, and I really thought Jocasta was underused in the field), but I was so starved for good Avengers stories, that those tales really hit the spot. There were some cool concepts there, such as the scientist supreme, Avengers Infinity Mansion and other stuff. Herc and Amadeus Cho's interaction with Pym were great, one serving and an old friend who tried to rein in Hank's excesses, and the other as a potentail friendly rival. And Quicksilver is always priceless. And, while the run was very short, it did give us at least two great sagas. The opening arc, Earth's Mightiest, and the Unspoken.

Honorable mentions:

Sure, there are many other great Avengers writers, such as the obvious Shooter and Michelinie (never remember how to write his name), or Englehart, whose style I never personally liked, but who gave us undisputable classics. But I prefer to mention some not so obvious choices.
First one, Geoff Johns. Many dislike his run, marred especially by his usual excesses, such as the Hank and Jan wierd sex issue, but I personally enjoyed it a lot (even if they did rip-off the JLI idea with the team going international), and wish it had gone beyond meager 16 issues. Red Zone is a real classic.
Walter Simonson. Yeah, I know. Wierd choice, right? Yet, Simonson took over for my favorite Avengers' writer ever, and still managed to keep me excited. He wrote Avengers Disassembled years before Bendis ever did, and IMHO, managed to do a much better job, including coming up with an offbeat new team. Also, he wrote my single favorite Avengers issue, Avengers Annual 17, with the climax of the Evolutionary War.
Al Ewing. True. He never helmed the main Avengers book, but his Mighty Avengers was really great, and made me wish that he'd get the chance to do so, instead of continuing to write the fringe teams.
Finally, one day, I hope to be able to add Mark Waid to this list, but it's still to early to tell.

Peace

[BoninBonout]

Stern is my personal favorite closely followed by Busiek, and at least some appreciation for Lee.

[Captain Nash]

Busiek. He literally took 3 decades worth of stories by many great writers and repackaged it as the greatest hits. It may not have been the most original set of stories but it was the most comprehensive run and sadly the last run where the majority of characters were written in character. My only gripe on character takes may have been Vision, but even that made sense from a storyline perspective.

[mrjinjin]

Roger Stern to me will always be the writer who "got" how to write the Avengers the best. He could do the big epics but also always kept up with the character development at the same time which is what makes a team book great to me.

I agree. Roger Stern.

[Agent of Wolfram & Hart]

Kurt Busiek. His run was the last time it felt like the real Avengers to me (Johns had potential but it was too short)

[Cap808]

I've always had a special place in my heart for Roy Thomas and Roger Stern. They made me love the concept of the Avengers.

More recently, Kurt Busiek made the team feel like the Big 7, and I enjoyed every issue he did. He should be thanked for making Carol Danvers cool again.

My favorite though....has to be Geoff Johns. In such a short run, Johns had a grasp of what the Avengers should be, and in my opinion, had one of the better rosters. I think Johns is the person who resurrected the Falcon's popularity.