Dark Avengers

THE DARK REIGN IS HERE! Who are the Dark Avengers? Who is the Iron Patriot? The answers will shock you! From the fan-favorite creative team of Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato Jr. Collects Dark Avengers (2009) #1-6.

Ares - the God of War! His relentless brutality and his bloodthirsty drive to attain victory at any cost earned him only scorn from his fellow gods in the Greek pantheon, and exile from Olympus. After thousands of years living as a man and fighting in man's bloody, petty conflicts, Ares joined the ranks of Earth's mightiest heroes - the Avengers. Now Norman Osborn - the new head of the corrupted Dark Avengers and director of the paramilitary intelligence agency H.A.M.M.E.R. - wants the finest fighting force the God of War can provide. He charges Ares with hand-picking an elite squad of soldiers and beating them into the hardest, sharpest warriors ever to wield an M-60 in each hand. And that's exactly what Ares will need, when the goddess Hera provides him with a fighting chance to regain his standing in the pantheon's eyes. And Ares is taking his men with him into the battle of their lives! Collects Dark Avengers: Ares #1-3, and Thor #129.

S.H.I.E.L.D. is gone, the Avengers have fallen. All that stands in defence of the world are its greatest villains, the Dark Avengers, in this high-octane adventure from the Marvel Untold line Under Norman Osborn’s jurisdiction, the Avengers have been secretly re-formed with a cabal of deadly super villains. This is Osborn’s chance to finally put the Green Goblin behind him and become the Iron Patriot the world needs him to be. But villains aren’t easy to wrangle into the place of heroes – doing damage control for his new line-up constantly puts his empire at risk. When S.H.I.E.L.D. loyalists break into Avengers Tower and steal the secret list of replacements for his team of maniacs, the threat to his reign becomes intolerable. Osborn unleashes the worst of the worst to crush those responsible… It’s hard to be a hero!

Dark Avengers 175-183

"Norman Osborn runs the Avengers, promising America a new day of safety and security. Cyclops leads the X-Men-- determined to free mutantkind from the forces of cold, impersonal, unreasoning institutional racism that threatens them. Both leaders are locked in a high-stakes chess match with the prize being their respective visions of utopia, and Emma Frost the one piece that could make either the winner! But which side of the board is she on? Plus: Who are the Dark X-Men? Find out the secrets behind this uncanny assemblage of mutants-- including Cloak, Dagger, Daken and Namor, the Sub-Mariner!" -- p. [4] of cover.

Collects Dark Avengers (2009) #1-16, Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia (2009), Uncanny X-Men (1981) #513-514, Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus (2009), Dark Avengers Annual (2009) #1. Dark Avengers assemble! Norman Osborn, the former Green Goblin, has been awarded the Avengers franchise - and he's assembling a terrifying team in his own image! Transforming well-known villains into twisted versions of Hawkeye, Spider-Man, Wolverine and Ms. Marvel - and recruiting heavy hitters like Ares and the Sentry - Norman suits up as the armored Iron Patriot! But can the Dark Avengers prevail against Morgan Le Fay and the Beyonder? And when Osborn targets mutantkind as a threat, who will join his Dark X-Men?! As Marvel Boy discovers just how sinister a gang he's signed up for and the Sentry's secrets are finally revealed, Osborn goes too far - and the Siege of Asgard may put an end to all his schemes!

Collects Spider-Man/Deadpool #1-5, #8-10, #13-14 and #17-18. The Webbed Wonder and the Merc With a Mouth are the double act of your dreams! And legendary Deadpool creative team Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness have reunited to make it everything you ever hoped for - beginning with the Dread Dormammu! But will a fledgling friendship turn sour when Wade Wilson's next target turns out to be...Peter Parker?! Someone is messing with our wascally wisecrackers, and they've blended the genetics of our heroes to create one murderous, mixed-up miss named Itsy Bitsy. She's Spidey and 'Pool's "daughter" - and she has seriously creepy daddy issues! Can the proud parents work together to put a stop to her rampage? Prepare for action, adventure and just a smattering of (b)romance as Spidey and Deadpool show the comic-book world what a real dynamic duo looks like!