The Avengers dominated the superhero scene in the 2010s, a result of decades of work by talented creators. While the team has a long history of great stories, building them into something truly special, their journey unfolded over time. The 1960s established the foundation for the group, the 1970s saw them really find their footing and grow, and the 1980s polished their formula. Though the 1990s were hugely successful for Marvel with titles like Spider-Man and X-Men, the Avengers actually struggled during that period.
Dedicated followers of the Avengers comics remember a difficult period in the early to mid-1990s. While some storylines like “Operation: Galactic Storm” and “The Proctor Saga” were enjoyable, much of that five-year span was underwhelming. The book was written by Bob Harras, who also held a key editorial role with the X-Men and later became Marvel’s editor-in-chief, making it impossible to change writers. Eventually, inspired by his work on the X-Men, Harras created “The Crossing,” a storyline now infamous for its over-the-top melodrama. Many fans consider it the absolute low point in Avengers history—a story that should have permanently broken up the team.
“The Crossing” Was All About ’90s-ing Up the Avengers and It Failed Miserably
The story began with the ‘X-Traitor’ arc in Uncanny X-Men #287, which expanded on Bishop’s backstory. It showed he’d encountered Gambit in the future and discovered that someone within the X-Men would eventually betray and kill them. This revelation sparked a huge amount of fan speculation about the traitor’s identity, though the mystery was later sidelined. Editor Bob Harras realized how much fans enjoyed these kinds of stories and later tried to incorporate a similar plotline into his work on The Avengers, but it ultimately didn’t work out as planned.
As a long-time comic fan, I remember the ’90s being such a high point for the X-Men, but honestly, a really rough time for the Avengers. They felt totally out of touch; readers just weren’t connecting with their stories no matter what editor Tom Harras tried. We saw flashy covers that gave sales a quick boost, but people didn’t stick around. Marvel attempted to modernize them with edgier costumes and a ton of ‘extreme’ elements – they ended up looking like those popular Image Comics! Sadly, it just didn’t work. The consistently poor Avengers sales were a major headache for Marvel, so Harras decided the only way forward was to try and replicate the X-Men’s success with an event called “The Crossing.”
The storyline “The Crossing” revolved around a traitor in the Avengers, secretly working against them. Surprisingly, the traitor turned out to be Iron Man, who had been manipulated by Kang. Kang traveled to the past and subtly reprogrammed Tony Stark’s mind, turning him into an unwitting agent. To fix things, the Avengers went back in time themselves and brought a younger version of Tony Stark into the present to stop his future self. They were successful, thwarting Kang’s scheme and resulting in a new, younger Tony Stark joining the team, alongside some dramatic costume updates.
Harras wasn’t known for strong creative vision. He’s often blamed for Chris Claremont’s departure from the X-Men, and for pushing talented artists like Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, and Rob Liefeld to write comics – a move that didn’t work well, as they excelled at art, not writing. His choices consistently harmed Marvel, and the storyline called “The Crossing” really highlighted how much trouble the Avengers comic had fallen into. The story was riddled with issues and felt uninspired. It clearly attempted to mimic the success of the X-Men, but its failure wasn’t unexpected. The few fans who gave it a chance disliked it, pushing the Avengers closer to cancellation, which led Marvel to take a desperate gamble.
“The Crossing” Was Terrible but What Came Next Was Worse
The ‘Crossing’ storyline effectively ended the original Avengers comic book series. For years leading up to it, the X-Men and Spider-Man had become much more popular, leaving the Avengers struggling to stay relevant. As someone who read the comics at the time, it was clear that very few fans were interested in new Avengers stories—I hadn’t been for a long time myself. When ‘Avengers: The Crossing #1,’ with its shiny chromium cover, came out, the story was immediately criticized and many hoped it would be a quick low point. Unfortunately, things actually got worse.
While the storyline “The Crossing” wasn’t going well, Marvel was already talking to artists Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld about taking over the Avengers and Fantastic Four comics. Editor Harras turned to these popular artists, hoping they could revive those titles after his own choices had been criticized. In fact, this deal was happening regardless of how “The Crossing” performed, because many fans felt Harras had already damaged the Avengers’ reputation for years. The resulting project, “Heroes Reborn,” was so poorly received that it actually overshadowed the negative reaction to “The Crossing.” Ultimately, both stories represented a low point for Marvel in the mid-1990s and left a lasting negative impact on these iconic teams.
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2026-06-13 19:18