The Avengers #1

Sep 1963 · Marvel · 0.12 USD

📊 ~186,989 copies sold its debut month

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“The Coming of the Avengers!”

★ 1st team appearance — Ben Grimm★ 1st appearance — Bill Bishop

About this Issue

The Avengers #1 is the founding document of Marvel's premier super-team, establishing the template—a roster of already-established solo heroes banding together against a threat none could handle alone—that the company would return to again and again for decades. By using Loki's scheme as the unifying catalyst, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby demonstrated that the shared Marvel Universe was not just a backdrop but a living engine that could generate entirely new titles from cross-title storytelling. The issue proved that readers would follow characters across books and genres, a commercial and creative lesson that shaped how team comics were written and marketed throughout the Silver Age and beyond. Its cultural footprint now extends to one of the most successful film franchises in history, with the 2012 Marvel Studios film drawing its core premise—Loki manipulating the Hulk to bring heroes into conflict—directly from this 23-page story.

"The Coming of the Avengers!" brings together Iron Man, the Hulk, Ant-Man, the Wasp, and Thor in their first team-up, as they unite to confront Loki’s cunning threat. Written by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, with art by Kirby and inks by Dick Ayers, this landmark issue launches a legendary series with dynamic storytelling and iconic visuals, all rendered in vibrant colors by Stan Goldberg and sharp lettering by S. Rosen. The cover, penciled by Kirby and inked by Ayers, captures the moment the team assembles.

writer Stan Lee · artist, writer Jack Kirby · inker Dick Ayers · colorist Stan Goldberg · letterer S. Rosen · cover Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VG) $2,248

CGC 9.6 · 5 in census $287,421

CGC 9.4 · 13 in census $99,379

CGC 9.2 · 15 in census $52,322

CGC 9.0 · 24 in census $38,745

CGC 8.5 · 49 in census $20,476

CGC 8.0 · 58 in census $15,691

Show all 21 grades ▾

CGC 7.5 · 95 in census $9,277

CGC 7.0 · 149 in census $9,277

CGC 6.5 · 184 in census $6,321

CGC 6.0 · 199 in census $5,534

CGC 5.5 · 218 in census $4,573

CGC 5.0 · 337 in census $4,078

CGC 4.5 · 403 in census $3,647

CGC 4.0 · 512 in census $3,040

CGC 3.5 · 490 in census $2,697

CGC 3.0 · 550 in census $2,697

CGC 2.5 · 407 in census $1,899

CGC 2.0 · 295 in census $1,738

CGC 1.5 · 197 in census $1,402

CGC 1.0 · 150 in census $1,368

CGC 0.5 · 166 in census $941

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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History

The Avengers grew out of publisher Martin Goodman's directive to Stan Lee to create a team book after DC's Justice League of America demonstrated strong sales—a conversation famously said to have occurred on a golf course. Lee, serving simultaneously as writer and editor-in-chief, chose to assemble heroes already appearing in Marvel's anthology titles rather than inventing a new cast, reasoning that readers already invested in those characters would follow them. Jack Kirby penciled the issue with inks by Dick Ayers and coloring by Stan Goldberg, and the book was released with a July 1963 on-sale date despite its September 1963 cover date. One account attributes the team name itself to the Wasp—Janet Van Dyne—within the story, while a fan-lore note connects the word 'Avengers' to a contemporaneous British television spy series of the same name that Stan Lee may have encountered through his wife Joan, though this specific origin for the name has not been formally confirmed by Lee in widely cited primary sources.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance and origin of the Avengers as a team; founding roster consists of Thor (Donald Blake), Iron Man (Tony Stark), Ant-Man (Hank Pym), the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), and the Hulk (Bruce Banner).
Written by Stan Lee, penciled by Jack Kirby, inked by Dick Ayers, colored by Stan Goldberg, lettered by Sam Rosen; cover also by Kirby and Ayers.
The story is titled 'The Coming of the Avengers!' — Loki, imprisoned on the Isle of Silence in Asgard, uses a mental projection to frame the Hulk for a railroad-bridge destruction in order to lure Thor into a fight.
Rick Jones and his Teen Brigade attempt to radio the Fantastic Four for help; Loki intercepts the signal and reroutes it to Thor's alter ego Don Blake, but the transmission is also picked up unintentionally by Ant-Man, the Wasp, and Iron Man — assembling the team through Loki's own misdirection.
The Fantastic Four appear in a brief cameo, responding that they are occupied with another case — one of the earliest examples of Marvel's interconnected shared-universe storytelling.
The Wasp, Janet Van Dyne, proposes the name 'Avengers' for the new team at the story's conclusion; Ant-Man endorses it.
The Hulk's solo title had already been cancelled by this point, making Avengers his primary ongoing comic home for the near term.
The issue has been reprinted numerous times, including Marvel Masterworks #4 (1988), Marvel Milestone Edition: Avengers #1 (September 1993), Avengers Classic #1 (August 2007), an Avengers Facsimile Edition, and the TASCHEN Marvel Comics Library Vol. 1 (2021), among many domestic and international collections.