Looking up older comics on Marvel Unlimited; I'm not sure about the history behind this, but I'm honestly surprised that the Avengers (the comic, not the movie) even got made, let alone did as well as it has.

The longest-running (and likely best-known) characters in the original line-up were Thor and Ant-Man, both of which had only been around for about a year (Thor first appeared in August 1962, Ant-Man in September 1962, and the Avengers started in September 1963).

Ant-Man seemed to last as long as it did in spite of a lot of things that seemed to be working against it - his arch-nemesis was an ordinary scientist with an unusually-shaped head, the character started out in a horror-ish story before becoming a superhero, and one book on Marvel described Ant-Man himself as being like Reed Richards without the rest of the

Fantastic Four to play off of - in other words, not very interesting.

Iron Man first appeared seven months before the Avengers started, and the Wasp only showed up three months before the Avengers' first issue.

The Hulk appeared before Thor or Ant-Man (well, Ant-Man in his superhero guise, anyway; Hulk showed up in May 1962, and Hank Pym appeared in January 1962 before being retooled into a superhero), but his series was cancelled after six issues.

And then in the second issue, the line-up changed with the Hulk leaving.

I'd imagine that, if you suggested making a team of characters who had all only been around for a year at best, or whose series had been unceremoniously cancelled, you'd be a laughingstock.

Admittedly, they probably didn't have much choice in the matter if they wanted to compete with the Justice League of America, but it seems funny to see how rushed it all seems to be.

Also, Iron Man's rogues gallery prior to the Avengers was hilariously bad.

You've got a giant with a club, Doctor Strange (no, not that Doctor Strange - this guy:

Carlo Strange (Earth-616) | Marvel Database | FANDOM...

Also, he time traveled to Egypt.

Ancient Egypt; he met Cleopatra.

Though I'm sure that, if I read DC's comics from that era, they'd be just as unusual - the covers alone are hilarious.

At least until they're inevitably announced for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

I probably should read older X-Men comics; I'm not sure what a good jumping-on point would be.

I tried starting from the beginning, but it's so weird to see Magneto as a sneering cackling man who openly declares himself to be evil (he runs the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, for crying out loud!) compared to what I'm used to in the movies, where he's a lot more sympathetic.

I vaguely remember the old cartoon, though it's mostly the theme song.

X Men Opening Theme (High Quality)

Would the part where they introduce Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, etc. be a good place to start?

the 90s cartoon was/is amazing

Marvel Unlimited has the years by the names of each volume, so I'll figure it out haha