Year: 2004
Major Events:
- The Avengers get “disassembled.” The series is cancelled, along with the solo books of Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor.
- Mark Waid’s run on Fantastic Four ends, along with Bruce Jones’ (highly underrated) Hulk run.
- Colossus returns to life.
- Purple Man rapes Jessica Jones.
- Awesome Android becomes Awesome Andy
- More than a year passes in Daredevil, making Marvel’s confused continuity even more … confused.
Best New Series: New X-Men: Academy X, Thanos.
Major Series Cancellations: A lot of series ended this year–at least a dozen. Some (Avengers, Iron Man, Cap, etc.) were part of an event. Others had passed their prime (Runaways, Elektra). Some never really had a prime (Elektra, Weapon X, Marvel Knights: Captain America, several others). Many were cancelled only to come back in a different form within a month or two (Captain Marvel, Punisher). A small number of cancellations were ones I really missed: Mystique and Alias.
Important Deaths: Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Vision, Agatha Harkness, Northstar, Jack of Hearts, Leader, Alex Wilder of Runaways, Ezekiel. Most are not permanently dead.
Top 10 New Characters:
- Peter Quill, the future Star-Lord
- X-23
- Danger (living Danger Room)
- Armor
- Arana (Anya Corazon)
- Toxin
- Blindfold
- Mr. M (District X)
- Mammomax
- Ord
Top 15 Stories:
- Alias #24-28
- Astonishing X-Men #1-6
- Punisher MAX #13-18 (Mother Russia)
- Daredevil #56-60 (King of Hell’s Kitchen)
- Punisher: Max #1-6
- Wolverine #20-26 (Enemy of the State)
- Captain Marvel #25
- Punisher MAX: From First to Last One Shots
- Inhumans #7
- Avengers #500-503
- Fantastic Four #524
- Madrox #1-5
- Witches #1-4
- Daredevil #51-55
- Astonishing X-Men #7-12