The Avengers are a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team, comprising existing Marvel characters variously created by writer-editor Stan Lee, artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby and others, first appeared in The Avengers vol. 1, #1 (Sept. 1963).

Tagged by the company as "Earth’s Mightiest Heroes", the Avengers originally consisted of Ant-Man, Wasp, Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk. Almost from inception, however, the roster has been fluid, with the Hulk departing and Captain America joining. The rotating roster has become a hallmark of the team, although one theme remains consistent: the Avengers fight the foes no single superhero can withstand - hence their famous cry of "Avengers Assemble!" To that end, the team has featured humans, robots, gods, aliens, supernatural beings and even reformed villains.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Avengers" and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.