Siege Reading Order, the end of Marvel’s Dark Reign era

Published at the beginning of 2010, Siege is the culmination of the Dark Reign, but what was the Dark Reign? Everything began with the ravaging effects of Avengers Disassembled and following the aftermath of House of M, Civil War, and Secret Invasion, the Marvel Universe needed order and Norman Osborn used the chaos to take power. He became the United States primary defense officer, leading H.A.M.M.E.R. as well as employing his own evil Avengers.

So here is the official synopsis for Siege, an event by Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel: Coerced by Loki and on the brink of madness, Osborn, in his final bid to take total control, targets the final obstacle in his mission…Asgard. Events are set in motion forcing our heroes to put aside the deep rifts that have grown over the past seven years. Opposing them stand a horde of evil that has begun to take down the gods of the Golden Realm!

What to read before Siege?

Being the end of the Dark Reign era, you may want to begin with what started it, the Secret Invasion event (reading order here). You’ll find a reading order here.

If you want to grasp what Dark Reign was about, you may want to take a look at our reading guide or at those books by Brian Michael Bendis (see this reading order for more information).

• Dark Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis: The Complete Collection
  Collects Dark Avengers (2009) #1-6, #9-16 and Annual #1.
• New Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis: The Complete Collection Vol. 4
  Collects New Avengers #38-54, Secret Invasion: Dark Reign one-shot
• New Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis: The Complete Collection Vol. 5
  Collects Free Comic Book Day 2009 (Avengers), New Avengers #55-64, Dark Reign: The List – Avengers One-Shot, New Avengers Annual #3, New Avengers Finale; Material From Amazing Spider-Man #601, Breaking Into Comics The Marvel Way #1. Attn! this book collects issues set during Siege, take a look at the reading order to know how to read them.

Marvel Siege Reading Order

Siege Reading Order: Collected Editions:

• Siege Prelude
  Collects Dark Avengers #1, Dark Reign: The Cabal, Thor #600, Dark Reign: The List – Avengers, New Avengers Annual #3, Dark Reign: The Goblin Legacy, and Marvel Spotlight #30.
• Siege
  Collects Siege: The Cabal, Siege #1-4, and Avengers: The Way Things are, Marvel Comics, softcover, 2010, ISBN 978-0-7851-4079-5)
• Siege: X-Men – Dark Wolverine & New Mutants
  Collects Dark Wolverine #82-84, New Mutants #11, and Siege: Storming Asgard – Heroes & Villains.
• Siege: Embedded
  Collects Siege: Embedded #1-4.
• Siege: Battlefield
  Collects Siege: Spider-Man, Siege: Young Avengers, Siege: Loki, Siege: Captain America, and Siege: Secret Warriors.
• New Avengers: Siege
  Collects New Avengers #61-64, New Avengers Annual #3, The List – New Avengers, and New Avengers Finale.
• Siege: Avengers – The Initiative
  Collects Avengers: The Initiative #31-35, 120 pages, Marvel Comics, premiere hardcover.
• Siege: Thunderbolts
  Collects Thunderbolts #138-143, 144 pages.
• Thor: Siege
  Collects Thor #607-610, “New Mutants” #11 and “Siege: Loki”.
• Mighty Avengers: Siege
  Collects Mighty Avengers #32-36.
• Dark Avengers: Siege
  Collects Dark Avengers #13-16, and Dark Avengers Annual.

Siege Reading Order: Issue by issue

1. Siege: The Cabal #1
2. Avengers The Initiative #31
3. Dark Avengers #13-15
4. Origins of Siege #1
5. Siege #1
6. Siege Embedded #1
7. Avengers The Initiative #32
8. Dark Wolverine #82
9. New Avengers #61-62
10. Mighty Avengers #35
11. Siege Storming Asgard – Heroes & Villains
12. Siege #2
13. Siege Embedded #2
14. Avengers The Initiative #33
15. Dark Wolverine #83
16. Thor #607
17. Thunderbolts #141
18. Avengers The Initiative #34
19. Dark Wolverine #84
20. Siege #3
21. Siege Embedded #3
22. New Avengers #63
23. Siege: Captain America #1
24. Siege: Spider-Man #1
25. Siege: Loki #1
26. Siege: Young Avengers #1
27. Siege: Secret Warriors #1
28. New Mutants Vol. 3 #11
29. Thor #608
30. Thunderbolts #142
31. Siege #4
32. Avengers: The Initiative #35
33. Dark Avengers #16
34. Mighty Avengers #36
35. New Avengers #64
36. Siege: Embedded #4
37. Sentry: Fallen Sun #1
38. Thor #609-610
39. Thunderbolts #143
40. New Avengers Finale #1

After Siege

First, you’ll find an epilogue to Siege in Thor: Siege Aftermath. Also, Osborn’s story continues in Osborn: Evil Incarcerated.

With Siege, the Dark Reign era concluded. It was replaced by The Heroic Age. It began with the one-shot Enter the Heroic Age. New Avengers series was launched:

• Avengers: The Heroic Age
  Collects Avengers #1-6, Avengers Prime #1-5, New Avengers #1-6.

For more information about this particular era of the Avengers, take a look at our dedicated Reading Order.