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Scarlet Witch Reading Order, The Wanda Maximoff Story

Also known as Wanda Maximoff, Scarlet Witch first appeared in the comic book The X-Men #4 (March 1964) by legendary Marvel writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. Initially, her powers were limited to probability manipulation, but over time, she evolved into one of the most powerful sorceresses in the Marvel Universe—capable of reshaping reality itself. For decades, she was considered a mutant, but her origins were retconned in recent years.

Wanda’s journey has been full of important transformations. She debuted as a reluctant supervillain alongside her twin brother, Pietro Maximoff (Quicksilver), as members of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. However, disillusioned by Magneto’s ruthlessness, the twins soon abandoned the Brotherhood and switched sides, joining the Avengers and becoming true heroes.

Her personal life has been just as tumultuous. She married her fellow Avenger, the android Vision, in 1975 and later found a way to have children—only for it all to end in tragedy (they would later reappear and are now the heroes called Wiccan and Speed). Over time, Wanda’s story took darker turns, involving brainwashing, newfound abilities, struggles with mental instability, and a reality-altering catastrophe that changed everything.

Scarlet Witch Reading Order

Unlike other well-known Marvel superheroes, Scarlet Witch is mostly a team player. For a long time, she rarely got the opportunity to headline her own comics–this changed a few years ago.

Wanda Maximoff and her brother made their first appearances in The X-Men comics (issues #4-7, #11)–also, before #11, they appeared in Journey into Mystery #109 and, more importantly, in Strange Tales #128 (available in Doctor Strange Epic Collection: Master of the Mystic Arts).

Then, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver reformed. They joined the Avengers comic book with issue #16, after every member of the Avengers but Captain America resigned. For what’s coming next, I go with what’s the simplest list possible of those Avengers comics. For a more complete list, visit our Avengers Reading Order.

Wanda is absent from the Avengers in #50-52, and #54-74.

  • Avengers Omnibus Vol. 3
    Collects Avengers (1963) #59-88, Incredible Hulk (1968) #140, Marvel Super-Heroes (1967) #17, material from Not Brand Echh #12.
  • Avengers Omnibus Vol. 4
    Collects Avengers (1963) #89-119, Daredevil (1964) #99, Defenders (1972) #8-11.
  • The Avengers Omnibus Vol. 5
    Collects The Avengers (1963) 120-149, Giant-Size Avengers (1974) #1-4, Captain Marvel (1968) #33, Fantastic Four (1961) #150 and material from Foom (1973) #6-7 & #12. (Wanda & Vision wedding takes place in Giant-Size Avengers #4)
  • Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Team-Up Vol. 5 (For the Marvel Team-Up #41-44 storyline.)
    Collects Marvel Team-Up (1972) #41-52; Marvel Two-In-One (1974) #17; Marvel Treasury Edition (1974) #9, 13; Marvel Comics Calendar 1976.
  • Avengers Masterworks Vol. 16
    Collects The Avengers #150-163; The Avengers Annual #6; Super-Villain Team-Up #9.
  • Avengers Masterworks Vol. 17
    Collects The Avengers #164-177; The Avengers Annual #7.
  • Avengers Masterworks Vol. 18
    Collects The Avengers #178-188; The Avengers Annual#8-9; Marvel Premiere #49; material from Marvel Tales #100.

In the three-part story that ran in The Avengers #185-187, the true origins (for a while at least) of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were revealed!

FYI, the Secret Wars comic book event takes place between #242 & #243. Marvel Universe’s greatest heroes and villains are set against one another by the mysterious and all-powerful Beyonder. It’s a 12-issue miniseries collected in Secret Wars Omnibus.

During the West Coast Avengers Disassemble storyline, or more precisely with issues #33-37 of West Coast Avengers, Vision and Wanda joined the other team of Avengers.

 Avengers West Coast #102 takes place after the Scarlet Witch comic book miniseries by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, see below.

  • Avengers/X-Men: Bloodties
    Collects Avengers #368-369, Avengers West Coast #101, X-Men #26, Uncanny X-Men #307 and Black Knight: Exodus #1. 
  • Avengers: Scarlet Witch by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
    Collects Scarlet Witch #1-4, Avengers Origins: Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver #1; material from Marvel Team-Up (1972) #125; Solo Avengers #5; Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #60-63, #143-144; Mystic Arcana: Scarlet Witch.

After Avengers West Coast #102, the comic book series was revamped and became Force Works.

  • Avengers/Iron Man: Force Works
    Collects Force Works #1-15, Force Works: Ashcan Edition; Century: Distant Sons #1; material from Iron Man/Force Works Collectors’ Preview.
  • Avengers: The Crossing
    Collects Avengers #390-395, The Crossing, Timeslide; Iron Man (1968) #319-325; Force Works #16-22; War Machine #20-25; Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man.
  • X-Men / Avengers: Onslaught Omnibus
    Collects Wolverine #104-105; Cable #32-36; Uncanny X-Men #333-337; X-Force #55, #57-58; X-Man #15-19; X-Men (vol. 2) #53-57, Annual ’96; X-Men Unlimited #11; Onslaught: X-Men, Marvel Universe, Epilogue; Avengers #401-402; Fantastic Four #415; Incredible Hulk #444-445; X-Factor #125-126; Amazing Spider-Man #415; Green Goblin #12; Spider-Man #72; Iron Man #332; Punisher #11; Thor #502; X-Men: Road to Onslaught #1; material from Excalibur #100, Fantastic Four #416.

The massively world-redefining event known as Onslaught (see reading order) put an end to the Avengers comics and other spin-off teams. That’s when the Heroes Reborn era started.

  • Heroes Reborn: The Avengers
     Collects Avengers (1996) #1-12, Fantastic Four (1996) #12, Iron Man (1996) #6 And #12, Captain America (1996) #12 & Material From Fantastic Four (1996) #6 And Captain America (1996) #6.

The heroes came back in the Heroes Reborn: The Return comics (Scarlett Witch only appeared in issue #4).

Once the Heroes found their way back to the Marvel Universe, writer Kurt Busiek and artist George Pérez launched a new volume of the Avengers comics (and others like Geoff Johns took over after a while). Scarlet Witch & Vision were back on the Avengers team with Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, and Warbird (Carol Danvers).

Don’t forget to take a look at our Avengers Reading Order for a more detailed list.

And then came Brian Michael Bendis’s destruction of the Avengers team in Avengers Disassembled. It is an end, but also an entry point for new readers, as it introduced BMB’s long run. You can learn more about those comics with the reading order of the event.

Bendis destroyed the Avengers to rebuild the team. Scarlet Witch played a big part in the process but didn’t rejoin the team. In fact, The Avengers and the X-Men are faced with a common foe that becomes their greatest threat: Wanda Maximoff! The Scarlet Witch is out of control, and the fate of the entire world is in her hands. It’s House of M, and you can follow our guide to reading this comic book crossover event.

  • House of M Omnibus 
    Collects House of M #1-8, Spider-Man: House of M #1-5, Fantastic Four: House of M #1-3, Iron Man: House of M #1-3, New Thunderbolts (2004) #11, Black Panther (2005) #7, Uncanny X-Men (1981) #462-465, Wolverine (2003) #33-35, Captain America (2004) #10, Pulse (2004) #10, Cable & Deadpool #17, Incredible Hulk (2000) #83-87, New X-Men (2004) #16-19, Exiles (2001) #69-71, Mutopia X #1-5, Decimation: House of M – The Day After, Giant-Size Ms. Marvel (2006) #1, Secrets of the House of M, Pulse: House of M Special, House of M 1 Director’s Cut, House of M Sketchbook, material from Hulk: Broken Worlds Book One.

After that, the Scarlet Witch disappeared for a while… She still appeared in non-continuity stories and flashbacks, nothing of note.

It took some years after House of M, but the Scarlet Witch finally made her comeback in the Mighty Avengers comics, with a twist of course.

The Avengers and the X-Men go to war in Avengers vs. X-Men! This 2012 comic book crossover event involved the return of the Phoenix Force and the subsequent war between the Avengers and the X-Men. For a more comprehensive look at the event, follow our guide.

At that point, we entered the Marvel NOW! era and things went back to normal for Scarlet Witch. Wanda then joined the Uncanny Avengers (a team composed of Avengers and X-Men).

Like everyone else, Scarlet Witch was affected by the events of the 2015 Secret Wars by Jonathan Hickman, but she didn’t have a prominent role to play in the event. If you want to explore the event, follow our Secret Wars guide.

After the events of the Secret Wars comics crossover, Marvel Comics entered the All-New, All-Different Marvel era. At first, Scarlet Witch only made mostly forgettable cameos. After that, she finally starred in her own comic book series, written by James Robinson.

The Scarlet Witch comics by James Robinson were also collected in three trade paperback volumes:

Secret Empire! Captain America is living a lie! The Cosmic Cube has remade him into a secret true believer in the cause of Hydra! Now, Steve Rogers makes Hydra’s ideals a reality—and changes the landscape of the world dramatically! For more, on the Secret Empire comic book event, follow the guide.

  • Secret Empire
    Collects Secret Empire #0-9, Free Comic Book Day 2017 Defenders #1

After that, Scarlet Witch rejoined the Uncanny Avengers comics.

During Marvel Comics’s Fresh Start era, Scarlet Witch explored new avenues (like becoming a teacher in Strange Academy) or being a secondary character in a Captain Marvel spin-off series… and other stints like that before meddling with Magneto and making more cameos.

Scarlet Witch has finally found peace and she has pledged to help others who are languishing at their lowest, under the creative team of Steve Orlando and Sara Pichelli. She also rejoins again the Avengers comics, now that Jed McKay is at the helm of the title!

Did we forget an important issue? Did we make a mistake? Let us know in the comments!

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