Kurt Busiek

The second Busiek/Pérez Avengers omnibus contains the arc most frequently cited as the definitive Avengers story: Ultron Unlimited, the four-issue siege of an Eastern European nation where Ultron kills every living being and constructs an army from their remains. Busiek spent the preceding issues building Ultron's return to maximum dread, and when the assault arrives, Pérez's artwork of the Avengers standing against an enemy that has already won is among the most powerful in the character's history.

Kurt Busiek and George Pérez's Avengers run is the definitive modern-era Avengers series — a deeply character-focused, mythology-respectful, beautifully drawn restoration of the team's greatness following the disastrous Crossing and Heroes Reborn period. Their opening Morgan le Fay storyline reset the team's direction with immediate clarity, and Busiek spent the next four years demonstrating that the Avengers format at its best was about character ensembles, earned emotional moments, and threats that were genuinely worthy of the assembled heroes.