Iron Man (Tony Stark) is on his way back from a mission in Africa after teaming up with his old foe the Unicorn against the Red Ghost. But he won’t even get a chance to catch his breath when the power-hungry Mordecai Midas is looking to expand his business empire and plans to take Stark Enterprises by force. How will all of this play out when an electrical assault on Stark unexpectedly results in a ‘Tony Stark’ Life Model Decoy from coming to life with an agenda all its own?
If that wasn’t enough, Kang the Conqueror is back and plans on using the Avengers to help him win a contest with an alien being who calls himself the Grandmaster. The fate of the Earth hangs in the balance! This is one strange story… and it has very little to to the the ‘Avengers: Endgame’ film.
Event Title: ‘Endgame’ isn’t an officially recognised Marvel event; the Omniverse Comics Guide has named the event ‘Endgame’ after the story featured in Avengers #71.
Related Events: The events in Iron Man’s title have some effect on the Avengers’ clash with Kang, but you could easily read both story arcs separately and never know!
Must Reads: The essential chapters are included in bold in the Core List and include a ✔ in the Full Reading Order and Fallout sections.
Spoilers: The issue descriptions and fallout section contain spoilers, so be warned!
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the chronological reading order without story descriptions, or spoilers:
- Iron Man #17-18
- Avengers #69
- Iron Man #19
- Avengers #70-71
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Iron Man #17 Morgan Stark has allied himself with Mordecai Midas and his sinister assistant, Madame Masque, in an effort to sabotage his cousin, Tony Stark. An assault on Stark Industries by Midas’ soldiers leaves Iron Man unconscious for two days and brings a rogue Life Model Decoy (LMD) of Tony to life. When Tony Stark recovers and returns to Stark Enterprises, he finds his LMD double has taken his place. The LMD dons the Iron Man armour, defeats the real Stark and has him thrown off the premises. Tony goes on the run with no one believing he’s the real deal, until he’s kidnapped by Madame Masque! 1st appearance: Mordecai Midas New identity: [redacted] as Madame Masque | |
| Iron Man #18 The LMD continues to pass as both Tony Stark and Iron Man while the real Tony finds himself in Midas’ clutches, only to realise Midas think’s he’s the imposter! He agrees to infiltrate Stark Industries with Madame Masque. He dons his original gold armour and defeats the LMD by knocking him into a smelting pot. The Avengers arrive in time to witness the real Tony Stark’s victory and rush him to hospital when his heart can’t take the strain. Identity revealed: Big M/Whitney Frost is Madame Masque | |
| ✔ | Avengers #69 Thor brings Dr Jose Santini to Stark’s bedside to perform an experimental procedure that could save his life. The Wasp finds Kang the Conqueror‘s Growing Man robot in the hospital which takes Tony Stark captive. The Avengers give chase and all are brought forward in time to the 41st century where Kang explains he’s made a deal with the mysterious Grandmaster to win the means to bring his beloved Ravonna back to life. If he loses, the Grandmaster will destroy Earth. Stark is returned to the present day and the Avengers meet their foes; Hyperion, Doctor Spectrum, Nighthawk and the Whizzer – the Squadron Sinister! 1st appearance: Grandmaster/En Dwi Gast, Squadron Sinister (Doctor Spectrum/Kinji Obatu, Hyperion, Nighthawk/Kyle Richmond, Whizzer/James Sanders), Light of Centuries Sphere, Power Prism |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Iron Man #19 Captain America (possibly returned from the future already? Time travel moves in mysterious ways) announces to the press that Tony Stark’s operation was a success. Days later, Madame Masque kidnaps Tony again and brings him to Midas who still believes he’s an imposter. Masque shows her scarred face to Tony who recognises her as Whitney Frost. He kisses her and gets her to help him escape and find the case that contains his armour. Iron Man narrowly defeats Midas and escapes with Madame Masque. Midas’ base explodes with the obese businessman trapped inside. Madame Masque makes herself scare, leaving Tony to wonder if she’s ok… 1st appearance: CBS News, Hawk-Plane | |
| ✔ | Avengers #70 Kang brings Iron Man back to the future in time for solo bouts to decide Earth’s fate. Captain America defeats bored businessman Nighthawk (Kyle Richmond) by deflecting his own explosives back at him. Iron Man beats Doctor Spectrum with an ultra-violet light blast. And Thor overcomes Hyperion in a surreal manner, by trapping him in a tiny bauble of glazed sand. But the Black Knight (Dane Whitman) interrupts the battle between Goliath (Clint Barton) and Whizzer, forfeiting the match. Black Knight promises to make amends… |
| ✔ | Avengers #71 To decide the winner in the contest, the Black Panther, Vision and Yellowjacket are sent back in time to World War II to battle the Invaders (Captain America, Namor the Sub-Mariner and the original Human Torch). The Panther gets the Vision to partially phase and pass through the Invaders to knock them out. Dane summons the original Black Knight (Sir Percy of Scandia) who sends him to the 41st Century to retrieve his sword, the Ebony Blade. Having won, Kang chooses the gift of death to kill the Avengers, instead of choosing life to save Ravonna. His power doesn’t work on the Black Knight as he’s not an Avenger, so he’s able to defeat Kang. The Avengers return to the present and accept the Black Knight as a member of the team… 1st appearance: Invaders (unnamed) |
See how this story fit into the the wider Marvel Universe with these reading orders:
- KANG, 1963-Present – Nathaniel Richards
| Must Reads | Issue(s) & Fallout | Event / Crossover |
| ✔ | Invaders Annual #1 (1977) The Invaders‘ mission that was interrupted by the Grandmaster and Kang’s contest is revealed. | |
| Iron Man #21-22 (1970) ‘Alex Niven‘ is revealed to be Alexander Nevsky, the new Crimson Dynamo; Tony Stark’s girlfriend, Janice Cord, is killed in the crossfire of Iron Man’s battle with the Crimson Dynamo. | ||
| ✔ | Iron Man #24 (1970) Madame Masque is revealed to be alive. | |
| Iron Man #35 (1971) Madame Masque begins to fall for SHIELD agent Jasper Sitwell, creating a love triangle with Tony Stark. | REVENGE OF THE ZODIAC | |
| ✔ | Avengers #85-86 (1971) The Avengers meet the Squadron Supreme of Earth-712, realising these are the ‘good’ multiversal counterparts of the Squadron Sinister. | |
| Avengers #98 (1972) Clint Barton returns to his Hawkeye identity. | ||
| ✔ | Defenders #12 (1974) Nebulon reforms the Squadron Sinister to attack the Defenders. | |
| ✔ | Iron Man #63-66 (1973-1974) Doctor Spectrum’s Power Prism is revealed to be a Skrull and destroyed. | |
| ✔ | Defenders #13-14 (1974) A new Doctor Spectrum (William Roberts) joins the Squadron Sinister; Nighthawk defects to the Defenders and works on becoming a hero. | |
| ✔ | Giant-Size Invaders #1 (1975) The origin of the Invaders is revealed. | |
| ✔ | Giant-Size Defenders #3 (1975) The Grandmaster returns, this time using the Defenders (including Nighthawk) as pawns in a contest with the Prime Mover. | |
| Avengers #135 (1975) The connection between the Vision and the original Human Torch (Jim Hammond) is revealed. | THE CELESTIAL MADONNA SAGA | |
| Iron Man #74 (1975) Following another defeat at the hands of Iron Man, Alexander Nevsky is killed by the KGB. | ||
| ✔ | Marvel Two-in-One #41 (1978) Kinji Obatu (the former Doctor Spectrum) falls to his death during a conflict with the Thing. | |
| ✔ | Iron Man #103-107 (1977-1978) Mordecai Midas returns, having survived the explosion; Midas is revealed to have gained the superhuman power of a ‘golden touch’. | |
| ✔ | Iron Man #108-109 (1978) The Growing Man is revealed to be stranded in the present day, looking for a way to return to Kang. | |
| Iron Man #115-116 (1978) Iron Man accidentally destroys a machine that was keeping Count Nefaria alive, killing him; Madame Masque is unable to feel the same about Iron Man after accidentally killing her father. | ||
| ✔ | Amazing Spider-Man #222 (1981) Whizzer (James Sanders) continues to operate as a criminal, adopting a new identity as Speed Demon. | |
| ✔ | Avengers #256 (1985) Following a few brief stints as an associate member, the Black Knight (Dane Whitman) officially joins the Avengers roster. | |
| ✔ | Squadron Supreme #8-9 (1986) The Squadron Sinister’s Hyperion is revealed to have been created by the Grandmaster; Hyperion is beaten to death by the original Hyperion of Earth-712; a flashback reveals the Grandmaster engaged in a contest with the Scarlet Centurion involving the Squadron Supreme, making them the inspiration for his Squadron Sinister. | |
| ✔ | Avengers #291-297 (1988) Ravonna regains consciousness and begins the first of many plots against Kang for deciding not to save her. | FUTURES IMPERFECT |
| ✔ | Avengers Annual #21 (1992) A flashback reveals that it was the Grandmaster who ‘woke’ Ravonna and showed her what Kang had been up to. | THE WARLORD |
| Iron Man #286-289 (1992) Morgan Stark returns and tries to lay claim to Stark Enterprises himself. | ||
| Avengers Forever #3 (1999) Ravonna is reported to be among those killed by Immortus‘ attack on Chronopolis. | ||
| Avengers Forever #8 (1999) The connection between the Vision and the original Human Torch is clarified. | ||
| Avengers #32 (2000) Madame Masque’s origins are revealed. | THE NEFARIA PROTOCOLS | |
| ✔ | New Thunderbolts #15-16 (2006) A new Squadron Sinister is formed by the Grandmaster in his contest against Baron Zemo‘s Thunderbolts; Speed Demon defects from the Thunderbolts to the Squadron Sinister. | RIGHT TO POWER |
| Thunderbolts #106 (2006) Grandmaster and his Squadron Sinister are defeated by the Thunderbolts; Nighthawk assists in Grandmaster’s defeat. | GUARDIAN PROTOCOLS | |
| Last Defenders #5-6 (2008) The sorcerer Yandroth summons the Monstrous Green Squadron Sinister from Earth-89125 to combat Nighthawk and his Last Defenders. | ||
| Squadron Sinister (2015-2016) The Squadron Sinister of Earth-21195 try to take over numerous zones outside of their own, Utopolis, on Doctor Doom‘s Battleworld until their own version of Nighthawk rebels. | SECRET WARS | |
| Edge of Spider-Verse #1 (2024) The multiversal team of Spider-Man foes calling themselves the Sinister Squadron make their debut. | SPIDER-SOCIETY |
| Collected Edition Title | Collects… |
| Avengers Epic Collection: Behold… The Vision (vol.4) | Avengers #57-76 Marvel Super-Heroes #17 |
| Avengers: Kang – Time and Time Again | Avengers #69-71, 267-269 Incredible Hulk #135 Thor #140 |
| Iron Man Epic Collection: The Man Who Killed Tony Stark (vol.3) | Iron Man #2-24 |
| Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers vol.8 | Avengers #69-79 |
| Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man vol.6 | Iron Man #14-25 |
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| Avengers Omnibus vol.3 | Avengers #69-71 |
| Invincible Iron Man Omnibus vol.2 | Iron Man #17-19 |
| Squadron Sinister: Warzones Squadron Supreme Classic Omnibus | Avengers #69-70 |
| Avengers: Millennium Invaders Classic: The Complete Collection vol.1 | Avengers #71 |
Reading Order © Omniverse Comics Guide 2025
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