After one of the worst days team ever faced, the Avengers decided to disband (during AVENGERS DISASSEMBLED, 2004-2005). But a breakout at a super-prison for super-bad guys will bring a number of costumed heroes together to combat it. Maybe it’s a sign that we need a team of New Avengers…
The mid-2000s shake up of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes continues as some of Marvel’s most popular characters join the line-up for the first time – along with a few ’70s classics – with writer Brian Michael Bendis charged with making the Avengers a top-selling series again. It proved to be a huge success! But it’s only the beginning…
The story is expanded with two mini-series which follow up on the villains who escape the Raft, as Spider-Man and the Black Cat chase two opposing factions down while new Symbiote host Toxin tries not to make mince-meat of the rest!
Major Crossover: Two mini-series accompanied the launch of the New Avengers title, along with a one-shot featuring profiles of the Raft escapees, making this a major crossover; however, only the six-part opening New Avengers story is required reading.
Must-Reads: Issues in bold in the Core List or marked with a ✔ in the Full Reading Order are must-read stories from this event; in the Fallout section, issues marked with a ✔ are the stories that are most heavily impacted by this event.
Spoilers: The issue descriptions and fallout section contain spoilers, so be warned!
Previous events that directly impact this story:
- THE SENTRY (2001-2002) – Who is Bob Reynolds?
- AVENGERS DISASSEMBLED (2004-2005) – The Avengers call it quits
- SECRET WAR (2004-2005) – Nick Fury steps down as SHIELD Director
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the chronological reading order without story descriptions, or spoilers:
- New Avengers #1-6
- Spider-Man: Breakout #1-5
- New Avengers: Most Wanted Files #1
- Toxin #1-6
| Must Read | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Spider-Man: Breakout #1 (pp.1-6) Two years ago, at the Vault Federal Supermax Prison, Crossfire reported Vector and the U-Foes‘ plan to break out to Program Administrator Captain Rozalyn Backus. The betrayed U-Foes were sent to the new island prison for superhuman criminals known as the Raft, with Vector swearing revenge… 1st appearance: Rozalyn Backus | |
| ✔ | New Avengers #1 Lawyers Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson are visiting the Raft, along with their bodyguard, Luke Cage. They’re greeted by Jessica Drew – formerly the original Spider-Woman and current agent of SHIELD and Head of Security at the Raft. There’s a massive power outage as Electro – hired by a shadowy benefactor – assaults the prison. Spider-Man hitches a ride on a helicopter to the Raft where he’s greeted by Captain America. As all hell and a vast number of prisoners break loose, Murdock, Nelson, Drew and Cage try to get to safety, making their way to Murdock’s original goal as assigned by Mister Fantastic: the cell that’s housing the most powerful man on the planet… the forgotten hero called the Sentry. 1st appearance: ‘Jessica Drew’, Pagon (unrevealed) |
| ✔ | New Avengers #2 (pp.1-4) Spider-Man: Breakout #1 (pp.7-8) Spider-Man is grabbed by the Crusader, Foolkiller, Count Nefaria and Vermin who beat him and unmask him. Jigsaw breaks his arm… |
| ✔ | New Avengers #2 (pp.5-18) Captain America pulls Spider-Man out and the two desperately fight their way through the criminal swarm. Inside, Murdock converses with the Sentry who refuses to get involved because he believes he murdered his own wife. Carnage and Mister Hyde emerge from the darkness to attack Foggy Nelson, inspiring the Sentry to grab Carnage, fly him into space and rip him in two. Hydro-Man floods the lower levels. Jessica Drew flies Foggy to the surface while Cage and Murdock make their own way to the surface… |
| ✔ | New Avengers #2 (pp.19-20) Spider-Man: Breakout #1 (p.10) Cage and Murdock make their way out, finding themselves in a war zone with Cap and the unmasked Spider-Man massively outnumbered… |
| Must Read | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| ✔ | New Avengers #2 (pp.20-22) Iron Man arrives to lend a hand. Luke Cage’s old enemy, the Purple Man, uses his powers to take control of Cage and turn him against his allies… |
| Spider-Man: Breakout #1 (p.11) Crossfire, Controller, Corruptor, Mandrill and Mister Fear escape the Raft in a sub, intent on killing the Guardsman at the Vault who betrayed Crossfire and Vector to Rozalyn Backus, two years ago… | |
| ✔ | New Avengers #3 Luke Cage breaks free of the Purple Man’s control beats him down. The heroes capture forty-five villains, but forty-two escape. Later, Captain America convinces Iron Man that this convergence of heroes was a sign. Cap recruits Spider-Man, Luke Cage and Jessica Drew into a new line-up of Avengers. Daredevil turns down the offer. With Avengers Mansion in ruins, Tony Stark allows the group to use the upper levels of Stark Tower as a headquarters. Edwin Jarvis returns as butler. Jessica Drew is hesitant to join, but a dubious contact encourages her to accept membership and report back to them on the activities of SHIELD and these new Avengers. 1st appearance: ‘Edwin Jarvis’, New Avengers, Stark Tower |
| ✔ | New Avengers #4 New SHIELD Director Maria Hill is unimpressed by the formation of a new Avengers team. Jessica Drew returns to her Spider-Woman identity. The Avengers recapture Electro and learn he was there to break out Karl Lykos, aka the superhuman dino-vampire Sauron. The Avengers fly the new model Quinjet to the Savage Land to track Sauron down, but the jet is immediately stomped by a T-Rex. The Avengers survive, though Spider-Woman finds herself with some familiar claws held to her throat! 1st appearance: Maria Hill New identity: ‘Jessica Drew’ as ‘Spider-Woman’ |
| ✔ | New Avengers #5 Spider-Woman defeats Wolverine, forcing the feral mutant’s claws through his own throat. He’s also there to find Sauron after a tip-off. The group are rendered unconscious by Vertigo of the Savage Land Mutates. When they wake up, Lykos – still angry with the US Government for forcing him to work for them (during WEAPON X: THE DRAFT, 2002) – orders Brainchild to kill the naked Avengers. But Tony Stark vocally activates his Iron Man armour and uses it to free the team. Back in their costumes, the Avengers battle the Mutates. Lykos who absorbs enough of Wolverine’s mutant energy to transform into Sauron. Before he can fight back, Sauron is shot through the head from a distance by Yelena Belova, the new Black Widow! |
| ✔ | New Avengers #6 The Avengers face off against Belova and her band of rogue SHIELD agents. Sauron heals enough to attack Belova, breathing fire at her and sending her running. Sauron is defeated by the Avengers who go on to find a SHIELD outpost mining the Savage Land’s Vibranium resources. The SHIELD Helicarrier arrives and launches an attack against this faction, killing them and many of the enslaved Ape-Men. Captain America confronts Maria Hill who denies all knowledge of this rogue faction’s activities. Later, Tony Stark checks the Avengers old databases and finds out fourteen of the escaped criminals are meant to be dead. It looks like SHIELD were stockpiling super-villains. Stark asks Wolverine to join the Avengers, figuring they’ll need someone to carry out more aggressive maneuvers. Elsewhere, a disfigured Yelena Belova lies in a hospital bed and is offered the chance to have her revenge against the Avengers! |
| Must Read | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Spider-Man: Breakout #1 (pp.12-23) Mary Jane Watson-Parker tries to talk her husband, Peter, out of chasing all the escaped criminals down alone as he’s still got a broken arm. Most of the super-criminals have already fled New York, but two factions have a grudge with each other and both know about a stash that could set them up for life. The U-Foes (Vector, Ironclad, Vapor and X-Ray) have a long-standing dispute with Crossfire, who has convinced his group of fellow escapees to follow him. It’s not long before the two groups are clashing in the streets and Spider-Man finds himself right in the middle! | |
| Spider-Man: Breakout #2 Spider-Man takes down Mister Fear, giving the U-Foes a chance to escape. Captain America and Iron Man arrive, sternly reminding Spidey that he should be calling on them for help. But the message doesn’t sink in and he finds himself calling on the Black Cat to arrange a meeting with criminal mastermind the Owl to get information on why the two groups are still in New York. | |
| Spider-Man: Breakout #3 Spidey learns that a former prison warden at the Raft, Roz Backus, was the Guardsman who set the U-Foes up, having learned the location of Crossfire’s secret stash and nabbing it herself. The two gangs are causing carnage across the city looking for her, but Spidey finds her first and finds out she used Crossfire’s money to start a shelter for abused women and their families. | |
| Spider-Man: Breakout #4 It turns out Roz knew Crossfire while he was still just William Cross while they worked together on a government project to create mind-control technology to rehabilitate criminals. Eventually, they got engaged. Cross stole the technology and framed Roz. Her name was cleared later when he resurfaced as Crossfire. But she wanted revenge! The U-Foes capture the Corruptor, but Crossfire’s team are now ahead of the game. They burst into Roz’s apartment and the Controller slaps a control disc on Spider-Man’s webbed head! | |
| Spider-Man: Breakout #5 Spider-Man slyly summons his Avengers allies. Captain America and Iron Man arrive while the two groups of bad guys are wailing on each other. X-Ray defeats the Controller, freeing Spidey. The shelter is destroyed in the conflict. The U-Foes escape, but the Avengers detain the Controller, Mandrill and Crossfire. | |
| New Avengers: Most Wanted Files #1 The Avengers’ files on the villains who escapes the Raft. |
| Must Read | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Toxin #1 Some time later (after the events of HOUSE OF M, 2005-2006) police officer Pat Mulligan – who recently found himself symbiotically bonded to the alien offspring of Venom and Carnage – continues to hide this from his wife, Gina Mulligan, who doesn’t understand why he’s spending so much time away from their newborn son, Eddie Mulligan. After Toxin apprehends King Cobra, Spider-Man asks him to bring in Cobra’s fellow Raft escapee Razor-Fist! | |
| Toxin #2 Pat’s absence from home due to his crime-fighting as Toxin leads to numerous unwelcome lessons about responsibility from his father, Jim Mulligan. Solving part of the mystery about how Razor-Fist ‘manages’ himself, the psychotic mercenary gathers followers who are obsessed with self-mutilation. One follower, Anton, is tracked by Toxin. But Toxin falls into a trap and becomes Razor-Fist’s prisoner. 1st appearance: Jim Mulligan | |
| Toxin #3 Pat Mulligan falls out with his Toxin Symbiote over their captivity but manage to scare Razor-Fist off and escape. Razor-Fist slices up one his own followers, Lulu, forcing Toxin to give up the chase so he can take her to the hospital. In an attempt to impress the Owl and earn some employment, the Answer takes his new sidekick to do a few bank jobs. Toxin discovers their crime spree but asks the Answer to tell him how to control his symbiote in exchange for the villain’s freedom. The Answer suggests he kills himself, so Toxin takes him back to the Raft. Later, Pat actually takes the Answer’s advice and tries to throw himself off a building. 1st appearance: Sidekick/Joe Self (unnamed) | |
| Toxin #4 Pat’s suicide attempt fails when the Toxin symbiote saves him. Knowing that they’re stuck with each other, Pat’s going to have to find another way to live with it. Toxin continues to round up Raft escapees, recapturing the Wrecker and Piledriver of the Wrecking Crew. | |
| Toxin #5 Razor-Fist’s army of cutters, the Piranha Tots, has grown large enough for him to initiate his real plan: threatening New York with ‘Slasherday’ unless money is transferred to his bank account. NYPD informant Officer Perkins advises Razor-Fist to kidnap Chief Paul Meadows who knows who Toxin is. ‘Fist tracks down Jim Mulligan. Spider-Man warns Toxin not to lose control of the Symbiote. Mulligan gives Spidey his permission to take him down if he does. 1st appearance: Officer Perkins, Piranha Tots | |
| Toxin #6 Toxin finds Razor-Fist, but only arrives in time to watch Jim Mulligan take a blade through the chest. Razor-Fist escapes and, having only raised $35, Razor-Fist decides it’s Slasherday! Toxin rips the blades off his arms and delivers him to the police. Pat comes to an agreement with the Symbiote, allowing him two hours of play time a day (as long as he doesn’t kill anybody). Figuring he’s got things under control, Mulligan returns to his wife and son. |
| Must Reads | Issue & Fallout | Event / Crossover |
| ✔ | New Avengers #7-10 (2005) Sentry’s wife Lindy Reynolds is revealed to be alive; Sentry joins the Avengers. | |
| ✔ | Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1 (2005) A flashback reveals how ‘Hydra’ offered to give Jessica Drew her Spider-Woman powers back. | |
| ✔ | New Avengers #11-15 (2005-2006) Silver Samurai is revealed to be among the escaped criminals; Echo joins the new Avengers as Ronin; ‘Spider-Woman’ admits she’s a double-agent for SHIELD and Hydra; the new Avengers go public. | |
| ✔ | I ♥ Marvel: Masked Intentions #1 (2006) The Raft is revealed to be operating as normal again. | I ♥ MARVEL |
| Daughters of the Dragon #1-2 (2006) Razor-Fist is soon back on the streets thanks to crime boss Ricadonna. | ||
| ✔ | New Avengers Annual #1 (2006) Yelena Belova returns as the Super-Adaptoid (though it’s later implied that the Yelena Belova who encountered the Avengers and became the Super-Adaptoid may not be the real Yelena and is likely an imposter). | HAPPILY EVER AFTER |
| ✔ | Civil War #1 (2006) Nitro is revealed to be among the escaped criminals; the New Warriors chase Nitro down but over 600 people are killed in the conflict in Stamford; the Avengers are split down the middle when the Super Hero Registration Act is initiated. Civil War #3 (2006) Captain America forms a ‘Secret Avengers’ team, operating outside outside the law and taking a stand against registration and Iron Man’s pro-Registration Avengers team. | CIVIL WAR |
| Civil War: Front Line #5 (2006) Mister Fantastic, Tony Stark and ‘Hank Pym’ create Prison 42 in the Negative Zone. Civil War: Battle Damage Report #1 (2007) Toxin is considered a potential 50-State Initiative recruit. | CIVIL WAR | |
| ✔ | New Avengers #27 (2007) When the war ends, Luke Cage continues to run a new outlaw Avengers team. Mighty Avengers #1 (2007) Iron Man forms a SHIELD-sanctioned Avengers team under the 50-State Initiative. | THE INITIATIVE |
| New Avengers #35 (2007) Crossfire and Vector both join the Hood’s gang and their feud is never mentioned again. | THE TRUST VENOM BOMB | |
| ✔ | New Avengers #40-42 (2008) Flashbacks reveal Ka-Zar and Shanna the She-Devil discovered the SHIELD agents digging in the Savage land were Skrulls; ‘Spider-Woman’ is the Skrull Queen Veranke; the ‘Hydra’ Spider-Woman was working for was a Skrull faction who saw her opportunity to infiltrate the new Avengers. Mighty Avengers #16 (2008) A flashback reveals Pagon – a Skrull disguised as Elektra – hired Electro. New Avengers #43 (2008) A flashback reveals Veranke’s full invasion plan. Secret Invasion #8 (2009) Veranke is killed and the Skrull invasion is ended; the real Spider-Woman/Jessica Drew and Edwin Jarvis return. | SECRET INVASION |
| ✔ | Siege #4 (2010) The Sentry gives in to his dark persona, the Void; Thor is left with no choice but to kill the Sentry. New Avengers Finale #1 (2010) The era of the New Avengers comes to an end. | SIEGE |
| ✔ | New Mutants #10 (2010) Sauron is revealed to have survived. | |
| ✔ | New Avengers #1 (2010) Luke Cage leads a new team of New Avengers. | THE HEROIC AGE |
| New Avengers #16 (2011) Daredevil joins the Avengers. | FEAR ITSELF | |
| Venom #15 (2012) It’s revealed that the demon Blackheart beat Pat Mulligan to death; Eddie Brock claims the Toxin symbiote. | ||
| Avengers #0 (2015) Sunspot‘s AIM-run Avengers squad are renamed the New Avengers. | ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT MARVEL EVERYTHING IS NEW | |
| New Avengers #3 (2025) The Winter Soldier and Black Widow‘s squad of superhumans become the New Avengers. |
| Collected Edition Title | Collects… |
| New Avengers vol.1: Breakout | New Avengers #1-6 |
| New Avengers vol.2: Sentry | New Avengers #7-10 New Avengers: Most Wanted Files |
| Spider-Man: Breakout | Spider-Man: Breakout #1-5 |
| Toxin: The Devil You Know | Toxin #1-6 |
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| Avengers: The Vibranium Collection Slipcase | New Avengers #1-6 |
| New Avengers vol.1 OHC New Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis – The Complete Collection vol.1 New Avengers Modern Era Epic Collection: Assembled (vol.1) New Avengers Omnibus vol.1 | New Avengers #1-6 New Avengers: Most Wanted Files |
| Carnage Epic Collection: The Monster Inside (vol.3) | Toxin #1-6 |
Reading Order © Omniverse Comics Guide 2026
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