The Avengers have been one of the most popular teams in the superhero world, but it wasn’t until the release of the big-budget movie funded by Marvel Studios in 2012 that they truly arrived as a cultural phenomenon. The Avengers later returned in another team-up movie a few years later, Age of Ultron, and they exploded once more in 2018 and 2019 with the releases of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, both of which are two of the highest-grossing movies of all time. The team will return in a different form later this year in Avengers: Doomsday, which will be released in theaters on December 18.

However, long before the Avengers made it to the big screen, fans were reading about their legendary adventures on the pages of classic Marvel comic books. The first Avengers comic book was published all the way back in 1963, so the team has been around longer than many of its fans have even been alive. One of the writers who was instrumental in bringing early versions of the team to life is Barry Windsor-Smith, who wrote some legendary Avengers comics as well as X-Men, Ka-Zar, and even Conan the Barbarian for Marvel. Just this afternoon, Marvel has committed to honoring the work of Barry Windsor-Smith by releasing a new book with some of his most classic stories, titled The Marvel Creator Collection No. 1: “Back to the Savage Land” Barry Windsor-Smith at Marvel Vol. 1. Collider is thrilled to partner with Marvel Comics and Fantagraphics to exclusively preview some covers and panels of classic Windsor-Smith comics from the book, which can be found below.

“A master of sword and sorcery, science fiction, psychedelia, super heroics, and comedic parody — Barry Windsor-Smith has done it all. Between his groundbreaking, character-defining work on Marvel’s Conan The Barbarian and Weapon-X and his critically acclaimed 2021 graphic novel Monsters, the artist has earned his reputation as an adventurous, boundary-pushing creator. Now, Fantagraphics is partnering with Marvel to release The Marvel Creator Collection: Barry Windsor-Smith at Marvel, a three-volume series collecting the artist’s trailblazing Marvel comics. Due out on April 29, 2026, The Marvel Creator Collection No. 1: “Back to the Savage Land” will feature early pre-Conan work on X-Men, The Avengers, Doctor Strange, and Iron Man, as well as his amazing run on “Ka-Zar” in Astonishing Tales, and much more!”

Based on your answers, the Marvel hero who matches your spirit, values, and instincts has been revealed.

You carry the weight of the world on shoulders that are younger than they should have to be — funny, loyal, and endlessly self-sacrificing.

You fight in the shadows between law and chaos, guided by a fierce moral compass that refuses to let the guilty walk free.

Brilliant, driven, and occasionally insufferable — but always the person who solves the unsolvable problem.

You’ve been through fire that would break most people — and it did change you, completely. What’s left is unyielding, relentless, and operating by a code forged in grief.

Powerful, proud, and on a lifelong journey to become worthy of the legend you carry.

You believe in something bigger than yourself — and you fight for it even when the world has moved on and nobody else will.

Fantagraphics Founder and Co-Publisher Gary Groth also shared a statement on the release of the new BWS book: “I have literally been following Barry Windsor-Smith’s career since 1969 when he debuted at Marvel Comics and immediately became my 2nd favorite artist (after Jack Kirby). So, it is a distinct pleasure to have the privilege of finally presenting all the work he did for Marvel (with the exception of Conan) in a gorgeously produced 3-volume hardcover series.”

Windsor-Smith was a passionate devotee of Marvel Comics writer Jack Kirby, who wrote and created some of the legendary Marvel characters who are still popular today. Windsor-Smith’s earliest drawing at Marvel reflected that influence, but he quickly developed his own unique, eye-opening style, combining intricately detailed realism with the dreamlike lushness of art nouveau to the classicism of the Pre-Raphaelites.

This volume focuses on some of his earlier work, including memorable storylines on The Avengers, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and individual stories for Chamber of Darkness, Tower of Shadows, and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. All new benchmarks of comics art, culminating in what may be the highlight of this period: Windsor-Smith’s creatively fecund, Conan-esque epic tale of civil war in Ka-Zar’s Savage Land. Future volumes will trace Windsor-Smith’s career through such milestones as*** Machine Man*** and Weapon X.

Check out the new covers and panels that can be found in The Marvel Creator Collection No. 1: “Back to the Savage Land” Barry Windsor-Smith at Marvel Vol. 1 above.

Science Fiction

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Joss Whedon, Zak Penn

Avi Arad, Chris Brigham, Jon Favreau, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Jeremy Latcham

Steve Rogers / Captain America