Newcomers are completely out of luck.But oh, those die-hard fans - especially the few who might be coming to this story for the first time - are in for a treat, perhaps the most purely, specifically directed treat on offer anywhere in the world of comics.

It's re-issue now (more than ten years after the last reprint) is exactly what the original mini-series was: for die-hard fans only. In an afternoon of pondering, I'd be hard-pressed to think of a graphic novel non-fans would find more impenetrable than Avengers Forever. I've heard this mini-series referred to - by people who should know better - as a perfect introduction to the world of the comic, but this is lunacy. Avengers Forever writer Kurt Busiek is one of those die-hard comic book fans, and in this mini-series he takes it upon himself to tell what is certainly the most lovingly detailed of all Avengers story arcs. 'The Avengers' as a comic - a title featuring a staggeringly large cast of Marvel super-heroes banding together to form a super-team vaguely along the same lines as the Justice League - has, over the course of its fifty years of life, tended to be prone to epic sagas, extended story-arcs telling much more elaborate dramas than usually found in any given issue - so the title 'greatest Avengers saga of them all' is a hotly-contested one, not an honor lightly bestowed even by such a febrile lot as die-hard comic book fans. As they do so, they discover they're fighting not just for one life, but for the very destiny of mankind - against a greater foes than they could possibly imagine.Avengers Forever by Kurt Busiek (script) and Carlos Pacheco (art)Marvel Comics, 2011Re-issued by Marvel Comics and in bookstores now is the epic 1998-99 'Avengers' mini-series 'Avengers Forever,' ranked by many comics fans as the ultimate Avengers saga. To find out why Rick has been targeted for elimination, the Avengers must join forces with Kang the Conqueror, one of the team's deadliest, most implacable foes in a cosmic battle that stretches from the Old West to the End of Time. the future Seven time-lost Avengers - plucked from the past, present, and future - must protect their longtime ally Rick Jones from death at the hands of Immortus, the Master of Time. A menace so great, ithas made allies out of sworn enemies. But now, Earth's Mightiest Heroes face a different kind of menace.

Through the years, The Avengers have always found a way to reach victory - no matter the odds, no matter the sacrifi ce.

Avengers forever kurt busiek