(I originally read these comics in mid February 2016)
The 'Avengers Disassembled' arc by Brian Bendis is where Marvel clearly realised their flagship Avengers comic wasn't working. So, instead of trying to turn the boat around the hard way with better art and writing, they decided to decimate the team in a story full of shock moments. Avengers Mansion is destroyed. Jack of Hearts, presumed dead since the conclusion of Geoff Johns' run, returns to the team - and dies. Ant-Man (Scott Lang) dies. The Vision dies. Hawkeye dies. EVERYBODY DIES. Well, just those four, though the Scarlet Witch is left comatose. 2004's 'House of M' would spin off from this and Bendis' 'New Avengers' would rise from its ashes, setting in motion the Bendis/Millar age of escalating 'event' stories (Dissassembled> House of M> Civil War> Secret Invasion> Dark Reign> Siege> Heroic Age, etc) that lasted nigh on nine years and resulted in a near-impenetrable continuity intimidating to even a hardened Marvel fanboy like me.
Avengers (1963) # 500-503 and Avengers: Finale (2005) # 1 are collected in:
Hardcover:
Softcover:
Avengers (1963) # 500 is collected in:
Softcover:
What If? featuring Avengers Disassembled (2006) # 1 is collected in:
Softcover:
