History ComicBook / TheCrossing

The following day, during an anniversary party of the Avengers, they face Comicbook/KangTheConqueror's forces who were following an old man, who they recognize as an aged Gilgamesh. Later that night, the babysitter Marilla is killed. When the Avengers find her body, they must face the possibility of an Avenger being her murderer.

* AbortedArc: Several arcs were left incomplete or unresolved, most famously the story of two Kang henchmen, twins named Malachi and Tobias, who had been plucked from an earlier timeline by Kang. From their backstories and designs, readers figured out that they were intended to be the lost children of ComicBook/TheVision and The ComicBook/ScarletWitch, but the story was aborted before TheReveal could take place. A later story retconned them into being Space Phantoms, and the return of the twins eventually took place in ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' instead.
* AdvertisedExtra: The 2012 collected edition just shows Iron Man, Captain America and [[Comicbook/TheMightyThor Thor]]. This was likely done to cash in on the then-recent success of the [[Film/TheAvengers2012 Avengers live-action movie]], since Thor barely has any role in the actual plot of ''The Crossing''.
* BackstoryInvader: In ''Force Works'' #16 (October, 1995), the team has a new member called Moonraker. Young Rachel Carpenter fails to recognize him, but the others remember him being a team member for about 8 months and dating Comicbook/SpiderWoman for 6 months, which puzzles Rachel since Spider-Woman is her mother and she should have already met her boyfriend. This is used as an early indication that someone is messing with the team's perception of reality.

* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: Played straight or inverted, depending if you consider that the first time they fought, Iron Man was the hero and Hawkeye the villain, but in this story Hawkeye is a hero. In the aforementioned first fight, Hawkeye's trick arrows gave Iron Man a run for his money, but when they fight in this saga, Iron Man's current armor is totally impervious to anything Hawkeye throws at him.

''The Crossing'' is a story arc of ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' which also crossed over the ''ComicBook/IronMan, ''Force Works'' and ''ComicBook/WarMachine'' titles.

''The Crossing'' is a story arc of ComicBook/TheAvengers which also crossed over the ComicBook/IronMan, ComicBook/ForceWorks and ComicBook/WarMachine titles.

The following day, during an anniversary party of the Avengers, they face Kang's forces who were following an old man, who they recognize as an aged Gilgamesh. Later that night, the babysitter Marilla is killed. When the Avengers find her body, they must face the possibility of an Avenger being her murderer.

* ManchurianAgent: The story "revealed" that Iron Man was a puppet for Kang since his first battle with the Avengers, having brainwashed Tony. As part of damage control, given the fan backlash, ''ComicBook/AvengersForever'' retconned that Tony was really brainwashed since the events of ''ComicBook/OperationGalacticStorm'' by Immortus and the events of ''The Crossing'' itself were to stall the Avengers until ComicBook/{{Onslaught}} came around.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Tony Stark. Granted, DeathIsCheap and Stark returned within months (as adult!Tony was used in ''ComicBook/HeroesReborn'' and ''Avengers Annual 2001'' established that Franklin, who was unaware of what happened, resurrected adult!Tony and fused him with Teen!Tony)

*** Malachai and Tobias, intended by Harras to be revealed to be the children of Scarlet Witch and Vision (long before ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers)'' were reduced to mere impostors.

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: This story attempted to retcon that Tony became a ManchurianAgent agent for Kang since the Avengers first fought him. This itself was retconned in ''ComicBook/AvengersForever'' to have been by Immortus since ''ComicBook/OperationGalacticStorm''.

* RememberTheNewGuy: In-story example. In ''Force Works'' #16 (October, 1995), the team has a new member called Moonraker. Young Rachel Carpenter fails to recognize him, but the others remember him being a team member for about 8 months and dating Comicbook/SpiderWoman for 6 months, which puzzles Rachel since Spider-Woman is her mother and she should have already met her boyfriend. This is used as an early indication that someone is messing with the team's perception of reality.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Tony Stark.
** DeathIsCheap: Stark returned after almost two years.

* BatFamilyCrossover
* BigDamnHeroes

* ManchurianAgent: The story "revealed" that Iron Man was a puppet for Kang since his first battle with the Avengers, having brainwashed Tony. As part of damage control, given the fan backlash, ''ComicBook/AvengersForever'' retconned that Tony was really brainwashed since the events of ''ComicBook/OperationGalaticStorm'' by Immortus to stall the Avengers until ComicBook/{{Onslaught}} came around.

* RememberTheNewGuy: In-story example. In ''Force Works'' #16 (October, 1995), the team has a new member called Moonraker. Young Rachel Carpenter fails to recognize him, but the others remember him being a team member for about 8 months and dating Comicbook/SpiderWoman for 6 months. Which puzzles Rachel since Spider-Woman is her mother and she should have already met her boyfriend. This is used as an early indication that someone is messing with the team's perception of reality.

Rita [=DeMara=] (the second Yellowjacket) returns from the future to the present day after she finds a BadFuture where Hawkeye is killed and Black Widow is about of being executed, with the implication of both being the last Avengers left. When she arrives to the present-day Avengers Mansion, she finds one of the Avengers and tries to tell him what she saw, only to be promptly killed.

*** When the Avengers were pulled into the pocket universe ("counter-earth") by Franklin Richards, he "restored" several characters to how he wanted them to be: Teen Tony and the dead Earth-616 Tony had merged somehow and been turned into the "real" Tony, who returned from Counter-Earth. Kurt Busiek had plans to explore this that never materialized. The Wasp was also changed back into her human form.

*** The aforementioned retcon that Iron Man was under Kang's thrall since the Avengers' early days later got retconned itself to being under Immortus's control since the events of ''ComicBook/OperationGalacticStorm''. Likewise, the aforementioned Kang/Immortus saying he was the cause of Hank's breakdowns turned out to be lie, so Hank went back to being his old crazy self.

The following day, during an anniversary party of the Avengers, they face Kang's forces that were following an old man, which they then notice is an aged Gilgamesh. Later that night, the babysitter Marilla is killed, and when the Avengers find it, they must face the possibility of an Avenger being her murderer.

Rita [=DeMara=] (the second Yellowjacket) is returning from the future to the present day, she finds a BadFuture where Hawkeye is killed and Black Widow is about of being executed, with the implication of both being the last Avengers left. When she arrives to the present-day Avengers Mansion, she finds one of the Avengers and tries to tell him what she saw, only to be promptly killed.