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IrelandComicTropes revisits the Avengers event that replaced Tony Stark
Chris traces The Crossing from Marvel's editorial reshuffle to a teenage Iron Man and the later attempts to undo it.
ComicTropes
Story of Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.
The WORST Avengers Story: Avengers: The Crossing
Things we can learn from the video
Press to jump
- 2:45Marvel replaces a single editor-in-chief structure with five editorial groups.
- 7:36The Crossing reveals Kang's control over Tony Stark, turning Iron Man against his fellow heroes.
- 10:11The Avengers recruit a teenage Tony Stark from the past to replace the adult Iron Man.
- 12:15Chris explains how Kurt Busiek's Avengers stories later rewrite The Crossing's events.
- 13:10His critique connects confusing time travel, out-of-character writing and inconsistent art.
Turning Iron Man into a villain was only part of the problem. Replacing him with a teenage Tony Stark from the past made Marvel's The Crossing an especially tangled assignment for ComicTropes.
The channel's only new upload, "The WORST Avengers Story: Avengers: The Crossing", reached roughly 43,000 views in its first 14 hours. Chris doesn't just work through the plot. He starts with Marvel's speculator-era troubles and editorial restructuring, including a Comic Book Historians interview clip in which Tom Brevoort explains the division into five editorial groups.
Then comes the superhero bookkeeping: Kang's supposed control over Tony, the younger replacement, and the subsequent stories that rewrote the explanation. Chris's criticism centers on confusing time travel, inconsistent artwork and characterization bent to fit the event. It's familiar ComicTropes territory, examining how decisions behind the panels become problems inside them.
Viewers are widening the discussion beyond The Crossing. Several bring up Avengers #200 as another candidate for the title's dubious distinction; others point to Marvel's recurring habit of turning heroes into villains. There are also memories of encountering teenage Tony in another comic and wondering what had happened elsewhere.
The Avengers retrospective is the channel's most active upload right now, followed by "The Insane Art of Doug Mahnke" and the stranger historical specimens in "Superpowers: Now With 12% More Alcohol!" ComicTropes added a thousand subscribers over the week, although daily channel views are below their usual pace. Among nearby comics and tabletop channels, The Animaze had a particularly substantial week; ComicTropes drew a weekly audience between those of Pixel Dan and Battle Report - Games Night.
Published on Trari
Where next?
What viewers say
I miss the... "OH HI" bits.
@RoboArtWellSee it on YouTubeNo joke When I saw "The WORST Avengers Story" in the thumbnail I immediately thought The Crossing before looking at the title
@grkpektisSee it on YouTubeIt also raises the question of what Tony had been doing over the years in service to Kang.
@lilithcalSee it on YouTube
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The videos drawing views on ComicTropes right now
- Channel
- ComicTropes
- Subscribers
- 274,000 ▲ 1,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 131,061
- Videos published this week
- 1
- Video published
- November 8, 2026
- Video views so far
- 43,147
The numbers
Here is how ComicTropes' week looks in views and subscribers.
💡 Test your knowledge
Who do the Avengers recruit to replace adult Tony Stark in The Crossing?
The Avengers bring a teenage version of Tony from the past to replace the adult Iron Man.