Just because this one's short, it doesn't mean it doesn't span an endless amount of time (or take a while to put together, for that matter). The Time Variance Authority is an agency outside of time an unassigned to any reality that monitors the Marvel Multiverse, taking a more bureaucratic approach to minimising temporal interference. They're definitely one of the most meta aspects of Marvel continuity. In fact, TVA employee Mr Mobius (aka Mobius M Mobius) is actually designed to look like writer and editor Mark Gruenwald, a staple at Marvel for many years and avid keeper of continuity.
The TVA have only made sporadic appearances since they first appeared, some stranger than others, but I thought it might be fun to share their comics background as they'll be playing a huge role in the upcoming 'Loki' series on Disney+. If you're wanting to find out more about them, these are the comics to read.
MCG Notes:
- Issue listings in blue & black: The must-read TIme Variance Authority stories from this time period, along with any key related stories and often-forgotten tales that are worth a read.
- Issue listings in grey: Part of the TVA's chronology, cameo appearances or stories of note that non-essential or no longer considered 'required reading'.
- Chronology: Every appearance of the TVA and related characters from this period is included in chronological order - mapping out his timeline rather than just the order the issues were released.
- Spoilers: The issue/story overviews may include spoilers, so be warned!
- WANT TO KEEP IT SIMPLE? Scroll down to THE CORE LIST to see a version of this reading order without story descriptions, page-by-page breakdowns or less important appearances - just a list of the essentials.
Thor #245 (1976)
First appearance of He Who Remains; in an effort to undo the destruction of the Earth at the hands of the Time-Twisters, Thor of Earth-616 travels to the end of time and meets He Who Remains, the only being to witness their creation; Jane Foster talks He Who Remains into destroying the Time-Twisters.
Power Man and Iron Fist #79 (1982)
First appearance of Professor Justin Alphonse Gamble; having relocated to present day Earth-616, time traveller JA Gamble writes a popular broadway play called 'Day of the Dredlox'; Gamble draws the rogue Time Variance Authority time cleaning robots, the Incinerators, into battle with Power Man, Iron Fist and Bob Diamond who destroy them for him before he disappears.
Thor #371-372 (1986)
First appearance of Justice Peace, his Hopsickle and the Time Variance Authority; the Time Variance Authority (TVA) send Justice Peace from the future of Earth-869371 back in time to present day Earth-616 to capture a Zaniac and end World War VII in his timeline; Thor helps Justice Peace with his mission, enabling him to return to his own time; off-panel, the TVA investigate a warp in time caused by Galactus of Earth-8810, accidentally creating of a Time Bubble.
Fantastic Four #338-341 (1990)
The TVA employ Death's Head to investigate activity around the Time Bubble; when Death's Head is expelled from the timeline following damage to his vehicle, the TVA can only observe while the Fantastic Four restore the sanity of Galactus of Earth-8810 - the source of the chronal disturbance - using the Ultimate Nullifier; the Fantastic Four head back to Earth-616 but end up arriving on Earth-9061.
Fantastic Four #342-346 (1990)
Due to the Fantastic Four's activities on Earth-9061 and the time-displaced Dinosaur Island, the TVA quarantine them to their own time.
Fantastic Four Annual #24[2/4] (1991)
The TVA learn Galactus of Earth-616 had tried to kill Korvac of Earth-691 with the Ultimate Nullifier, which is what really caused him to undo the deaths of the Avengers and appear to commit suicide (during THE KORVAC SAGA); this was a major worry for the TVA who had concerns over the amount of paperwork it would cause; in the present day, the Guardians of the Galaxy of Earth-691 join forces with the Fantastic Four when they discover Korvac's consciousness is jumping through time into the bodies of his ancestors; after freeing Korvac's descendent Jaboa Murphy from Korvac's control, a TVA representative arrives and orders Mister Fantastic to hand over his time machine for unauthorised journeys through time during THE KORVAC QUEST.
Sensational She-Hulk #24 (1991)
Death's Head reveals he quit the TVA and stole one of their time-cycles to return to the year 2020 on Earth-8410.
Fantastic Four #352-354 (1991)
First appearance of the Mr Mobius M Mobius, the Chronomonitors, the Minutemen and the Null-Time Zone; the Fantastic Four clash with Doctor Doom, with Mister Fantastic and Doom making numerous jumps through time as they battle which attracts the attention of the Time Variance Authority; the TVA send Justice Peace to apprehend them; Mr Mobius grants the rest of the Fantastic Four a tour of their offices; the Fantastic Four escape; Mister Fantastic destroys the TVA's file on Earth-616, no longer registering it on their files.
What If #35, 37-39 (1992)
The TVA register a Timequake as Immortus' plots allow him to accumulate huge amounts of temporal energy becoming a quantum temporal wave; when Immortus appears to kill the Time Keepers, the TVA call on Uatu the Watcher for advice and send a number of agents (including multiversal versions of Wolverine, Spider-Man, Doctor Doom and Thor) to alter Immortus' past, only for them to fail; the TVA eventually send the Fantastic Four of Earth-8212 to implant a means of preventing Immortus from ammassing that amount of power, long before he became Immortus or even Rama-Tut; it's revealed that He Who Remains was/would become the last ever director of the Time Variance Authority and he created the Time-Keepers as a replacement for the Time-Twisters (although a reverse version of that reality at the end of time also exists).
Avengers Annual #22[2/2] (1993)
It's revealed that Professor Justin Alphonse Gamble was a former member of the TVA who stole a time machine; an Incinerator robot then snuck aboard and duplicated itself; Terminatrix and the Anachronauts board GA Gamble's time machine and help him eject the Incinerators.
Deathlok #31-34 (1994)
The TVA employ Godwulf to capture the time-travelling Timestream and stop him from taking over Earth-7484; when Godwulf fails, Justice Peace is sent to recapture him; Siege and Deathlok of Earth-616 help Godwulf capture Timestream so the TVA don't nullify all realities affected by Timestream's actions.
Fantastic Four Annual #27[1/2] (1994)
First appearance of Mr Alternity; Mobius M Mobius' boss, Mr Alternity, learns the Earth-616 file has been lost and orders him to replace it; Mobius sends the Peacekeepers to capture the Thing, Invisible Woman and the Human Torch (following the apparent demise of Mister Fantastic during RISE OF DOOM!); the FF and Ant-Man help Mobius negotiate a job offer with Kang which he then uses to stay at the TVA and get a promotion; Mobius promises to leave the Fantastic Four alone from now on.
Fantastic Four Annual #27[2/2] (1994)
First appearance of Mr Tesseract; Mr Tesseract takes Mr Mobius' old job and has to deal with the paperwork caused by a fight between the Molecule Man and the Beyonder.
Marvel Fanfare #1 (1996)
The TVA send Justice Peace to stop Deathlok the Demolisher (Earth-7484) when he arrives on present day Earth-616 looking to kill the Red Skull before he can initiate Operation: Purge (the plan that resulted in Earth's heroes being banished from Earth-7848 in Deathlok's past); Captain America and the Falcon help Justice Peace subdue Deathlok and return him to his own time, rather than terminate him.
Unlimited Access #2 (1998)
Access is tracked by Mobius M Mobius as he jumps through a number of realities until Mobius loses track of him during UNLIMITED ACCESS.
Avengers Forever #9 (1999)
Kang reveals he unleashed extra-temporal entity Alioth into the TVA's Null-Time Zone after growing tired of his alliance with them.
4 #15-18 (2005)
First appearance of Ramades; the TVA contact the Fantastic Four to ask for their help in finding eight minutes of lost time; Mister Fantastic discovers Ramades, the son of Kang, is responsible; the Fantastic Four use the lost time as a weapon against Ramades, ending his attempt to alter reality and rule Earth.
She-Hulk #1-5 (2005-2006)
First appearance of Mr Orobourous and Mr Paradox; the Time Variance Authority assist She-Hulk by setting up an impartial jury to decide the fate of a Charles Czarkowski, a man who shot the man who would kill him a year into the future; all jurors had died a year earlier to aid in their impartiality, but one of them was Hawkeye who She-Hulk tried to warn about his impending death (during AVENGERS DISASSEMBLED); She-Hulk wins the case, saving herself from being removed from existence and convincing the TVA to allow her to take the Two-Gun Kid out of their custody and into hers.
Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #23 (2007)
First appearance of Rama-Tut of Earth-20051; a TVA Chronomonitor travels to Ancient Egypt on Earth-20051, disguised as Rama-Tut and ruling his own kingdom; on a journey through time, the Fantastic Four of Earth-20051 battled 'Rama-Tut' before he's apprehended by the TVA and the FF's memories of the incident are erased.
Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #2, 5-6 (2010-2011)
The TVA deploy the Minutemen to stop the users of the Time Diamonds from messing up continuity, including Spider-Man, Wolverine, Sara Bailey, the Czar, Orb, Big Murder and Mojo.
Avenging Spider-Man #17 (2013)
First appearance of Mr Oborus; Death's Head is hired by the Time Variance Authority to stop the Future Foundation from building a device created by Bentley-23 that is destined to tear a hole in the fabric of space-time; Death's Head encounters Spider-Man (Otto Octavius); the TVA hire another Death's Head from a later point in his timeline to complete secondary part of the mission.
Wolverine and the X-Men #29 (2013)
On Earth-13729, an alternate future, the X-Men have set up a vault on Space Station X which contains time-travel technology; the X-Men are only allowed to access and use it if it's been agreed by the TVA.
- Thor #371-372
- Fantastic Four #338-346
- Fantastic Four Annual #24[2/4]
- Fantastic Four #352-254
- What If (1989) #35-39
- Deathlok #31-34
- Fantastic Four Annual #27
- Marvel Fanfare (1996) #1
- 4 #15-18
- She-Hulk (2005) #1-5
- Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #23
- Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #1-6
- Avenging Spider-Man #17
Other key stories in the Time Variance Authority's more recent history. This list doesn't include every appearance and the reading order may not be exact. I've kept these entries vague to avoid spoilers.
Deadpool & Cable: Split Second #1-6 (2016, Infinite Comic)
First appearance of Loop (Wade Wilson), Split Second (Daryll Weathers) and the Temporal Adjudicator (Carl Weathers); Cable and Deadpool are caught up in a time-travel adventure in an effort to prevent scientist Carl Weathers from being assassinated; Weathers becomes affiliated with the TIme Variance Authority.
Despicable Deadpool #287-288 (2017)
First appearance of Officer Salcido; Stryfe hires Deadpool to kill Cable; the Time Variance Authority arrest Cable, mistaking him for Stryfe; having unwittingly saved Cable's life from Deadpool's deathblow; Cable catches up with Cable in the TVA's offices, freeing him in an effort to complete his contract during MARVEL LEGACY.
You Are Deadpool #3, 5 (2018)
Deadpool runs into TVA agent Justice Peace.
Cable & Deadpool Annual #1 (2018)
Professor JA Gamble manipulates Deadpool into fighting the Incinerators for him, attracting the attention of the Time Variance Authority.
Thor by Walter Simonson vol.4
Thor by Walter Simonson Omnibus
Thor by Walter Simonson Omnibus
Thor Visionaries: Walt Simonson vol.4
All include...
Thor #371-372
Fantastic Four Epic Collection vol.20: Into The Timestream
Includes...
Fantastic Four #338-346
Fantastic Four Visionaries: Walter Simonson vol.1
Includes...
Fantastic Four #338-341
Fantastic Four Visionaries: Walter Simonson vol.2
Includes...
Fantastic Four #342-246
Fantastic Four Epic Collection vol.21: The New Fantastic Four
Includes...
Fantastic Four #352-354
Fantastic Four Annual #24
Fantastic Four Visionaries: Walter Simonson vol.3
Includes...
Fantastic Four #352-354
Guardians of the Galaxy by Jim Valentino vol.1
Guardians of the Galaxy by Jim Valentino Omnibus
Both include...
Fantastic Four Annual #24
Marvel Knights 4 vol.3: Divine Time
Includes...
4 #15-18
She-Hulk vol.3: Time Trials
She-Hulk by Dan Slott Omnibus
She-Hulk by Dan Slott: The Complete Collection vol.1
All include...
She-Hulk #1-4
Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four Digest vol.6: Monsters and Mysteries
Includes...
Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #23
Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine
Wolverine by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection vol.3
Wolverine Goes To Hell Omnibus
All include...
Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #2, 5-6
Superior Spider-Man Team-Up: Superiority Complex
Superior Spider-Man Companion vol.1
Both include...
Avenging Spider-Man #17
amazing, thanks for the great list and the time put to create it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading it, Kennet! There'll be more to come (including an updated TVA reading order) over on ourt new site - https://omniversecomics.guide/
Delete