"if we save one life, we save an entire universe."

young avengers (2005) #1–6
- contains nate's first appearance as iron lad & his origin story.
- while nate isn't in the last 6 issues, i would highly recommend reading at least the rest of the run for more context on the team, especially if you're reading children's crusade next.young avengers special (2006)
- takes place after issue 8 of young avengers volume 1. fleshes out the backstories of the other young avengers members, with nate making several small appearances throughout them.the mighty avengers (2007) #33
- if you haven't read stories with cassie or jonas + previous issues in this run for context, you might be lost.
- while this is not what i would deem essential to nate's history, it was technically the first time nate was seen after ya v1. in addition, it touches on nate & cassie's relationship, planting seeds for stuff in children's crusade.avengers: the children's crusade - young avengers (2010)
- takes place before nate appears in issue 4 of A:TCC, explaining his return & what's he's been up to off-screen
- very nate-centric; fleshes out his personality, relationships with the og4 (especially billy), and the team's first ever real action as superheroes.avengers: the children's crusade (2010) #4–9
- the next big young avengers story after their first initial run + young avengers presents. read the previous issues for context on what is happening.
- the general consensus amongst myself and other nate fans is that we're not sure how to feel about his characterization in issue 9 but nonetheless it is important for his history. it's also nice to see him as part of the team he founded again.ff (2013) #8-16
- after children's crusade they made nate have a brief villain arc as kid immortus, working with doom. this... does not make sense considering what happened in children's crusade.
- nate went back to being iron lad after this anyways and the only thing actually relevant here is the kid immortus name which will come up later, however that doesn't require the context of this comic. i only added these appearances for full clarity on his comics history but they're easily skippable in my opinionavengers (2012) #34
- will probably be confusing if you didn't read the previous issues in the run beforehand.
- i'm tempted to mark this as skippable since his involvement here hasn't been followed up on yet, but i like how he's written here, there are some nice moments with steve rogers nate has in this issue, and this issue establishes nate as "the last avenger." up to you i guess.infinity wars (2018) #1
- this was the first time he showed up in 616 for years. despite that he only does like 2 things
- easily skippable, has a good quote from him thoughthe last annihilation: wiccan & hulkling (2021)
- nate appears on the very last page as a cameo
- if you like billy and teddy's relationship you will enjoy this. maybe read empyre first?marvel's voices infinity comic (2022) #5, #10
- aka "young avengers: paradox lost." the most recent young avengers story, with nate's involvement being extremely important as his actions are the catalyst for everything that happens in it.
- the in-between issues all are centered around individual young avengers members, whether you choose to read them is up to you but i would recommend it if you enjoy the team as a whole.
- important note: this story is sadly digital-exclusive and not available in print. if you want to read it legally you will need to access the marvel unlimited app.avengers academy infinity comic (2024) #19 (cameo), #24, #26-27, #30, #33-34, #38-43
- directly follows up nate's storyline after the events of paradox lost, this is where we are currently at in his story (as of summer 2025). i would recommend reading at least the in-between issues for context on the storylines, if not just starting from the beginning
- nate ditches the iron lad codename, gets a brand new costume, and joins the avengers academy with new connections/friends outside of the young avengers. speaking of that team, he seems insistent on avoiding them...
- important note: this comic started out as digital-exclusive, and while it is being printed out a few issues at a time, it'll take a bit for the nate stuff to get to physical paper. for now, if you want to read these issues legally you will need to access the marvel unlimited app.