Avengers 9 to 15 (10/64 to 4/65)

Threats old and new rise.
The Big Three form the first core.
Outside pressure builds.

Captain America; Steve Rogers

Giant-Man; Henry “Hank” Pym

Iron Man; Tony Stark

Thor; Dr. Donald Blake

Wasp; Janet Van Dyne

Rick Jones (honorary member) 

Featured allies/enemies:
Hulk; Bruce Banner
Spider-Man; Peter Parker
Wonder Man; Simon Williams

                As the adventures of the (mostly) original lineup continue, Stan chose to recycle the villains a bit and have them keep coming back for more, both the Avengers' previous individual foes and the Fantastic Four's as well. This part of their history also introduced original long-running characters such as Wonder Man, Immortus, and Count Nefaria and the Maggia, who continued to cause problems throughout the Avengers’ history and up to today.

                In these early stories, continuity was often fairly tight. Costume and power changes in the heroes individual titles would show in Avengers right away, even if no one mentioned them. Footnotes would be used to refer fans to other series that were probably on the stands at the same time. Today, we see far less of these footnotes, probably as they don’t fit as well into a publishing strategy that wants to package several issues into nice, tidy trade paperbacks that a new reader can pick up without as much baggage. With the Internet, someone wanting to find out connections between titles or characters can very quickly find out themselves without the need for the editors pointing the way in handy footnotes.

                Not that it seems the stories were planned more than a month in advance. The end of issue 13 does lead into issue 14, but only because of the very last panel showing the Wasp in peril. We had no indication in the story that she was in trouble, except for the dramatic announcement on the cover that something would happen in that panel. Issue 15 also ends right in the middle of a battle between the Avengers and Master of Evil. The title had just gone monthly, so I guess Stan had at least some overlap in the production between two issues to try and connect them here and there.

                Speaking of planning, the addition of Immortus as a villain has no foreshadowing at all that he and Kang are one and the same person. They even appear in a montage as villains monitoring the Avengers separately. Later on, they will actively combat each other, so I think it’s pretty clear Stan meant for them to be two separate menaces when he created them. It will be other writers that tangle up the two characters together further. It is a little frustrating to see these two master villains who are shown to actively monitor and affect any time period ever get caught off guard or surprised or act like they have no knowledge of any future events beyond the issue they're currently in. Ecch. Time travel.

Avengers 9

The Coming of the Wonder Man

October, 1964

Written by Stan Lee

Art by Don Heck

                Baron Zemo, Enchantress, and Executioner manage to escape the space warp they were stranded in and return to the Amazon Jungle. Zemo chooses to recruit industrialist Simon Williams, a business rival of Tony Stark whose company went bankrupt. Zemo empowers him into a superbeing so he may bait a trap for the Avengers. The newly named Wonder Man breaks up a robbery and asks to join the Avengers. He reveals that  a side effect of his power is killing him, which is indeed the case, and the Avengers seek to cure him. Wonder Man kidnaps Wasp to the Amazon and sends a message for aid to the Avengers. His betrayal surprises them, and the villains are victorious. Baron Zemo prepares to kill all the helpless Avengers, (It takes a Nazi!) but Wonder Man has a change of heart and helps them defeat the three villains. Without Zemo’s treatments, Wonder Man is killed by his new powers.

Iron Man: “He was a strange mixture of good and evil! If only we had more time…”

·         Iron Man will get more time. Wonder Man only slipped into a deathlike trance and will return and join the Avengers for many years. In 2012, however, Wonder Man thought the Avengers caused more problems than they solved, and he led a team dedicated to their destruction, The Revengers. By the end of the 2010 Avengers series, he had reconciled with the Avengers and was a member on the "Unity Squad" featured in Uncanny Avengers.

·         Wonder Man is empowered by “ionic energy.” This term seems to have no basis in actual science.

·         In this and future appearances, Wonder Man uses belt jets to enable him to fly. These were invented by Baron Zemo.

·         This is the first time Wasp mentions her “wasp’s sting,” which are hand-mounted weapons that sting a target with compressed air. She must have acquired these in her adventures in Tales to Astonish.

·         Starting with this issue, the Avengers was upgraded to a monthly publication schedule.

·         New artist Don Heck was also responsible for much of the early design work and art for Iron Man’s series.

Avengers 10

The Avengers Break Up!

November, 1964

Written by Stan Lee

Art by Don Heck

 The villain Immortus also seeks to conquer the 20^th century and proposes an alliance with Baron Zemo’s group. Zemo's task for him is to destroy the Avengers. Immortus lures Rick Jones to his lair with an ad that promises to give superpowers to those who respond, and Rick is used as bait for the Avengers. Immortus proposes a challenge to the Avengers to see if they can beat his champions. He summons figures from history to do his will, but his servants are all defeated in one-on-one battles. Immortus has Rick stashed in the Tower of London in the past, and he whisks Captain America there in order to challenge him with the Tower’s guards. Zemo and his allies choose this moment to attack the remaining Avengers. When Cap is victorious in the past, Immortus accepts his defeat and returns Cap to the present. Seeing the battle going against them, Enchantress turns back time herself to before Immortus’ arrival. Although the Avengers forget the whole affair since time has changed, the villains remember and shun Immortus.

Iron Man: “If I manage to walk away from this one, I’ll never complain about enemies like Hawkeye or the Mandarin again!”

·         Immortus summons the minions Paul Bunyan, Attila the Hun, Merlin, Hercules, and the biblical Goliath. Merlin, Goliath, and Hercules are later revealed to be Space Phantoms taking on those roles for Immortus. We have to assume Attila the Hun and Paul Bunyan are also fakes.

·        The real Hercules will later become an Avenger. Based on the actions and appearance of the Hercules in this issue, it is not meant to be the same person. Hercules’ official first Marvel appearance is not for another year.

·         Immortus is another alternate version of Kang that dwells in Limbo, the same Limbo as the Space Phantom from issue 2. When Immortus first appears, the other villains immediately know his name and where he comes from, even though this is his first appearance.

·         During the battle, Iron Man mentions Hawkeye, a future Avenger, for the first time in the series.

·         Thor yells, “Avengers Assemble!!” for the first time in the series. However, since Enchantress turned back time, that means it may not have happened. I really hate time travel.

·         Don Cheadle, who plays War Machine in Iron Man 2, was born this month.

·         Edwin Jarvis, the Avengers’ butler, had his first appearance in Tales of Suspense 59 this month.

Avengers 11

The Mighty Avengers Meet Spider-Man!

December, 1964

Written by Stan Lee

Art by Don Heck

Kang has been observing the Avengers from the future and hatches a plot to use a fake Spider-Man robot to lure them into a trap. Iron Man is missing during this issue, so the phony Spider-Man tells the other Avengers Iron Man is being held captive by Zemo at an ancient temple in Mexico. The Avengers each travel in their way, and when they arrive separately, the robot overcomes all the Avengers in turn. Luckily, the real Spider-Man stowed along with Giant-Man and Wasp and defeats the imposter.

Wasp: “I don’t trust him! Everything about spiders makes my wasp-instinct tingle with hate and loathing!”

Robot Spider-Man, to Thor: “How come you don’t get a haircut, chum? Tell me…do you prefer bobby pins, or ordinary curlers?” 

·         The Avengers had previously been traveling in Stark Industries vehicles, so it seems odd that they travel separately here. But if Iron Man is missing, they may not have access to Stark vehicles without him.

·         In this issue, Tony Stark is presumed dead because he had faked his death in his own series. The Avengers theorize Iron Man is missing only because he is seeking vengeance for Tony Stark’s death on his own.

·         Rick Jones is shown to not be a full voting member at the Avengers meeting. Captain America calls him out of order for seconding a motion during a meeting.

·         The adventure takes place at the Temple of Tirod, which does not really exist outside of the Marvel Universe.

·         Captain America shouts, “Avengers awaaay!” when they scatter. Thankfully, this battle cry did not catch on.

Hulk Smash Avengers 1

By Banner Betrayed!

July, 2012

Written by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz

Art by Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema

Lettered by Chris Eliopoulos

Colored by Nick Filardi

Edited by Bill Rosemann and Jake Thomas

After tracking the Hulk in the American Southwest for a few days, the Avengers try to restrain him long enough for some special Stark restraints to arrive. Their hope is to convince him to return to the team. Despite being outnumbered, the Hulk is able to batter his way free and leap away. Coincidentally, Baron Zemo, Enchantress, and Executioner are magically observing and also wish to recruit the Hulk. Zemo offers to help the Hulk crush the Avengers, and they reach an agreement to team up. The Avengers continue their search alongside the military, and Zemo’s force attacks them. Both teams split off into individual battles. Captain America is fighting against Zemo’s Killbot, and Rick Jones and another solider attempt to sneak up on Zemo to take him out of the fight. The plan fails, and Zemo gets ahold of Rick and threatens to shoot him in order to torture Captain America by depriving him of another partner. The Hulk sees this and, because of his friendship with Rick, the Hulk causes a ground quake that frees Rick. Seeing the tide turning, the villains retreat. The Hulk claims that he knew all along his new allies would turn on him, and he bounds away. 

Captain America: “Save your breath, Iron Man. If he’s not going to cooperate, there’s no point in arguing. We’ll have to take him down like we practiced…” 

·         The team of DeFalco and Frenz also worked on the series A-Next, which showed the adventures of an Avengers team in the future that featured the superhero children of many of the Avengers characters.

·         Letterer Chris Eliopoulos designed the in-house font for the Marvel comics computer lettering software. He won Best Letterer Eagle and Harvey Awards in 2007 and 2008 respectively. He was also artist on the Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius series of comic books for Marvel.

·         Rosemann and Thomas were also editing the Avengers Academy series when this issue was released.

·         An opening note places this adventure between issues 7 and 14. I chose this spot since Wasp is using the Wasp sting established in issue 9, issue 10 “never happened,” Iron Man is missing in action during issue 11, and Wasp is in the hospital between issues 13 and 14. The team starts issue 12 off without anything pressing happening.

·         Iron Man has his Mark II armor on the cover, but the interior has him using his Mark III armor, which is appropriate for this time period.

·         Rick is still suffering feelings of abandonment in this issue, both from being rejected as Captain America’s partner and then left behind by the Hulk.

Avengers 12

This Hostage Earth

January, 1965

Written by Stan Lee

Art by Don Heck 

Giant-Man summons the Avengers because his network of ants says there’s trouble. The other Avengers, even Wasp, think he is overreacting, so Giant-Man blows them all off and goes to investigate the anthill on his own. He discovers that Mole Man is changing the Earth’s rotation to destroy humanity, but Mole Man captures him. Mole Man continues with his plans, and tremors terrorize the surface world. Wasp is able to discover Mole Man’s operation, and after a battle on the surface with  the Mole Man's Moloids, they go to rescue Giant-Man. They find that another villain, the Red Ghost, has joined Mole Man as well, but the Avengers defeat the plan.

Thor: “You have the temerity to summon us because some ants in an ant-hill are in need of assistance? I know not whether to feel wrath…or amusement!”

·         This is the first time Wasp is shown as chairman of the group. At this time, the position rotated weekly among the members.

·         Wasp sends a projection of herself into the Earth by using the same image projector Iron Man used to search for the Hulk in issue 3. She thinks of it before Iron Man himself.

·         The Red Ghost usually has a cadre of Super-Apes. Here he claims to have parted ways with them because they were “too unpredictable,” but he will reunite with them soon afterward.

Avengers 13

Trapped in the Castle of Count Nefaria!

February, 1965

Written by Stan Lee

Art by Don Heck

The Avengers have been interfering with a criminal organization called the Maggia. Their leader, Count Nefaria, relocates his entire castle from Europe to New Jersey. (Possibly the worst step one in any master plan ever.) His criminal ties are not public knowledge, so he informs the Avengers he will open his castle to the public for charity and invites them to attend. While waiting in private rooms, the Avengers are trapped by Time Transcender beams and frozen in time. Count Nefaria sends out projections of the Avengers to declare hostilities on the United States and then releases the real Avengers, who don’t realize they were even prisoners. They find themselves fighting the armed forces, but retreat and return to Nefaria's castle. The team is captured again, but while investigating the castle, Captain America frees Rick Jones, who frees the other Avengers and leads them to victory. Count Nefaria admits to the scheme, and the Avengers are cleared, but it is discovered that Wasp was hit with a stray bullet and is near death. 

Giant-Man, of Count Nefaria: “I admit he’s good-looking, Jan, but I’ll bet that beard would tickle when he kisses a gal.” 

Wanted poster: “Wanted! Dead or Alive! The Avengers! Warning: They are armed with the most awesome powers known to man!” 

·         This issue marks the first appearance of Count Nefaria and the Maggia. The Maggia resemble the Maffia—er, Mafia in many ways.

·         Count Nefaria and his daughter Madame Masque will go on to be longtime foes of the Avengers. A clone of Madame Masque will become an ally of the Avengers and be given an honorary membership after her death.

·         It is revealed the Avengers have an  emergency headquarters hidden behind a artificial cliff in a forested area.

Avengers 14

Even Avengers Can Die

March, 1965

Written by Stan Lee, Paul Laiken & Larry Lieber

Art by Jack Kirby and Don Heck

Wasp needs a lung specialist to recover from her wound, or she will die within 48 hours. Thor rockets to Norway and collects this Dr. Svenson despite the doctor's protests. When he arrives at Wasp’s bedside, Svenson is revealed to be a masked alien. Without his mask, he can’t breathe and dies immediately. The distraught team try to discover where the real Dr. Svenson could be and suspect he is trapped at the North Pole. Below the ice, they find a garrison of Kallusions, aliens who have fled an intergalactic war. Dr. Svenson had discovered a way for them to breathe Earth air properly. The Avengers battle the Kallusions to rescue Svenson, but Svenson is really there of his own free will and stops the fighting when he arrives on the scene. At this time, the Kallusions’ enemies enter our solar system, so the Kallusions flee Earth once more. Dr. Svenson is able to return to the Wasp and perform surgery just in time. 

Narration: “Let us now leave the Avengers! Strong Men should not be seen with tears in their eyes!”

·  Thor says, “Avengers Assemble!” again in this issue, and there is no time paradox at the end, so it can be considered the first use of the battle cry.

·  The Kallusians and their unnamed enemies are never seen again.

·  The Watcher, Uatu, appears at the end of the story to clarify that if Wasp had not been injured, the two alien races would have battled on Earth instead and destroyed mankind.

·  Stan Lee only plotted this issue. In the Marvel style of this time period, the plotter figured out the basic story and how it would play out, the artist used that to create the art, and the dialogue was added after the art was created. The dialogue here was written by Larry Lieber, who is Stan Lee’s younger brother. Stan Lee’s birth name is Stanley Martin Lieber.

·  Paul Laiken is a pen name for Larry Ivie, who only wrote a small number of Marvel issues.

·  A 5-page story in Captain America (1968) 221 tells a story that takes place between this and issue 15. Rick Jones trips into a view screen and is electrocuted. He is transformed into a superhero called Captain Avenger with a costume made up of pieces of the other Avengers’ costumes. He foils an attack by Baron Zemo, but then discovers that he imagined the whole thing due to an electricity-caused hallucination.

·  The cover has a blurb to join the MMMS, the Merry Marvel Marching Society, the official Marvel fan club from 1964 to 1969.

·  Also this month, the Avengers appear in Fantastic Four (1961) 36 as guests at the engagement party for Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Girl.

Avengers 15

Now, By My Hand, Shall die a Villain!

April, 1965

Written by Stan Lee

Art by Jack Kirby

Baron Zemo kidnaps Rick Jones as bait for the Avengers. To bolster his ranks, Zemo also has Enchantress and Executioner free Melter and Black Knight from prison. The four villains attack the Avengers’ plane in New York when they fly off to pursue Rick. While most of the team stops to fight the villains, Captain America continues on by himself. Zemo uses Rick as a human shield against Captain America’s missile attack, but instead Rick survives and is freed from his prison. Zemo has a handheld disintegrator ray, and he and his natives and mercenaries rush to attack Captain America. Captain America uses his shield to reflect the sun into Zemo’s eyes, and a misfired disintegration ray causes a rockslide that crushes Zemo to death. Meanwhile the other Avengers are warned that any battle will result in civilian casualties, leaving the combatants at a stalemate. 

Rick Jones: “But, Cap—you’re all alone—and Zemo has weapons—men—everything in his favor!”

Captain America: “Not everything, Rick! There’s one weapon we’re armed with which he can never
    possess! A thing called—justice!” 

 

·         This issue was inked by Mike Esposito under the pseudonym “Mickey Demeo.” Reprints like Essential Avengers have it updated to Mike Esposito. An inker inks over and puts the final touches over the artist's pencil drawings. Having the jobs divided in this manner allows more art to be created in a shorter period of time to keep up with deadlines.

·         The captions at the beginning claim that some fans were upset the Avengers never “fought to the finish,” so Zemo’s death was written to placate them. Unlike most comic book deaths, Zemo has stayed dead. So far…

·         Thor says here he is the monthly chairperson. The position used to be weekly.

·         Captain America is looking for work outside the Avengers and mails a letter to Nick Fury for employment. While going out to mail the letter as Steve Rogers, he carries his shield in an artist’s portfolio to disguise it. Steve Rogers would later go on to become an artist and even draw the comic adventures of himself, Captain America, in the Marvel Universe.

·         Giant-Man says in this issue that 100 feet is his maximum height, but that will increase even more in later years.

·         Robert Downey Jr., the actor playing the cinematic Iron Man, was born in this month.

Avengers 1.5 to 8 (10/63 to 9/64)

The Man and King tell

How time and tide threaten peace.
Seeds of distrust bloom.

Members:
Ant-Man/Giant-Man; Henry "Hank" Pym
Captain America; Steve Rogers
Hulk; Bruce Banner
Iron Man; Tony Stark
Thor; Dr. Donald Blake
Wasp; Janet Van Dyne

Honorary Member:
Rick Jones

Featured Allies/Enemies:
Namor; Namor McKenzie

               Upon rereading these tales from 1963 and 1964, I was struck with the feel of the stories and how different they were from today's. Events came at a rapid-fire and frenetic pace. The tone was that of kids making up adventures on a playground. I could certainly see kids yelling things like, “Aha! I have my invincible force field,” “I create a space warp to another dimension,” “Ah, but now my gloves are magnetic,” “I escape you with my shrinking pill,” or the old favorite, “I turn the floor to lava.” All that stuff happens in these early stories, even the lava floor. And the Hulk is the surly kid who no one really wants to play with. I think Iron Man’s mother forced him to invite Hulk along, and he always seems to show up to try to upstage everyone else and make them feel bad. Between the power of “science” and Thor’s mystic hammer, new abilities and tactics appear out of nowhere, especially that darn hammer, which can do just about anything the story requires. Ah, well, the power of fiction is that it only has to make just enough sense to keep things moving without the neck-breaking plot twists becoming too distracting. My neck may be too old for this.

                I was likewise set to point out that the stories in this section come from two molds. One is the heroes end up fighting each other, and the other is an invading force must be stopped. I’d like to cry foul, but if you look Marvel Comics' last few major-event crossovers, they include Avengers vs. X-Men, World War Hulk, and Civil War (heroes fight each other) and Secret Invasion and Siege. (heroes try to stop an invasion.) So, ahem, never mind. Most of these issues end with a blurb making vague promises about the next issue’s wonderful adventure, but with no specifics. I hazard the guess that Stan had no idea what was coming in the next issue. At this point, the Avengers was bimonthly, so that gave him two months to figure it out.

                Fans of the film may wonder where are Hawkeye and the Black Widow? Who are Ant-Man and Wasp? As for the former, those characters had not been invented yet, but they appear as Iron Man villains in his series during this first year of the Avengers. They will appear as Avengers later, and in the case of Black Widow, much, much later. As for Ant-Man, Marvel has planned an Ant-Man film in the next slate of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, and I’d be surprised if Janet Van Dyne didn’t appear, even if she doesn’t suit up as the Wasp. We’ll have to see.

                Speaking of Wasp, I was struck as well by her treatment in these early tales. When I started reading in the eighties, she was a full-fledged, ass-kicking, take-charge member of the team. Here, she serves only as a sidekick to Ant-Man, then Giant-Man. There were only three Marvel heroines at this time, and both Wasp and Invisible Woman are cut from the same mold, younger ladies who bear crushes on older, intellectual types. Hmm. I wonder whose fantasy is at play here? In this series, Wasp is almost a second thought in the battle. She serves only as a distraction, buzzing around villains’ heads while the boys get into position for some righteous flexing of their might. She exhibits bravery, but her teammates always look at her as outclassed in their confrontations and needing protection. Several times, she has to comment on the looks of men in the story and how good-looking they are, whether it be Thor, a seeming civilian walking into their headquarters, or even the fully armored Kang in issue 8, who she bets “…is not bad-looking under that silly headgear he’s wearing.” I find myself impatient for Jan to toughen up a bit.



Avengers 1 1/2

The Death Trap of Dr. Doom

December, 1999

Written by Roger Stern

Art by Bruce Timm

In 1999, this special issue was produced to tell a story that occurred between Avengers issues 1 and 2. The Avengers have announced their formation to the world, and Dr. Doom isn’t happy about it, so he lures them into an aircraft fortress to dispose of them. The Avengers triumph and destroy the airship.

 

(Hulk rips off Dr. Doom’s head.)

Iron Man: “Whew. For a second, I thought--! How’d you know that was a robot?”

Hulk: “Robot?”

• Spider-Man cameos in this issue. He will later go on to be an Avengers member, but he hadn’t yet in 1999.
• The story features the Avengers’ butler, Edwin Jarvis, for the first time in continuity.       
• Writer Roger Stern wrote the Avengers title for long run in the eighties.
• The cover teases that a new hero joins the team, but it’s really just Ant-Man in his new identity as Giant-Man. In the original Avengers 2, he just shows up as Giant-Man at the beginning of the story without much explanation.
• Artist Bruce Timm tried to emulate the Kirby style of the sixties. He is best known for his work as a producer on  Batman: The Animated Series and subsequent other cartoon series featuring DC characters and has won multiple Daytime Emmys.
• The issue has spoof advertisements and a letter column as if it were printed in 1963. One fan letter is from a 2-year-old Kurt Busiek, asking why Batman isn’t on the team. Kurt Busiek was the writer on Avengers in 1999. He would later go on to write Avengers/JLA in 2003, which featured both the Avengers and Batman.

Avengers 2

The Avengers Battle the Space Phantom

November, 1963

Written by Stan Lee

Art by Jack Kirby



An extraterrestrial known as the Space Phantom plans a test to see if his race should invade Earth, and the Avengers are the test. His ability is to make himself into a copy of any being, and while he does, that being is banished to Limbo. He manages to infiltrate the team as the Hulk, but then becomes a small insect, returning the Hulk from Limbo to face the consequences of the Space Phantom's evil actions, and the Avengers fight the Hulk once again.  The Space Phantom replaces other Avengers in turn. When he tries to duplicate Thor, his power fails to copy a god, and the Space Phantom is sent to Limbo himself. The Hulk, after hearing the Avengers' comments when they fought him, decides to quit the team.

       

Iron Man: “You’re right! We’re making fools of ourselves! We’re acting like kids!” 

• The Marvel Universe uses the term Limbo to describe many different places, but this will prove to be the same Limbo inhabited by Avengers villain Immortus later on and where Rom sends his Dire Wraith enemies.
• People familiar with the Hulk from the films might be surprised at him in this series. At this point in his career, he has the speech and temperament of an angry teenager with a chip on his shoulder.
• Henry Pym changed his identity from Ant-Man  to Giant-Man in his own series. He shows up to the Avengers meeting in his new outfit, but Thor still calls him Ant-Man at first.
• This is the first time Tony Stark's Manhattan mansion appears as headquarters for the team. (Not including the issue 1 1/2 that hadn't been conceived of yet.)
• Giant-Man, Iron Man, and Wasp appear briefly in Untold Tales of Spider-Man 3 looking to track down an at-large Sandman, but they don’t have any luck. Later chronologies place it after the events of Avengers 2. Ironically, Sandman will later become an Avengers member when he decides to be a hero.
• After this issue, Bruce Banner, Don Blake, Giant-Man, and Wasp appear in Tales of Suspense (1959) 49 when the X-Men try to contact the Avengers for help. They are all busy, so Iron Man deals with one of the X-Men's members, Angel, who is temporarily out of his mind. 
• Space Phantom's claims of an alien race invading are later revealed as lies. His true mission was to break up the team. At least he got Hulk to leave, so partial win!

Avengers 3

The Avengers meet Sub-Mariner!

January, 1964

Written by Stan Lee

Art by Jack Kirby

 After the Hulk leapt off at the end of the last issue, the Avengers worry he may do something rash, so they attempt to track him down. Rick Jones finds him in the American Southwest. The Avengers engage Hulk in battle, but the Hulk escapes and make his way to the Atlantic, where he comes across Namor the Sub-Mariner on a deserted island. They form an uneasy alliance and challenge the Avengers to battle on Gibraltar. The Hulk reverts to Bruce Banner and slips away, and the outnumbered Namor retreats.

Iron Man: “No, Thor! It won’t affect us, but the explosion may injure the Wasp! Let me handle it!”

• Namor is often portrayed as a villain, but he will later become a member of the Avengers.
• While searching for the Hulk, Iron Man interrupts a training session of the X-Men, whose member Beast will later become an Avenger.
• The Hulk and Sub-Mariner will often be linked together. They will share billing in the comic series, Tales to Astonish, from 1965 to 1968, as neither had their own series at the time. They will also be founding members of the Defenders in 1971 with Dr. Strange.
• Congratulations to Wasp, who is finally in the corner box on the cover. The Hulk will continue to have his face there as well, even though he is no longer a member.
• What If? (1977) 3 features events from this issue with a twist. The story is "What If the Avengers Had Never Been?" In this alternate universe, later called Earth-776, the team broke up after Avengers 2. When Hulk and Namor team up, Iron Man builds powered armor for Ant-Man, Wasp, and Rick Jones to help him, even though they aren't Avengers. They can't use their armor effectively, so Iron Man goes to fight the two enemies alone. The other heroes eventually join Iron Man, but Iron Man is killed in the battle

Avengers 4

Captain America Joins…the Avengers!

March, 1964

Written by Stan Lee

Art by Jack Kirby

After Namor fled the battle, he came upon Eskimoes around a strange figure frozen in arctic ice. In a fit of rage, he smashes the figure free and hurls it into the ocean. The Avengers are returning from Gibraltor in their Stark Enterprises submarine and come across the same figure, which turns out to be the frozen body of Captain America, who had been missing for almost 20 years. Upon reviving him, they return to New York. A strange reporter freezes the Avengers in place with a ray gun. A confused Captain America is found by Rick Jones, and using the Teen Brigade of New York and the power of shortwave radio, they locate the strange man, who is revealed to be a disguised alien. The alien's ship had crashlanded in the ocean, and Namor tasked him with stopping the Avengers if he wished to free his ship and return to space. The Avengers offer to help the alien after being unfrozen, which brings them into conflict with Namor and a unit of Atlantean soliders. Justice prevails, and the alien pilots his starship away from Earth. After seeing Captain America's fighting prowess, they offer him membership in the Avengers.

Policeman: “And all these years—all of us—your fans—all your admirers—we thought you were dead! But you’ve come back—just when the world has need of such a man—just like fate planned it this way! Forgive me, Cap, willya? I-I seem to have something in my eye!”

• Jack Kirby was one of the original creators of Captain America, and according to this issue, Stan Lee's first comic script in the forties was a Captain America script.
• Both Captain America and Namor had comic book adventures in the forties, but they had since ceased publication. In the Marvel Universe, they had many previous adventures together as allies, but on their revival in the sixties, they both suffered from partial amnesia and didn't remember.
• Captain America did remember his last adventure toward the end of World War II, where his sidekick Bucky was thought dead after a battle with Baron Heinrich Zemo. This didn't reference an old comic. It was created from scratch for this issue.
• Comic books are infamous for killing characters and bringing them back to life later. A common joke for many years was, "Well, they'll never bring back Bucky," with fans thinking it would be highly unlikely. They were wrong. The character was revealed to have survived all along, but not until over 40 years later. Bucky will become an Avengers member and temporarily take the identity of Captain America as well.
• Over in X-Men 4 this month, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, soon to be Avengers, make their debut.
• This issue was voted by fans as the 69th best Marvel comic from the first 75 years of Marvel's publication.

Captain America Sentinel of Liberty 5 and 6

Old Soldier/Iron Will

January/February, 1999

Written by Mark Waid

Art by Ron Garney

This two-part story features only Iron Man and Captain America soon after the events of Avengers 4. Iron Man is having second thoughts about including someone on the team who he considers to be a simple costumed acrobat.  They come across marauding alien robots that are able to hypnotize their victims. The heroes destroy most of the robots, but Iron Man is hypnotized and forced to fight Captain America. Captain America gains the advantage, so a robot steps in and tries to hypnotize Cap as well. His is will is too strong, and he destroys the last robot himself. A humbled Iron Man accepts that the Captain is worthy of his respect.

Iron Man: “Listen…about how our little dust-up turned out…I’d be lying if I said I weren’t a little…embarrassed that you…”

Captain America: “Won? Forget it.”

·         The Television series The Avengers starring Agents Steed and Mrs. Peel, aired from 1961 to 1969. It was more popular in the UK and Ireland, where the recent Avengers film had to be titled Avengers Assemble to make it clear it wasn't about the secret agents. Mark Waid wrote a comic series about Steed and Mrs. Peel in 2012.

Avengers 5

The Invasion of the Lava Men

May, 1964

Written by Stan Lee

Art by Jack Kirby

       Strange sounds vibrate through the country and cause objects to explode. The Avengers discover the cause is in the Southwest deserts of the United States, where a hill is sprouting out of the earth. Before the local military and their advisor, Bruce Banner, are able to deal with it, the Avengers arrive. A subterranean race called the Lava Men is behind this so-called “Living Rock,” and do battle with the Avengers. The Lava Men suspect this unnatural rock will explode on the surface, killing all the humans and leaving the land open for them to conquer. During the melee, Thor reverts to his Dr. Donald Blake persona on accident, and Bruce Banner is stressed out to become the Hulk, now the only one with enough power to destroy the rock. The Avengers goad the Hulk to strike the exact spot needed to do so, and the threat is ended.

Dr. Donald Blake: “Now, Jane…would you love me as much if I were fat and gluttonous?”

Teen Brigade member: “Wait’ll I tell my dad that I actually touched your hammer!”

·         Rick Jones is given a cover credit in this issue, showing his intended role as Captain America’s sidekick, and he does take part in the battle.

·         General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross appears in this issue. He recently served as an Avenger in his Red Hulk persona.

·         Thor had battled Molto the Lava Man in his own series previous to this. This battle featured the whole tribe of them. This is one of the many secret races that seem to populate every nook and cranny of the Marvel Earth.

·         Between this issue and the last, Wasp changed her outfit into a new style. She will become well-known for her constant fashion updates, but this is the first in this series.

·         The top of the title page first has the text “The Mighty Avengers.” This will in future become the title that appears on the cover and its own spin-off series by that name.

·         This issue features the first letter column, “All About the Avengers.”

·         The Black Widow premiered as a villain in Tales of Suspense 52 in April, before this issue.

 

Avengers 6

Meet the Masters of Evil

July, 1964

Written by Stan Lee

Art by Jack Kirby

       Captain America states he really wants revenge for the death of Bucky at the hands of Baron Zemo, and this issue shows that Baron Heinrich Zemo is still alive and ruling a group of tribesmen in the middle of the Amazon. Zemo likewise wants to destroy Captain America and the Avengers, so he gathers a group of villains together as the Masters of Evil. The Masters use the Baron’s insidious Adhesive X to terrorize the city and glue several Avengers to the pavement. The Avengers retreat, but can’t free themselves from the section of street they took with them. Wasp suggests they contact another imprisoned villain, Paste Pot Pete, for his knowledge of adhesives and solvents. Pete gives them a powerful solvent, which the team manages to switch for Baron Zemo’s Adhesive X canister with the help of the sneaky Teen Brigade, and the Masters fall in battle to the Avengers one by one.

(after having a mask stuck to his face permanently for 20 years)

Baron Heinrich Zemo: “A solution for Adhesive X!! I never thought of that!”

·         The Masters of Evil become a recurring villain group that attacks the Avengers throughout their history, but its membership is ever-changing. Most recently, this is the title used for the group of super-villains residing in the nation of Bagalia, which number over 100.
·         The Baron Zemo here is Heinrich Zemo, who was active during World War II. In the current Marvel stories, Baron Zemo is his son, Helmut Zemo.
·         The Black Knight who appears here is Nathan Garrett. He is the uncle of Dane Whitman, who will later become the heroic Black Knight using his uncle’s research and equipment and join the Avengers.
·         The Radioactive Man has more recently been a member of the Thunderbolts team of reformed/coerced villains, which sometimes fights alongside or against the Avengers, depending on the situation. He is a Chinese citizen.
·         Baron Zemo’s pilot in this issue, Franz Gruber, will later impersonate Baron Zemo in a failed plot to invade the nation of Wakanda in Tales of Suspense (1959) 98.
·         Joss Whedon, director and screenwriter of the Avengers films, was born in June, 1964, between this and the last issue.
·         This issue is referenced in Marvels (1994) 2. Photographer Phil Sheldon sees Captain America and Iron Man making their way across the city and comes across citizens that were glued by the Adhesive X. He then gets photos of the battle and a front-page photo of Giant-Man striding between two buildings. A version of that last photo is the cover of the Marvels trade paperback collection.

Avengers 7

Their Darkest Hour

August, 1964

Written by Stan Lee

Art by Jack Kirby

       Enchantress and Executioner, both Asgardian enemies of Thor, are seen being banished to Earth. Baron Zemo has already escaped from custody, so the exiles seek him out for aid in battling Thor. While the Avengers are split up in their own pursuits, Zemo dupes Captain America into traveling to the Amazon alone for a confrontation while the Enchantress bewitches Thor with her magic and bids him to battle the other Avengers. The Baron retreats from his kingdom when Cap gets the better of him and flees to join his new allies. Captain America stows along in the aircraft and is reunited with the Avengers, who defeat the villains. Thor uses his hammer to create a space warp that traps their enemies in a random dimension.

(when Rick Jones dresses in Bucky’s old outfit)
Captain America: “Don’t ever call yourself my partner again! I lost my partner!! I’ll never forgive myself for letting it happen!! And I’ll never let it happen again!!”

(Thor flies off using his hammer.)

Rick Jones: “Looks like some guys’ll do anything to save plane fare—right, Cap?”
Captain America: “We mustn’t joke about such a man! We’re privileged to call him friend!”

·         This issue features the first Avengers Board of Inquiry for trying and punishing their members. Iron Man is censured for ignoring a call to battle because of events in his own series and suspended for a week.

·         When Enchantress and Executioner meet Zemo, he reveals that his two allies Radioactive Man and Melter are still in police custody. He totally fails to mention Black Knight at all. Ingrate.

 

Avengers 8

Kang the Conqueror

September, 1964

Written by Stan Lee

Art by Jack Kirby

      The mysterious Kang arrives in a futuristic war vehicle, so the Pentagon calls in the Avengers to investigate. The Avengers fall before the 30^th-century technology Kang wields, leaving only the Wasp and Rick Jones free. Kang gives the nations of the world his ultimatum that they must surrender to him. Rick musters his Teen Brigade, which break through the Army’s cordon and tell Kang they want to join his side. Kang praises their judgment and allows them onto his ship, where they proceed to distract Kang and free the Avengers. Meanwhile, the Wasp has dug out a weapon from Giant-Man’s lab which aids in defeating him, and Kang flees back to the future.

Kang: “Though your power is awesome, you Avengers have no more chance against me than a handful of muscular cavemen would have against a 20^th-century soldier armed with nuclear weapons!”

·         Though this is the first appearance of him as Kang, he admits that he was formerly known as Rama-Tut, a villain from the Fantastic Four. The history of Kang is so filled with time travel, alternate identities, and Kangs from millions of alternate dimensions that he is one of the most frustrating, as well as dangerous, Marvel master villains. He is most likely a descendant of both Mr. Fantastic’s and Victor Von Doom’s families, who in the future intermarry.

·         Though he claims to come from the future, Kang actually comes from the 31^st Century of an alternate Earth dimension that Marvel currently designates Earth-6311 because it first appeared in November of 1963 in Fantastic Four, i.e. ’63-11. “Main” Marvel Earth is Earth-616, in which the number 616 was made up by writer Alan Moore in Captain Britain. I’d theorize there was some reference to DC’s “egotistical” use of their universe as Earth One, so Moore probably chose a suitably larger and “humbler” number.

·         This is the first time that Wasp uses the nickname “High-Pockets” in Avengers to refer to Giant-Man. This goes on to be one of his most popular nicknames. Perhaps the Wasp’s interest in fashion caused her to comment on his pockets.

·         Hawkeye debuts in  Tales of Suspense 57 as an Iron Man villain this month.