Avengers
PURPOSE: Defend Humanity from threats foreign and domestic.
AFFILIATIONS: Fantastic Four, Dr. Strange, United States and United Nations
ENEMIES: Masters of Evil, Ultron, Loki, Grim Reaper, etc
BASE OF OPERATIONS: Avengers Tower, New York
FIRST APPEARENCE: Avengers #1
HISTORY :
Loki, the Asgardian god of mischief, plotted revenge against his half-brother Thor
and tricked the Hulk into doing his bidding. Loki caused a call for help to be
sent to Thor, which was also answered by Ant Man, the Wasp and Iron Man. After
defeating Loki, Ant-Man pointed out that the five worked well together and
suggested they form a combined force. The Wasp named the group, and the Avengers
were born.
The Avenger's line-up changed almost immediately. Ant-Man became Giant-Man and
the Hulk left the group when he realized how much the others feared his unstable
personality (Avengers #2). Trying to contain the Hulk led the Avengers to combat Namor the
Sub-Mariner, and that in turn led to the group discovering the frozen body of
Captain America. (Avengers #4 March 1964). The 1940s patriot had been in suspended
animation since the end of World War II, and needed a place where he could adjust
to being a man decades out of time.
Captain America joined the Avengers, beginning
an almost indelible association with the team, typically as its leader. Even when
the chairmanship of the team was held by others, Captain America has always been
the de facto tactical commander of the Avengers in the field, and few hesitate in
carrying out his orders.
The original members who put their names to the Avengers Charter are known as the
"founding members", responsible for the good name of the team. As a result, their
wishes regarding the direction of the team are given additional weight and deference.
Captain America was given "founding member" status in the Hulk's place (as revealed
in Avengers Vol. 3 #1, February 1998). Together, the Avengers fought foes such as
Captain America's wartime enemy Baron Zemo, who formed the Masters of Evil; the
time-traveling villainy of Kang the Conqueror; Count Nefaria; and the Lava Men.
The next milestone was Avengers #16, which saw the resignation of all the members
of the team except for Captain America. They were replaced by Hawkeye, the Scarlet
Witch and Quicksilver; all former criminals. Thru unwavering dedication, the four
heroes earned the world's respect.
They were soon rejoined by Henry Pym (as Goliath) and the Wasp. The team began
to grow once more, with the Greek demigod Hercules, the Black Knight and the
Black Widow also joining. The constant changing of the roster, with heroes joining,
leaving and returning, became a hallmark of the series, with "the old order
changeth" becoming a catch phrase.
The android known as "The Vision" was introduced in Avengers #57 (October 1968).
It was a "synthezoid" — an android with artificial human organs — and creation
of the homicidal android Ultron. After the Vision turned on his creator to help
the Avengers, he was voted onto the roster.
The Avengers were headquartered in a New York City building named Avengers Mansion,
which was provided by Tony Stark, the secret identity of Iron Man. Stark not only
provided the mansion and Edwin Jarvis, the Avengers' faithful butler, but also
furnished the mansion with state-of-the-art technology and defense systems,
including the Avengers' primary mode of transport, the five-engined quinjets.
Tony Stark also funded the Avengers through the Maria Stark Foundation, a non-profit
organization.
Giantman, aka Goliath, aka Henry Pym became Yellowjacket and married The Wasp (Janet
Van Dyne)in issue #60.
The introduction of Yellowjacket gave us a glimpse into Henry Pym's troubled mind
and a foreshadow of things to come.
In issue #100 (June 1972) the Kree-Skrull War began; an epic interstellar conflict
between the Kree and Skrull alien races, involving the Kree hero Captain Marvel,
with Earth caught in the crossfire. The war ended when the Kree Supreme Intelligence
unlocked the latent mental powers of Rick Jones, which paralyzed the warring fleets
long enough for an uneasy truce to be called.
The Vision's love for the Scarlet Witch became more and more apparent, but
although she returned his feelings, he held back because he believed himself to
be inhuman and unworthy of her.
Mantis was introduced in #113 (August 1973), who joined the team along with the
reformed Swordsman. Her origins were linked to the very beginnings of the
Kree-Skrull conflict in a time-spanning adventure involving Kang the Conqueror
and the mysterious Immortus, who were revealed to be past and future versions
of each other.
Mantis turned out to be the Celestial Madonna, who was destined to give birth to
a being that would save the universe. The Celestial Madonna saga also revealed
that the Vision's body had just been appropriated by Ultron, and that it originally
belonged to the 1940s Human Torch. With his origins now clear to him, the Vision
finally summoned up the courage to propose to the Scarlet Witch. The Celestial
Madonna saga ended with their wedding, presided over by Immortus, a future version
of Kang.
In Avengers #176 (October 1978), the Avengers confront Korvac, a 30th Century villain
who had gained god-like powers from a device stolen from Galactus. He planned
to remake the universe in his own image, but his plans were interrupted by the
Avengers.
In the 1970s New members were added that included the
Beast, a resurrected Wonder Man, Captain America's former partner the Falcon,
and Ms. Marvel, while the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver took a leave of absence
from the team to seek out the truth of their parentage. It was during this time
that steps were taken to pare down the size of the team, which had gathered over
a dozen active and supporting members.
The Avengers are under the watchful eye of Henry Peter Gyrich, the Avengers'
liaison to the United States National Security Council. Gyrich was prejudiced
against superhumans, and acted in a heavy-handed, obstructive manner, insisting
that the Avengers follow government rules and regulations or else lose their
priority status with the government. Among Gyrich's demands was that the active
roster be trimmed down to only seven members, and that the Falcon, an African
American, be admitted to the team to comply with affirmative action laws. This
last action was particularly resented by Hawkeye, who because of the seven-member
limit, had lost his slot to the Falcon. The Falcon, in turn, was none too pleased
to be a beneficiary of what he perceived to be tokenism, and decided in the end
to resign from the team, after which Hawkeye rejoined.
Jocosta, Wonder Man and Ms Marvel were added during this time.
The roster of The Avengers continued to grow as the years went by and they earned the
title of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The team was recently decimated by an
unbalanced Scarlet Witch who was responsible for the deaths of Ant-Man II (Scott
Lang) and Hawkeye as well as the destruction of the Avengers Mansion. This tragedy
caused the Avengers to be disbanded for a short while. Faced with a massive escape
of villains from a Super-Villain containment facility, Captain America recruited
Iron Man, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) and The Sentry.
The Avengers live again but dark clouds imperil the world and the government's actions
against all super-humans will soon pit hero vs hero in a terrible Civil War!
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