Avengers #1, September 1963
(By Lee, Kirby, and Dick Ayers)
So, what do you do when you've got a whole raft of superheroes kicking arse and taking names on a regular basis? Team them up, that's what! Taking a leaf from the Distinguished Competition, Stan and Jack decided to take their new generation of superheroes, Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, Wasp, and the Hulk, and shove them in a book together. Interesting to note that they chose not to crowbar Spider-Man into the title, establishing his outsider credentials early on.
But, you might ask, what mighty threat to bring together four of the most exciting heroes of the Marvel Universe together, along with Hank Pym? None other than Thor's evil step-brother, Loki, engaging in that well-known supervillain plot, "Hey, let's you and him fight!" Banished to a remote island for his latest scheme, Loki decides to use the Hulk to destroy Thor
Loki swiftly frames the green goliath, making it appear he attacked a railway line, almost causing a disaster. When news of this hits the papers, teen sidekick, Rick Jones, decides to enlist the Fantastic Four to help his big pal. But...
(Donald Blake is, as longtime readers know, the secret identity of the Mighty Thor!)
Thor races off to find the Hulk. However, Loki's cleverly guided radio transmission has gone awry.
Before you know it, every spare hero in New York has descended on the southwest United States, and a potential team-up is in the offing. Fortunately, Loki can always count on Thor being a jackass.
And where is the real Hulk? Glad you asked.
Apparently, the owners of the circus, in a world which constantly doubts the existence of the Hulk, are readily prepared to believe that a giant green robot with superstrength just happened to wander into town, and have swiftly hired "Mechano" to entertain the masses. Putting his stronger allies to shame, Ant-Man decides to take down the Hulk single-handedly, with only an army of ants to help him.
Needless to say, 10 million ants are no match for an angry Hulk, so the capture plan rapidly goes wonky. Iron Man decides to have a go, but...
Meanwhile, in a leap of comic book logic, Thor has fathomed that Loki is behind his trip to New Mexico, and has gone to confront him, not realising that this is part of Loki's plan.
That Loki's a cunning one, right enough, though why he didn't just post Thor a letter inviting him to come and visit him, I'm not sure. Anyway, to no-one's real surprise, Thor beats up the trolls, grabs up his brother, and returns to Earth, just in time to stop Iron Man and the Hulk beating seven bells out of each other. Shame.
As the heroes are about to go their seperate ways, Ant-Man makes the speech the readers have been waiting 22 pages to hear:
So there you have it. Loki's cunning ruse, intended to destroy his brother, ends up bringing about his own downfall, and giving Thor some new pals to play with. That there, folks, is hubris. Can't beat a good bit of hubris.
1 comment:
this is the beat superheroes team in the world, most of the people compare this with the justice league, however are a team with lots of Purchase Viagra, and of course they got Tony Stark as a member.
Post a Comment