The answer is TRUE. In fact, Marvel's First Family play a very large role in the formation of Earth's Mightiest Heroes becoming a superhero team.
The Norse god of mischief, Loki, would like nothing more than to defeat his boastful half brother Thor. However, due to being banished to a forbidden zone within the Seven Realms, Loki has to use a proxy via his magical inclinations to defeat the god of Thunder. The chosen lackey is none other than the Incredible Hulk who is duped into destroying a train track after Loki used an illusion spell to make the green behemoth believe there was dynamite about to explode.
Using a ham radio, the Hulk's teenager sidekick, Rick Jones attempts to summon the Fantastic Four for help, as they had dealt with him previously. However, the Fantastic Four must decline and they recommend Jones summon Thor, since he's a heavy hitter. You'd think this is just what Loki was hoping for. Only his ultimate trap is far from set. So when Rick Jones attempts to radio Thor, his transmission is received instead by Iron Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Eventually, Thor joins the fight against the Hulk with the other heroes. Rick explains that the Hulk is innocent of the mass destruction and Thor with assistance from the All Father, defeats Loki. Enjoying their adventure together, the heroes, along with the Hulk, decide to make this a regular thing. With suggestion of the Wasp, the team take on the name of the Avengers and comic book history is made.
Marvel characters had already been interacting with each other for a couple of years prior to the debut of The Avengers. As mentioned earlier, the Fantastic Four attempted to defeat the Hulk in issue #12 of their first series. Spider-Man asked the FF for a job in his first solo issue. With each of these crossovers, Marvel developed a cohesive universe which was a delight to readers.
As fans were demanding more of such adventures, Stan Lee got the idea to develop a group team title that would hopefully introduce readers to some of the struggling (in popularity) heroes and hopefully enticed them to pick up their solo books as well. Besides, DC has been having similar success with it's flagship group title, Justice League of America. Thus in Stan's mind, what was good for the goose must be good for the gander.
By issue #4, the Hulk departed the Avengers feeling hated and unwanted by his teammates and the remaining Avengers added the World War II legend, Captain America, since frozen in an iceberg, to the roster. Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man now going as Giant Man, the Wasp and Captain America: they may not have been the original lineup. But they are considered by many to be the most iconic membership of the team's 60 year plus history.
Jack Kirby was Stan Lee's go-to artist and collaborator whenever a new project arose. Kirby was allowed to select the original roster of the Avengers. When asked in interviews years later why he went with the 5 characters that made up the Avengers by the end of issue #1, the King responded 'they were all characters that I had created' and was comfortable drawing. Plus, Kirby felt that he'd receive a higher working wage if he used only characters that he had created previously at Marvel. Familiarity and money might have been the reasons why The Sub-Mariner became a one-time adversary of the Avengers as well as the return of the Sentinel of Liberty, Captain America.
By issue #8, Kirby became bored with the title, as he often did, and went on to plot and pencil other projects at the House of Ideas. Don Heck took over as the series' regular artist. The co-creator of such Avengers stalwarts as Iron Man and the Wasp, Heck would oversee the team's biggest roster shake up in Avengers #16 when Captain America would now lead the team, comprised of former baddies Hawkeye, The Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Heck would stay on until issue #40. Dick Ayers inked a majority of the first 2 dozen issues with lettering completed by Artie Simek at Sam Rosen.
Completing this review completes Task #14 (A Volume of Marvel Essentials or DC Showcase) of the 2025 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
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