A History of The Avengers: vol. 1 Quiz

Answer: 1963

Writer/ Editor, Stan Lee, and artist, Jack Kirby, brought the Avengers to life in September, 1963. The group consisted of the Hulk, Iron Man, Ant Man, the Wasp, and the mighty Thor and would see constant line up changes throughout its history. In fact, the group would lose a member and gain a new one all before the first five issues of the series were completed.

Answer: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

The team is called Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and with a former lineup which included the Mighty Thor, The Invincible Iron Man, and the Incredible Hulk, it's a title that is hard to dispute.

Answer: The Wasp

After the team defeated Thor's evil half-brother, Loki, the heroes were going to return to their solo careers until the Ant Man (Hank Pym) suggested that they could accomplish more good as a team. It was the Ant Man's wife, the Wasp, who came up with the name the Avengers to the approval of the rest of the group.

Answer: The North Atlantic Ocean

After returning from a fierce battle with their former colleague, The Hulk, and his partner, The Sub-Mariner (who would also join the team years later), the Avengers rescued Captain America from drowning in the North Atlantic Ocean.

After an intense battle against the original Baron Zemo at the end of World War II, Captain America and his sidekick, Bucky, were trying to stop an airplane filled with explosives from detonating over America. Long before reaching its destination, however, the plane exploded, supposedly costing Bucky his life, while Cap was knocked unconscious after hitting the water. It was at this point that he drifted into suspended animation and became encased in ice for several years until that fateful day, in 1964, when Namor unknowingly tossed that same block of ice into the warming waters of the North Atlantic Ocean after the loss he and the Hulk suffered at the hands of the Avengers. Captain America would go one to be a mainstay within the team for many years after his rescue.

Answer: X-Factor

In The Avengers #263 (vol. 1), the original X-Men (Cyclops, The Beast, Ice man, The Angel, and Marvel Girl), re-united as X-Factor after Jean Grey (Marvel Girl) returned from the dead. The team promoted themselves as mutant hunters who would track down these homo superior beings and bring them into government custody, but in actuality, they were capturing and training these mutants to cope with their powers and to be a help to mankind.

Answer: No one else remained with the group

The Avengers #16 (vol. 1) was a landmark issue for the team because, other than Captain America, no other founding member remained with the group. Thor, Iron Man, the Wasp, and Giant Man (formally known as Ant Man), all left the group to pursue their solo careers.

They were replaced by former super-villains-now-turned-heroes Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch, making this group arguably the weakest version, power-wise, in the team's long history.

Answer: Late Night with David Letterman

In January, 1984, Marvel Comics had an event, so to speak, which ran through out all of their titles called Assistant Editor's Month. This gimmick gave Marvel's Assistant Editors the opportunity to publish whatever stories they desired (within reason) without their bosses looking over their shoulders. Many of the titles didn't miss a beat and continued with their current storylines. Other books, however, took a break from their storylines and featured a few off-the-wall and utterly silly stories and The Avengers #239 was in this latter group.

The team appeared on The David Letterman Show in a ridiculous story which saw them trying to defeat the evil Fabian Stankowicz from sabotaging Dave's show.

Answer: Mantis

Capitalzing on the feminist movement of the late '60's and early '70's, the Lady Liberators were a group of super-powered women who were tired of their male counterparts not taking them seriously. Led by the Norse warrior-god, the Valkyrie (who was, in actuality, the evil Asgardian goddess, the Enchantress), the members included the Black Widow, Medusa, the Scarlet Witch, and the Wasp. Mantis, who would not be introduced into the Avengers' mythos until issue number 112, and who would go on to become the Celestial Madonna a few years later, was obviously not in the Liberators.

After the women defeated the male Avengers in battle, the women were satisfied that they had gained the respect of the men, but the Valkyrie, i.e. the Enchantress, wanted to kill them, as well as all males on earth. It was at this point that the women banded together and defeated the mad goddess.

Answer: Hawkeye

After back-to-back battles, first with the mad god, Korvac, and then with the newly formed and immensely powerful Masters of Evil, the group had grown in size to 24 members. The U.S. government, feeling that the group's membership was getting out of hand, stepped in, via their liaison, Henry Peter Gyrich, and pared the membership down to a more manageable seven. Many of those on the team at that time like the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Black Panther, and the Black Widow, were only with the group for the Korvac mission and gladly accepted their reserve status, but others were really upset by not making the starting team, so to speak.

The members who made the cut were Captain America, the Scarlet Witch, the Beast, the Wasp, the Vision, Iron Man and the Falcon, much to the chagrin of Hawkeye. As the final lineup is read, Hawkeye waits in anticipation just knowing that his name will be read and when it isn't, artist John Bryne captures the surprised expression of Hawkeye beautifully as he exclaims, "THE WHO!?!?"

Answer: Rogue

Starting out as a villain as a part of the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Rogue made her comic book debut in "Avengers Annual" #10. This new Brotherhood included Pyro, Avalanche, the Blob, Destiny, and Mystique, who was the leader of the group as well as Rogue's adoptive mother.

Mystique had a burning hatred of Ms. Marvel, whom she'd battled years earlier and was now a member of the Avengers. As part of her revenge against her, Mystique lied to Rogue about the circumstances of that fight and sent her to attack Ms. Marvel. Rogue, believing that she was protecting her adoptive mother, confronted Ms. Marvel and stole a good portion of her superpowers, as well as her memories, leaving her for dead. After a fierce battle with the Avengers, the truth finally came out and Rogue saw her adoptive mother for the manipulator that she was. A few months later, Rogue joined the X-Men and has gone on to distinguish herself as a true hero, although what happened with Ms. Marvel continues to haunt her.