First Appearance: Immortus; the mythical Goliath, Merlin, Attila the Hun, Hercules, Paul Bunyan

Villains: Baron Zemo, Enchantress, Executioner, Immortus; the mythical Goliath, Merlin, Attila the Hun and Hercules

Guest Appearance: Rick Jones, Paul Bunyan

Cameo: Teen Brigade

Gadgets & Technology: Liquid Ore Gun

Letters Page: Page One • Page Two

But deep in the Amazon jungle, the Masters of Evil- Baron Zemo, Executioner and the Enchantress- are scheming over their next plan, when the lovely Enchantress is contacted by a mental probe from Immortus, the Master of Limbo. Immortus declares to the Masters of Evil that he wants to join them, if only to one day rule the world. Scoffing at his impudence, Zemo tasks the Executioner to take Immortus down a notch, but Immortus disappears into Limbo and sends a ringer in to fight in his stead- the one and only Paul Bunyan! Mr. Bunyan tries to squish the Executioner between his fingers as well as step on him underfoot, but the Executioner fights him to a standstill.

A draw being called, Zemo and Immortus calm down and discuss their commonality. Immortus claims to be restless without a challenge, and takes on Zemo's condition to join the Masters of Evil- destroy an Avenger! Of course, Immortus claims he can destroy them all, and disappears into the mists of time to ensue the battle.

Meanwhile, an eager Rick Jones responds to an ad in the back of a comic book to "obtain super powers." He rushes off to the address where he finds Immortus sitting behind a large desk. Suddenly, Attila the Hun appears to subdue young Rick, but Rick fights back courageously, yet not enough to keep the historic fighter from whisking him off to 18th Century London, at the command of Immortus!

Cap discovers Rick is missing, and eventually traces his activities to the address on the back of the comic. He crashes into the room to face Immortus, who confuses Cap by asserting that the Avengers asked him to kidnap Rick Jones to help them control the Star-Spangled Avengers. Initially, Cap doesn't believe this, but Immortus demands him to bring the Avengers in front of him and he can prove it! That is the only way he can get Rick back, and Cap agrees in a fist-clenching fury.

Cap rushes back to Avengers HQ and immediately launches an attack against his compadres. Confused and bewildered, teammates Thor and Iron Man fight back, trying to get Cap to calm down. Giant-Man joins in the fray, and the Wasp deploys her air gun to try and stop Captain America on a rampage. Finally, reason prevails, and they all agree to face Immortus to find out what this is all about.

In the chamber of Immortus, the Avengers hear Immortus heckle them into thinking they will not be able to stand against foes he will select and bring back from the past. First up, Immortus brings the Bible's Goliath to face off against Giant-Man. After much fisticuffs, Hank reduces himself to the size of Ant-Man and launches himself into Goliath's forehead, knocking him out. Next up is Merlin the Magician, who tries to use his powers of magic against Iron Man, but is undone by a hypnotizing ray from Iron Man's chest plate that disorients and disables him. Finally, Thor faces off against Greek god Hercules. As the two grapple and struggle with each other, Thor finally gains the advantage and pushed him out the window, forcing Hercules to concede defeat. Immortus, unable to risk further defeat, whisks Captain America away into the past, London in the 18th Century, and tells him Rick Jones is in the castle keep, waiting for rescue.

The Avengers are left wondering what has happened to Captain America, and the Masters of Evil, realizing the Avengers are short a member, speed off in their aircraft to take advantage of the situation. The Executioner intterupts a meeting of the sulking Avengers by bashing the door in and beating on Iron Man with his gloves made of meteorite metal. The Enchantress casts a spell that disables Giant-Man and Baron Zemo fires his Liquid Ore gun at Thor, encasing his forearms in unbreakable stone!

The battle reaches a point where both Thor and Iron Man are about to be sorely defeated by their foes, when a certain red, white and blue shield comes winging into the room, destroying the Liquid Ore gun before it can be fired the last time. With Captain America is Rick Jones, both returned by Immortus to the present after succeeding in his rescue of the young man. After thus explaining, he takes out the Executioner with his shield, and the battle is on- AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! Knowing they can only count the seconds before being totally subdued, the Enchantress casts a spell and the Masters of Evil have departed from the scene, returning the Avengers to the past and leaving no memory of the battle and Immortus. Of course, the Masters of Evil are left only to stew about their failure to once again defeat the Avengers.

Pin-Up: The one and only "Cap!" Captain America action pose.

-- synopsis by Gormuu

-- panel images by Avengers Assemble

Issues Reprinted
Avengers #1-10

Click on cover image to learn more about each issue.