The media is abuzz with reports that five super-powered beings are forming a team to be known as the Avengers. As reporters camp out in front of the Howard Stark Mansion in New York, Clint Barton watches with interest on a barroom TV. As the group, consisting of Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp, and the newly pardoned Hulk, assemble at the Mansion, Barton expresses mild skepticism that their plan to fight evil as a team will be successful. At the meeting, Iron Man talks about the need to earn the trust of a suspicious public and introduces Edwin Jarvis, who is the senior member of the mansion staff. He passes out a proposed charter and by-laws. As the heroes read, they are concerned at the revelation that the group is to be monitored by the National Security Council, which Shellhead claims is necessary to be granted the security clearance needed to do their jobs. Ant-Man and Wasp gladly sign, though she seems more taken with the celebrity aspects than the heroic ones. Thor is also convinced to agree by IM’s impassioned speech but the Hulk refuses; he says no one will ever trust them and the whole thing is nonsense. When the others, including his pal Rick Jones, try to persuade him, the Green Giant erupts in a rage and leaps away, leaving a gaping hole in the masonry. The others take their leave, with a despondent Iron Man standing in dust and rubble. Jarvis tries to encourage him by admiring the ideals set forth in the charter, but it doesn’t help much.
Two weeks later, Agent Murch of the NSC tells Iron Man that their plan is a fiasco, and Avengers Priority Status depends on their bringing in the rampaging Hulk. The mission goes very badly and as the damaged heroes head home in their sub, Hank Pym, now Giant-Man, lashes out in anger at Wasp, leading Thor to intervene. Iron Man explains how their security clearance depended on this mission’s success and Thor begins to have second thought about their project. The atmosphere gets very tense as the heroes argue among themselves but they are interrupted by an alarm from the ship. The Avengers look out the portholes and see a man, dressed in red, white, and blue, frozen in ice….