In the aftermath of the siege of Asgard, Thor, Iron Man, and Steve Rogers (Bucky Barnes is still Captain America at this time) stand surveying the wreckage of the once mighty city. Steve and Tony offer Thor their support but their long-simmering resentments soon bubble to the surface with Steve blaming Tony for the Civil War which led directly to Norman Osborne’s Dark Reign and the siege. Thor brings them back to the present crisis with a sharp rebuke and they get down to business. Their first step is to examine Heimdall’s observatory to see how soon the Rainbow Bridge can be repaired. Suddenly the three heroes are caught up in a giant multi-colored whirlwind and whisked away from Earth, leaving their teammates stunned….
Tony Stark awakens among rolling hills with no other beings in sight. He starts in on some quick repairs to his armor and is interrupted by a huge shadow falling on him from behind….
Steve Rogers finds himself in a dark wood, with two moons overhead warning him that he is no longer on Earth. He comes upon a village and enters a tavern full of elves. He introduces himself as an ally of Thor and asks for help. When the elves hear the name Thor, they attack Steve, who clobbers the whole room of them and makes off with some "borrowed" armor and weaponry….
Thor is in a stately palace in Vannaheim which is dark and strangely deserted. As he examines his surroundings he is suddenly blasted by several magical energy bolts. Looking up, he sees the Enchantress standing on a balcony, gloating over how she will now have her revenge against the last of the Odinsons….
Story #2The Coming of the Accursed Avengers
Writer: Ralph Macchio. Penciler: Walt Simonson. Inker: Walt Simonson. Colorist: Gregory Wright.
Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Loki makes his annual pilgrimage to
Asgard’s
Isle of Silence where he committed his most grievous error, which led to the formation of the
Avengers. Many years ago he had been exiled to the Isle by
Odin, and there he concocted a scheme of revenge against his enemy
Thor, employing as his unwitting minion the
Incredible Hulk. Sending an illusion of dynamite on a railroad track, Loki tricked Hulk into destroying the tracks and endangering an oncoming train; what none on the ground knew was that Hulk then supported the broken tracks with his back until the train had passed safely over. Reading about this in the newspaper, Hulk’s friend
Rick Jones tried to contact the
Fantastic Four to help Hulk prove his innocence. Loki diverted the radio signals elsewhere and they were picked up by others—and so Thor,
Ant-Man,
Wasp and
Iron Man came in response. Thor quickly realized that Loki was behind this and confronted the
God of Mischief at his place of exile, battling the troll natives to reach his brother. Thor dragged Loki down to Earth where the other three heroes were fighting the Hulk and explained that
Ol’ Greenskin was a unwitting pawn. Loki turns himself radioactive but Ant-Man pressed a switch which dropped the villain into a lead-lined tank. And so the five heroes formed a team to fight evil which Loki berates himself over to this day.