The story opens on a page from an old comic book in which young Roger Stevens goes to buy liberty bonds to aid in the war effort. However, he discovers that the local agent is selling counterfeit liberty bonds to undermine America in its struggle against the Nazi menace. But surprise! Roger utters the magic words "Rockets Red Glare!" and he is transformed into the patriotic hero Sir Spangled, the Human Tank, and with the aid of his faithful dog, Liberty Bonds, cleans up this nest of traitors….
We step back to see that this comic book page has been reprinted in the newspaper and is being read by Hawkeye to the other Avengers, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and Wolverine. The team finds the comic—written and drawn by the pre-Captain America Steve Rogers—to be an embarrassment though. Peter continues to mock the book unaware that Cap has entered the room; when he comes face-to-face with the veteran hero, he hastily asks for Cap’s autograph. The comic pages are being auctioned off for charity but Cap isn’t interested, he outgrew such things when he became a hero. Instead Cap is approaching the group for a mission. While the Avengers assemble, Peter suddenly realizes the implications: Cap was a comics nerd, which means Pete and his hero have something in common….
The Avengers are undertaking a mission against the Serpent Society in the wake of the recent attempted gassing of Grand Central Station (issue #4) and, accompanied by Red Hulk, surround the villains’ hideout. Spidey’s attempts to bond with the more focused Cap over their perceived geek ties distract the Webslinger from the mission but in the end three members of the enemy organization are captured. During the clean-up, Spidey encourages Cap to meet him to toss around ideas about comic books but Cap is noncommittal….
The next evening, Pete shows Steve his new purchase: the framed comic page they were discussing earlier. Pete tries to get Steve excited about his original passion but the old soldier has outgrown such things. The two are divided between Steve’s not wanting to be a kid again and Peter’s never having stopped. Later, as Pete prepares to throw out his childhood chemistry set, Steve invites him into the kitchen to ask advice about creating a new comic book hero. "I have to say, this is all coming back to me…" "How do you know it ever left?"