Avengers Assemble (2012 series) #6

Groot was an alien invader in the pre-superhero Tales to Astonish #13. The tree-being was cloned in Hulk Annual #5, and some version of him appeared in Supernaturals #4. But the real deal was definitely a member of Nick Fury's Howling Commandos. In Annihilation: Conquest he was killed but revealed the ability to regrow from a twig. He then graduated into the Guardians of the Galaxy. After their disbanding in Thanos Imperative he palled around with Rocket Raccoon in Annihilators. A Monster of Badoon is a large cyborg creature used as a weapon by the Badoon. One was 1st seen in Silver Surfer (1968) #2. Tony Stark must have brought a spare set of armour with him, which is the one Hulk wears and trashes. A comparison of this armour with that worn by Stark does indicate an older model. But it's a strange thing to have done because, as we were reminded in #2 and #3, Stark's real armour at this time is generated from inside his body. To fit inside the suit Hulk must have been in Banner-mode, as also indicated by Hulk's words after breaking out. This says that they can switch between states at will, which tells us something about where this fits in Hulk's continuity. Hulk and Bruce Banner were split (again) in Incredible Hulk (2011) #1. As this Avengers Assemble story unfolds they have been rejoined in IH#8 but Hulk must stay angry to keep evil Banner from surfacing. As the 2011 series moves to a conclusion the 2 personalities will reach an amicable solution. Thus this story (and Hulk's appearance in AvX) should be between IH(2011) and the Marvel NOW series.

The gathering of Avengers at the Tower is most members of the current teams apart from those on the mission, plus some ringers. This story arc was published concurrently with Avengers vs X-Men. In #1 I suggested that it occurs before AvX and after the Norman Osborne storyline in the preceding Avengers and New Avengers issues. This lineup supports that idea. We see the complete New Avengers team (including Victoria Hand). The presence of Jessica Jones indicates this is before AvX. The Avengers themselves are represented by Spider-Woman, Storm and Vision. The presence of Storm does place this in my target area. Quake and Red Hulk must just happen to be missing. But the absence of Protector may to avoid confusion with AvX where he leaves the team under a cloud. The Secret Avengers here are Beast, Captain Britain, Giant-Man, Valkyrie and War Machine. WM isn't really active member at this point. But CB & GM put this after #22. The absence of the android Human Torch (Jim Hammond) and Venom (Flash Thompson) might mean it's before #23. this is consistent with my continuity thesis. Ant-Man (Eric O'Grady) not being there may also be to avoid confusion over his ambiguous status around that time. Invisible Woman & Mr Fantastic are also present. Thing is also there as part of the New Avengers. These are the 3 of the 4 original Fantastic Four who have ever been Avengers. Along with New Avenger Spider-Man, this constituted the FF at the time, because the non-android Human Torch was missing presumed dead.