Avengers Vol 1 Episode 1

Appearing in "The Coming of the Avengers!"

Featured Characters:

• Avengers (First appearance) and Origin
• Ant-Man
• Hulk
• Iron Man
• Thor
• Wasp

Supporting Characters:

• Teen Brigade
• Rick Jones

Villains:

• Loki

Other Characters:

• Fantastic Four
• Human Torch
• Invisible Woman
• Mister Fantastic
• Thing
• Odin

Locations:

• Asgard

Items:

• Ant-Man's Helmet
• Iron Man Armor MK II
• Mjolnir

Synopsis for "The Coming of the Avengers!"

Thor locks Loki up in a land that prevents his body from getting out but Loki gets out his soul. He then finds Thor only to find he is in his human form as Dr. Blake, but he feels that if he defeated Thor like this it would be a hollow victory, so he goes and finds the Hulk. He makes an illusion of dynamite near the Hulk on some train tracks. The Hulk thinks the dynamite is real and it is going to explode so he goes down and tries to grab the dynamite, but since there is none he goes through the illusion of the dynamite breaking the train tracks and going into a small hole. A train is coming so Hulk picks up the tracks and the train goes by. The train conductor saw the Hulk and thought he was trying to kill everyone on the train so the hunt for Hulk begins. Rick Jones sees the headline in the newspaper and so he tries to call the Fantastic Four through a radio signal. Loki wants Thor so he changes the radio wave signal to Thor. The message is also heard by Iron Man, the Wasp and Ant-Man. All the heroes go to the house of Rick Jones when Thor sees out from the window an illusion of the Hulk. Thor takes the bait and Thor is brought to Asgard. All the other heroes chase the Hulk to a circus, then they go to a tire factory. Thor finds Loki, defeats him and returns to Earth stopping fight between the team and Hulk. Loki tries to escape by becoming radioactive but Ant-Man traps him in a lead container. The team decides to join forces and become the Avengers, after the Wasp names the team.

Trivia

• Some people say that the Avengers was the second attempt to copy the Justice league. The first being the Fantastic Four. Stan Lee says that he got fan mail that loved the characters crossing over and that's how he got the idea.
• The Hulk's membership only lasted two issues. He will return as an ally in Avengers 100.
• This iconic cover has been homaged many times. Most recently it was recreated with Skrulls replacing the heroes on the cover of New Avengers 40.

Daredevil Vol 1 Episode 1

Appearing in "The Origin of Daredevil"

Featured Characters:

• Daredevil (Matt Murdock) (First appearance)

Supporting Characters:

• Foggy Nelson (First appearance)
• Karen Page (First appearance)

Villains:

• Fixer

Other Characters:

• Battling Murdock
• Rocky Davis

Synopsis for "The Origin of Daredevil"

One night at Fogwell's gym, a number of the bruisers that work there are enjoying a game of cards, when they're interrupted by the arrival of Daredevil, who has come looking for their boss, the Fixer. Fighting them, Daredevil reflects back to his past, and the events that led to his becoming this new costumed hero:
Daredevil is Matthew Murdock, son of "Battling" Jack Murdock, a prize fighter past his prime, who wants his son to get a real education instead of fighting. While his father tries to find honest work, his son is taunted by his peers and so begins training in secret.
One day, while Jack has no other choice but to sign up with the Fixer, a shady fight organizer, Matt saves a blind old man from being run over in the street, but gets run over himself. The chemical truck spilling its radioactive waste on Matt, blinding him. Matt soon realizes that all of his other senses have been heightened from this accident and continues his training.
Meanwhile, "Battling" Jack is experiencing a come back that restores his self-esteem. Matt ends up going to law school and befriends Foggy Nelson. One night, the Fixer orders Jack to throw a fight, however when he refuses and instead wins the match, the Fixer has Jack killed.
After his father's funeral, Matt graduates from law school and opens his own law firm with Foggy and they hire a secretary named Karen Page. Meanwhile, Matt decides to avenge his father by taken up the costumed identity of Daredevil, creating a costume and converting his walking stick into a billy club weapon to fight crime with.
Returning to the present, Daredevil continues to fight the Fixer's men, while across the city Foggy goes to find Matt to help him to work, but he doesn't find him either at home or at the office. When he asks Karen she shows tender sympathy for Matt's condition.
Back where the action is, Daredevil finds the Fixer and tracks him down to the subway with his keen senses. Switching back to his Daredevil guise, he chases the Fixer down the subway terminal until the Fixer suffers a severe heart attack. After the police round up the rest of his crew, Daredevil returns to his civilian guise and shows up for work, his co-workers worried about his well being.

Fantastic Four Vol 1 Episode 1

Appearing in "The Fantastic Four!"

Featured Characters:

• The Fantastic Four
• Human Torch (Johnny Storm)
• Invisible Girl (Susan Storm)
• Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards)
• Thing (Ben Grimm)

Villains:

• Mole Man (Harvey Elder)
• Giganto (Deviant Mutate)
• Tricephalous (Deviant Mutate)
• Rock Monster Guardian (Deviant Mutate)

Other Characters:

• various citizens of Central City
• various inhabitants of Monster Isle (Cameo)
• National Guard
• French Soldiers

Locations:

• Central City, California
• Ithaca, New York
• Monster Isle
• Valley of Diamonds in Subterranea
• atomic power plant in French Africa

Items:

• Fantasti-Flare

Vehicles:

• Reed Richard's Rocketship(destroyed)

Synopsis for "The Fantastic Four!"

A shadowy figure fires a flare out of a window. The flare forms the words "The Fantastic Four!"

Susan Storm is having tea with a friend. When she sees the flare, she turns invisible, gets into a cab, and offers the surprised driver a bill when she reaches her destination.

Ben Grimm is trying to find a coat that fits him. A clerk in the haberdashery sees the flare. Grimm bursts out of the too-small door, rips a manhole out of the street, follows the sewers, and bursts out when he thinks he's reached his destination.

Johnny Storm is working on his latest hot rod in a service station. The mechanic sees the flare, which turns into the number 4. Johnny bursts into flame and flies away. The authorities treat him as an enemy attack, so he reluctantly melts the jets that come after him. A nuclear heat-seeking missile locks onto him, and just as Johnny's flame starts to fade, an impossibly long pair of arms grabs the missile and throws it out to sea.

Johnny's savior is the same man who fired the flare. He greets Susan, Ben, and Johnny with the words, "There is a task that awaits us ... a fearful task!" But how did these four people become so fantastic?

To beat the Communists into space, scientist Reed Richards, sister and brother Sue and Johnny Storm, and pilot Ben Grimm sneaked off into space in a rocket. In space, the four were bombarded by cosmic rays. The auto-pilot landed the ship back on Earth, where they found themselves physically transformed and possessing remarkable new abilities. Sue could turn invisible. Ben transformed into an orange, muscular "thing." Reed's body became highly malleable, allowing him to stretch into any shape. Johnny's body burst into flame, and he could fly. They decided to use their abilities to become the super-team know as the Fantastic Four. They gave themselves the individual names Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, and the Thing.

(Chapter 2) The Fantastic Four Meet the Moleman!
Atomic plants in the Soviet Union, Australia, and South America have been mysteriously attacked by cave-ins. Another attack occurs in Africa, where a huge monster burrows out of the ground but is recalled by a human figure. The Fantastic Four travel aboard their private jet to Monster Isle, which Reed has deduced is the same distance from each attack. There, they are attacked by a giant three-headed monster. Reed stops the monster, but a cave-in separates Reed and Johnny from Ben and Sue. Beneath the island Reed and Johnny land in the Valley of Diamonds, which temporarily blinds them. The Mole Man appears, revealing he is responsible for the attacks.

(Chapter 3) The Moleman's Secret!
The Mole Man explains his origin. Having been ridiculed by humanity, he went off alone in search of the legendary land at the center of the earth. Eventually he washed ashore on Monster Isle. Making his way through a cavern, he was caught in an avalanche and rendered almost blind. However, due to his other heightened senses taking over, he mastered the subterranean creatures and built himself an underground empire.

Meanwhile, on the surface, Ben wrestles a rock monster. Ben and Sue find their teammates listening to the Mole Man's plan to invade the surface world. He sends his monster army against the Fantastic Four. While Johnny distracts the biggest one, the team flees through a tunnel, which Johnny seals shut behind them. After the Fantastic Four escape in their jet, Mole Man destroys the island so the surface world cannot trouble him again.

Trivia

• The Mole Man's name is spelled "Moleman" in this issue.
• In late 1961, no one in the US really knew how conditions in space would affect a human being, since the first man in space was a Russian, Yuri Gagarin, in April 1961. (The first American, John Glenn, went into space in February 1962.) At the time gamma rays were a real concern that later proved groundless. The cosmic rays in this story were later retconned into a freak confluence of gamma rays, sunspots, and other phenomena.