Avengers Vol 1 10

	Published
	November, 1964
"The Avengers Break Up!"
	Writer Stan Lee; Penciler Don Heck; Inker Dick Ayers; Colourist Stan Goldberg; Letterer Sam Rosen; Editor Stan Lee;
"The One and Only Cap!"
	Penciler Jack Kirby; Editor Stan Lee;

Avengers Assemble!

-- Said for the first time ever by Thor

Appearing in "The Avengers Break Up!"

Featured Characters:

Avengers

Supporting Characters:

Teen Brigade
- Rick Jones
- Bill^[2]
Bucky (Mentioned)
Odin (Mentioned)

Antagonists:

Immortus (First appearance)
The Masters of Evil
- Baron Zemo
- Enchantress
- Executioner
- Wonder Man (Mentioned)
The two-headed troll of Travasaak (Mentioned)

Other Characters:

"Attila the Hun"
"Hercules" (First appearance)
"Paul Bunyan" (First appearance)
"Goliath" (First appearance)
"Merlin"
Medieval Guards

Races and Species:

Locations:

New York City
- Manhattan
  - Avengers Mansion
The Tower of London (First appearance)
Amazon Jungle
- Zemo's Headquarters

Items:

Synopsis for "The Avengers Break Up!"

Immortus appears before the Masters of Evil, wanting to ally himself with them. At first, Zemo is distrusting and offended that Immortus thinks himself superior to them. Zemo sends Executioner to battle Immortus, but Immortus sends Paul Bunyan in his stead to fight. After a quick skirmish, They agree to unite on one condition: to destroy the Avengers. He places a newspaper ad offering superpowers to civilians. Seeking membership in the Avengers, Rick Jones falls for the trap. Captain America finds the ad and goes to the location.

Immortus tells Captain America that one of the other Avengers sent Rick here. Cap goes back to HQ to find the traitor, and takes them all back to Immortus. Immortus pits each Avenger to a character picked out of time that is similar to them. Giant-Man is first, and his opponent is the biblical Goliath. At first, Goliath easily outmatches Giant-Man in terms of strength, but Giant-Man uses intelligence. He shrinks to the size of an ant, and using himself as the ball, hits Goliath in the forehead, defeating him much as David did before. Iron Man is next. He fights the Wizard Merlin. Merlin traps Iron Man in a cage of tempered steel, leading Iron Man to remark that if he wins the battle, he'll never complain about enemies such as the Mandarin or Hawkeye, ever again.

Iron Man easily breaks free, and dodges Merlin's thunderbolts. He uses a device which produces flashing lights and irritating sounds, which disorients the much older Merlin, causing him to faint. Immortus sends out Hercules^[1] to battle the Mighty Thor. Surprisingly, the fight is evenly-matched, until Hercules breaks the standstill, grappling with Thor. Thor tries to imbalance Hercules, who falls out a window. Thor catches him, and Hercules yields to the Thunder God.

Immortus, not wanting to take any more chances, grabs Captain America and sends him back into time to save Rick. The other Avengers are attacked by the Masters of Evil while they are weakened. Iron Man is attacked by Executioner, Giant-Man is shrunk down to normal size and left in a confused state by the Enchantress, and Thor gets shot by a gun which turns flesh into stone.

As the battle ensues, the Wasp aids Giant-Man by trying to confuse Enchantress. Iron Man trades blows with Executioner, and Thor starts getting turned into solid stone, helpless. With Iron Man's repulsors destroyed, Giant-Man normal-sized, Wasp unable to confuse Enchantress, and Thor helpless, Baron Zemo gloats and prolongs his final shot to Thor, wanting to savor the moment. A familiar voice protests, and a spinning shield destroys Zemo's gun. Captain America aids fellow Avenger Iron Man against Executioner. As Executioner is downed by Cap's shield, Wasp distracts Enchantress enough that her spell wears off, returning Giant-Man to his giant size. Thor yells, "Avengers Assemble!" after breaking free of his rock imprisonment, and at the last instant, Enchantress sends herself, Zemo and Executioner back in time, to a time before they met Immortus.

Appearing in "The One and Only Cap!"

Featured Characters:

Captain America

Races and Species:

Humans

Items:

Captain America's Shield

Synopsis for "The One and Only Cap!"

A one page Marvel Masterwork Pin-Up

Notes

Thor is last seen in a battle against Mister Hyde and the Cobra over the fate of Jane Foster. This battle carries on through the course of Journey Into Mystery #110 and Journey Into Mystery 111.
this is the first comic ever to show that Captain America's Shield can withstand a blow from Mjolnir
Iron Man is last seen battling the Black Knight in Tales of Suspense #59, Cap is also featured in his fist Silver Age solo story in this issue as well.
Giant Man and Wasp were last seen tackling Egghead and one of his androids in Tales to Astonish #61.
The Enchantress, Executioner, and Baron Zemo were all last seen in Avengers #9.
Executioner mentions Odin taking away a portion of his and Enchantress's power back in Avengers #7 following their defeat at the hands of Thor in Journey Into Mystery #103.
Although this is the first appearance of Immortus, he is later revealed to be yet another future version of Rama Tut and Kang in Giant-Size Avengers #2.
Although Immortus uses many figures from different points in history, it's entirely possible that these are all imposter's or from alternate time lines as Merlin does not recall his battle with Thor in Journey Into Mystery #96, nor does Hercules remember his battle with Thor in later issues.
Thor's next "new" appearance (As Journey Into Mystery #110-111 is a two part story) is Journey Into Mystery #112 where Thor recounts additional details in his battle against the Hulk from Avengers #3.
Giant Man and Wasp are next seen in Tales to Astonish #62 where they fight each other.
Iron Man is next seen in Tales of Suspense #60 where he battles Hawkeye for the second time.
Captain America & Rick Jones next appear in a solo adventure in Tales of Suspense #60 as well where they battle Baron Zemo and his army of assassins.
Immortus' alter ego Kang appears next issue.
Immortus is seen briefly in Avengers #16. He will then not appear again until Giant-Size Avengers #2.
Baron Zemo is next seen in Tales of Suspense #60 where he battles Captain America.
Enchantress and the Executioner are not seen again until Avengers #15.
This issue is reprinted (complete with pin-up of Captain America) in Marvel Triple Action #5 and Essential Avengers Vol 1.
credits:
- Story Superbly Written by: Stan Lee
- Art Adorably Drawn by: Don Heck
- Inked by Darlin' Dick Ayers
- Lettered by Stalwart Sam Rosen
references: Avengers #7 and Avengers #9

Trivia

This is the first time the catchphrase "Avengers Assemble" is said. Though this battle never officially happened, since Enchantress reset the time of this battle, Thor was the first to say the words.

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