Appearing in "The Monstrous Master Plan of the Mandarin!"
Avengers Annual #1
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Living Laser (Arthur Parks)
- Mandarin (Apparent death)
- Swordsman
- Executioner
- Enchantress
- Power Man (Erik Josten)
- Mandarin's henchmen
- Artificial Frost Giant
- Ultimo
Other Characters:
- NYDOC
- Warden Smith (First appearance)
- Clyde
- Various unnamed members
- Flash Gordon (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Black Widow (Natasha) (Mentioned)
- Namor the Sub-Mariner (Illusion or holographic simulation)
- Jarvis
- NYPD
- Charlie (First appearance)
- Zeus (Mentioned)
- S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Unnamed South American army and residents
- Señor Presidente
- Buck Rogers (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Devils (Invoked)
- Ant-Man's Ants (Behind the scenes)
- Trolls of Asgard
- Odin (Mentioned)
- Numerous unnamed Africans
Races and Species:
- Humans
- Chickens (Mentioned)
- Fish (Mentioned)
- Asgardian-Storm Giant Hybrids
- Asgardians
- Atlantean-Human Hybrids (Illusion or holographic simulation)
- Cows (Invoked)
- Human-Olympian Hybrids
- Ants (Behind the scenes)
- Rock Trolls
- Gods (Mentioned)
- Frost Giants
- Demons (Mentioned)
- Fish (Mentioned)
- Robots
Locations:
- Earth
- North America
- Earth Orbit
- Mandarin's Space Station (Only appearance; destruction)
- Moon (Mentioned)
- Atlantic Ocean (Mentioned)
- Atlantis (Mentioned)
- Asia
- China (Mentioned)
- Unidentified country
- South America
- Unidentified country
- Unidentified Metropolis
- Presidential Palace
- Unidentified Metropolis
- Unidentified country
- Africa
- Unidentified country
- Sahara Desert (Mentioned)
- Olympus (Mentioned)
- Heaven (Invoked)
- Citadel of Silence (First appearance)
- Asgard (Invoked)
- Asgard (City) (Invoked)
- Halls of Odin (Mentioned)
- Asgard (City) (Invoked)
Items:
- Stun-Ulator
- Iron Man Armor Model 3
- Hawkeye's Bow and Trick Arrows
- Captain America's Shield
- Bio-Synthetic Wings
- Mjolnir
- Swordsman's Sword
- Executioner's Axe
- Hercules Golden Mace
- Uru (Mentioned)
- Mandarin's Rings
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Monstrous Master Plan of the Mandarin!"
Avengers Annual #1
PART ONE: THE MONSTROUS PLAN OF THE MANDARIN
The Living Laser attempts to escape from prison but Iron Man (who, in his civilian identity as Tony Stark has been inspecting security tech that Stark supplied to the prison) stops him. But then, the Living Laser vanishes suddenly. Concerned that other past Avengers foes may be "escaping" in such a manner, Iron Man calls a meeting of all Avengers -- much to the surprise of his team mates since he is not an active member of the team at the time.
It is revealed that the Living Laser had been teleported away by the Mandarin. He has gathered together the Swordsman, Power Man, the Executioner and the Enchantress. They are instructed to aid his master plan by attacking a variety of locations all over the world. To ensure his lackeys stay in line, the Mandarin pretends to teleport the Sub-Mariner to his base as well. When Namor refuses to obey orders, the Mandarin summarily destroys him. It's all an illusion meant to frighten the villains into behaving, but it works; they all fall in line.
When Iron-Man arrives at Avengers Mansion, he's attacked by Hercules who doesn't know him and mistakes him for a villain. Their brief skirmish is halted by Thor's arrival, who introduces the two heroes and assures them both that they are all on the same side. Nick Fury contacts the Avengers and relates how several of their past opponents are staging attacks around the world in what appears to be a concerted effort. The Avengers break up into teams to confront the villains.
PART TWO: TO PERISH BY THE SWORD
Iron Man, Goliath and the Wasp deal with Power Man and the Swordsman. Iron-Man prevents the Swordsman from crushing a city with a colossal sword.
PART THREE: STRUGGLE IN A STRANGE LAND
Hercules and the Scarlet Witch stop the Executioner and Enchantress.
PART FOUR: AND A MONSTER SHALL STALK THE LAND
Thor and Hawkeye deal with Living Laser who is aided by Mandarin's giant robot Ultimo. But they defeat him as well.
PART FIVE: SHOWDOWN IN SPACE
Captain America and Quicksilver confront the Mandarin in his space station. Soon enough, they are joined by the rest of the Avengers. The Mandarin uses a hate ray on them, causing them to fight whoever they are closest to. The Wasp, however, is closer to the Mandarin. She attacks him and the hate ray is deactivated. The Mandarin tries again to defeat them with another ray, but it blows a hole in the wall and sucks him out into space. The Avengers plant a bomb and destroy the base after leaving.
As the team returns to Earth in a shuttle, Iron-Man remarks on how the entire team of Avengers ought to assemble more often. The Scarlet Witch chimes in that she hopes it doesn't have to take a villain such as the Mandarin to unite them all in the future.