Avengers 2 (1963)
(cover by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers)
After defeating Loki, Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man, the Wasp, and Iron Man all go get shawarma at Tony's suggestion.
Iron Man suggests they form a team in case Loki or another villain threatens the planet.
Thor says, "Nah. I can protect yon Midgard."
Hulk says he's strongest, doesn't need weak tin man's help.
Ant-Man and Wasp say they're in, and Iron Man sighs.
Little do they know...a strange phantom lurks nearby, invisible to our heroesâ eyes. This phantom comes from a planet far away âheâs a Space Phantom if you will â and heâs here to find out if Earth has any powerful beings that could defend against an invasion. He must stop these heroes from forming a team.SP would try to possess Iron Man but the man wears a suit of accursed metal, his speciesâs weakness. So he possesses the Hulk and smacks Iron Man through the restaurantâs wall out into the streets.Â
They all try to stop Hulk, who in addition to his strength seems to be exhibiting strange new powers like telekinesis and neon energy beams. Not only that, but heâs speaking in a different dialect, calling humans âEarthlings.â Wasp intuits that something must be controlling Hulk and Ant-Man improvises, hacking into his ant controlling helmet to determine yes thereâs a force controlling the Hulk.
Wasp says, âI know, I said that.â They both shrink down and attack the Hulkâs eyes, since eyes are the window to the soul. This temporarily blinds the Hulk, which blinds the Space Phantom by proxy. Thor gives Hulk / SP a huge wack on the head, and Hulk / SP goes reeling.
Dazed and blind, the Space Phantom goes to leave Hulkâs body and possess Thor instead, but he doesnât realize that Iron Man has moved in to attack and is now where Thor was. When SPâs spectral form comes in contact with Iron Manâs metal armor thereâs a bright flash of light, a puff of smoke, and SP is no more.
âWell that was weird,â Iron Man says, âanyway see what I mean? This stuffs going to keep happening, weâre better off as a team.â
âForsooth, verily. I agree,â Thor says, âyou have convinced me of yon argument. The son of Odin will join thou.â He looks over at the Hulk, recovering from the possession. âWhat about you, green giant? Will you join our ranks?â
Hulk, still confused by the possession bit, is aggressively noncommittal on the whole thing.
âAlright, well thatâs 4 members and a maybe,â Iron Man says, âthatâs a start.â
"But what should we name ourselves?" Wasp asks.
Everyone stands around, dumfounded. It did not occur to any of the men that things have names.
Hulk, still catching up, asks "Where is ghost man? No one controls Hulk and gets away with it."
Thor offers, "If you ever find this ghost man, Thor will help avenge you, my friend."
"Boom!" Wasp says, "Got it. Avengers!"
Everyone shrugs and nods, and the Avengers are born.













