When Loki sought revenge against his adopted brother, Thor, he tricked the Hulk into destroying a railroad track. He then diverts a radio call by Rick Jones for help to Thor, whom Loki hopes will battle the Hulk. Unknown to Loki, the radio call is also answered by Ant-Man, the Wasp and Iron Man. After an initial misunderstanding, the heroes unite and defeat Loki. Ant-Man states that the five work well together and suggests they form a combined team against threats that no one hero can deal with. The Wasp names the group "The Avengers." 
 
After a battle with the group, which saw the Hulk leave, Namor was supposed to come across a group of Eskimos worshiping a block of ice with a figure of a man inside of it. Filled with wrath for all air breathers, he hurls the block of ice into the ocean depths. However, due to unseen forces in the timestream, this incident never came to pass and the man was never discovered by the Avengers. 
 
Not long after, a duo of female super-heroes going by the names Broad-Stripe and Bright Star arrived to assist the Avengers in battle against an alien being. Have saved the group, the duo are offered membership with the Avengers. Not long after their joining of the team, Thor suspiciously leaves the group to be with the Enchantress. 
 
With Thor's departure, Broad-Stripe's influence on the team increased. Broad-Stripe was responsible for the defeat, and murder, of Kang at the hand of the Avengers as well as the capture and imprisonment (and eventual death) of Hawkeye who infiltrated the mansion in a bid to impress the team in hopes of joining the ranks.  
 
Ant-Man, Iron Man and the Wasp soon left the team, leaving Broad-Stripe and Bright-Star as the sole remaining Avengers. They recruited new members in the shape of the vigilante Americop, the enormous robotic Ameridroid and the stern and commanding Major America. This team of ultra-patriots soon stopped, and killed, menaces such as Baron Zemo, the Red Skull and the Sleeper in a suspiciously pre-emptive fashion. 
 
Not long after, the Avengers led by Broad-Stripe killed an alien invader in the shape of Mar-Vell, rounded up and apprehended the X-Men and disposed of "weak-willed" politicians. Around this time, the majority of the Fantastic Four appeared to perish in the Negative Zone, the surviving Sue Richards vanished following a miscarriage, Ant-Man was institutionalized, Tony Stark reportedly died and the Wasp retired. However, these events were all orchestrated by the growing power of Broad-Stripe.