Marvel Comics has brought us many well known superheroes including X-Men, Dare Devil, and The Fantastic Four. However, some of the most well known Marvel heroes (Spider Man, Iron Man, Captain America, and The Hulk) are all part of the powerful super league known as The Avengers.

In the upcoming movie The Avengers, released on May 4^th, you will see many familiar super people and meet several new ones. Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and The Hulk each have had their own movie, but the new heroes, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Nick Fury, have been members of The Avengers since the original formation of the group in the 1960’s.

Although the heroes of the new movie are well loved, the story line does not follow the original comic very well. In the early 1960’s, the heroes of Marvel Comics were being harassed by the God of Evil, Loki. Loki is the brother of Thor who was adopted after the Great War against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim. All of his young life, Loki was jealous of his brother Thor because the other Gods favored Thor.

When Loki began menacing Earth, Rick Jones, Hulk’s sidekick, asked Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and the Wasp to help the Hulk thwart Loki’s plans. After defeating Loki, the group decided to stay together and become a united crime fighting group called The Avengers.

Through the years, the team has been altered several times. Captain America is the only member of the Avengers that has stayed in the group since the beginning. Almost immediately after The Avengers were formed, Hawkeye joined. Hawkeye was a delinquent who was accepted to the group as a rehab case. Hawkeye and Captain America became good friends. After several years of fighting for the Avengers, Hawkeye fell in love with the beautiful Black Widow, another member of the Avengers.

The Black Widow was a Russian agent that was part of the Black Widow Program. She was trained to be a highly skilled marksman. She was very unstable and at times it was hard to tell which side she was on. At one time in the saga, she was brainwashed to fight against The Avengers. After a long battle and great persuasion, The Avengers finally cured Black Widow of her brain wash. Years later, Black Widow and Hawkeye got married.

No matter who is part of the ultimate crime fighting group, The Avengers will always be a loved American symbol. No matter where they are, no matter whom they’re with, they will always answer the cry, “AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!!”