Before there was Marvel, there was Atlas. And in those days they had their own heroes, such as Marvel Boy or the mighty Venus. And what if, in the atomic age, these heroes had banded together as one to fight a foe none of them could face alone?
What If the Avengers had formed in the 1950s?
Despite being a "What If?" the concept of Atlas's heroes forming their own team proved popular enough to get them a brief appearance in Avengers Forever, and then later establishing that a version of the team did indeed exist, becoming the Agents of Atlas.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Ending: The story makes it unclear whether the 50s Avengers actually existed, with Uatu declining to give a hard answer either way, or whether they secretly continued superheroing on the sly. It'd be several decades before Agents of Atlas gave one; yes... and no.
- Arbitrary Scepticism: Marvel Boy, who grew up on the hyper-advanced society of Uranus, finds it hard to believe Venus is an actual goddess.
- Call-Back:
- Iron Man kickstarts the story by using the same machine used for universe-hopping escapades in Avengers #141.
- Back in the Human Robot's first (and at that point only) appearance in Menace #11, it killed its owner and stalked off into the night. This story follows up on what happened next; It promptly walked off a pier and sank.
- The Cameo:
- Jann of the Jungle briefly appears to lead Marvel Boy to Gorilla Man, before staying behind in Kenya.
- Namora helps fish the Human Robot out of the water, then takes off to continue her search for Namor.
- Conflicting Loyalty: As always, Suwan is torn between obedience to her uncle and her love for Jimmy. This time she decides to help the Avengers and free Jimmy.
- Continuity Nod: Uatu mentions the 50s Captain America (not yet named), and how he'd already gone mad and been put on ice by the time the 50s Avengers form.
- Legion of Doom: The Yellow Claw assembles his own group of supervillains to fight the Avengers, consisting of Electro, Great Video, Skull Face and Cold Warrior, all brainwashed so they'll do his bidding, and in the case of Cold Warrior and Electro not kill one another.
- Mind Probe: Marvel Boy uses his telepathic powers to scan the biker gang that attacks Jimmy Woo and finds they were brainwashed by the Yellow Claw to attack him.
- Mythology Gag: Same as their counterparts, the 1950s Avengers come up with their name in the spur of the moment.
- No-Sell: Marvel Boy's usual tactic is to stun opponents with his light-emitting wristbands. Doesn't work on Skull Face, who has no eyes.
- Oddball in the Series: Unlike most What Ifs, Uatu doesn't establish the premise. Rather it's Iron Man playing around with a doohickey, though Uatu does show up part way through to narrate. However, there's no alternate reality shenanigans going on (maybe. It's left intentionally vague).
- Politically Incorrect Villain: In this case, a former Nazi Mad Scientist who gleefully boasts about having experimented on folk in the death camps.
- Restraining Bolt: The Human Robot was built without one, causing it to default to "Kill All Humans". Fortunately, Uranian super-science means Marvel Boy's able to make one for him.
- Sadly Mythtaken: Venus is identified as being the daughter of Zeus, and therefore cousin of Hercules. Admittedly, in the 1970s they probably couldn't get away with citing her actual origins.
- Similar Squad: At the end, the Avengers comment on their precursors similarities to them; Captain America compares himself to 3-D Man, Iron Man to Marvel Boy, Beast to Gorilla Man, Vision to the Human Robot, and Thor to Venus.
- The Smurfette Principle: Venus is the only gal on the 50s Avengers team.
- Taking the Bullet: Yellow Claw leaves behind a dummy stuffed with explosives to kill Woo. The Human Robot steps in the way and takes the brunt of the blast, which he's able to survive.
- Tempting Fate: Eisenhower dismisses Jimmy's warnings about the Claw's forces, outright asking what they could do. On cue, they burst out of the ground and drag him away.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: With his plans foiled, Yellow Claw escapes to plot the takeover of the world some more.
- Was Once a Man: Gorilla Man was once Ken Hale, until he killed the previous Gorilla Man. Now he's stuck as a gorilla. One of the reasons he joins up with Woo is the offer of finding a cure.
- We ARE Struggling Together: There's some teething troubles, thanks to 3-D Man accidentally rubbing Gorilla Man the wrong way, and their fight jostling them into the Human Robot, who mistakes this for an attack.
- The World Is Not Ready: The 50s Avengers rescue Eisenhower, who thanks them, but then says they must disband, as in an era of heightened tensions and paranoia the people of America wouldn't take kindly to killer robots, space men, or gods. Marvel Boy reluctantly admits he's right.
