AVENGERS: UNITED THEY STAND COMIC AND EPISODE SUMMARIES
by Adrian Watts

Below are summaries of the issues and episodes of AVENGERS: UNITED THEY STAND,
the not-too-beloved Avengers animated series and comic from the late-1990s. Some
more extensive summaries and annotations are being developed but are still going to take
awhile to be completed, so consider this as a placeholder and still very much a work
in progress.

THE COMIC
#1 - "The Ultimate Creation"
Henry Pym develops a new robot with highly advanced AI as a way to further his research into
communicating with low-order insects. Before the Avengers' eyes the robot rebuilds itself as the
villainous Ultron and attacks the Avengers. As a result, the Black Panther leaves the team and Ant-Man
develops battlesuits to protect the Avengers in battle. The Avengers defeat Ultron and Pym learns the
robot's origin and purpose, but hides it from the team.

#2 - "Hail and Farewell"
The Avengers are enlisted by SHIELD to help stop a HYDRA plot to destroy mankind. They
meet the HYDRA defector known as the Black Widow and, with her help, defeat the Supreme
Hydra - Wolfgang von Strucker - and leave him hospitalised.

#3 - "Re-Visions"
The Vision appeara on an infotainment program hosted by Megan McLauren, in the hopes of
building public trust in him. During the show, a gunman attacks, claiming the Vision has no soul.
The Avengers then discuss various perceptions of what constitutes a 'soul' with the Vision, and
also tell him all about the life of Simon Williams, the man whose brain engrams he shares. This
conversation extended to each of the Avengers recounting their own origins. The Vision shows,
privately, that he cares for Wanda just as Wonder Man did.

#4 - "Losing Face"
The Avengers travel to the Transia-Latveria border to prevent international arms dealer Nathan
Garrett, aka. the Black Knight, from selling a stolen AIM weapon known as the Ultimate Amplifier to
Latveria's tyrannical monarch, Dr. Doom. The Avengers and Garrett are captured by Doom's
robotic border sentries and imprisoned. The Avengers escape their prison and confront Doom. The
Ultimate Amplifier is destroyed by Doom and the Avengers escape, leaving Doom to vow to track
down and destroy the Avengers.

#5 - "Taking AIM"
Hawkeye's lunch date with the Black Widow is interrupted by a bank alarm, so the duo go off to
stop the crook - Whirlwind, who they remember from the animated episode Command Decision.
They defeat him easily, but the Widow finds some technology on him that simply shouldn't exist,
and goes out on her own to find out where it came from. Two weeks later, Hawk hasn't heard from
her and is beginning to worry. Even though no-one else trusts her, Hawkeye secures the aid of the
Falcon, the Vision and the Scarlet Witch in tracking down and rescuing the Black Widow. The
Avengers discover that she has been captured by AIM and seems to be romancing a scientist long
thought to be dead. AIM is also developing a larger version of the technology recovered from Whirlwind.
The scientist turns out to be the Widow's brainwashed husband, Alexi Shostakov. Hawkeye lets the
Widow and her husband go, despite it breaking his heart.

THE ANIMATED SERIES
Episode One - "Avengers Assemble, Part 1"
The Avengers - with the help of the Falcon - race to protect the US president from flying robots,
transforming vehicles, and the mysterious android called the Vision. During one attack, Wonder
Man is gravely injured by the Vision.

Episode Two - "Avengers Assemble, Part 2"
As Wonder Man's life slips away, Ant-Man frantically works to transfer the ionic Avenger's brain
engrams into the captured body of the Vision. Wonder Man dies. After a huge battle with Ultron,
during which the Vision betrays his creator, the synthezoid is offered membership. The Falcon is
placed on the team by presidential mandate for his part in helping to protect the life of the US president.
Unfortunately, Ultron escapes with Wonder Man's body.

Episode Three - "Command Decision"
Assigned to protect a shipment of government weapons, the Avengers' mission is complicated
when Baron Zemo and his Masters of Evil attempt to steal the cargo and make off with an
electromagnetic pulse generator. To make matters more difficult, Captain America arrives on the
scene, leaving Ant-Man to work out his leadership issues while still focusing on the mission at hand.
Despite the EM pulse shorting out their armour, the Avengers - under Ant-Man's expert leadership - manage
to defeat and capture the Masters of Evil.

Episode Four - "Egg-streme Vengeance"
Jealous genius Elias Starr (aka. Egghead) initiates a plot to destroy his arch-enemy, Ant-Man,
by causing the Avenger's Pym Particles to go haywire. While Ant-Man tries to survive at
microscopic size, the Wasp and Vision search desperately for a way to bring his powers under
control, even as the other Avengers defeat and capture Egghead. The Wasp and Vision save Hank,
and even manage to shrink Egghead down to size in the process.

Episode Five - "Kang"
The Falcon takes his young nephew, Andrew, to an Egyptology exhibit at the local museum, little
realising that one of the artifacts on display was the key to freeing the time-travelling Kang the
Conqueror from his exile. Kang is accidentally freed, he sets out to find his powerful 'obelisk'. The
Avengers assemble to take him down, and Tigra, the Scarlet Witch and the city nearby are rapidly
aged as a result. The Avengers recover the obelisk and Ant-Man uses his cybernetic helmet to
communicate with it, learning of Kang's exploits in the far future. Kang attacks the mansion, and
captures the Wasp. Ant-Man returns the obelisk in exchange for the Wasp's life, but he has
booby-trapped it. Kang is weakened. The Vision takes him high into the sky where the obelisk
explodes, restoring everything to its correct age and sending Kang back to his temporal exile.