The Avengers #6 – Key Highlights
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Publisher: Marvel Comics
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Publication Date: July 1964
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Editor: Stan Lee
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Cover Pencils: Jack Kirby
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Cover Inks: Chic Stone
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Story Script: Stan Lee
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Story Pencils: Jack Kirby
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Story Inks: Chic Stone
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Pages: 36
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Original Cover Price: $0.12
🔥 Key Significance
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First full appearance of Baron Zemo, one of Captain America's most dangerous and enduring adversaries.
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First appearance of the second Black Knight, joining the growing roster of Marvel villains.
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First appearance of the Masters of Evil, a formidable villainous team assembled by Baron Zemo.
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Introduces the original Masters of Evil lineup: Baron Zemo, Black Knight, Radioactive Man, and the Melter.
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An important early Avengers issue that expands the team's rogues' gallery and brings Captain America's past back into the spotlight.
📖 Story Highlights
“Masters of Evil!” – 23 pages
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Script: Stan Lee
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Pencils: Jack Kirby
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Inks: Chic Stone
Baron Zemo, the man responsible for the events surrounding Bucky's death, discovers that Captain America is still alive. Determined to eliminate his old enemy, Zemo assembles a group of powerful villains: Black Knight, Radioactive Man, and the Melter.
Calling themselves the Masters of Evil, the group unleashes Adhesive X, an incredibly powerful glue with no known solvent, across the city. During the ensuing battle, Captain America and Giant-Man become trapped, forcing the Avengers to retreat and search for a solution.
The Wasp remembers that the imprisoned criminal Paste-Pot Pete may know how to dissolve the adhesive. With his help, the Avengers free their teammates and return to confront the Masters of Evil.
📌 Additional Details
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Special letter-column connection: The issue opens its letter column with a letter from Buddy Saunders, owner of MyComicShop. Saunders praises Avengers #4, particularly the return of Captain America, calling it a tremendous issue. A fun historical connection for today's comic collectors.
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The story has been reprinted in:
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Avengers Annual #4
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Marvel Masterworks #4
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Il Mitico Thor #13
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Cover artwork features the Avengers facing the Masters of Evil.
Collector's Note: Avengers #6 is an important early Silver Age Marvel key, introducing Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil—a villainous organization that would become one of the Avengers' most recognizable recurring threats. The Buddy Saunders letter adds an especially entertaining piece of comic-collecting history to an already significant issue.
