Pet Avengers

Origin

Mr Fantastic and the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four met with Black Bolt, Medusa & the Inhumans in the  Moon based city of Attilan.  There, Mr Fantastic revealed that the Infinity Gems had been scattered across the Earth.  His prime concern was if a powerful enemy should come in to contact with any of the gems, or collect them all, then they could become unstoppable. 

Hearing this, Lockjaw ventured outside and discovered the first of the missing gems; the Mind Gem.  Touching the mystical item imbued Lockjaw with the knowledge of where & how to find the others.  Unfortunately, the Inhumans misunderstood his attempts to inform them as just a canine desire for fun & attention.  Frustrated and eager to do something about the Infinity Gems, Lockjaw set out on a mission to form his own super-powered team and collect the Gems.

Mayor Story Arcs

Pet Avengers, Assemble!

Teleporting to Earth, Lockjaw first encountered a strange frog that resembled the Norse thunder God Thor, from when he had been transformed into a frog in the 1980's.  However, unlike when Thor had been trapped in an amphibian body, this frog could talk.  He identified himself as Throg and explained that he had come to share a portion of Thor's powers when he found a tiny splinter from Mjolnir.  Unfortunately, Throg was full of doubt.  Lockjaw spoke with Throg telepathically and convinced him that he really was worthy as a super-hero and to help join his cause.   

Lockjaw began teleporting around New York collecting animals who were either super powered or had connections to super heroes.  Throg accompanied him, and spoke on behalf of Lockjaw.  Together they recruited Lockheed the alien dragon who was mourning the loss of  Kitty Pryde, Redwing the Falcon's avian companion who had a self-righteous attitude, Niels the cat who had been transformed into a bouncing feline as part of the same experiment that transformed Robbie Baldwin into Speedball & therefore asked to be known as Hairball, and Ms Lion who didn't have any powers but was eager to be a super hero.  
 

Savage Land

Together they set off around the world to collect the Infinity Gems.  They first arrived in the Savage Land where they quickly found the Time Gem and entrusted it to Lockheed.  Then they were attacked by a Tyrannosaurus but they were saved by Ka-Zar's Sabretooth Tiger companion, Zabu.   After they introduced themselves, Zabu asked to join them in their quest and was officially accepted as a member of the team.   
 
Throg and Lockheed sensed the two more Inifinty Gems which were also in the Savage Land, but were lost in a different time.   Lockheed used the Time Gem to transport the team into the past.  Almost immediately, the team was attacked by Devil Dinosaur.  They drew Devil Devinosaur away from his nest where Ms Lion and Lockjaw retrieved the next two Infinity Gems.  Struggling to keep a safe distance from Devil Dinosaur, Lockheed refused to use the Time Gem to transport them back into the future until all their team-mates were safe.  Just as about Devil Dinaosaur was about to attack, they re-assembled and Lockheed activated the Gem's power. 
 

Under The Sea

Back in the present, the Pet Avengers found themselves falling from the sky.  They had been transported away from the Savage Land and appeared over the ocean.  Lockheed and Redwing struggled to keep their team-mates in the air, and ultiamtely they all fell into the ocean.  As many of their different specieis were unable to swim, they continued to sink down to the ocean floor and began to lose consciousness. 
 
When the Pet Avengers awoke, they found that they had been rescued by turtles from Namor's honor guard.  Realising that the air-breathing critters were drowing, the tutles had placed them inside giant bubbles that would protect them & supply them with air while underwater.  Therefore the Pet Avgners allied with themselves with Namor's turtle guards and formed a plan to retrieve two more Infinity Gems that were located inside  Giganto the whale.  They had no choice but to be swallowed by Giganto.  Once inside, they struggled with the rushing water, but soon found the Infinity Gems stuck on Giganto's tonsils.  As soon they had possession of the Gems, Lockjaw was forced to use his teleportation powers to save the whole team from being swallowed and devoured by Giganto.
 

Thanos & The First Dog

Lockjaw's teleportation took the team to the lawn of the White House.  However, he was exhausted and fell asleep upon arrival.  The other Pet Avengers struggled to carry him and formed a plan to smuggle them all inside the White House.  They arranged for themselves to be delivered with the supplies of pet food. Inside the White House, they soon encountered Bo Obama.  The First Dog was wearing a new golden collar with a bright red jewel inset into the pendant.  The Pet Avengers recognised the last of the Infinity Gems which was inserted into Bo's collar.  However, Bo was so excited by the Pet Avengers' arrival that he wanted to play and ran away for them to chase him.  Just as the Pet Avengers chased Bo,  Thanos appeared and took both Bo Obama and the Power Gem  away in a blinding flash of light. 

The Pet Avengers gave chase and confronted the Titan on the lawn to the White House.  Thanos was unable to understand the Pet Avengers when they spoke, as they only appeared to meow, bark and squark angrilly at him.  However, he understood that they had powers of their own and had successfully collected the other Infitity Gems.  Therefore he continued to taunt them and demanded that they hand-over the Inifity Gems.  While Thanos was trying to formulate a plan, Hairball quickly attacked Thanos.  Thanos unleashed a powerful energy blast, but Ms Lion pushed Hairball away.  Ms Lion was instantly killed.  Enraged, Hairball activated the Soul Gem which revived Ms Lion.    

The rest of the team attacked Thanos, but they were all defeated.  Lockjaw appeared to cowtow to Thanos, but gathering all the other Infinity Gems that the other Pet Avengers had been entrusted with.  Throg was upset, claiming that Lockjaw was a coward and had betrayed them.  Thanos could detect Throg's displeasure at Lockjaw, as the little frog placed the collection of Inifity Gems on a collar around Lockjaw's neck.  However, instead of giving the Infinity Gems to Thanos, Lockjaw combined their power with his own.  He transported himself and Thanos throughout space and time.  Although Thanos claimed that Lockjaw needed the red Power Gem to control the others, the Inhuman dog demonstrated that he had significant strength and willpower to overwhelm the Titan.  Finally, Lockjaw was able to steal the Power Gem and trap Thanos in a pocket dimension. 
  

Pet Avengers, Disassembled

Lockjaw rejoined the rest of the Pet Avengers back on the lawn of the White House.  Their joy was short-lived when Ms Lion wondered if it meant the end of the team.  Throg disagreed and Lockjaw used the Infinity Gems to create a psychic link between all of the animals present.  Their eyes flashed with a bright white light and Hairball complained that he didn't want Ms Lion's thoughts in his head.  With the telepathic connection they could alert each other should they need to assemble the Pet Avengers again.  Lockjaw then teleported the Pet Avengers away.  Still on the lawn of the White House, Bo Obama's eyes also flashed with a bright white light, indicating that Lockjaw had inducted him into the Pet Avengers.  
  
When Lockjaw returned to Attilan with the Infinity Gems with, he gave them to Reed Richards.  Mr Fantastic was astounded as to how Lockjaw had collected them all, and who was very grateful to the Royal Pet. 

Miscellaneous Info

• Niels the cat hadn't been seen in comics since an appearance in the New Warriors.  However, he was referred to in the Deadpool & Great Lakes Initiative Summer Fun #1, when Squirrel Girl confronted Penance (formerly known as Speedball).  During a scene which mocked the out-of-character change to Robbie Baldwin, it was revealed that Niels was forced to under-go a similar transformation.  He had been encased in a metallic coat and re-named P-Cat, the Penitent Puss.  There has been no reference to how Niels escaped his metal outfit, or when he last saw Robbie Baldwin.

• Lockjaw & the Pet Avengers #1 was is the first appearance of Ms Lion in print.  Ms Lion was originally Firestar's pet pooch from the 1980's cartoon series Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends.  Ms Lion is no longer associated with Firestar (who has a cat called Pumkin), but does have familial connections to Spider-Man.  Also, despite the feminine title in the name (Ms being an honourific for either divorced ladies, or women where their marital status is unknown), Ms Lion is actually a boy.