Pet Avengers

Most Recent Roster

• Throg
• Lockjaw
• Lockheed
• Bats
• Munin
• Hugin

Origin

Mr Fantastic and the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four met with Black Bolt, Medusa, and 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.

Major 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 and 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 species 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 drowning, the turtles had placed them inside giant bubbles that would protect them & supply them with air while underwater. Therefore the Pet Avengers allied 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 recognized 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 squawk angrily at him. However, he understood that they had powers of their own and had successfully collected the other Infinity Gems. Therefore he continued to taunt them and demanded that they hand-over the Infinity 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 kowtow to Thanos, but gathered 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 Infinity 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 was very grateful to the Royal Pet.

The Golden One

Throg was protecting some frogs in Central Park from alligators but felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness when the frogs cowered behind him. He was neither god, man, or frog, and desired to find his place in the world. When he left Migard for that very purpose, his fellow Pet Avengers felt that disturbance. Lockjaw collected his fellow members and brought them to Ms. Lion, whose ability to track smaller creatures was better than Lockjaw’s. This way, they could go find their friend.

Unfortunately, Ms. Lion could only track him to the Central Park frogs who said he had left. Instead, Redwing suggested they attempt a psychic connection like he has with Falcon. Once successful, Lockjaw teleports them to his location in the Himalayas where Throg had sought out another mythical creature, The Yeti, on advice from Thor. Unfortunately, they had just been exiled from a plane of existence where all of Earth’s former mythical creatures were residing. They were all exiled as well, but with Lockjaw’s teleportation power, the Pet Avengers can go to this plane of existence and fight the so-called “Golden One,” who had betrayed its fellow mythical creatures.

The Pet Avengers were prepared to fight the Golden One and her wooden sentries, but The Golden One turned out to be a little girl, as is tradition for this land. She was angered when she was told her rule there would be limited, as it is only while the ruler dreams that they can command that land. The Pet Avengers’ new unicorn friend, Damiella, talked her down until she woke up.

The Dragons

While on patrol as a team, Throg received a psychic distress call from Thor. The team teleported to his location near a volcano in the South Pacific. There, they meet Thor, Iron Man, and Bucky Barnes (active as Captain America), who have been turned into frogs. They were confronting Fin Fang Foom and his gang of dragons, angry over being hunted nearly to extinction. The dragons swallowed the pets and the frog Avengers, sparing only Lockheed for being a fellow dragon. Luckily, Lockjaw was able to teleport them out of the dragon stomachs.

They receive another distress call, this one electronic, from Steve Rogers. The Avengers were fighting the dragon horde in China, and Steve was calling in every available Avenger. They joined the battle, much to the surprise of the human Avengers. However, the team became concerned that Lockheed had sincerely joined the dragons in trying to rip the planet apart.

Lockheed swears that it is for a good reason and as a show of good faith has Fin Fang Foom return the frog Avengers to their human state. He proceeds to tell his team that the dragons are only trying to find their eggs hidden within the volcano to bring them space to hatch. Because the Avengers couldn’t understand the conversation their animal allies were having, they could not understand why they would side with the dragons, forcing the Pet Avengers to hold them off until the dragons could save their offspring.

God of Hammers

With Mjolnir disobeying Thor regularly, Thor decided to part with it for a time, leaving it under the watchful eye of the Avengers. Unfortunately, this did not stop it from going missing. Believing it to be stolen, Thor reaches out to Throg to investigate and reclaim the hammer for him, while he is busy ruling Asgard. Throg, who sensed Mjolnir’s disappearance and was expecting Thor, had put together a new team of Pet Avengers.

• Hugin and Munin would be his ticket to all the nine realms
• Lockjaw would be his bloodhound
• Lockheed would be his scout
• Bats would be his magic expert, suspecting the culprit was a magic user

Sadly, all they found was Broxton, OH, which once welcomed all of Asgard, leveled by the Mjolnir. Thor, who went to witness the damage, called for Mjolnir with all his rage. It traveled to him now controlled by the Tempest, the power with which Odin forged the hammer. The Tempest had bonded with Mangog during the War of the Realms and was lashing out at Thor for trading his station as a warrior for one as a king.

Initially overwhelmed, Beta Ray Bill called forth as many of Thor’s allies as he could, including this new roster of Pet Avengers.

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 is the first appearance of Ms Lion in the 616 universe, his first appearance in print is the 1981 Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends one-shot, an adaption of the cartoon series. 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.