5) WHAT IF THE AVENGERS FORMED IN THE 1950s?

What If? V1 #9 posits a world where the scarce Marvel heroes of the 1950s came together to form a team and battle nefarious villains and McCarthyism.  Interestingly, this story slipped in and out of continuity until it was officially disavowed by ‘Avengers Forever’ as an alternate reality.  Not long after that, Bob Grayson, Ken Hale, Jimmy Woo, Venus and The Human Robot were assembled in the modern Marvel universe as The Agents of Atlas.  Though initially not used because of his retcon status (though active in the 1950s, his first appearance was in the 1970s)  a new 3-D Man eventually joined the team.  Sadly, the Agents have gone dormant again, but they’re a great team, inspired by an unusual and interesting What If issue…