With the UN having granted the Avengers a new charter as a special unit of its peace-keeping force, 23 Avengers gather at the new HQ to discuss the change. As Rage and a man in disguise wait outside the conference room, the team votes on a new lineup of seven primary members – Black Widow, Captain America, Quasar, Sersi, She-Hulk, Thor and Vision – as well as reserve members to substitute for them. Seeking to draw strength from the world’s evil, Ngh and his minions find LD 50 and his associates and offer to help the drug dealer strike at Rage. Holding a press conference, the Avengers announce their new roster and introduce the reservists – Black Knight, Captain Marvel, Falcon, Hercules, Spider-Man – plus two new members, Rage and the man in disguise, who stands revealed as Sandman. The Tetrarchs of Entropy suddenly appear and send the primary team to the Dimension of Exile as punishment for abetting Ngh’s escape from that realm, then blast the remaining Avengers and vanish. In the Dimension of Exile, the confused primary team finds Thor’s hammer and Sersi trapped in crystalline encasements. Ngh and his minions show up at the home of Rage’s grandmother.
The Avengers establish a formal roster of “primary” and “reserve substitute” members, on call to cover for absent regulars, with remaining Avengers relegated to the “inactive reserves.” Black Widow rejoins as a regular member; Rage and Sandman become probationary substitute members. Starting this issue, the team’s chairman is officially called “chair-being,” but the Index continues to refer to the position as “chairman.” Quasar wears a new costume introduced in Q #18, ’91. Wasp is shown in a new black, purple and yellow costume.