It was the darkest days of the Second World War when the mysterious band of costumed heroes, the Invaders, were born -- each member had his own history, his own life, but they all came together to form the heroic group that helped and lead the Allied Nations to victory against the dreaded Third Reich.

Winston Churchill himself gave the "Invaders" their namesake, hoping in part to strike a little fear deep into the Fatherland of Nazi Germany. Whether he succeded or not, however, remained to be seen... The original five, core members of the Invader squad were Captain America, the Original Human Torch (who, at the time, was the only 'Torch), and the easily-tempered Sub-Mariner. Captain America's young sidekick Bucky tagged along with the group, as did the Human Torch's young ward Toro -- and all together, won out against their opponents. For the most part, that is.

On the team's first "real" outing as a group, they met with the Nazi criminal Willie Lohmer (alias, Master Man), who had been crafted to be the perfect model of the Aryan race. Though stumbling at first, the Invaders began functioning as a team and managed to transform Master Man back into his weaker persona -- and lil' ol' Bucky made the final few blows to him. (Giant Size Invaders#1)

Next came the true struggle. The Invaders managed to stop Master Man by working as one -- but how could the beat their newest opponets, the Star-Gods, when they were split up?

Comprised of three ancient, mystical warriors (Donar, God of Raging Thunder, Froh, God of Lightning, and Loga, God of Fire), they tore through the Invaders like rag dolls. When the mysterious villain was revealed ("Brain Drain", an ordanary German named Weirner Schmidt who was caught in a meteorite blast and was transformed into a half robot, with a glass dome over his eyes and brain -- not a pretty site, seeing that's all he had left for a face -- eyes and a brain) it turns out he was using the Star-Gods as mere puppets to gain himself power -- well, you can guess how that turned out. Schmidt was killed, the Star-Gods returned home, as did the Invaders -- battered and bruised, with another victory on their hands. (Invaders#1-2)

Life had adjusted pretty good for the team after the Star-God battle. Still unsure of their survival as a unit, however, would be put to the test when the threat of U-Man erupted onto the scene...

Flying back across the Atlantic, the Invaders see a small German U-Boat firing upon a U.S. freighter ship, and go into action to stop it. Easily taking control of the tiny sub, the heroes capture the captain of the Nazi crew, and find a top secret document with him; but this is no normal government document.

Flying back to Washington DC, they have the note decoded and learn it's contents; U-Man!