This issue marks a new volume of Avengers after the culmination of the Onslaught Saga brought an end to the first volume after 402 issues, most of which were covered here, starting with issue #4 in March 1964 (which reintroduced Captain America to the modern Marvel Universe).
I discussed the background of the “Heroes Reborn” reboot in the post on Captain America #1, so I won’t repeat it all here. For present purposes, just remember that Captain America and most of the rest of the Avengers (Thor, Giant-Man, Wasp, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Vision), along with Bruce Banner, the Fantastic Four, and Doctor Doom, were believed dead after entering Onslaught’s energy field before it was destroyed by the X-Men in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. But Franklin Richards saved them all by creating a parallel reality in which they were “reborn” with no memories of their past lives… and often strikingly different “memories” of their new ones. (And sometimes with wings on your forehead instead of a letter.)
This issue begins with this new reality’s Loki—traditionally the first Avengers villain—coming to Midgard (Earth) and surveying its mightiest heroes (who have already been assembled in the organizational sense). When he gets to Cap, he can tell he stands alone, metaphorically and literally, and also that he talks to himself.
This leads to a double-page spread serving as a preview of upcoming events in Captain America (which had only begun at this point in issue #1, but are fleshed out further in issues #2-5).
The relevant exposition is below, focusing on his wartime past (which he has only recently remembered), his torturous present (due to events of which he has only recently become aware), and a more hopeful future centered on the American dream…
…”a hope that drives Steve Rogers on,” it continues, “and provides the inspiration for the Avengers,” finally shown together several pages later in response to a threat no single hero could handle.
Of these six, only four are from the 616 universe, with the other two from the new reality: the Swordsman (at the bottom left) and Hellcat (at the upper right). As for the rest of our Avengers reborn, Hank and Janet were seen earlier in the issue, with the latter once again human, and Tony is yet to be seen outside his own title (although he is once again an adult).
And whither Thor? It turns our that’s what the emergency call was about, as the Avengers fly to Norway and meet Dr. Donald Blake, who has found somebody trapped in amber, with Mjolnir lying on the ground beneath him.
The Avengers work together under Cap’s command to break Thor out, while being admired silently by Dr. Blake.
After Vision and the Scarlet Witch add their unique skills, Thor is freed, verily!
Once they have succeeded in their mission, it occurs to Cap that freeing an all-powerful Norse god with a (truly) old-fashioned sense of ethics may not have been the best idea.
But the Norse god Cap should have been worried about soon arrives: Loki hails his brother well met and tells him the Avengers are a threat to Asgard itself, and Cap is shocked, just shocked, that Loki told a lie. (Lucky for him, the synthezoid smart-ass is there to explain.)
Cap bravely takes the brunt of Thor’s rage…
…and it is not until Thor lifts his mighty hammer that he also remembers what his brother is like and agrees with Vision’s assessment. (“Why wouldst anyone believe him?” Thor asks, rubbing it in even more.)
Thor seems to remember some of what got them here, and then agrees to join with the Avengers, partly out of a quick assessment of the virtues of Captain America.
(I don’t know if this was planned from the beginning—his memories above are vague enough that it could have been—but near the end of the “Heroes Reborn” Avengers run, we learn that this is not “our” Thor, but a new version in this reality. Confirming Cap’s fears, this Thor is more brutal than the one he knew, and a change in editorial direction halfway through the run may account for the return of a more familiar version.)
We end this post with the double-page spread below, with (most of) our newly expanded team raising a celebratory fist to… somebody in the air.
Check out the next four issues, in which the Avengers meet this reality’s version of Kang and a big green friend from their own world…
ISSUE DETAILS
Avengers (vol. 2) #1, November 1996: Rob Liefeld and Jim Valentino (writers), Chap Yaep and Rob Liefeld (pencils), Jon Sibal and Marlo Alquiza (inks), Ashby Manson and Extreme Color (colors), Steve Dutro (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Heroes Reborn: The Avengers.
ALSO THIS MONTH: Captain America #1 (November 1996)
NEXT ISSUES: Avengers #2-5 (December 1996-March 1997)
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 
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