Rick Jones is saved from a Gamma bomb by Bruce Banner who exposed himself to the radiation by doing so. After taking him to the infirmary, Rick witness as Bruce turns into the Hulk and runs away. From then on, Rick decides to tag along and help the man who saved his life.
Bruce Banner has set up a cave with a thick concrete wall to contain the Hulk at night and Rick has agreed to manage the opening and closing of the wall. Some time later, he helps Bruce defeat the Toad Men who came to invade the Earth.
Rick unknowingly lures the Hulk into a rocket which General Ross sends to space and a cosmic radiation causes an incident that creates a mental link between him and the creature. After the rocket capsule crashes, he realizes he can control him and that ability helps both of them defeat the Circus of Crime when the Hulk is captured by the criminal team.
After the Fantastic Four have accepted to help him find the Hulk who he thinks has been sabotaging missile installations, General Ross introduces Reed to Dr. Banner, Dr. Kort and Rick Jones. A wallet handed to Rick by the Human Torch reveals that Dr. Kort is a member of a communist organization. Some time later, the Fantastic Four capture Karl Kort, the actual Wrecker responsible for the damages, and deliver him to General Ross.
Inspired by a friend who owns a ham radio, Rick Jones builds a network of teenagers across the country who are willing to give a hand when the world needs it. He calls the group the Teen Brigade and with them, he manages to supply Bruce Banner with everything he needs to defeat the Metal Master.
Learning the news that the Hulk is accused of attacking a train, Rick Jones mobilizes the Teen Brigade and tries to get the Fantastic Four to help locate his friend but they are already on another case and cannot assist. Instead, Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp have intercepted their message and agree to join forces to lend a hand. Rick warns them that the Hulk can be dangerous, but also asks them not to hurt him if he is innocent. This call to arms leads to the formation of the Avengers.
When the Space Phantom takes possession of the Hulk's body to turn the Avengers against each other, Rick Jones immediately knows something is wrong with his friend so the alien reveals himself to the young man before he takes back the Hulk form and leaps away. Rick contacts Giant-Man to warn the Avengers of the alien imposter.
Rick finds the Hulk in New Mexico and they use Banner's machine to make him human again but the gamma dose is not enough. During the night, Banner turns back into the Hull who smashes out of the cave to go on a rampage. Rick reports the situation to the Avengers.
Looking for the Avengers, Rick Jones meets Captain America who mistakes him for his lost partner Bucky. Together, they find the Avengers who have been turned to stone by an alien who agrees to bring them back to normal in exchange for their help in recovering his spaceship at the bottom of the ocean. After they resist an attack from Namor, Captain America accepts to join the Avengers.
Still on the trail of the Hulk, Rick Jones and the Avengers find clues of his presence in New Mexico. But his incredible friend is now in New York City and has defeated the Fantastic Four. They travel back to the Big Apple where they face the Hulk. Soon, the Fantastic Four have regrouped and join them in the fight, but since they never fought side-by-side, they only get in each other's way. Realizing this, they decide to collaborate and finally manage to overwhelm the Hulk. Rick Jones throws a gamma-ray pill into the giant's mouth. Falling into the waters of the Hudson River, the Hulk turns into Bruce Banner and is carried away by its current.
With the help of the Teen Brigade, Rick Jones replaces Baron Zemo's Adhesive X with Paste-Pot Pete super-dissolver when the Avengers battle the Masters of Evil.
Rick Jones commits the faux-pas of donning Bucky's costume and Cap tells him that he will never have another partner.
Rick accompanies the Avengers are asked by the Pentagon to deal with the threat of Kang the Conqueror who came from the future to claim Earth for himself. After explaining his origin, Kang is attacked by the Avengers but he easily confines the male members of the team inside his ship. While Rick Jones and Teen Brigade free the Avengers, the Wasp goes back to the team's headquarters to find a weapon with which Giant-Man destroys Kang's suit which controls his weapons. Defeated when Thor uses his hammer to hurl radiation back at him, the Conqueror is forced to flee in his ship.
During a meeting, Captain America refuses Iron Man's proposition that Rick Jones be officially admitted as member of the Avengers, concerned for the boy's life. Later, Rick falls into a trap set by Immortus, who has him sent to London in 1760. He is later rescued by Captain America and Immortus is forced to send them back to the present where the Avengers are challenged by the Masters of Evil. The Enchantress casts a spell to bring her team back to the moment before they met Immortus, so for anybody else, it is as if nothing ever happened.
Rick is taken by the Military Police before General Ross who wants to learn his connection with the Hulk. After using Bruce's gamma ray machine on his friend, Rick observes that the Hulk is growing more aggressive.
Rick accompanies the Hulk when he is challenged by a so-called alien named Mongu.
Betty Ross has been taken hostage to a subterranean world by Tyrannus. Rick sets her free so that the Hulk is no longer bound to serve Tyrannus and the three escape.
Rick Jones accompanies the Hulk to Asia to stop the army of General Fang.
While the Avengers are taking a short break to attend to personal matters, Captain America takes the opportunity to train Rick Jones on a few acrobatic moves. Rick accompanies the team to New Mexico, where they confront the Lava Men who have been pushing an ever-growing rock outside of their subterranean domain.
During an athletic exhibition, Captain America is attacked by an army of assassins sent by Zemo. Rick gives Cap a hand then races to bring the police, but when they arrive, the spar-spangled hero has already beat them all.
During a meeting, Cap reminds Rick that he still has no voting privilege with the Avengers.
Rick accompanies Cap to fetch some equipment Stark's West Side warehouse where the come face to face with thieves. After Rick has failed to stop their leader, Cap reassures him that it will not affect his status with the Avengers.
Rick and his Teen Brigade are accompanying the Avengers to Count Nefaria's castle for a charity event. When the celebration is delayed, the young boys start snooping to find the Avengers but they get caught and thrown in a dungeon cell. The Avengers arrive some time later to rescue them and defeat the Count. Rick carries the unconscious Wasp to the team after she took a stray bullet while she was protecting the boys.
The Teen Brigade set up a giant antenna but they intercept no signals that would provide any clues on the location of the aliens who abducted Dr. Svenson. Then Rick follows the Avengers on their quest to bring back the only surgeon who can save the Wasp.
Rick takes a leave from Captain America to help his friend Bruce in New Mexico.
Going to an Avengers meeting, Rick Jones is pulled into an aircraft by an attractor beam and taken to the Amazon jungle by Baron Zemo's men so that Captain America will come and try to rescue him. After Zemo's death under a rockslide, Captain America and Rick come back home to find that three new Avengers have replaced all the original members.
When Bruce Banner gets arrested for treason, Rick meets President Lyndon B. Johnson to tell him of his friend's secret and have him clear his name.
Rick visits his friend Bruce who's being held by the army and prevents him from transforming into the Hulk in front of Talbot. He later picks up an S.O.S. signal and follows its source to a mesa where he and the military find Banner apparently dead.
Rick is disappointed that the Avengers accepted new members while Cap won't officially let him in.
Rick steals Bruce's body and takes it to their secret lab to reanimate him with gamma radiation. When the missile base is being attacked by a 500-foot high humanoid, he rushes to the Hulk to warn him that Ross is launching a super-missile at them. The Hulk jumps away to his lab with Rick, but when Ross threatens to nuke the cave, the giant sends his friend away. Rick rushes to Ross and Talbot but fails to convince him to spare his friend. After the army has destroyed the cave with regular missiles, the Hulk's body is nowhere to find in the debris, but the presence of scientific equipment suggests to Talbot that the Hulk may be the product of Banner's experiments.
