If We Should Fail — The World Dies Tonight!

Captain America, Iron Man, and the Black Panther are spending some downtime at Avengers Mansion when they are suddenly attacked by a man in a suit of armor.[1] During the fight, their mystery attacker tries to goad the Avengers into killing him. Ultimately, Iron Man manages to knock him out with a steady burst of his repulsor rays. Unmasking their attacker, Iron Man recognizes him as Tony Stark’s business rival, Jason Beere. Beere explains that he is terminally ill and has set up an explosive to destroy the world once his heart stops beating. When Jason passes out, Iron Man races him to the Stark Industries building where he uses one of his old Iron Man chest plates to keep Beere’s heart beating.[2]

When Captain America and Black Panther arrive, Iron Man has determined that the device in Jason’s chest is linked to three neutron warheads that he planted in three different locations across the globe. The trio then split up to find the three warheads.

Captain America soon arrives at a temple in Peru where the first neutron bomb has been stashed. However, getting it is easier said than done as Beere has convinced the local tribe that Captain America has come to steal their eagle god. However, their primitive weapons and trained eagles are no match for Captain America’s years of battle training and he eventually manages to grab the bomb and escape.

At that same moment, the Black Panther arrives at the second location, a frozen cave along the Arctic Circle. There he is attacked by a polar bear and plunged into the freezing arctic waters. Despite being out of his element, the Black Panther’s skills prove the better against the massive beast and he recovers the second bomb.

Lastly, Iron Man has arrived in Russia to collect the third bomb. Here, the Russian military has been tipped off to his arrival and they have prepared to stop him from entering the museum where the third bomb is located. Iron Man’s technology proves better than the military weapons and traps set for him and he obtains the third explosive. However, on his way out of the museum, he finds even more soldiers waiting to capture him. Luckily, he manages to make a quick retreat.

The three Avengers arrive at the same time and link the three bombs together thinking that it will shut them down. However, it instead plays a recording made by Jason Beere who tells the Avengers that this was all a distraction and the real bomb is inside his body and will go off when he finally dies. With no way to efficiently remove the bomb before it can go off, Iron Man instead puts Jason Beere’s body in cryogenic suspension. While this won’t end the threat from the neutron bomb, it will delay Beere’s death long enough to hopefully find a solution.[3]

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Black Panther), Jason Beere

Continuity Notes

1. This is a fill-in issue due to a missed deadline. Chronologically it takes place between Avengers #163 and 164.

2. Tony Stark suffered a heart injury back in Tales of Suspense #39. The chest plate of his Iron Man armor kept shrapnel in his heart from killing him. This was the status quo until he received a life-saving transplant in Iron Man #19.

3. Other than a brief appearance in Iron Man #115, Jason Beere is never seen again. He received a profile in Avengers: Roll Call #1, which states that his whereabouts are unknown since Stark Industries was taken over by Obadiah Stane in Iron Man #173.