Avengers #218
Born Again (And Again And Again…)
A young boy rings the door bell at Avengers Mansion and is greeted by the team’s butler, Jarvis. Thinking the youth has come to get autographs of the world famous heroes, he tells the kid that the team is busy. The boy, however, insists that he needs to see the Avengers because it is a matter of life and death. Overheard by the Wasp, she decides to indulge the boy and take him on a tour of Avengers Mansion, thinking the kid just wants some attention.
Quickly growing tired of the Wasp’s constant sweet-talk, the boy tells her to shut up and runs into a restricted area of the mansion where Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America are making repairs to machinery.[1] The child tells the Avengers that he immortal and cannot die and needs the heroes help to finally find a way to end his life. Then, to demonstrate that he is telling the truth, the boy pulls out a gun and shoots himself in the head. The Avengers are horrified by this sudden suicide and are shocked when the boy’s body suddenly begins to disintegrate. Moments later, the young boy is suddenly reborn and rapidly ages into a young child once again. This grisly display convinces the Avengers that this boy is telling the truth and they invite him into the team meeting room to learn more about his uncanny situation.
The boy reveals that he is Morgan MacNeil Hardy, a billionaire that Captain America clashed with recently.[2] He recounts how he perished when Captain America destroyed Hardy’s psi-augmenter. Although his body was buried, he was reborn three days later. However, Hardy’s psi-augmenter unlocked long lost memories making him realize that he had lived many lives over the course of centuries dating back to ancient Egypt leading up to more recent times such as how he survived the great San Francisco fire of 1906.[3] Having grown tired of eternal life, Morgan pleads with the Avengers to come up with some way to end his existence once and for all.
The Avengers agree and a battery of tests are run on the immortal. Unfortunately, they cannot come up with a means to end Hardy’s life. They try to convince him that his memories of the past could be useful to present day society. However, Morgan is furious that they have failed to grant him his wish. That evening, while the Avengers have gone to sleep, Morgan gets inspiration from a newspaper story and sneaks out of the mansion. He heads south, stowing away on a freight car. When two hobos riding the rails try to rob him, Morgan pulls his gun and scares them off.
The following morning, Morgan arrives outside the gates of Cape Canaveral and convinces the guards that he is the grandson of General Nelson, the commanding officer on the base. This allows Morgan access to the facility and he quickly stows away on board the Starcore Three space probe which is scheduled for launch. Once the rocket blasts off, Morgan is killed and reborn over and over since the probe does not have a life support system. Enduring this agony, he reprograms the rockets so that instead of orbiting the sun, the rocket plunges into it, hoping the blazing star will finally end his life for good.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t work and rather than reborn as a human, Morgan Hardy evolves into a creature made of solar flame. Rendered mindless by this transformation, the creature returns to Earth dimly aware that the planet is the source of its agony and begins going on a rampage through New York City. The Avengers are called on the scene and during the battle, Hardy’s memories return and he accuses the Avengers of his transformation. The heroes are shocked to learn that this monster is somehow Morgan Hardy. In the ensuing battle, they discover that Captain America’s shield can destabilize the monsters form. This stuns the creature long enough for Thor to create a massive vortex with Mjolnir in an effort to send the creature back into space.
This causes the monster to explode, leaving a massive hole in the middle of the street. Going down into the crater to recover Captain America’s shield, the Avengers are shocked to see Morgan Hardy be reborn into a normal human boy again. This time it appears that Hardy no longer has any memory of his past lives. Seeing this as the opportunity to have the boy live a normal life again. However, as Iron Man and Wasp fly the boy out to the crater, Morgan Hardy gives a sinister smile, suggesting that perhaps his amnesia is nothing more than a ruse.[4]
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Wasp), Morgan Hardy, Edwin Jarvis
Continuity Notes
Captain America states that this is not one of the children he recently brought to the mansion. This happened in Captain America #267.
Captain America’s battle with Hardy happened in Captain America #264.
This fire is historical, but a footnote tells readers to check out Spider-Woman #33, which featured a story that referenced this famous fire in more detail during Jessica Drew’s battle with Turner D. Century and introduced Hardy.
We never find out for sure because, as of this writing, the Forever Man is never seen again.
Topical References
This story implies that Morgan’s last life lasted from 1906 until his death in Captain America #264. Given the fact that Morgan is an immortal, this is not necessarily a topical reference. It’s possible that Morgan’s aging process was slowed making him live longer than most, explaining away any of the usual Sliding Timescale problems that come into play when a Modern Age character is tied into a historical event like the San Francisco fire of 1906. The Forever Man profile in Avengers Assemble #1 states that Morgan ages at a normal rate. My assumption is that assessment is probably inaccurate.
