Avengers #288
Heavy Metal!
The Super-Adaptoid has just convinced Machine Man to join his cause, offering to resurrect his deceased lover, the robot known as Jocasta.[1] First, the pair head to the Texas Panhandle to reactivate the Kree Sentry, who has become a tourist destination following its last defeat at the hands of the original Captain Marvel.[2] After frightening off the tourists, the two get to work repairing the deactivated robot. The owner of the tourist trap tries to stop them, but his shotgun does little to prevent them from taking away his cash cow.
Meanwhile, at the Avengers headquarters at Hydrobase, the reconstructed Avengers Mansion is being lowered into its foundation. Doctor Druid decides to record the event for posterity, and uses the opportunity to once again question Captain Marvel’s leadership. That’s when the Black Knight returns and reports that there is no news on the whereabouts of Captain America.[3] He has, however, brought back a newspaper article about the Kree Sentry’s reactivation. Recognizing this as the work of the Super-Adaptoid, they why he is recruiting an army of robots. Captain Marvel decides to go off in her faster-than-light energy form to begin a country wide search for the Adaptoid, telling her teammates that she’ll be back as soon as she finds something.
By this time, the Super-Adaptoid and his new allies have just reached the Grand Canyon. Suspicious of the Adaptoid’s true intentions, Machine Man passes the time on their trip by discussing the various philosophies he has read that liken biological evolution to machinery, particularly the works of Descartes, Darwin, and Newton. The Super-Adaptoid dismisses these philosophies, telling Machine Man he wasted his time learning about them.
Later, Captain Marvel returns to headquarters when the trail has gone cold. Arriving in the situation room she is pleased that Doctor Druid and the Black Knight have taken the time to pull up the Avengers files on every robotic entity that the Adaptoid could potentially recruit.[4] With this list the pair have narrowed down three potential candidates: Ultron, Tess-One, Machine Man, and the Sentinels. Captain Marvel calls the team into a meeting and splits everyone off into groups to investigate these leads: Doctor Druid and the Black Knight are to investigate Tess-One in Colorado, the Sub-Mariner and She-Hulk will go to Washington to check on the Sentinels, and she will have the West Coast Avengers look into Ultron’s whereabouts. As Marrina is not an official Avenger, she is asked to stay behind despite protests from Namor. With everyone given their assignments Monica wishes Captain America was there with her as she doesn’t feel like she’s cutting it as leader of the Avengers.
Soon, Doctor Druid and the Black Knight arrive at the Air Force base to check on Tess-One. Not wanting to deal with red tape to get authorization, Druid lands the Quinjet in the middle of the base and uses his telepathic powers to force the soldiers to let them through. They quickly recover Tess-One aboard their Quinjet and leave. However, as they are flying over the Rockies they are attacked by the Kree Sentry. While the Black Knight defends himself with his Ebony Blade, Doctor Druid is ambushed by the Super-Adaptoid.[5] Unfortunately, Doctor Druid’s mental powers don’t work on the Adaptoid as he has telepathy of his own after adapting the abilities of Mentallo. On the ground, the Black Knight has managed to free himself from the grasp of the Kree Sentry when he is confronted by Machine Man. However, the robot’s ability to remove his limb and operate them remotely allows him to knock the Knight out. With the situation growing dire, Druid swallows his pride and sends a telepathic call for help to Captain Marvel.
At that moment, Captain Marvel is destroying the remains of the Doomsday Man and departs at light speed, missing Druid’s telepathic summons by seconds.[6] Moments later, Doctor Druid is knocked out by the Super-Adaptoid. In the aftermath of the battle, the Adaptoid orders Machine Man to dispose of the two defeated Avengers.
Later, Captain Marvel returns to Hydrobase and meets with She-Hulk and the Sub-Mariner, who have come back with nothing to report. As Doctor Druid and the Black Knight have not reported back, Monica takes off to look for them. Moments after she has left the Super-Adaptoid, Machine Man, Tess-One, and the Kree Sentry arrive on the island in a stolen Quinjet. Calling his group Heavy Metal, orders his robotic allies help him take over Hydrobase.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Black Knight, She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Sub-Mariner, Doctor Druid), Heavy Metal (Machine Man, Super-Adaptoid, Sentry 459, Awesome Android, Tess-One), Marrina
Continuity Notes
At the time of this story, Jocasta had recently sacrificed her life in the pages of Marvel Two-In-One #93. The narration here states that Machine Man was the lone survivor of a government project used to build robots for military applications. This was detailed in 2001, A Space Odyssey #8-10.
The Kree Sentry was shut down in Captain Marvel #49.
At the time of this story, Steve Rogers has been MIA since the government forced him to give up his Captain America identity. During this time he has reinvented himself as simply the “Captain”, as seen in Captain America #332 and will remain the status quo until issue #350 of that series.
The majority of the robots on display are listed as destroyed or deactivated at the time of this story. As you would expect, a lot of these characters end up getting reactivated at later dates after this story. These robots are:
Arsenal: A robot built by Howard Stark to fight America’s enemies. This robot was recently destroyed by the Hulk and She-Hulk in Incredible Hulk #282. It will be rebuilt in Avengers Academy #2.
The Machinesmith: His status here is unknown. He was last seen in Captain America #249. He will turn up again in issue #354 of that series.
Quasimodo: Listed as deactivated after his data consciousness was seemingly destroyed by the Vision in Avengers #253. He will turn up alive again in Iron Man Annual #12.
The Sleeper: There have been many Sleeper robots over the years, but the one depicted here is the 4th Sleeper, which was destroyed in Captain America #102. It will be rebuilt by the Red Skull in issue #367 of that series.
Kree Sentry 451: This is likely a typo as no such numbered Sentry has appeared before or after this story. The Kree Sentry in this story is 459. This mistake is confirmed in Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Avengers.
Ultron: Ultron was most recently destroyed in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #7. He will be rebuilt by Doctor Doom in Daredevil #275 during the Acts of Vengeance conspiracy.
Awesome Android: We saw get deactivated last issue. It will become activate again next issue.
Doomsday Man: Was shut down in Ms. Marvel #4 but will be brought back online in Avengers (vol. 3) #15-17.
The Crypto-Man: Was destroyed in Incredible Hulk #205. As of this writing (September 2021) he has not been seen since.
The Black Knight is cautious not to shed blood on his sword as it will re-awaken a the curse placed on it. Doctor Strange had just recently removed this blood curse in Doctor Strange (vol. 2) #68-69. The curse will return again after the blade is used to kill in Avengers #293.
Avengers (vol. 3) #17 reveals that this wasn’t the real Doomsday Man, but a decoy placed by AIM.