THOOM

Diablo has transformed the entire town of Kalkhimitha, Greece, into a village full of Hulks.[1] The Avengers — Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Goliath, the Wasp, the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, the Vision, and Warbird — have been summoned to deal with the threat. While Goliath discovered a way to merge the Hulks together, this has created a giant that couldn’t be shrunk down before Pym’s portable lab was smashed. As Warbird gives him shit for this, Hank suddenly screams in pain. The Wasp races to his side, but tells her it’s nothing and that he’s fine.[2]

That’s when SHIELD puts them in touch with Doc Samson and Bruce Banner. Banner wants to assist the Avengers in dealing with the creature. Pym agrees that they’ll need Bruce’s expertise in gamma radiation. Janet then calls Jarvis at Avengers Mansion to arrange a transport for Banner. Unfortunately, the only Avenger on site — Silverclaw — is in the middle of a battle against Diablo and cannot come. With Wonder Man and Triathlon already halfway across the Atlantic, they aren’t any quick ways of getting the help they need. That’s when Quicksilver volunteers to run back to the States, revealing that his super-speed has been significantly boosted allowing him run so fast that he can skim across water and be there in no time.[3]

Back in the states, Diablo has trapped Silverclaw in solidified amber. The villain is now scanning the area with a divining rod. Shape changing into her sloth form, Maria manages to break free from her prison. When Diablo uses his alchemy on her again — creating wooden vines, and powerful winds — she is able to transform into another one of her animal forms to evade or counter act its affects. Unfortunately, this only works so long, as once she gets within striking distance throws dust in her face that transforms the young woman into a statue made of dust. He then blasts open the ground uncovering an ancient and long lost N’Gari artifact called the T’hehly’ehi, which has the power to free the real Diablo from the dimension he has been imprisoned in. However, Silverclaw manages to break free from her prison thanks to her mystically abilities to shape-shift. After taking some time to recover, she then transforms into a jaguar and attacks.

While in Slorenia, the Black Knight and Firebird are still assisting SHIELD in trying to find a way to remove the Ebony Blade and its blood curse from Bloodwraith. The trapped villain has retreated into the center of the city, almost as though he is goading the Black Knight into facing him.[4] That’s when SHIELD’s alarms go off alerting them to rising radiation levels in nearby Siberia.[5] Since they are the Avengers closest to that location, the Black Knight and Firebird decide to go and check it out.

Back in Greece, the Avengers are doing their best to keep the massive Hulk at bay, but the creature is starting to get close to another nearby town. That’s when Quicksilver finally returns with Banner, having run his feet raw getting Bruce there in time. Banner and Hank then begin brainstorming ideas on how to revert the massive gamma spawned creature back to normal.[6] Unfortunately, they don’t have the equipment needed to build anything. However, Hank has noticed that past gamma mutates all had their own unique transformations, yet in this case every person has been forced into Bruce Banner’s unique gamma mutation. With that in mind, Pym has come up with a possible solution that will require both Bruce and the Scarlet Witch to pull off.

At the same time, Silverclaw’s battle with Diablo continues on and is stuck in a stalemate. That’s until Wonder Man come crashing down from the sky. He and Triathlon had been sent back to lend her a hand. While Diablo was disorientated by Simon’s entry, Delroy uses his three-times-peak human speed to snatch away all of the madman’s alchemical vials. With Diablo rendered defenseless, Silverclaw comes up behind him and knocks him out with a single punch.

While in Greece, Bruce Banner willingly transforms into the Hulk. He then leaps onto the back of his giant duplicate. Then, the Scarlet Witch uses her hex power to cause Banner to merge with the other Hulks. From there, Bruce tries to assert his dominance to seize control of the gestalt and force them all to revert back to human form. However, this turns out to be a struggle and Banner’s persona is replace with his other Hulk personalities. First, the grey Hulk, aka Joe Fixit, takes control but the opposing minds are too much. Losing his temper, Banner’s persona is then overridden by the savage Hulk. This Hulk persona refuses to believe that there are others like him. His anger soon grows to the point that it surpasses the others and he is able to force them all to revert back to human form. This causes the victims to separate into unique individuals again.[7]

With the battle over, the Avengers then check with their teammates state side to see if they managed to stop Diablo. They have, but that’s when the alchemist reveals that he isn’t the real Diablo, merely a simulacrum created to try and free the real deal from another dimension. That’s when “Diablo” turns into salt and crumbles into nothingness.

In the aftermath of the battle, Bruce Banner asks the Avengers what they plan on doing to him since he’s still wanted by the authorities. The Wasp decides to cut Banner some slack since he saved the day in the end. She points out that Bruce is best to be free so he can find a cure for himself instead of rotting away in a prison that the Hulk can easily break out of.[8]

As the Avengers celebrate their hard won victory, they are being observed by the time traveler known as Kang the Conqueror and his son, the Scarlet Centurion. They have been planning on staging an all out assault on the Avengers era and now is the perfect time to strike![9][10]

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Goliath, Wasp, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Black Knight, Wonder Man, Warbird, Firebird, Triathlon, Silverclaw), Diablo, Hulk, Kang, Scarlet Centurion, Edwin Jarvis, SHIELD, Doc Samson

Continuity Notes

1. As seen in Avengers (vol. 3) #38. This isn’t the real Diablo, but a simulacrum created via alchemy to free the genuine article. At the time of this story, the real Diablo had been banished to another dimension in Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #35-36. The real Diablo will return in Fantastic Four #525-526.

2. The situation with Hank Pym in this story is somewhat complex. Unknown to everyone, he was split into two separate entities by a magic spell in Avengers (vol. 3) #28. One is the repressed Goliath while the other is the emotional Yellowjacket. Yellowjacket then took Goliath’s place in issue #37. The pair will remain apart until their failing health forces them to be merged back together in Avengers Annual 2001.

3. At the time of this story Quicksilver’s powers had recently been boosted by exposure to the High Evolutionary’s Isotope-E. See Quicksilver #12.

4. The nation of Slorenia was decimated when it was attacked by Ultron in Avengers (vol. 3) #19-22. Since then, the unresting spirits in the region transferred themselves in to the Ebony Blade, transforming Bloodwraith into a giant. The Scarlet Witch later trapped Bloodwraith in Slorenia with a magic spell, as seen in Avengers (vol. 3) #36-37.

5. The rising radiation is being caused by the Presence who has decided to transform every living person into a radiation based life form like himself. See Avengers (vol. 3) #43-44.

6. Banner recommends using Gamma Electrodes or a Cathexis Ray, two devices that have been used on the Hulk in the past. Gamma Electrodes were used on the Hulk in Tales to Astonish #91 in order to revive the man-monster so he could defeated the Abomination. The Cathexis Ray was invented by Leonard Samson in a failed attempt to cure the Hulk, it was first seen in Incredible Hulk #141.

7. It is stated here that Bruce Banner can now control his transformations into the Hulk. At the time of this story, Bruce is suffering from a degenerative neurological disorder. In order to find a cure, Bruce has made a pact with his other personas to work together. This pact was made in Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #12-13. Banner will find a cure in issues #30-32 of that series. The two personas that come to the fore are the grey Hulk, aka Joe Fixit, Banner’s persona that first manifested in Incredible Hulk #1 and the savage Hulk who took over in the following issue.

8. It’s stated here that the Hulk was a founding member of the Avengers. While this was true, he was also the first to quit, as seen in Avengers #2.

9. Kang and the Scarlet Centurion’s assault on the Avengers will begin next issue and run until Avengers (vol. 3) #54.

10. On Kang’s monitor screens are a number of alternate realities where Earth has suffered great cataclysms. They include:

    • Reality-691: A reality where the Earth is invaded by the Badoon, first seen in Marvel Super-Heroes #18. It is home to the 30th century Guardians of the Galaxy. This reality number was designated in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.

    • Reality-1745: A reality where the sun destroys the Earth. This reality was designated in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2.

    • Reality-8410: Home to Iron Man 2020 and the Midnight Wreckers, first seen in Machine Man (vol. 2) #1. It was designated in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Realities 2005 #1.

    • Reality-9930: The reality of Killraven’s Avengers, first seen in Avengers Forever #4. It was also designated in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Realities 2005 #1.

Translations

This story features dialogue in Greek that is not translated for readers. These lines are:

• Sas Dialyso = Smash you!