Iron Man Annual #3
More or Less… The Return of the Molecule Man!
Tony Stark has come to the Florida Everglades to examine the remains of Omegaville, a solar powered community that had been destroyed an abandoned. Listening to Paul Benton’s pitch on rebuilding the town, Tony Stark is impressed and green lights the project. However, as they look around the property Tony learns about the macabre circumstances of Omegaville’s demise when he comes upon the skeletal remains of Yagzan, the former leader of the Cult of Entropy.[1] He learns that Yagzan’s plot was filed by the muck monster known as the Man-Thing.[2]
Little do they know that they are being observed from the swamps by the Man-Thing itself. Uninterested in the humans working at Omegaville, the muck-monster is drawn to a group of children playing in the swamp. They are Cynthia, Boyd, and Sanford. Playing super-heroes, Cynthia is dressed like her favorite, Iron Man, while Sanford plays the role of a villain.[3] He uses a wand that was given to him by the Thing following his battle with the Molecule Man.[4] Cynthia grabs this wand and tosses it into the nearby waters, upsetting Boyd who tells her to go and get it back. Fearless, the young girl retrieves the wand but is attacked by an alligator. Luckily, the Man-Thing springs into action and fights off the lizard. Frightened badly by all of this, Cynthia tries to run away but ends up sinking into a bog and appears to drown. Horrified by what has happened, Boyd and Sanford race home to tell their parents what happened.
A few weeks later, a funeral is held for Cynthia as the work on Omegaville begins in earnest. Returning to Citrusville is Tony Stark, who changes into Iron Man when he spots strange spiked balls hovering over the town. When he approaches they begin firing spikes at him that he easily evades with his jet boots. These balls then turn into leering smiley faces that explode in midair. With the danger passed, Iron Man lands on the ground where he is told to get lost by the locals who only see his presence as trouble. When one man tries to attack him, both he and Iron Man are shot into the air by a sudden water-spout. Iron Man is unable to catch his attacker who dies instantly when he hits the ground. As the situation grows more volatile, Iron Man decides it is best to leave.
Changing back into Tony Stark, the Avenger meets with Paul Benton and asks what is up with the locals. Benton explains that Citrusville is a very conservative population that have been known to engage in right-wing hysteria, such as book burnings. He explains that their work is viewed as an affront on their way of life.[5] Curious to learn more about the incident from earlier, Paul suggests that Tony talk with Richard Rory, as he is the town expert. Paul explains that Richard was a local radio DJ who has since found himself in jail on trumped up kidnapping charges.[6] Tony visits Richard in jail and describes Iron Man’s strange encounter earlier that day. Richard instantly recognizes the incident as the work of the Molecule Man, however, as far as he knows the super-villain is dead. Leaving the jail, Tony uses his communication device to contact Mister Fantastic, who confirms that the Molecule is indeed dead.[7]
The cause of the strange happenings was not really the Molecule Man, but rather the wand that once channeled his power. Reactivated by the radioactive remains of the Glob, the wand’s power returned and the intelligence within has taken possession of Cynthia’s body. Using its power to free Cynthia from the bog, the Molecule Man’s intelligence tries to use its power to transform Cynthia’s body into a form resembling his own. Although he succeeds in recreating his costume, the Molecule Man discovers that he cannot change Cynthia’s appearance or gender. The Man-Thing watches as Cynthia’s personality takes control and conjures up a rocket powered bicycle and rides home, where he return deeply frightens Cynthia’s mother.
Two hours later, Tony’s limo literally runs into the Man-Thing, who has wandered into town. With the drive knocked out, Tony changes into Iron Man and tries to force the creature back into the swamp. When conventional repulsors don’t work, Iron Man cryogenically freezes the muck monster. That’s when the Avenger witnesses a nearby home suddenly transform into a massive emerald castle. This is caused by Cynthia who, twisted by the Molecule Man’s evil psyche, lashes out against her mother who never had time for her. After mocking her mother’s desire for a castle to live in, Cynthia then transforms her mother into a doll. When Iron Man comes crashing in, the Molecule Man finds himself in a mental war with Cynthia who refuses to use his power to harm her favorite super-hero. Unable to reconcile the conflict the so-called “Molecule Person” flees the scene. Realizing that this is a more pressing matter, Iron Man returns to the Man-Thing only long enough to dump the muck-monster’s frozen body into the nearby swamp.
Needing time to think of a solution to this problem, Tony Stark returns to the Omegaville project where he agrees to a press interview. When asked if the Omegaville site is cursed, Tony dismisses this idea as nothing but superstition. That’s when the skeletal remains of Yagzan — grown to giant size by the Molecule Man — begins attacking the site. Tony slips away and changes into Iron Man and takes down the massive skeleton. That’s when Cynthia wanders onto the site, still fighting for control with the Molecule Man. When Iron Man tries to stop them, he is turned into an iron statue. That’s when the Man-Thing comes shambling onto the scene and grabs the Molecule Person by the wrist. As Cynthia gives in to fear, she begins to burn at the Man-Thing’s touch forcing her to drop the wand containing the Molecule Man’s consciousness. This causes Cynthia to return to normal and undoes everything she changed with the Molecule Man’s power.
However, the battle is far from over when a nearby snake bites the wand, allowing the Molecule Man to take control of it’s body, transforming it into a reptilian humanoid creature. Iron Man battles the snake-man and wrests the wand from its grasp. Once again, the former host reverts to normal. This time, the Molecule Man takes possession of Iron Man’s body. However, this possession proves to be short lived when the Man-Thing grabs the wand. Unfortunately for the Molecule Man, the mindless Man-Thing has no mind for him to possess and he finds himself powerless to control this new host. With the threat now over, the Man-Thing wanders back into the swamp. When Paul Benton catches up with Iron Man and asks what happened, the Avenger says he’ll explain everything once he’s got the chance to get some rest.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Man-Thing, Molecule Man, Paul Benton, Richard Rory, Vision, Mister Fantastic, Yagzan (corpse)
Continuity Notes
Omegaville’s rise and fall and Yagzan’s attempt to destroy the Man-Thing with the Glob were all chronicled in Giant-Size Man-Thing #1.
Tony Stark is aware of the Man-Thing’s existence after encountering the muck monster in Giant-Size Man-Thing #2.
Cynthia’s full name is given in Molecule Man profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #7, where it is revealed to be McCellan.
The Thing’s battle with the Molecule Man was chronicled in Marvel Two-in-One #1.
The people of Citrusville engaged in a book burning in Man-Thing #17-18.
Paul is really downplaying the seriousness of Richard’s crime. Richard Rory was against the book burnings in Citrusville and left town with the Man-Thing and a young girl named Carol Selby. He found out too late that Carol was only 17 years old and he was arrested for statutory kidnapping. See Man-Thing #19. As right as he was, that doesn’t change the fact that he ran off with a minor.
The Molecule Man is not really dead per se. It’s all really complicated. See after getting his powers in Fantastic Four #20, Owen Reece was whisked away to another dimension by the Watcher. There, Reece found himself rapidly aging created a son to carry on his legacy. This “Son of Molecule Man” was the entity who fought the Thing in Marvel Two-in-One #1. This story and subsequent other tales (namely Fantastic Four #186-188 and Micronauts #23) start treating the intelligence trapped in the wand as the original Molecule Man and even after when he is restored to his physical form in Avengers #215-216. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #7’s profile on the Molecule Man clarifies the situation by stating that when he created his “son”, the Molecule Man transferred his mind into the wand that was used to channel his powers.
Topical References
The narration of this story states that this tale takes place in the year 1976. This should be considered a topical reference due to the Sliding Timescale. Marvel chronology places it in the 4th year of the Modern Age.
Richard states here that he was hoping for a visit from William Kunstler. At the time this story was published, Kunstler was a renown civil rights lawyer who was best known for representing the Chicago Seven. References to Kunsler in this story should be considered topical, particularly since he died in 1995.
Paul Benton states that Richard Rory had been working as a radio DJ for about a year prior to his arrest. This is a measurement of the length of time between the publication of Richard’s first appearance in Man-Thing #4 and this story. Per the Sliding Timescale, only a few months would have passed instead of a year.