Iron Man #209
A Renaissance of Magic!
Centuries Ago
Camelot has fallen and the land is plunged into war all thanks to the machinations of King Arthur’s sister, the sorceress known as Morgan le Fay. With the remaining Knights of the Round Table, Merlin the magician goes to the land of Gore where they capture Morgan. Rather than kill her, Merlin instead decides to bind her life to her castle making it impossible for her to leave and live. He then leaves Morgana to the mercies of the knights who begin to torture her.[1]
Now
These events are seen in a nightmares of Lissa Russel who wakes up in the middle of the night screaming. Her cries prompt her brother, Jack Russel — aka the Werewolf by Night — to come in the room and check on her. Hearing about her experience, he tells Lissa that it was all a dream and nothing to worry about, little knowing how wrong he really is.
The following morning, Iron Man is radioing in to Avengers headquarters to tell them that he will be busy for a few hours so he can attend a renaissance festival with Clytemnestra Erwin as Tony Stark. After stashing his armor, Tony and Cly go looking around the fair. They come upon a jester who intentionally fumbles his juggling as part of his act. This juggler turns out to be Buck Cowan, who just so happens to be a long time friend of Lissa and Jack Russell. The Russell siblings are also attending the festival and are happy to see Buck. As the two catch up, Lissa suddenly recognizes Tony Stark and starts attacking him and calling him a villain for no reason.
Tony has no idea who this woman is, but he finds her renaissance costume strikingly familiar. He does, however, recognize Jack from Iron Man’s earlier encounter with the Werewolf and offers to help.[2] Lissa, who claims to channel the power of the Darkhold, tries to cast a spell but suddenly grows faint and reverts back to her normal personality. They take her to the first aid tent for treatment. By this time, the sun is beginning to set and Jack becomes eager to head back to the cavern where he isolates when there is a full moon and it is the hardest to control the Werewolf. Tony offers to drive Jack since he finally recognized Lissa’s costume as that of Morgan le Fay and fears that she might be targeting Jack’s sister for some reason. On the way back, Jack reveals his connection to the Book of Darkhold and how it is responsible for his family’s werewolf curse, providing a possible explanation as to why Morgan le Fay is seeking out his sister. Jack also explains that he has more control over the werewolf than he had in the past, but keeping its animalistic nature in check is extremely painful and nearly impossible during a full moon.[3] That’s when the image of Morgan le Fay appears in the middle of the road, forcing Tony to swerve, sending their car over a cliff.
Seeing this in a dream, Lissa wakes up and is visited by the spirit of Morgan le Fay. The sorceress tells her the dreams are all real and how she intends to use Lissa’s status as a “child of the Darkhold” to usurp control of her body.[4] Lissa tries to run away but she cannot get away from the spirit of Morgan le Fay who takes possession of her body. That’s when Iron Man and the Werewolf arrive on the scene and try to stop her. However, Morgan is able to keep them at bay with her magical powers, at least to start. Soon, Jack begins losing control of the beast within while Iron Man manages to break free. Touching Morgan/Lissa with his armor causes the sorceress pain due to the fact she is half fairy and thus vulnerable to iron.
This distracts Morgan long enough for the Werewolf to get behind her and slash her back. The pain is so extreme, Morgan’s soul flees Lissa’s body vowing to be back as she is beyond death. As the Werewolf runs into the wilderness, Iron Man rushes his sister off to the hospital for immediate medical attention.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Morgan le Fay, Cly Erwin, Jack Russell, Lissa Russell, Buck Cowan, Mockingbird (voice only)
Continuity Notes
The fall of Camelot will be depicted in the pages of Black Knight (vol. 2) #1 and Namor the Sub-Mariner #62. The curse that Merlin puts on Morgan le Fay comes to pass following her defeat in Spider-Woman #50. Although her physical body had been destroyed, Morgan’s spirit has lived on.
Iron Man encountered Jack Russell back in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #5.
Jack Russell gives a condensed version of his family relationship with the Darkhold, the werewolf curse, and more. The facts:
The Russell family has a long standing werewolf curse dating back to their ancestor Gregori Russoff who was cursed by Dracula, as seen in Werewolf by Night #15.
However, it wasn’t until modern times that the lycanthropy curse became a real problem. This happened when Jack’s father, Gregory Russoff translated the Darkhold, awakening the old family curse that afflicted every member of the Russoff/Russell family upon their 18th birthday. See Marvel Spotlight #2
Here, Jack states that Lissa has been freed from the family curse. This happened during Lissa’s first transformation as a werewolf. The sorcerer known as Taboo sacrificed his life in order for another mystic named Topaz to cure Lissa. See Werewolf by Night #28-30.
Jack also states that he now has control of his werewolf form… most of the time. Jack gained this ability following the events of Werewolf by Night #41.
It is stated here that Jack is under the care of Michael Morbius — formerly Morbius the Living Vampire — this happened following the events of West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #5. This was during the period of time when Morbius was cured of his vampirism that lasted from Spectacular Spider-Man #38 to Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #10.
Here, Morgan le Fay reveals that she went after another child of Darkhold and failed. This was Spider-Woman whom, at this point, made multiple attempts on Jessica Drew’s life. See Spider-Woman #2, 5-6, 35, 37, 39-41, 44, 50, and Avengers #240-241.
