Iron Man (vol. 2) #13
World War 3 Part 3: No Time to Mourn
This story continues from Avengers (vol. 2) #13 …
Two realities have been merged together and the Earth is plunged in a world war with the combined efforts of Doctor Doom, the Skrulls, and the Daemonites. The planet’s many defenders have been amassing together to destroy the dimensional locks that keep their two realities merged. Unfortunately, they have suffered many casualties when the StormWatch satellite was destroyed.[1][2]
Despite this setback, the heroes are mobilizing to shut down the dimensional locks. One team, led by Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four is venturing into the Negative Zone to shut down the dimensional lock there. Led by Triton of StormWatch, they cross through the dimensional barrier where they see visions of other realities.[3][4] On they are on the other side their path is blocked by an army of alien warriors led by the Negative Zone’s ruler Annihilus and the Daemonite known as Defile. Despite overwhelming numbers the heroes lunge into battle. However, they suffer casualties early one when both Fuji and Hellstrike are killed by the enemy.[5] Regardless of these losses, the remaining heroes smash through the enemy army and push forward.
Back in the Earth dimension, a ship is launched to search for survivors after the StormWatch satellite was destroyed. They are looking for survivors but can only find two: Majestic and the Invisible Woman. When Sue Storm wakes up she asks what happened and is informed that the satellite was somehow ambushed and destroyed by a Skrull fleet and that she was one of the few survivors.
In Latveria, Doctor Doom is musing about being one of the few people that know that this is a merged reality that has only existed for several hours, even though everyone else on Earth remembers this reality being the only reality. Learning that his enemy Reed Richards has taken an army into the Negative Zone to undo his master stroke, Doom informs Helspont and the Skrull commander that he will be going into the Negative Zone himself to defend the reality that they now rule.
While elsewhere in Europe, Nomad, aka Steve Rogers, continues his one man war against the alien invaders. He thinks back to how he got to this point. When World War 3, as Captain America he led the charge into battle. However, when his allies Rikki Barnes, the Falcon, and Batroc the Leaper all died in battle, a little of Rogers died as well. When that initial battle was over, Steve abandoned his Captain America identity and became Nomad, the man without a country. After taking out an army of alien soldiers he is approached by Priscilla Kaiten of SHIELD. She tells Steve that the world needs him right now. When Nomad tries to tell her that he’s done with the spy agency, she hands him back his old shield and pleads with him to rejoin the fight.
At the Baxter Building, the Negative Zone portal is being guarded by the Vision, Brass, the Swordsman and Hawksmore. The others are getting restless, prompting the Vision to remind them that their role is just as important as those fighting in the Negative Zone. Their conversation is interrupted by the sudden arrival of Iron Man. He says he survived the attack on the StormWatch satellite and that Lynch’s final orders was for him to get into the Negative Zone and lend a hand in destroying the dimensional lock. When the others question how the Skrulls were able to compromise the satellite’s security, Iron Man suddenly turns on his weapons on them killing them all. However, before the traitor can enter the Negative Zone portal it opens from the other side. From it come the Thing and Deathblow who arrive just in time to see Iron Man betray the others.[6] In the ensuing clash, Deathblow throws a knife that strikes Iron Man straight through the eye-hole in his armor, piercing his brain and killing him instantly. Removing Iron Man’s mask, they are shocked when Tony Stark’s face suddenly reverts back to that of the Skrull that was actually posing as him. Deathblow is dismayed to see this as Skrulls do not exist in his universe and he wonders what reality Ben Grimm has brought him to.
Meanwhile, the remaining members of Earth’s heroes are mourning the losses of their friends aboard the StormWatch satellite. Grifter is furious and insists that they push on with the plan to attack the dimensional lock’s sister device in Latveria. However, the rest of the group is demoralized by the heavy casualties they have just sustained. That’s when Kaiten returns with Steve Rogers, now back in his Captain America costume. He gives a rousing speech to the heroes to raise their spirits and tells them that he will lead them into the final battle and help take their world back!
… This story is concluded in Captain America (vol. 2) #13.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Thor, Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Hellstrike, Brass, Swordsman), StormWatch (Triton, Jenny Sparks, Weatherman, Fuji, Winter, Vision, Hawksmoor), Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Thing, Maul), WildCATs (Grifter, Zealot, Void, Goliath, Gorgon, Warblade), Nomad/Captain America, Deathblow, SHIELD (Priscilla Kitaen), Defile, Helspont, Doctor Doom
Continuity Notes
The status quo in this story was established when Franklin Richards’ Counter-Earth pocket dimension was merged with the WildStorm universe. The result is a merged reality that began in Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #13. There are some intricates about this reality that aren’t apparent in the story. They are:
A number of Marvel heroes are from the Prime Earth-616 universe that ended up in this pocket dimension after sacrificing their lives in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. They were saved by Franklin Richards who subconsciously transported them to a pocket universe and they will remain trapped here until Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4. These characters are: Nomad/Captain America, Thor, Scarlet Witch, the Vision, Mister Fantastic, the Invisible woman, Thing, Goliath, and Doctor Doom.
The rest of the Marvel characters seen here are all constructs created by Franklin Richards to populate this world. These characters include: Swordsman, Triton, Gorgon, and SHIELD.
The WildStorm characters appearing here are the versions that were divorced from Image Comics since Shattered Image #4 and before they were incorporated into the DC Universe in Flashpoint (vol. 2) #5. These characters include Spartan (who is posing as Captain America here), Hellstrike, Brass, StormWatch, Jenny Sparks, Weatherman, Fuji, Winter, Hawksmoor, Maul, the WildCATs, Grifter, Zealot, Void, Warblade, Deathblow, Priscilla Kitaen, Defile, and Helspont.
According to Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #4 classifies this merged universe as Reality-13031.
The StormWatch satellite was blown up, killing many of the heroes on board in Avengers (vol. 2) #13.
Triton leading people into the Negative Zone is due to, apparently, his swimming ability being an asset to navigate the environment. This is a callback to the time this was said in the Prime Marvel Universe as seen in Fantastic Four #62.
Of the various realities our heroes see we get a glimpse of various realities that are owned by Marvel, some by Wildstorm, and some by neither. They include:
We get a glimpse of Spider-Man, the X-Men (Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler), Ghost Rider, and Strong Guy from X-Factor. This is probably a glimps into the Earth-616, aka the Prime Marvel Universe.
We see some anthropomorphic duck superheroes. These are done in the fashion of Howard the Duck, a resident of Duckworld. Duckworld has had two reality designations Reality-47920 a world entirely of ducks first seen in Fear #19 and Reality-791021 where it was merged with a world of other anthropomorphic animals not just ducks in Howard the Duck (vol. 2) #3. However, these designations are only semi-official as they have only been published on the Unofficial Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe and not any specific publications as of this writing in September, 2022. As such they could be subject to change.
We also get a glimpse of Backlash, likely from the version of the WildStorm Universe that is one of the foundations of this merged reality.
Representing DC Comics are Hawkman and Batman. These would be the versions that existed following Crisis on Infinite Earths #12 and prior to Flashpoint (vol. 2) #5.
We also get a look at Mickey Mouse’s hand, probably an effort to avoid the highly litigious Disney lawyers of the era in the days before Marvel was owned by Disney.
Chance Falconer and St. George: The titular character to the Leave it to Chance comic series published by Homage Studios an imprint of WildStorm Comics at the time. St. George is her pet dragon If I’m not mistaken this is a creator owned series that is independent of WildStorm.
Action hero Robocop also makes an appearance.
Also we see the shirt design worn by Charlie Brown in the Peanuts comic strips.
It should be noted here that any characters who die in this story will be restored to life when the two realities are finally split up in Captain America (vol. 2) #13.
The Thing and Deathblow had been trapped in the Negative Zone together since Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #13. They began working together to free themselves in Avengers (vol. 2) #13.