Iron Man (vol. 2) #5
Inherit the Whirlwind
Now
At Stark International, Tony Stark has come to face the assassin known as Whirlwind without his armor because his secretary Pepper Potts is being held hostage.[1] While Whirlwind has the advantage due to his super-powers, Stark knows all about him and stuns the villain by listing off his real name, his former aliases and where he was born.[2] As Whirlwind — aka David Cannon — listens to this in stunned silence, Tony wonders how he got himself into this mess and thinks back to the recent past…
Earlier
That morning Iron Man is searching the bottom of Lake Ontario, trying to find any clue where the Hulk might have went after their recent battle.[3] Finding no trail to speak of, Iron Man returns to the private yacht owned by his alter-ego, Tony Stark.
There he is confronted by a gun-toting Liz Ross.[4] As the head of security at Stark International, she demands to know who Iron Man is under his mask. The hero doesn’t have time for this and magnetizes his armor, causing Liz’s gun to fly out of her hand and get stuck to it. She angrily tells Iron Man that Tony is just getting his life together and she warns him that if he negatively impacts Stark’s life in any way she’ll be on him. Insulted, Iron Man says he hopes she’ll do a better job protecting Tony Stark than she did Bruce Banner.[5] This angers Ross so much that she punches Iron Man, but this does little but hurt her hand, so she turns around and storms off. Tony wonders why he said something so cruel and once again questions his sudden change of heart and wonders if he’s only being Iron Man as penance for what happened to his friend Rebel O’Reilly.[6]
Tony’s thoughts are interrupted when Whirlwind calls on Pepper Potts’ private line. He tells Iron Man that he is holding her hostage and for Tony Stark to meet with him at Stark Industries alone, warning that if Iron Man shows his face, Pepper will die. Seeing that he has no choice, Tony shows up at Stark Industries as instructed. There, Whirlwind blows up his sports car and throws Tony through a wall, starting their confrontation…
Now
Psychiatrist Leonard Samson has just got an unexpected phone all from Bruce Banner who, as it turns out is alive and well. Banner needs help to make sure that the gamma bomb he developed for Stark Industries and the government must never be recreated and used again. Leonard tries to convince Bruce to seek Tony Stark for help, but Banner is reluctant to do so as he is unaware of Tony’s sudden change of heart. The call is cut short when Banner spots two police officers coming his way and abruptly hangs up his call. Near Samson’s office, Jasper Sitwell and his team have been listening in on the conversation as they bugged Leonard’s phone. Unfortunately, Bruce wasn’t on the line long enough for them to get a solid trace on where he was calling from. Despite this, Sitwell realizes that there is some kind of connection between Bruce Banner and the creature known as the Hulk.
Back at the Stark International facility on Long Island, Whirlwind appears to have Stark at his mercy. Tony warns him that if any harm comes to Pepper he’ll personally kill him. Cannon scoffs at this idea, but Tony tells him to look him in the eye. When Whirlwind does, Tony activates the magnesium flare device built into some gimmicked contact lenses he created. Tony then drops a handful of mechanical balls around Pepper and takes off. When Whirlwind recovers he is furious that Stark ran and when he tries to take this out on Pepper, he discovers that she is now surrounded in a protective force field.
Meanwhile, Tony has run down to his private lab where he sets up a kinetic intake converter. When Whirlwind arrives, the device begins sucking Cannon into its energy field. Tony warns his attacker that the more he moves the faster he’ll be drawn in. Whirlwind refuses to believe this and increases the strength of his wind. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work at all and the assassin is sucked into the energy field and incinerated.[6]
During the entire battle, Hydra had been monitoring Whirlwind’s vital signs and when they suddenly cut off, Madame Hydra reports her findings to the real mastermind behind this terrorist organization. This is the Mandarin, who appears before Madame Hydra as a holographic projection.[7] He is furious that she tried to kill Tony Stark, as the Mandarin wants him alive and warns her against failing him again.
Back at Stark International, Tony Stark has freed Pepper and laments over what little he is accomplishing as Iron Man. This entire time he has been deflecting attacks again him and not doing much to help others.[8] Pepper disagrees and shows him records that show he had a hand in bringing together the Avengers.[9] Tony is surprised to learn this and when Pep brings up the records to prove it she is shocked to discover that Avengers Island is in serious danger.[10]
… This story continues in Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #6.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Hydra (Madame Hydra, Mandarin, Whirlwind), Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, Betty Ross, Leonard Samson, Jasper Sitwell
Continuity Notes
It should be noted that this is a pocket universe created by Franklin Richards to save the lives of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. As such, only Iron Man, Bruce Banner as well as Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Vision are the only original characters in this story. Everyone else featured here is actually a construct created by Franklin to populate his imaginary Earth. See Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4 for more details on that.
The facts that Tony Stark has about Whirlwind are nods to the original Whirlwind who exists in the Prime Marvel Universe. The character first appeared as the Human Top back in Tales to Astonish #50, he would only change his name and appearance to Whirlwind in Avengers #46. Tony also mentions the alias Charles Matthew, this was an alias used by the Earth-616 Whirlwind during the period he posed as the Wasp’s chauffeur between Avengers #46 through 139.
Iron Man fought the Hulk in Iron Man (vol. 2) #1-2. The battle ended when the pair fell off the edge of Niagara Falls. The Hulk managed to escape shortly thereafter.
Liz is wearing a baseball cap to hide the fact that she has tumors growing out of her head, something that isn’t revealed until Iron Man (vol. 2) #8. Issue #12 explains that Liz contracted cancer from her exposure to the gamma bomb’s radiation.
Banner was transformed into the Hulk in a gamma bomb explosion in issue #1. Although most everyone believes that Banner died in the explosion. Although Liz has suspected that Banner survived since last issue, the truth won’t be confirmed until Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #6.
This is not the end of Whirlwind however. Despite his death, he turns up alive again in Avenger (vol. 2) #8-9. It’s revealed at that time that the Avengers Gamma Core is spontaneously creating villains for the team to fight and resurrecting those who fell in battle.
It’s later revealed in Iron Man (vol. 2) #10 that the Mandarin is really a life-like robot created by Doctor Doom so he could control Hydra from behind the scenes.
Tony recounts his recent exploits. The only one I haven’t mentioned yet is his battle with the Living Laser, which took place last issue.
The Heroes Reborn version of the Avengers were formed in (duh) Avengers (vol. 2) #1. As revealed in issue #6 of that series, much of the equipment at their headquarters was provided by Stark International.
The danger at Avengers Island is a breach of their gamma core caused by a battle between the Avengers and the Hulk that took place in Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5.