Iron Man (vol. 2) #6
Industrial Revolution Part 2: Industrial Revelation!
This story continues from Avengers (vol. 2) #6…
The gamma core on Avengers Island has been compromised during a brawl between the Avengers and the Hulk.[1][2] With the gamma spawned monster still a threat to the security of the facility, the Invisible Woman uses her powers to restrain the monster in an invisible force field. Now knowing that the Hulk is actually Bruce Banner, Mister Fantastic suggests that they stop bringing this up as the Hulk gets agitated every time his alter-ego is mentioned.[3] Reed also impresses upon them that they need to focus on containing the gamma core which is getting dangerously close to critical mass.
Outside, the situation is being monitored by SHIELD director Nick Fury aboard the helicarrier. He is chided on by the astral projection of Loki, who endlessly mocks the spy to the point where Fury angrily tells the trickster god off. The other SHIELD agents, unable to see Loki themselves, wonder who it is that Fury is talking to. Suddenly, there is a bright flash in the sky. It is the Human Torch, who has been spending this entire time siphoning off heat from the gamma core. Reaching his limit, the Torch shoots high up into the sky to unleash his deadly payload harmlessly.
Back on the ground, the Thing introduces Iron Man to Thor, and Iron Man checks in with Mister Fantastic. The two men posit that the best way to prevent disaster is find a way to make the gama core channel its energies into the core of the Earth. Reed is impressed that Tony Stark’s bodyguard has such an astute mind, and this rankles Iron Man who is Tony Stark and he fears that someone like Reed — who has known him since university — might figure out his secret identity.
Soon a plan is formulated, Captain America is to hold open the doors to the gamma core long enough for the Thing and Thor to go inside and try and contain the gamma core while Reed and Iron Man monitor things from the outside. The two enter the reactor area and begin spot welding the damage, but the heat and radiation is so extreme that it even begins to affect them. As they work, the Hulk whines about how pointless all of this all is and that he’s the only one who is strong enough to do what needs to be done. Eventually, the Thing begins to falter and Thor won’t be far behind him. Not wanting to lose the lives of their two stronger, Mister Fantastic orders the thunder god to grab Ben and retreat back to where it is safe.
Not willing to accept failure, Iron Man decides to take point and tells the Hulk to give him a hand. The gamma spawned monster refuses at first, but Iron Man challenges the idea that the Hulk doesn’t care about the millions of lives that will be lost if the core explodes. When the brute realizes the stakes involved, he backs down and agrees to go into the gamma core alone, saying he can do the job himself. Iron Man has no choice but to trust him as he now has to help Thor and the Thing get out.
Inside the center of the gamma core, the Hulk uses all of his strength to shut the massive bay doors that have been stuck in the open position, creating the instability to begin with. It requires a massive amount of strength and while the Hulk struggles his growing rage gives him the raw power he needs to physically shut the doors. Once he has succeeded, the Hulk is suddenly visited by the image of Onslaught. The team outside briefly pick up the alien presence on the scanners, but the vision suddenly vanishes moments later without a trace, leaving everyone to wonder what it was they saw.[4]
With the danger passed, Iron Man tries to go back into the gamma core to free the Hulk. However, Mister Fantastic pulls him back saying the radiation is too strong and he’d die in there. The Hulk also tells the others to leave him be since everyone hates him, this is a place where he can finally be alone. With the island about to sink, the Avengers and Fantastic Four make a hasty retreat. As they make their way to the surface, the Human Torch unleashes all the heat he absorbed from the reactor, causing it to rain.
In the aftermath of the battle, Captain America figures that the Avengers are done for as many of their numbers were injured during the Hulk’s rampage. Iron Man, however, doesn’t think so.[5]
.. This story concludes in Captain America (vol. 2) #6.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Avengers (Captain America, Thor, Hellcat), Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Thing, Human Torch), Hulk, Loki, SHIELD (Nick Fury), Onslaught
Continuity Notes
Not everyone here is who they appear to be. 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. Some characters are the genuine article, while others are constructs created by Franklin. See Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4 for the details. The specifics are:
The genuine characters include Iron Man, the Hulk, the entire Fantastic Four, as well as Captain America of the Avengers.
Thor in particular is a construct due to the fact that it took somewhat longer for the true Thor to appear in the Heroes Reborn pocket dimension for some reason. See Avengers (vol. 2) #9.
The man appearing to be Nick Fury in this story is later revealed to be a rogue Life Model Decoy that took his place. This will be revealed in Captain America (vol. 2) #11.
The gamma core was damaged during a brawl between the Hulk and the Avengers that took place in Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5.
Banner was transformed into the Hulk in Iron Man (vol. 2) #1. However, our heroes didn’t learn the truth until Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #6. Here, Reed mentions how he went to university with Banner. This has been detailed in Iron Man (vol. 2) #1 and Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #5. However, these are all false memories implanted in their minds by Franklin Richards to sell the idea that this pocket Earth has existed longer than it really has. See Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4, again.
Onslaught is of course the being responsible for our heroes being on in this pocket dimension to begin with and was seemingly destroyed as seen in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. In reality, Onslaught actually survived and ended up in the Counter-Earth pocket dimension. However, he will not regain his full power until Onslaught Reborn #1-5, many years later.
Hawkeye and Swordsman were seriously injured during the Hulk’s attack in Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5 while the Scarlet Witch when MIA during those issues, prior to this the Vision has been down since Avengers (vol. 2) #3, leaving only Cap, Thor, and Hellcat active. Iron Man will join up with the team in Captain America (vol. 2) #6.
Topical References
The gamma core is a potential threat to all life along the eastern sea board. There are two differing figures given in this story. Fury states that it is a billion people, which is an exaggeration. Iron Man later states that 12 million people will be affected. This figure should be considered topical as population levels always change. For example, doing a half assed Google search I learned that there were 118 million people living on the eastern seaboard in 2017.
