Young Avengers #4
Sidekicks, Part 4
Iron Man (Tony Stark), Captain America (Steve Rogers), and Jessica Jones have been investigating the so-called Young Avengers. Finding the youths hanging out in the ruins of Avengers Mansion they questioned the kids and learned that their leader Iron Lad was supposedly a younger version of Kang the Conqueror (Nathaniel Richards) who had come to this era to stop his older self from conquering this era.[1]
Locking the team up so they can call their parents, the adults questioned the validity of Iron Lad’s story. That is until, Kang the Conqueror appears before them.[2] He quickly incapacitates Tony and Steve and orders them to reveal the location of his younger self or else he will kill Jessica and her unborn baby.
Downstairs, the Young Avengers — Iron Lad, Patriot (Eli Bradley), Asgardian (Billy Kaplan), Hulkling (Teddy Altman) — and Cassie Lang (daughter of the late Ant-Man) are locked in the Avengers training room. While the others think they’ll be fine, Eli is convinced that the grown up have called the cops or, worse, their parents. When Eli can’t pry the door open he asks Hulkling to do it with his super strength.[3] Patriot then suggest that Billy or Teddy use their other powers. This startles both of them as they were trying to keep the true nature of their powers a secret. However, Nathan reminds them that posing as imitators to actual Avengers was only to get their attention and there is no need to keep a secret anymore and that they were specifically chosen by the Vision to succeed the original Avengers. Although Cassie Lang wasn’t on that list, they now know she has size-changing powers and suggests that her first duty as a Young Avenger should be shrinking down in size enough to get under the door and free them. Cassie isn’t sure she can pull this off yet but she doesn’t have to find out because Kate Bishop came back and unlocked the door for them. She tells the others to stop worrying about their parents learning their secrets because Iron Man and Captain America are too busy dealing with Kang.
Back upstairs, Kang underestimates the fact that Jessica Jones still has superpowers even though she is pregnant and she easily disarms him. Training her weapon on the time traveler he tells them that they are wasting precious time. He points out that if Iron Lad doesn’t return to his proper time he will never become Kang the Conqueror. This will have a ripple effect across history. If Nathan Richards doesn’t become Kang, then Kang will never fight the Avengers,[4] and there is no way of knowing how this will negatively effect history. He then tells them to look around because things are already changing. Stepping outside, they see that New York City is now a ruined wasteland. Pointing out the obvious, Kang asks the adult heroes if the timeline isn’t corrected things will turn out for the worse.
Meanwhile, the Young Avengers have gone to the downstairs locker room where Kate gathers up equipment and a mask for the fight ahead. Armed with a sword, a bow, batons, and a sword, she is ready for the fight. The team recognizes these as the weapons belonging to Hawkeye, the Swordsman, and Mockingbird. She also has something for Eli, Captain America’s original shield![5] When they go upstairs to join the fight, the changes to the timeline have started effecting the others. Iron Man and Captain America’s costumes have changed while Jessica is now in her old Jewel costume and no longer pregnant.[6] With the changings coming hard and fast, Captain America and the others agree to help return Iron Lad to his proper place in history.
Hearing this and not understanding what is at stake, the Young Avengers retreat back to the lower levels of the mansion. However, as they discuss what they saw, Kate thinks maybe sending Iron Lad back is the right thing to do. Nathan refuses this idea because he doesn’t want to end up becoming a monster like Kang. The rest of the group all agree that Iron Lad should stay and they quickly find another way out. Unfortunately, when they pop out of the escape hatch they find Kang, Jessica, Cap, and Iron Man all waiting for them. Iron Lad is deeply upset that the two senior Avengers are trying to send him back to the future and takes off. Iron Man tries to follow after him but Hulkling grabs his leg. When Tony hits him with a repulsor blast, Teddy goes crashing to the ground. When Jessica and the Young Avengers rush to his aid, Teddy is reverting back to human form revealing that he is actually a shape-shifter.[7]
Meanwhile, Iron Man catches up with Iron Lad who knocks Tony out with an ion blast. He then returns to the group. He assures them that Stark is still alive because he is not a killer. Kang, however, insists that a killer is what his younger self will become. Refusing to embrace his destiny, Iron Lad is horrified when Kang seizes control of his neruo-kinetic armor and uses it to unleash a powerful blast that knocks everyone else out. Kang then asks the boy if he is ready to go.[8]
Recurring Characters
Young Avengers (Iron Lad, Patriot, Asgardian, Hulkling, Cassie Lang, Kate Bishop), Iron Man, Captain America, Jessica Jones, Kang
Continuity Notes
This was detailed over the last three issues. Avengers Mansion is in ruins because this story takes place shortly after it was heavily damaged by the Scarlet Witch leading to the Avengers disbanding. See Avengers #500-503/Avengers: Finale #1.
Kang refers to Jessica Jones as an “expectant mother”, he is referring to the fact that she is pregnant with a child she conceived with Luke Cage at the time of this story as revealed in Alias #28. She will give birth to her daughter Dani in The Pulse #14.
Here, a confused Hulkling points out that Eli has superhuman strength as well. His inability to pry the door open is a clue to the fact that his powers come from the drug known as Mutant Growth Hormone. MGA grants powers to those who do it for a limited time. See Young Avengers #8 for the truth.
Kang first fought the Avengers early on in their career as seen in Avengers #8.
This triangular shield was originally used by Captain America early on in his career starting in Captain America Comics #1. In the following issue of that series he had switched it out with his trademark round shield.
For more on Jessica’s ill fated career as Jewel see Alias #22-26.
This is a clue to the fact that Hulkling is half Skrull. As we’ll learn in Young Avengers #9-12, Teddy is actually the son of Skrull Princess Anelle and the Kree Captain Mar-Vell. He was stashed on Earth to keep him safe from the Skrull empire.
As of this writing (May, 2024), the nightmare timeline that is replacing present day Reality-616 in this story has yet to be given an official reality number. As far as the rules of time travel go in the Marvel Universe is that usually it just creates an alternate reality. In some cases, the change to history are so extreme it overwrites one reality with another. Infamous cases include when Legion killed his own father, Professor X in X-Men (vol. 2) #41, creating the Age of Apocalypse (Reality-295), and when the Scarlet Witch used her power in House of M #1 to create the House of M (Reality-58163). In both cases reversing the inciting incident restored the baseline reality (in X-Men: Omega #1 and House of M #8 respectively) Usually with both realities existing independently of one another. Such will be the case here, as we’ll see next two issues.
