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| Publisher |
Marvel |
| Published | March 1980 |
"Battleground: Pittsburgh!" In Pittsburgh, Iron-Man and Wonder Man are facing off with the new menace Inferno, who has just destroyed Wonder Man’s signal device to summon the Avengers. Both of them are repulsed by the angry molten menace. Inferno stalks a terrified Tim Turpin, the co-worker who caused Joe Conroy's death. He causes the murderer's own demise when he is crushed by a drifting barge. Just before he dies, Turpin sees Joe Conroy’s prized Uru fragment embedded in Inferno’s hand, and Turpin realizes who he is dealing with as he dies. The rest of the Avengers arrive and join Iron-Man and Wonder Man in combat against the creature who is menacing motorists on the Liberty Bridge. Stalking across the city, Inferno overturns a cable car to distract the pursuing Avengers. The team stops their pursuit long enough to save the lives of the car’s passengers before once again going after the flaming creature. Inferno's real target is revealed to be the steel mill owner, Vince Paretta. Inferno corners the fleeing Paretta at his home. When he holds out his hand to Paretta, showing him the Uru fragment, the mill owner realizes it is Joe Conroy and panics. He confesses that he was in debt to the Maggia, which necessitated the urgency to sell the mill. Paretta also admits that he knew Conroy was suspicious and ordered Turpin to kill him. The Avengers arrive just in time to hear Paretta's fearful confession. Cap corals him and warns him that he will be going to jail for what he did. Having achieved his vengeance, the fiery Inferno feels no need to continue on. He reflects on his now lost life as Joe Conroy, including a wife and son. Sadly, he turns and walks away into the nearby river, extinguishing his fire and apparently drowning himself.
