Enemies: Vince Paretta; Tim Turpin; the Avengers

Known Relatives: Darleen (wife); Annie (daughter)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

First Appearance: (As Conroy, unnamed) Journey Into Mystery I#120 (April, 1964);
(As Inferno) Avengers I#192 (February, 1980)

Powers/Abilities: Conroy was altered by exposure to molten steel and a flake of Thor's hammer Mjolnir. As Inferno, Conroy exists as a large humanoid creature made from molten steel and slag, and radiated great heat at all times as a result. He could increase the amount of heat he radiated at will, and could project molten steel from his body. Inferno possessed great superhuman strength, at least Class 50 (and probably closer to Class 100), and was sufficiently durable that he withstood blows from Wonder Man with ease. At other times, his body seemed to be semi-liquid, and bullets were seen to partially pass through him. Through the uru flake on his right palm, Inferno also possessed Mjolnir's ability to absorb and redirect electrical energy. He was thus able to drain the power from Iron Man's armor and then project it as lightning-like bolts.

Limitations: As Inferno, Conroy was mute and may have suffered from clouded thinking abilities as well.

History:

(Journey Into Mystery I#120) - When Thor needed to repair Mjolnir following a battle with the Asgardian Destroyer, he stopped at the Paretta Steel Mill to use their machinery. After he finished, he shook hands with a number of the mill personnel, including Joseph Conroy.

BTS - Conroy found a flake of Thor's hammer in the mill, and used it as a good luck keychain. After the Paretta Steel Mill fell under Maggia control like all of Williams Innovations' holdings, Conroy began playing a crooked numbers game run by Vince Paretta. Conroy began losing heavily, and threatened to expose Paretta to the police in retaliation.

(Avengers I#192-193) - While Tony Stark and Wonder Man were negotiating the sale of the mill, Conroy's fellow worker Tim Turpin, acting on Paretta's orders, knocked Conroy into a vat of molten steel. As was tradition, the ingot made from the steel Conroy fell into was placed outside in a makeshift "graveyard." However, Conroy had been mutated by the combination of the molten steel and enchanted uru, and burst from the ingot to seek vengeance on those who had "killed" him. Conroy was opposed by Wonder Man and Iron Man (Tony Stark), but he casually defeated them and stalked off towards Paretta's office.

There, Inferno scared Paretta off and chased Turpin to the docks, where he crushed his killer between a barge and a concrete wall. Sensing that Paretta was still alive, he began marching through Pittsburgh to kill him, destroying all in his path. By this point, the Avengers had been summoned, and they briefly fought Inferno. Conroy defeated them all within minutes, and when they gave chase, he endangered a streetcar full of people to delay them. Inferno had cornered Paretta at the latter's house, and the fearful mobster confessed all. The Avengers, who had reached the house just after Inferno, overheard this and burst in. Iron Man had deduced a method of destroying Inferno, but Inferno saw Captain America promise Paretta would go to jail for his actions. At this, Inferno's desire for revenge was satisfied, and he turned and walked into a nearby river, killing himself.

Comments: Joseph Conroy sort of created by Stan "the Man" Lee and Jack "King" Kirby; fleshed out, named, and remade as Inferno by David Michelinie, Arvell Jones, Ricardo Villamonte, and maybe George Perez

An interesting character created of some minor continuity, and then later reused after he became a piece of minor continuity.

Williams Innovations was later revealed to fully be under Maggia control in Marvel Premiere#55, and it was still later revealed that the Nefaria family was responsible in Iron Man I#138. A Maggia-controlled Pittsburg construction company hired Blacklash/Whiplash to kill Vic Martellini in Iron Man I#146-147. All of these stories were written by David Michelinie. When you consider that Nefaria used ionic power on himself (like Simon Williams transformation into Wonder Man) and that his Maggia family was Whiplash's original employer, there's actually some heavy continuity under the surface of this story and those linked to it.

I've got to wonder how Thor reacted when he heard about the Inferno case. Wonder if he or the other Asgardians might have been able to restore Conroy? Also, I can't help but think there's some other beings out there who've gotten their powers from Thor's hammer. Anyone spring to mind?

Profile by Omar Karindu

Clarifications: Inferno is not to be confused with:

• Inferno, transformed version of the demon Slifer, @Ghost Rider II#4
• Inferno-42, a powerful incendiary compound, @Tales of Suspense I#75
• Inferno, Samatha McGee, exemplar of Balthakk, @ Iron Man III#21/2
• Inferno, the big X-crossover that introduced Nas'tirh
  
• Inferno 2099, of the Triumvirate, @ X-Men 2099: Oasis
• Slag, Theodore Slaght, another molten-metal creature opposed by Iron Man, @Iron Man I#316

Inferno (fascimile)

(Avengers I#353-354) - Grim Reaper transformed one of the victims of an airliner crash into a fascimile of Inferno. Under the Reaper's control, a more talkative but undead Inferno attacked Crystal, who discovered that her powers were ineffectual against him. Before he could kill her, though, the Vision forced the Reaper to realize that he had not been killed by the Avengers, but had committed suicide. Realizing this, the Reaper lost control of the Legion's souls, and the dead villains, including Inferno, stalked back towards him for vengeance. Before they could harm the Reaper, though, Lloigoroth burst through the wall of the Reaper's castle and apparently consumed him. Inferno and the rest of the Legion were then apparently drawn into the departing Lliogoroth's dimensional vortex.

--Avengers I#353 (Avengers I#353-354

Tim Turpin

The man who killed Joseph Conroy. As detailed above, he tried to flee Inferno but simply hastened his own death in the process.
--Avengers I#192 (193

Vince Paretta

The operator of the Paretta Steel Mill, he used it as a front to launder money for the Maggia. He also started a crooked numbers game to make more illicit profits for hhimself, but became afraid that the authorities or the Maggia would learn of his activities. He hoped to kill Conroy and quickly sell the Mill to Stark, using the money to flee the country, but was thwarted by Inferno and the Avengers. As noted above, he was likely with the Nefaria family, which probably means his fears were pretty justified.
--Avengers I#192 (193

Appearances:
Journey Into Mystery I#120 (April, 1964) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), Vince Colletta (inks)
Avengers I#192 (February, 1980) - David Michelinie (writer), Arvell Jones (pencils), Ricardo Villamonte & Marvel staff (inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Avengers I#193 (March, 1980) - David Michelinie &qmp; Pittsburgh Comix Club (writers), Sal Buscema (pencils), Dan Green (inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Avengers I#353-354 (September-October, 1992) - Len Kaminski (writer), M.C. Wyman (pencils), Ariane & Alexandrov (#354) (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)

Last updated: 03/23/14

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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