Mettle

Ken Mack is a Hawaiian teen whose body was transformed into a near-indestructible iridium shell, leaving him with a monstrous appearance but immense durability. Recruited into Avengers Academy, he trained alongside fellow students Hazmat and Finesse after his exposure to Infinite Mansion experiments.

Bursting onto the scene in 2010's Avengers Academy #3 — crafted by the formidable team of Christos Gage, Ed Brubaker, and Mike McKone — Mettle is a Modern Age Marvel creation whose brief but memorable run left a real mark on fans of that era. A student of the Marvel universe's most intense training ground, Mettle shares his pages with compelling company: Hazmat, Finesse, Jeanne Foucault, Jennifer Takeda, and Ken Mack, a roster that made Avengers Academy one of the most emotionally charged ensemble books of the early 2010s. With appearances spread across Avengers Academy, Avengers Academy: Second Semester, and even Ant-Man & Wasp, and at least one collector-recognized key issue to his name, Mettle rewards readers who dig into this underappreciated corner of Marvel history. If you've never explored the Avengers Academy era, Mettle and his classmates are exactly the reason to start.