Unmasked!

Iron Man has been captured and immobilized by the Mandarin, who has framed Tony Stark for treason. Now the villain prepares to unmask his foe to prove once and for all that Tony Stark and Iron Man are the same people. Taking off Iron Man’s helmet, both the Mandarin and his lover Mei Ling are shocked to discover a blond-haired man underneath. Iron Man then goads the Mandarin to turn on his television scanner. It picks up a press conference at a cabin in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains. The man who called it is none other than Tony Stark. However, Stark refuses to answer questions until the rest of the media arrives.

Convinced into thinking Iron Man and Stark are two different men, after all. The Mandarin uses his personal teleporter to send himself to the cabin and destroy Stark. He leaves Mei Ling behind to keep Iron Man immobilized. Deduces that Mei Ling loves the Mandarin — feelings that are unrequited — he plays with her emotions until she storms out of the room in anger. When she slams the door behind her, it causes the immobilizer to fall over and shatter, freeing Iron Man from his control. No longer needing his life-like mask, Tony rips it off and recovers his helmet. He then speeds to the cabin because, as it turns out, the other Tony Stark is actually a Life Model Decoy. Time is of the essence since the LMD will shut down after its programming runs it course, putting him back in the same situation if the truth is discovered.

Meanwhile, the Mandarin arrives outside the cabin and sneaks inside. This is just as the LMD finishes addressing the press gathered outside and returns inside. The Mandarin ambushes the android and he strikes it just as it is shutting down leaving him to believe that “Stark” was knocked out. That’s when Iron Man comes crashing in to face his foe. In the ensuing battle, Iron Man rips off the belt that controls his teleportation device. However, this doesn’t stop the Mandarin to signal Mei Ling to send some robots. In the ensuing battle, the Mandarin boasts about how he framed Tony Stark, unaware that members of the press are watching from the window and have heard his confession.

As Iron Man destroys the robots, Janice Cord arrives to see Tony and, fearing for his safety, rushes inside the cabin. Seeing the inert LMD on the floor she fears for Tony’s safety. This allows the Mandarin to grab her and uses Janice as a hostage. He orders Mei Ling to come and pick him up in their ship. Although he boards the craft without resistance, Iron Man smashes his way inside. There, Mei-Ling hears the Mandarin mock Janice Cord’s love for Tony Stark. Realizing that the Mandarin could never love her, Mei-Ling rushes him and is blasted by one of his power rings. This allows Janice to break free and get to safety, allowing Iron Man to beat the Mandarin into submission before they escape. They then watch as the Mandarin’s ship crashes into a nearby building seemingly slaying both the Mandarin and Mei-Ling in an explosion.[1]

When Iron Man and Janice return to the cabin his worst fears are realized: The reporters found the inert LMD and assumed that Tony Stark injured. As EMTs load the body into an ambulance, Iron Man fears that the truth will come out the moment the body is more thoroughly examined.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, the Mandarin, Janice Cord, Mei Ling, Tony Stark LMD

Continuity Notes

1. Although the Mandarin seemingly perishes here, he turns up alive again in Captain America #125. Mei-Ling, apparently, wasn’t so lucky.