The Coming of the Controller

Following his battle with the Mandarin, Iron Man is helpless to stop ambulance drivers from carrying off a Life Model Decoy of Tony Stark he used to preserve his secret identity. Thinking Tony Stark is dead, Janice Cord is deeply upset and seeks comfort from the Avenger. With of the essence, Iron Man takes off and heads to the abandoned lab of Drexel Cord. There he is able to remotely control the LMD. When the ambulance arrives at the hospital the drivers are shocked to see that “Tony Stark” has made a miraculous recovery. Iron Man then has the LMD return to Stark Industries where he shuts the android down and stores it in the secret room where he keeps his suits of Iron Man armor. After this fiasco, Tony decides to never again rely on an LMD to protect his double-identity.

Meanwhile, in the Florida Everglades, Jasper Sitwell is in charge of a SHIELD recovery team that is recovering the craft that Whitney Frost — the leader of the Maggia — used to escape capture.[1] Judging from the wreckage, Jasper has doubts if Whitney survived and finds himself deeply upset because he genuinely cared about her. Pushing his feelings aside, Sitwell decides to redouble his devotion to SHIELD.

Back in New York, Janice Cord has heard about Tony’s “miraculous recovery” and meets with him right away. Tony is eager to spend time with her but they still have to deal with the sale of Cord Manufacturing,[2] and Tony needs time to get his business back up and running after it was temporarily shut down by the government.[3] After Janice leaves, Tony wonders why Vincent Sandhurst insists Janice to sell a company that could still make her a lot of money and decides to find out why the lawyer is pressuring her to do so.

At that moment, in a small New England town, Vincent Sandhurst goes to check on his brother, Basil. This is because Basil is disabled and relies on hired staff and a fully automated home to function. When he arrives, Basil communicates with his brother via the built-in PA system. He is furious that Vincent hasn’t finalized the sale of Cord Manufacturing, as the funds from Vince’s lawyer’s fees were earmarked to further Basil’s experiments. That’s when Basil emerges from his lab on his own two legs revealing that he has built an exo-skeleton to help his horribly burned body to walk again. Basil reminds Vincent that it is his fault that he is in this condition. He reminds Vincent that it was he that got Basil his job working for Drexel Cord. However, Basil refused to toil away for no recognition and was working on his own project: a means of controlling the human mind. However, Basil’s mania got the better of him and one day he lost his shit and started trashing the lab. Vincent was told about the outburst and he managed to pull his brother away before he lost his job. Arguing in a lab, Vincent shoved his brother into some volatile chemicals that exploded on impact. Fearing for his life, Vincent left his brother in the burning lab. Although Basil was eventually saved by rescue crews, he was horribly burned and crippled in the accident.

Now, Basil has gone against his brother’s wishes and continued his research. He then takes Vincent into his lab where he reveals all of the wait staff are being kept in his Mental-Wave Absorbatron. Now calling himself the Controller, Basil explains that his device uses the mental energies of others to give him the power to move again as well as increase his strength — as long as he remains in the range of the Absorbatron. Intending to eventually enslave the entire world, starting with his brother. Vincent tries to get away, but the mansion’s automated systems restrain him allowing the Controller to attach one of his control discs.

One week later, after receiving no word from Vincent, both Tony and Janice head to New England to finalize the sale of Cord Manufacturing. Stopping for directions at a diner, Tony is horrified to see everyone inside is in some kind of trance due to strange devices on their foreheads. That’s when he hears Janice scream and rushes outside just in time to witness the Controller rip his car to shreds and abscond with the woman. Quickly changing into Iron Man, Tony races after the Control who is floating slowly back to his mansion. However, the Golden Avenger is not prepared for the Controller’s enhanced strength. The Controller easily overpowers Iron Man and places a control disc on the front of his helmet. With Iron Man seemingly under his control, Basil Sandhurst caries his two latest prisoners back to his mansion.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, the Controller, Janice Cord, Vincent Sandhurst, Tony Stark LMD

Continuity Notes

1. Whitney Frost attempted to seduce Jasper Sitwell in order to get access to Stark Industry secrets. It was a long con that ran from Tales of Suspense #97-99, Iron Man and the Sub-Mariner #1, and Iron Man #1-7.

2. Following the death of Janice’s father in Iron Man #2, her lawyer has been pressuring her to sell the company to Tony Stark in issue #7.

3. The Mandarin framed Tony Stark for treason resulting in this government shutdown. See Iron Man #10-11.