Iron Man #7
The Maggia Strikes
Whitney Frost, the Big M, is running her Maggia enforcers on training drills for their impending attack on Stark Industries. With her men questioning her position as leader, Whitney also finds herself divided between her duties as leader of the Maggia and her growing love for SHIELD agent Jasper Sitwell. To prove to her men that they aren’t ready, she opens a secret panel revealing a life-like dummy of Iron Man. As expected, the Maggia gunsels panic. That’s when the Gladiator enters the room and easily shreds the mannequin with his wrist-mounted buzz-saws. With his own aspirations for leadership, the Gladiator promises them that with his help their mission will be a success.
When Whitney calls his track record into question, the Gladiator blames them on the Masked Marauder’s incompetence as the previous leader of the Maggia.[1] He explains that the Marauder betrayed him when it came time for the promised weapons upgrades but, following the Marauder’s apparent death, the Gladiator was able to find the plans and upgrade his equipment.[2] The Gladiator details a plan where he will kidnap Tony Stark in order to draw Iron Man away from Stark Industries, allowing it to be easily invaded. Whitney reluctantly accepts this plan, hoping it will ensure that Jasper does not get harmed.[3] Still, the Big M orders her men to stand by while she goes to Stark Industries for one last scouting mission.
There, both Tony Stark and Jasper Sitwell are overseeing repairs done after Stark Industries was attacked by the Crusher. Tony finds that Jasper is still upset over being emasculated by Iron Man in front of Whitney. When she arrives, Jasper takes off in a sour mood and Tony overhears him revealing to Whitney that there is still a hole in security on the south end of the property. Tony’s concerns over Jasper’s well-being are quickly put aside when he is informed that Janic Cord has arrived with her lawyer, Vincent Sandhurt. When Tony meets with them he learns that, following the death of Janice’s father, she wants to sell the family business to Tony.[4] Tony agrees to buy, promising to pay her generously for it. Finally seeing Janice again since he first met her as Iron Man, Tony finds himself becoming attracted to her.
Sandhurst suggests they check out Drexel Cord’s estate and they drive out to a castle that Cord paid to have imported brick-by-brick from Europe. As they look around, they are unaware that the Gladiator and a gang of Maggia goons are lurking in the rafters waiting for the right time to strike. When Tony and the others ride back to Stark Industries, the Gladiator scoops their car off the road with a carrier helicopter. They are then taken to the Maggia headquarters. It’s here that Tony learns that Whitney Frost is actually the Big M, and tries to shame her for manipulating Jasper’s emotions. It works, but Whitney still leaves with her men to begin the raid on Stark Industries, leaving Tony, Janice, and Vincent as prisoners of the Gladiator.
Once Whitney is gone, Tony begins faking a heart attack and tells his captors that he needs some pills that are in his briefcase.[5] They fall for it and when Tony is given his attaché case, he uses it to bludgeon two of the guards then leaps out of a window. This gives him the cover of darkness to change into Iron Man. Back inside, Janice and Vincent are tied together and the Gladiator threatens to drop heavy machinery on them if Tony doesn’t surrender immediately.
Iron Man deals with the guards who have come out looking for his alter-ego and manages to get inside and save Janice and Vince from the falling machiner. Unfortunately, his gauntlets are crushed in the process. Although his hands are relatively fine, it’s only when he is in the middle of a battle against the Gladiator that he discovers that his repulsor rays have been damaged. At that same moment, Whitney Frost and her men arrive outside of Stark Industries. After a moment’s hesitation, she orders her men to go inside
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Maggia (Big M, Gladiator), Jasper Sitwell, Janice Cord, Vincent Sandhurst
Continuity Notes
For more on the Gladiator’s time in the Masked Marauder’s Maggia see Daredevil #19, 22-23.
At the time of this story, everyone believes that the Masked Marauder died in an explosion in Daredevil #27. The Marauder survived by teleporting to safety and he will turn up again Iron Man #60.
The Gladiator mentions here that he just recently escaped from prison. He was arrested following the events of Daredevil Annual #1.
Drexel Cord was a rival businessman with a hate-on for Stark and Iron Man. He built the Demolisher robot to destroy his enemies but ended up sacrificing his life in order to save his daughter when the robot began running amok. See Iron Man #2.
Tony’s heart was injured by shrapnel back in Tales of Suspense #39, however, his heart condition did not become public knowledge until issue #84 of that series.
Topical References
There is a scene of a couple out fishing near the spot where Tony and Janice are kidnapped. The wife is the only one to see the abduction and when she tries to tell her husband he quips about her no longer being allowed to listen to Long John Nebel. This is an incredibly dated pop-culture reference. Nebel was a radio host best known for his reports on the paranormal — he was basically your grandparent’s version of Alex Jones — his career ended when he resigned in 1973 after refusing to change the format of his show to combat his plummeting ratings.