Iron Man #9
… There Lives a Green Goliath
There is a late-night delivery at a Chinese antique shop owned by a woman named Mei Ling. Already creeped out by the place, the delivery men are frightened off by Mei Ling’s benefactor after they drop off the crate. This man shatters the wooden crate with his bare hands revealing what appears to be an antique statue of a Chinese warrior. However, this armor is merely to hide the item he wished to smuggle into the United States. Stripping the armor off, the mystery man reveals what appears to be the Hulk. The man boasts that the man-monster is under his control and will carry out his plans.
Meanwhile, Tony Stark has just finished repairing the damage done to his Iron Man armor during his battle with the Gladiator.[1] Putting on the armor, Tony then puts it through a battery of tests until he is satisfied it is in proper working order. That’s when he gets a call from Vincent Sandhurst, Janice Chord’s lawyer, who hopes Tony can meet with him and his client to finalize the sale of Cord Manufacturing.[2] Tony agrees to the meeting, however, as he has become attracted to Janice he fears she might see him as a coward after he appeared to abandon her while they were prisoners of the Maggia. Janice also has conflicted feelings toward Tony Stark and wonders if she is falling in love with him.
At that same moment, Mei Ling and her master test out the Hulk’s abilities. Confident that the brute can destroy Iron Man. Having heard about Stark Industries’ plans to buy out Cord Manufacturing, the Hulk is sent to capture Tony Stark in order to draw out his bodyguard, Iron Man.
Moments later, Tony Stark meets with Janice Cord and her lawyer. The tension in the room is broken when the Hulk comes crashing in through a window, grabs Janice, and then leaps away.[3] With no time to lose, Tony runs off to a secluded office so he can change into Iron Man and follow after the Hulk. As Iron Man flies away, he is unaware that he is being observed by Mei Ling who calls her master from a payphone to report what she has seen.
Iron Man catches up with the Hulk, but the man-monster easily fights him off and bounds off again. The Hulk then lures Iron Man to a warehouse where explosives are being stored.[4] It’s here that the brute shows uncharacteristic cunning by trying to set off the explosives inside. However, despite the Hulk’s attempts to kill Iron Man in an explosion, the Golden Avenger’s armor withstands the blast.
Fleeing with Janice again, the Hulk then lures Iron Man into a nearby power plant. This time, the Hulk smashes Iron Man through a partition in the hopes of knocking his foe into the generator. Iron Man manages to break free, leaving the Huk to fall into the generator itself. The resulting explosion uncovers a startling revelation: Iron Man wasn’t fighting the Hulk, but a robotic duplicate of the gamma-spawned monster. With the robot destroyed, Iron Man wonders who created it and why.
Little does he know that the battle was observed by Mei Ling and her master, who turns out to be none other than the Mandarin. Although his robot was destroyed it succeeded in its mission, confirming the Mandarin’s suspicions that Iron Man is actually Tony Stark!
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, the Mandarin, Janice Cord, Vincent Sandhurst, Mei Ling
Continuity Notes
Iron Man’s armor was damaged fighting the Gladiator in Iron Man #7-8.
Following the death of Janice’s father in Iron Man #2, her lawyer has been eager to sell off the company to Tony since issue #7.
A bystander recalls the last time the Hulk was in New York City. That was in Incredible Hulk #108.
Iron Man mentions how he and the Hulk used to be teammates in the Avengers. Both were founding members in Avengers #1. However, the Hulk quit the team in the following issue after learning how much his teammates mistrusted him.
Topical References
Both Tony and Vincent are depicted using rotary phones.