Iron Man #115
Betrayal!
The Avengers are helping Iron Man transport the Unicorn to Stark International, after their last battle left the villain on life support. After the team makes the delivery, Iron Man orders them to go back to Avengers Mansion to try and pick up the trail of Arsenal, the robot that randomly attacked them during their conflict with the Unicorn.[1] As Iron Man takes the Unicorn back to his lab, he is unaware that a spy who has been stealing secrets from Stark International. This spy has almost finished his information gathering and is preparing to strike.[2]
Once in the privacy of his lab, Tony Stark begins probing the Unicorn’s mind in the hopes of learning how he survived their last encounter, who sent him to attack Stark International, and possibly a means to save his life.[3] When the Unicorn’s body was lost at sea during a battle with the Mandarin. The cold waters kept Unicorn alive in a state of suspended animation until he was found by the mystery man who had been controlling him recently. Known only as the “Other”, this individual restored Unicorn’s mind and upgraded his powers before sending him on an attack on Stark International. Unfortunately, Tony is unable to learn who the mastermind is and what his motives are. However, he suspects that the Unicorn was sent to test out Iron Man’s capabilities so his master was better prepared to attack him at a later date.
Getting nowhere, Tony decides to call it a day. Returning to his office, he deactivates the Life Model Decoy posing as him for the night. He decides to head for home since he hasn’t seen Whitney Frost, his lover, since the day before. As Tony leaves Stark International, the spy who has been gathering info on the company decides to tail him hoping for an opportunity to assassinate Tony. While elsewhere, the mysterious Other cannot re-establish his connection with the Unicorn. Smashing the control panel to pieces, the Other vows to never stop until either he or Iron Man are dead.
By this time, Tony Stark has returned to his penthouse apartment where he is ambushed by the Ani-Men — Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man, and Frog-Man. Without his armor, Tony is helpless against their animal based powers and gets knocked around for a bit. Still, he refuses to give up without a fight and begins defending himself. Unfortunately, someone sneaks up behind him and strikes him from behind. The person responsible tells the Ani-Men that they need Tony Stark alive. Hearing his assailant’s voice, Tony can hardly believe that he is being betrayed by Whitney Frost, aka Madame Masque. With Tony knocked out, she vows to force Tony to restore her father, Count Nefaria, to his proper age or he will die.[4]
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Madame Masque, Ani-Men (Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man, Frog-Man), Avengers (Captain America, Yellowjacket, the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Vision, the Beast, Wonder Man), Unicorn, Titanium Man, Eternity Man, Count Nefaria, Spymaster (unidentified)
Continuity Notes
Arsenal attacked the Avengers last issue. They will learn that he was built by Howard Stark to defend America in the event of nuclear war as revealed in Avengers Annual #9.
Next issue, this spy is revealed to be Spymaster (surprise!) Iron Man #117 goes on to reveal that he was hired by rogue SHIELD agents to learn the identities of Stark International shareholders so they can force the company back into making munitions.
Tony goes over a lot of the Unicorn’s past history including:
Their first battle in Tales of Suspense #56.
The upgrade that drastically shortened his lifespan in Iron Man #4.
How he attempted to get cured by the Mandarin, only to be transformed into a mindless slave and how that battle ended with the Mandarin’s mind being trapped in the Unicorn’s body. See Iron Man #57-58.
How the Mandarin eventually freed himself and the Unicorn’s body was lost at see in Iron Man #68-69.
The identity of the man who was employing the Unicorn in issues #113-114 is unrevealed here but it’s clearly the Titanium Man. This is confirmed in issue #134.
Madame Masque’s relationship to Count Nefaria was revealed back in Iron Man #8. At the time of this story, Nefaria had given himself ionic powers. However, he discovered they came at a price: He was rapidly aging and is now an old man. See Avengers #164-166 and last issue for details.
Topical References
One of the Stark employees states that Tony is richer than Rockefeller. This is a reference should be considered topical since Rockefeller died in 1979.
On the other hand, Tony driving a 70’s model Corvette in this story may not necessarily be considered topical. One could assume that Tony has a collection of vintage cars.