A Ruse by Any Other Name

Iron Man is battling the Sub-Mariner in the Atlantic Ocean when, suddenly, his life support systems fail. This causes Tony’s armor to start filling with water causing him to sink to the ocean floor.

At that same moment, Rhode — Tony’s personal pilot — and Bethany Cabe arrive near the island where Tony Stark’s commercial airline flight crashed to look for him.[1] When the commanding officer of an apparent military operation demands they leave the airspace, Bethany tries to use a clearance code to allow them to stay.[2] However, the commander doesn’t know what she is talking about and orders his boats on the ground to open fire. Rhodes is hit by a bullet, forcing Bethany to take control of the jet-copter and make a water landing. As she helps Rhodes onto a life-raft, they are surrounded by military boats and ordered to surrender.

Meanwhile, Iron Man wakes up on the island and discovers that he is back at Hiram Dobb’s homestead. Namor saved his life only to find out why the Avenger attacked him. As it turned out the story the soldiers told Iron Man is a lie. The Sub-Mariner explains how he had discovered a number of barrels of toxic waste that were dumped near the island. While burying them under tons of rock, Namor was exposed and weakened. Luckily, he was rescued and pulled ashore by Hiram Dobbs, who then nursed the Atlantean prince back to health. As it turns out, Dobbs has been living on this island for the past 20 years, and these soldiers only turned up a few days ago and have been trying to force him off the island ever since.

While at the military base, a doctor patches up Rhodes while Bethany is allowed to change out of her wet clothes. Cabe pretends to be modest about stripping down in order to get the guard watching her to turn around. This allows her and Rhodes to knock out the guard and the doctor and steal a weapon. Racing into the next room, they discover that this is not a military operation after all, but a covert operation by the Roxxon Oil Company run by a man named Jonas Hale. As it turns out the real reason they have come to this island is because they have discovered that it is rich with the rare metal known as Vibranium.

Back at Hiram’s home, Iron Man recharges his armor with Dobbs’ generator. He asks Hiram to tell him the truth about the island. Dobbs explains that he used to live small town in Indiana that eventually grew into a major city. Feeling overwhelmed by societal progress, Hiram and his wife Mary, decided to leave it all behind. After selling all their belongings, they chartered a ship out to this deserted island and built a home for themselves where they lived happily for years until Mary died. After mourning his loss, Hiram remained on the island living in peace until the soldiers arrived to cause him trouble. Hearing all this, Iron Man agrees that the soldiers are in the wrong and joins forces with Namor to drive them off the island.

As the two heroes attack the naval fleet, Jonas Hale decides that if Roxxon can’t get the Vibranium, then nobody will and rigs the entire island to explode. In the ensuing battle, Rhodes and Bethany escape capture and warn Iron Man and Namor of what’s really going on. With no time to defuse the explosives, Iron Man and Namor pull everyone to safety just as the explosives go off, annihilating the entire island in the process. The blast brings out the real Navy, who were investigating reports about the Roxxon operatives posing as them. Unfortunately, an investigation of the island turns up no evidence of Roxxon’s involvement as all the records have been destroyed. The Sub-Mariner cannot understand the lengths this company went for a bunch of metal. Iron Man tries to explain how Vibranium is incredibly rare and valuable. Seeing Hiram crying over the loss of his home, Namor wonders why people put such value over material things at the expense of people’s hopes and dreams.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Sub-Mariner, Roxxon (Jonas Hale), Bethany Cabe, Jim Rhodes, Hiram Dobbs

Continuity Notes

1. Jim Rhodes full name is not given here. It is fully revealed next issue.

2. Bethany’s military clearance is a hint to her job, a bodyguard to diplomats, as we’ll learn in Iron Man #124.

Topical References

• Roxxon is depicted as using PT Boats on the water. This should be considered a topical reference because these types of ships have since been retired from military use in favor to FAC’s.