Iron Man #122
Journey!
Now
After foiling a Roxxon plot to illegally obtain an island full of Vibranium, the Sub-Mariner bids farewell to Iron Man and returns to the ocean. Iron Man also decides to depart, thanking the Navy for their assistance. As he flies off, Jim Rhodes — Tony’s personal pilot — is impressed by Iron Man’s exploits, but Bethany Cabe isn’t sold on Iron Man’s effectiveness as Tony Stark’s bodyguard.
As Iron Man flies to the mainland, he decides to take the tranquility of the ocean to take his time and relax. He switches from jet power to his slower solar powered flight mode and turns on the radio. As he drifts through the air, Tony’s mind drifts back to a simpler time when Tony Stark viewed the world in black and white instead of the complex shades of grey it has now become…[1]
Years Ago[2]
At a military facility in Vietnam, Tony Stark demonstrates his latest technology which can boost the power of a simple magnet, giving it the power to rip a vault off its hinges. The military brass is impressed as this technology will shorten American involvement in the conflict by years. Tony then joins a military unit of a field test of his latest inventions. It is here that Tony accidentally set off a trip-wire. Tony is the lone survivor of the blast who is found by the notorious warlord named Wong-Chu. Learning that Stark has shrapnel in his heart that will eventually kill him, Wong-Chu decides to trick the inventor into his services with the false promise of being able to save Tony’s life.
Tony knows that Wong-Chu is trying to deceive him, and so he agrees to work for the tyrant in the hopes of using the lab to create a means of saving his own life. He is soon joined by Ho Yinsen, another brilliant inventor who is a prisoner of Wong-Chu. The pair put their talents together and create a chest plate that will keep Tony’s heart beating. They incorporate it into the first suit of Iron Man armor, which they hope to use to liberate themselves. However, when the invention is complete, the pair’s work is about to be discovered as Tony is charging up the armor for the first time. In order to buy Tony more time, Yinsen creates a distraction, sacrificing his life so Tony can finish charging and master the use of his new armor.[3]
That evening, as Wong-Chu entertains himself by wrestling with some captive villagers, Iron Man challenges the tyrant to a battle. With his armored body, Tony Stark is able to defeat Wong-Chu. When the warlord tries to summon his men, Iron Man hacks into the PA system and makes it sound like Wong-Chu is ordering them to flee. Without his army, Wong-Chu turns coward and tries to flee, only to get blown up when Iron Man ignites a nearby ammunition dump.[4] With Wong Chu avenged, Iron Man then wanders into the jungle to find his way back home.[5]
Now
After recollecting his origins, Iron Man thinks about all of the changes he has gone through since them: The many times he has upgraded and improved his armor over the years,[6] how he came to be a founder of the Avengers,[7] how the he eventually overcame his heart problems with a revolutionary transplant,[8] how his company changed from Stark Industries to Stark International,[9] and how it had gone from a weapons manufacturer to entirely scientific pursuits. Despite all of these changes, Tony knows one thing for sure: That he’ll always be Iron Man.
As Iron Man continues to head for home, he is unaware that — somewhere along the Mediterranean — a man named Hammer is plotting against him.[10] After learning the second test of their capabilities was a success.[11] Pleased, Hammer decides that it is time to push ahead with the plans, which will make Iron Man theirs to command.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Justin Hammer, Bethany Cabe, Jim Rhodes, Sub-Mariner
Continuity Notes
Here, the narrative of the story is alluding to the fact that SHIELD has been trying to obtain controlling stock in Stark International in order to force the company into selling munitions again, as seen in Iron Man #117-119. The company has been out of the weapons game since Iron Man #46.
This of course, is a retelling of Iron Man’s origins, adapted from the original story told in Tales of Suspense #39.
Yinsen actually survived. It is later revealed in Iron Man (vol. 3) #31, Yinsen survived getting shot and was taken away by Sun Tao, one of Yinsen’s students. Sun Tao left him after hearing what he thought were Yinsen’s dying words. However, Iron Man Annual 2000 reveals that Yinsen was pulled forward in time moments after he was shot by Doctor Midas.
Wong-Chu also survived the blast. Iron Man #268 shows that he was found by the Mandarin, turned into a beetle, and then crushed. Iron Man Annual 2000 reveals that the Mandarin only made Wong-Chu believe this to have happened for. Wong-Chu went on to rebuild his organization.
How Iron Man got out of the jungles of Vietnam is not explained until Iron Man #144, which reveals he was found by James Rhodes, an American soldier who became a good friend to Tony in later years.
Displayed here are various Iron Man armors that Tony has worn over the years. Some of these are new entirely different models, while others are merely cosmetic changes to pre-existing suits. They include:
Iron Man’s original armor which, as I’ve already stated, was built in Tales of Suspense #39.
The next is a gold suit of armor, this was merely a cosmetic change that Tony made to his original suit in Tales of Suspense #40, since its dull grey finish frightened people.
Next is the first model to use Iron Man’s trademark red and gold color scheme. This second suit of armor was built in Tales of Suspense #48.
The next suit is a variant of the second model featuring an updated “riveted” helmet. Tony started wearing this new helmet in Tales of Suspense #54.
Next is the model 3 armor, which Tony first built in Tales of Suspense #66.
Although looking nearly identical to the model 3, Iron Man is actually wearing a newer model in the present day portions of this story. This suit was first built in Iron Man #85.
Iron Man was a founding member of the Avengers back in (you guessed it) Avengers #1. Depicted here are Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Giant-Man, the Wasp, Rick Jones, and Captain America. Some facts:
Everyone presented here are founding members except for Captain America. The Hulk left the group shortly after its formation in Avengers #2.
Captain America later took the Hulk’s place when he was revived in Avengers #4. It’s later stated in Avengers (vol. 3) #4 that Cap was retroactively given founder status.
Tony had heart needed the special chest plate to keep him alive for some time until he received a heart transplant in Iron Man #19. His heart was still fragile, as undue stress would cause his body to reject the synthetic parts in his body. This became a recurring problem until his heart appeared be fully healed by issue #58. The problems appeared to be coming back around issue #95, but Tony’s heart hasn’t given him trouble since issue #107.
The name of the company has changed. The company was founded as Stark Industries back in the 19th Century by its founder Isaac Stark, Sr. per Marvel Holiday Special 1996. It kept this name until the Modern Age when Tony decided to change its name to Stark International to represent its global operations. This change happened in Iron Man #71.
Justin Hammer’s full name isn’t revealed until Iron Man #124.
Hammer’s scheme involves taking remote control of Iron Man’s armor. He previously caused the suit’s uni-beam to go off in issue #118 and its life support system to fail in issue #120. The fruition of his plan comes together in issue #124 when Hammer uses Iron Man’s repulsors to kill a diplomat.
Topical References
One of the soldiers on the ship quips that America could have the 1980 Olympics “in the bag” if Namor was on the team. An odd comment to make since the 1980 Olympics was the winter games and not the summer games. I mean, Namor probably could ace all those sports, but he’d probably be a better fit for the summer games since, you know, that one has swimming competitions. Anyway, this reference is topical since the games were only a few months away when this comic was published in 1979. Modern readers should ignore the year.
This story states that Iron Man’s origins take place in the 1960s during the Vietnam War. These should be considered topical references. Per the Sliding Timescale, it’s been about 5 years between this story and Tales of Suspense #39. Per History of the Marvel Universe #2, all references to the Vietnam War taking place during the Modern Age have been replaced with the Sin-Cong Conflict, which spilled into Vietnam.
This story still refers to early Stark Tech being powered by transistors. As I’ve said in many summaries of early Iron Man stories, this should be considered a topical reference since transistors are one of the most common components found in every piece of electronics.
Like past tellings of Iron Man’s origins, a number of the facts on display regarding these origins. Things like the geographical location, technology used, and terminology has changed over the years. As such a lot of the references in this story should be considered topical. I talk about it at length here.
When defeated by Iron Man, Wong-Chu offers ten thousand yen to the person who destroys the hero. Again, this is an error. The Yen is the currency of Japan while the Vietnamese use the Dong (not kidding). Also this is not a lot of money, amounting to only about $91 USD using today’s conversion rate. Not a huge incentive to fight a man in a suit of armor if you ask me, but I digress.