The Horn of the Unicorn!

Tony Stark has called a press conference to show off the newly rebuilt Stark International. Attending the unveiling ceremony with him is his lover Madame Masque, SHIELD liaison Jasper Sitwell, a Life Model Decoy of Iron Man,[1] and Iron Man’s new partner Jack of Hearts. After Tony gives a tour of the facility, Jack of Hearts announces that he is leaving his training at Iron Man’s side so he can focus on investigating his father’s murder and bringing the men responsible to justice.[2] Also leaving is Jasper Sitwell, who is being recalled and reassigned by SHIELD. Tony is sad to see Jasper go and wishes him all the best.[3]

With everyone gone, Tony Stark, the LMD, and Madame Masque return to Tony’s office for some much needed privacy. There Tony apologizes to Whitney for sticking her with the LMD, but insists that maintaining his secret identity was absolutely necessary. Converting the LMD back to its Tony Stark form, Tony then sends it back to his private lab so they can have some alone time. The decoy is observed by a man who is plotting to assassinate Tony Stark. He prepares to make the kill shot when he observes the LMD activate the secret door to the lab, piquing the spy’s interest.[4]

That evening, as Iron Man goes out on patrol, the Unicorn emerges from the waters outside the Stark International loading dock. He is commended by a telepathic voice he calls “The Other”, who instructs him to carry out a mission to steal a new Stark solar converter.[5] Iron Man soon spots an explosion in sector seven and races to investigate. There, he is shocked to discover the Unicorn alive and well. The villain has a new costume and upgraded weapons. Iron Man tries to reason with the Unicorn, since his powers are still slowly killing him. The Unicorn refuses to listen as he is in full control of his master.[6]

Little does the Unicorn or his master realize how much Iron Man has upgraded his armor since he last encountered his foe and he easily shrugs off the Unicorn’s attacks. Growing annoyed with the prolonged battle, the Other orders his slave to stop fooling around and destroy Iron Man. To this end, the Unicorn uses the power of his new horn-blaster to magnetically take control of a solar powered truck and make it speed toward Iron Man from behind. Iron Man is fully aware of this move thanks to his onboard computers and decides to play dumb. While the Unicorn is distracted, Iron Man does the same thing to his Dynamax Car and sends it hurtling toward his enemy. Before the solar truck can hit him, Iron Man leaps out of the way causing the Unicorn to get sandwiched between the two vehicle, knocking him out and ending his threat.

In the aftermath of the battle, Iron Man deduces that whoever sent the Unicorn after him only did so to test the range of Iron Man’s new abilities. This is true, however, his theory that the Other is done with the Unicorn is wrong as the mastermind behind this scheme is already scheming new uses for his lackey as his game has yet to fully play out.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Unicorn, Madame Masque, Jasper Sitwell, Titanium Man (unidentified), Spymaster (unidentified)

Continuity Notes

1. This Life Model Decoy has been pulling double duty to help maintain Tony Stark’s secret identity since issue #109.

2. Jack of Heart’s father was murdered around the same time he got his powers in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #23. A footnote hear tells readers to check out upcoming issues of Marvel Premiere for Jack’s further adventures. Indeed, a solo Jack of Hearts story appears in issue #44 of that series.

3. Jasper mentions how a big part of his life revolved around Stark Industries/International. Jasper was assigned to the company as their SHIELD liaison back in Tales of Suspense #93. He served in this role until he was shot in Iron Man #34. After taking time to heal and undergo physiotherapy he returned to his former position in Iron Man #95.

4. This spy is unidentified here. Issue #115 reveals that this is the Spymaster in disguise and issue #117 reveals that he has been hired by rogue SHIELD agents to learn the identities of Stark International’s shareholders in an scheme to force the company back into manufacturing munitions.

5. “The Other” is only seen in shadow in this story but looks a lot like Titanium Man. This is confirmed in Iron Man #134.

6. Iron Man is confused about the Unicorn being alive and in relative control of his own mind. This is because, for a while, the Unicorn was rendered a mindless drone to be used by the Mandarin in Iron Man #57-58. When last seen, the Unicorn’s body seemingly drowned when the Mandarin’s undersea base was destroyed per Iron Man #68-69. Also mentioned is how the Unicorn’s powers are slowly killing him. This has been the case dating back to Iron Man #4 when the Unicorn received a power upgrade.

Topical References

• Tony Stark displays a futuristic car based on the designs of Richards Buckminster Fuller, a noted futurist, designer, and author. Fuller died in 1983. The reference to Fuller would not be considered a topical reference in this case as Fuller is referenced here as an inspiration for Tony. Since Stark himself would be referred to as a futurist himself in later stories his inspirations would still be relevant regardless of Fuller’s status before and after this story was written, particularly since he is not being referred to in the present tense here.