Iron Man #31 — Nick Peron

Jul 5

Jul 5 Iron Man #31

Anything — For the Cause!

On the island of Lakani, activists have gathered to protest the opening of a new Stark Industries facility that they believe will bring environmental devastation to their home. The leader of this protest is Major Hubert Ffoulkes, who believes that automation and technology will lead to the downfall of humanity. The protest is observed by Tony Stark and Bowers, the man who runs the facility. Bowers considers Ffoulkes a crackpot and wants the demonstrators removed by force, but Tony wants to hear them out in the hopes they can talk things out.

Unfortunately, things turn violent when a group of thugs who call themselves the Smashers arrive and try to topple a statue of Iron Man that stands outside the factory. This turns the demonstration in a full out riot. As Tony slips away to change into Iron Man, a Stark employee named Kevin O’Brien steps in to help by using his newly invented stun-blaster to incapacitate members of the Smashers. When Iron Man finally arrives, the mob is disbursed. The Avenger is impressed with O’Brien’s inventive device and learns that Bowers has prevented him from developing his non-lethal weapon due to budgetary reasons, forcing Kevin to work on the device on his own. Kevin who is in love with Kathy Ffoulkes, the Major’s daughter, is dismayed that she does not like his devotion to Stark Industries. Kevin tries to explain that the Stark facility had put measures in place to reduce the amount of pollution it produces but these rationalizations fall on deaf ears.

Meanwhile, the Smasher’s return to their hideout where their leader — Bullwhip Grogan — is annoyed that they weren’t able to carry out their goals. This disappointment is mirrored by their employer, a masked man called the Mastermind who communicates to the group via a video feed. However, Mastermind has another plan all figured out and begins giving the Smasher’s their next orders.

Back at the Stark facility, Tony Stark pays a visit to Kevin O’Brien in his lab and learns more about his latest invention. He is so impressed by Kevin’s work he decides to reassign O’Brien to work as a developer at his New York facility. This overjoys Kevin who pays a visit to Kathy that evening at her family home. However, Ms. Ffoulkes is not impressed with Kevin’s new promotion and accuses O’Brien of being Stark’s stooge.

The following morning, Tony meets with Bowers again to discuss why this facility is losing so much money. Bowers insists that the cost overruns are due to unforeseen complications caused by the installation of a new atomic reactor that will power the facility. Bowers continues to evade Tony’s direct questions. Luckily, he gets out of answering them when security advises him that the protestors are back again. While Bowers wants them ejected from the property, Tony overrules this and instead invites the press and the protestors into the facility so he can try and convince them that his plant will not cause harm to Lakani. Tony Stark tries to paint a picture of the future where technology can help create a utopian society and protect the environment. This idea is dismissed by Major Ffoulkes, who insists that humanity would do better by returning to a simpler life and only utilizing the bare minimum of technology to assist with working the land.

As the argument continues, Bullwhip and his fellow Smashers sneak into the room where the reactor is being built to plant a bomb. Both Kevin and Kathy catch them in the act and after O’Brien is knocked out, Kathy is taken hostage. That’s when a helicopter passes overhead and begins dumping flyers warning people that Stark’s reactor is unstable and could blow up at any time. This upsets the protestors even more who demand answers from Stark. Tony believes that someone is intentionally inflaming the crowd and slips away to change into Iron Man and investigate the helicopter. Catching up with the aircraft, Iron Man discovers that it is being piloted by members of the Smashers. Disabling the chopper, he saves Kevin and Kathy and captures Bullwhip and the Mastermind. Carrying the two rabble-rousers back to the facility, Iron Man suspects that they planted a bomb and refuses to let them leave until it goes off. As the time runs down, Bullwhip Grogin cracks under the pressure and reveals the bomb’s location just in time for Iron Man to disarm it.

With the danger over, Iron Man drags the two conspirators outside and reveals their plot to the protestors. Iron Man then unmasks the Mastermind revealing that he is none other than Bowers. As it turns out, Bowers was embezzling money from the company and was trying to inflame the environmental protestors into destroying the facility to cover up his crimes. With the truth exposed, Iron Man hopes that Stark Industries can start an open dialogue with the community so that all of their environmental concerns are addressed in a peaceful manner in the future.