Iron Man #36
… Among Men Stalks the Ramrod!
This story continues from Daredevil #73….
Following their adventure in another dimension, Iron Man, Nick Fury, Daredevil, Madame Masque, Spymaster, and members of the Zodiac crime cartel find themselves sent back to Earth. Appearing in New York City, Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius try to put up fight in order to get away.[1] While the others are busy with Zodiac, Iron Man goes after Spymaster so he can avenge Jasper Sitwell, who was shot during the spy’s attack on Stark Industries.[2] Unfortunately, Spymaster manages to get away when he uses a magnetization device on the traffic below. This forces Iron Man to stop and prevent a car accident. This allows Spymaster to flee into some nearby bushes and change out of his costume and disappear by blending into the crowd.
By the time Iron Man returns to the others, the members of Zodiac have been defeated and a SHIELD team is coming to take them into custody. Before leaving, Madame Masque asks for Iron Man’s advice about her complicated love life. She explains how she once had feelings for Tony Stark and Jasper Sitwell, but now realizes that Jasper is the one she truly loves. When she asks him how she can break this to his employer, Tony Stark, Iron Man becomes angry and storms off.[3] Little does Madame Masque know is that Iron Man is Tony Stark and when Tony returns to Stark Industries he becomes fed up with always putting his life on hold to save the world as Iron Man. Stripping off his armor, Tony pledges to stick with his playboy lifestyle and enjoy his wealth instead of sacrificing himself for others.
Needing a break from his duties at Stark Industries, Tony then calls in Kevin O’Brien, his lead inventor. He puts Kevin in charge of the company and although O’Brien accepts the post he already starts feeling that he is in way over his head after Tony leaves. Stark then makes a call to Marianne, a socialite that is happy to hear from Tony.[4] She agrees to go out on a date with him since he has been away from the social scene for so long. The pair go out to a night club where Marianne tries to keep the conversation fun and Tony tires to put his time as Iron Man behind him.
Unfortunately, fate has other ideas for Tony Stark as at that same moment an alien robot called the Ramrod comes crashing down from the sky and lands in the middle of the street. When the authorities arrive, the stout robot proclaims the Earth the property of his masters, the Changers. When the officers open fire, their bullets bounce harmlessly off the robot who sends them scattering with its advanced weapons. Hearing the noise outside, Tony looks out from the balcony of the nightclub and can’t stop himself from leaving Marianne to go down to his car and get into his Iron Man armor.[5]
When Iron Man arrives on the scene, Ramrod has been leveling building to create a landing area for his masters. Iron Man unleashes electromagnetic bursts and explosives against Ramrod, who is only amused by the attacks. When Iron Man grabs hold of the robot, Ramrod flies straight into the ground, punching a hole through the concrete. When only Ramrod emerges from the hole, he proclaims that Iron Man is dead and continues his work. When Iron Man climbs out of the pit moments later, he tries to resume his attack but crumples over in pain. The stress of the battle has caused his body to start rejecting the synthetic parts causing Iron Man to black out.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Ramrod, Marianne Rodgers, Madame Masque, Kevin O’Brien, Zodiac (Capricorn, Aquarius, Sagittarius), Spymaster, Daredevil, SHIELD (Nick Fury)
Continuity Notes
The identities of the three members of Zodiac in this story are not identified. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #12 identifies them as Willard Weir/Capricorn, Darren Bentley/Aquarius, and Harlan Vargas/Sagittarius.
Jasper got shot in Iron Man #34 trying to stop Spymaster and the Espionage Elite from escaping Stark Industries.
Madame Masque was one the head of the Maggia and attempted to seduce Tony Stark in order to learn company secrets starting in Tales of Suspense #98. Instead she found SHIELD liaison Jasper Sitwell was an easier mark. She was exposed as the Big M Iron Man #8 and appeared to die in a plane crash in issue #12. Tony encountered her in her new identity of Madame Masque in Iron Man #19, and the pair shared a brief romance leaving her conflicted between her love of both Stark and Sitwell.
Marianne’s last name is not given here. Iron Man #40 identifies it as Rodgers.
Tony mentions how he became Iron Man in order to save his own life when a bomb went off and put shrapnel in his heart. That happened back in Tales of Suspense #39. Tony required a special device to keep the shrapnel from killing him and his heart beating until Iron Man #19 when he underwent surgery to replace the damaged parts of his heart with synthetic materials. While he’s in less danger now, too much stress might cause his heart to reject the prosthetics keeping his heart beating.
Topical References
Here, Tony states that it was a Chinese bomb that put the shrapnel in his heart. When Tales of Suspense #39 was first published in 1963 the story was written as though Tony was in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. This has since become a topical reference. Per History of the Marvel Universe #2, all Modern Age references to Vietnam have been replaced with the Sin-Cong Conflict.
The narration of this story states that Tony is driving a Montague, a luxury class car that was popular among the wealthy in the 60s and 70s. This could be considered a topical reference unless you want to believe that Tony is a classic car enthusiast. (Kinda like Jay Leno but without the chin and shitty jokes.)
While fighting Ramrod, Iron Man’s internal monologue mentions how he has been Iron Man for six years at this point. This isn’t very accurate at all even if you go by the publication dates. Tales of Suspense #39 was published in 1963, eight years before Iron Man #36 was published. That said, this should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale, which dictates that only about 3 years has passed since Tony became Iron Man at the time of this story.
