Iron Man #38
When Calls Jonah…!
Tony Stark is working in his office one day when he is interrupted by Lee, his head of staffing. Lee wants to talk about a potential new hire named Frankie Majors due to his checkered past. Frankie, a black man who grew up in Harlem, was incredibly bright even at a young age. Unfortunately, he used this intelligence to commit petty crimes. As a young adult, Frankie used his skills to run a successful numbers racket. This made Majors the biggest crime boss in the area, which drew the attention of a rival mobster called Jonah.
Jonah called in Frankie one day and ordered him to start paying 40% of his profits. Frankie refused and Jonah had one of his men, Anthony Gardenia, regularly visit Frankie and try to convince him to take the deal. Major’s continued to refuse Jonah his cut and so Gardenia framed Frankie for the murder of a warehouse security guard. The murder charge stuck and because of it and his other crimes, Frankie was sent to prison for a number of years. While incarcerated, Frankie became a model prisoner and took courses in electronics so he had a skill when he was paroled, this led to Frankie applying for a job at Stark Industries. As Lee finishes his story, he expresses his concerns about hiring Frankie. However, Tony is one who believes in second chances and says the best way to see if he’s truly gone straight is to hire him on a one month probationary period. However, Tony isn’t going to accept Frankie at face value and decides to look into his record a bit further. Changing into Iron Man, Tony flies to the District Attourney’s office to look over Frankie Major’s file. He finds no evidence that Frankie was framed for murder, and decides to look into his claims by meeting with the man named Jonah.
As Iron Man continues his investigation, Frankie Majors begins working for Stark Industries. He proves to be a hard worker earning the respect of his manager, Kevin O’Brien.
Meanwhile, Iron Man’s investigation into Jonah uncovers that the name doesn’t belong to a single person but is a title given to the leader of the mob. As it turns out, the old Jonah has since been replaced with Anthony Gardenia, the man who framed Frankie for murder. As it turns out, Gardenia has heard that Frankie is out of prison and is trying to pressure him to come work for the mob. Frankie, having gone straight, refuses to give up his new life. When Iron Man tracks down Jonah’s hideout, he allows himself to be captured. After roughing up Gardenia and his men, he warns the mobster that Frankie Major’s is off limits.
When Tony Stark returns to his business he finds Frankie Majors working late. Tony is impressed by his devotion to the new job. Frankie is putting in a lot of effort into the new job so his new life has a fighting chance. His desire to stay on the straight an narrow is partially motivated by his new girlfriend, Louise. However, Gardenia refuses to give up trying to recruit him and sends his me to rough up Frankie one night. Hearing the commotion, and with no time to change into Iron Man, Tony races out to help Majors in the fight. Unfortunately, Tony ends up getting shot in the shoulder for his trouble. After the mobsters are driven off, Stark convinces Frankie to take him to Kevin O’Brien instead of a hospital. This is because Tony is still wearing a chest-plate to regulate his stressed heart and Kevin is the only person currently working at Stark Industries that knows his secret identity.[1]
Meanwhile, Jonah’s patience has begun to run out and he has his men kidnap Louise in order to force Frankie into working with them. The plan works and Majors abruptly quits his job at Stark Industries. However, a suspicious Tony Stark decides to follow Frankie as Iron Man. Even though he has to wear his arm in a sling, Iron Man begins trouncing Jonah’s men. That is until Gardenia holds Louise at gun point. Iron Man pretends to surrender but ends up blasting Gardenia with a repulsor blast from his bad arm. With the crooks rounded up and handed over to the police, Iron Man tells Frankie that Tony Stark expects him to return to work on Monday, something that Frankie is more than glad to do.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Frankie Majors
Continuity Notes
Tony’s heart was damaged by shrapnel back in Tales of Suspense #39. Later, he underwent surgery to have synthetic implants put in to replace the damaged parts of his heart in Iron Man #19. However, undue stress has caused his body to start rejecting the prosthetics requiring him to wear his chest plate again last issue. Last issue was also when Tony revealed his secret identity to Kevin O’Brien.
