Iron Man #49
… There Lurks the Adaptoid!
Tony Stark has begun shifting the focus of Stark Industries from munitions manufacturing to non-violent technologies that can help the entire planet. This is the beginning of a brand new chapter for the company. On his first day in, Tony says goodbye to his secretary who is going on maternity leave.[1] Soon, Tony’s fiancée, Marianne Rodgers, comes running into the room to warn him of another one of her precognitive flashes. She sees that Iron Man will soon be attacked by a new foe called the Cyborg Sinister and that she will inadvertently knock the hero into a vat of acid. This is followed by another flash that tells her that something urgent is happening at Avengers Mansion.
Tony tries to assure her that her recent vision was nothing more than a bad dream, then changes into Iron Man to see what’s going on at Avengers headquarters. Although he was dismissive to Marianne, Tony reminds himself that her visions have been correct in the past and to remain vigilant. When he arrives at Avengers Mansion, Iron Man discovers the team is nowhere to be be found.[2] That’s when he is ambushed by the Super-Adaptoid who has returned to the mansion in the hopes of finally destroying Captain America.[3] The Super-Adaptoid attacks Iron Man with the various abilities that it has mimicked from Captain America, Goliath, Hawkeye, and the Wasp.[4]
Iron Man is able to hold his own against the Adaptoid until the android hits him with a nerve-gas arrow, knocking him out. The Adaptoid then tosses Iron Man off the roof of the mansion. Luckily, the rush of air wakes Iron Man up and he is able to use his jet-boots to pull himself out of the fall. The Avenger then resumes the battle but his armor’s power becomes depleted allowing the Adaptoid to grab him and begin squeezing the life out of Iron Man.
Back at Stark Industries, Marianne Rodgers continues to try to make sense of the visions in her mind while she waits for Tony to come back. When Pepper Potts, Tony’s former secretary, comes by for a visit she is happy to meet Marianne. When Rodgers explains the recent troubles she and Tony have been having following the death of Kevin O’Brien, Pepper tells Marianne to go to Tony if he’s in some kind of danger.[5] Taking Pepper’s advice, Marianne then takes off to find her fiancée.
Meanwhile, the Super-Adaptoid has dragged Iron Man to Central Park where their battle resumes. With his armor rapidly running out of power, Tony strikes the Adaptoid with a powerful blast from his repulsors, burying the android in rubble. When the Adaptoid tries to get free, it discovers that its mimicked powers are suddenly fading away. Unaware of this, Iron Man rushes back to Avengers Mansion to recharge his powers before his heart gives out.[6] There, Marianne Rodgers is waiting for him and, at first, she starts helping to carry Tony to an outlet to plug into. However, she has another vision of herself accidentally killing Iron Man in a vat of acid. Fearing for his safety, a frightened and irrational Marianne flees Tony’s apartment, leaving Iron Man laying on the floor pleading with her to come back.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Super-Adaptoid, Marianne Rodgers, Pepper Potts
Continuity Notes
This is setting things up for Pepper Potts to return to her old job, as we’ll see in Iron Man #57. Pepper worked for Tony from Tales of Suspense #45 until she and Happy Hogan got married in issue #89.
Chronologically, this story takes place between Avengers #104 and 105, two stories that include Iron Man on the team. As such, in this story, the team is either on an unrecorded adventure or its members are away on personal business.
Per Tales of Suspense #82, the Super-Adaptoid was created by AIM specifically to destroy Captain America. Unfortunately for them, the android is not very good at its job.
The Super-Adaptoid makes a number of references that have some conflicting details. The facts:
The Super-Adaptoid uses the powers of Goliath, Hawkeye, Captain America, and the Wasp here. Powers that he adapted back in.
Here, the Super-Adaptoid states that he was recently revived after he was rendered powerless by Mimic. This was in X-Men #29.
However, the Super-Adaptoid actually made other appearances after his appearance in X-Men. Notably, Avengers #45 as well as Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (vol. 2) #1-4 and 7-8. The latter appearances are omitted here because they were published many years after this story.
How the Super-Adaptoid managed to come back online following his appearance in X-Men #29 is explained next issue.
A footnote in this story reminds readers that Goliath has since returned to his Ant-Man identity. Hank Pym began his crime fighting career as Ant-Man in Tales to Astonish #35 and later took on many different identities. First as Giant-Man (Tales to Astonish #49), Goliath (Avengers #28), Yellowjacket (Avengers #59) before becoming Ant-Man again (Avengers #93).
Kevin O’Brien was one of Tony’s close confidants starting in Iron Man #31. By issue #43, Tony and Kevin had designed the Guardsman armor for O’Brien to wear. The armor eventually drove Kevin mad, and battled Tony to the death in issue #45-46.
Tony Stark has had a long history of problems with his heart starting in Tales of Suspense #39 when he took shrapnel in the heart. Later, Tony underwent surgery to repair the damage in Iron Man #19. However, any undue stress would cause his body to reject the synesthetic parts used to repair the damage. Tony was forced to start wearing a chest-piece to keep his heart beating in Iron Man #37.