Iron Man #52
Raga: Son of Fire
After dealing with a series of malfunctions, Tony Stark has decided to make upgrades to his Iron Man armor.[1] Chief among these is the addition of solar power collectors that will ensure that his suit never runs low on power again in the middle of a battle. Running a test in his training room, Iron Man’s rocket powered skates, jet boots, and repulsors all pass with flying colours.
With that out of the way, Tony Stark decides its time to live up the bachelor life and charters a private plane to California where he can live it up. There, Tony parties, goes on dates, as well as enjoys some golf and sailing.
However, the peace and tranquility will soon come to an end as, in a nearby forest, a cult leader named Raga is out looking for one of his followers who has gone astray. This woman, Cynthia, is caught in a forbidden romance with one of the park rangers.[2] When he confronts the two lovers, the park ranger tries to fight him. He discovers pretty quickly that Raga has the power to turn his anger into searing heat. In the ensuing fight, Raga starts a forest fire before dragging Cynthia back to his commune.
The wildfire is visible from the resort where Tony Stark is staying and he decides to try and contain the blaze as Iron Man. Changing into his armor, Stark flies to the scene of the inferno and saves the park ranger from danger. After learning about Raga, Iron Man then uses his repulsors to blast away brush to contain the fire. While not far away, Raga has returned to his followers who all agree that Cynthia must be put to death for disobeying their master.
Meanwhile, back in New York City, Marianne Rodgers tries to bounce back from her and Tony Stark’s break-up by getting a job at a IT company.[3] She blows them away at the interview and begins working for the company immediately. However, things come to an abrupt end when Marianne has visions of monsters at work and begins trashing the lab, prompting her employers to get her professional help.[4]
While in California, Iron Man has the fire under control and begins looking for the person responsible for starting it. Finding Raga’s commune, Iron Man easily shrugs off the attacks from his followers. However, Raga is an entirely different story since he can channel heat and fire. However, Iron Man learned his lesson about dealing with intense heat after his recent bout with Firebrand and keeps his distance from Raga.[5] The hero tries to counteract Raga’s heat generating powers by dumping a water over him, but this has little effect. As Raga’s rage increases the heat from his body begins turning the ground beneath their feet into molten lava. His feet sinking into the molten mire, Iron Man struggles to get free because the heat is getting powerful enough to start melting his armor.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Raga, Marianne Rodgers, Cynthia Chong, MacKenzie Davies
Continuity Notes
Tony decided to upgrade his armor following multiple near-death experiences when his battery power would run low. You can pick an issue of Iron Man at random and see this happening. You’d think a brilliant inventor would have come up with this a long time ago. Anyway, the most recent time that batteries almost killed Tony was in Iron Man #49-50.
This story is really bad with names. Cynthia and the forest ranger’s full names are not revealed until next issue when they are identified as Cynthia Chong and MacKenzie Davies. Raga’s real name is unrevealed here. Marvel Atlas #1 identifies him as George Friedrich.
Tony started dating Marianne back in Iron Man #36 and eventually proposed to her in issue #45. However, when she abandoned him when his armor needed recharging in Iron Man #49, he called off their engagement and broke up with her the following issue.
It’s later revealed in Iron Man #80-81 that Marianne’s madness was caused by a mental link that was formed between her and the Black Lama, whose presence was driving him slowly crazy and by extension, Marianne.
Iron Man’s last battle with Firebrand happened in Iron Man #48.
Topical References
When Tony flies to California, the flight attendant asks passengers to put out their cigarette’s during take off. This should be considered a topical reference since the FAA banned smoking on aircrafts back in 1990.