Enter: Dr. Spectrum

Returning to Detroit from Cincinnati, Iron Man happens upon a collapsing construction site and rushes to rescue the woman he came to see in the first place, Roxanne Gilbert.[1] The daring rescue is captured by on the scene photographers. When bombarded by the press, Iron Man excuses himself so he can walk Roxanne home. Unfortunately, Ms. Gilbert is not interested in Iron Man’s chivalry and goes off alone. Still wanting to get to know Roxanne better, Iron Man heads to cover so he can change back into Tony Stark.

Hailing a cab, Tony catches up to Roxanne and convinces her to let him give her a ride home. Roxanne reluctantly agrees but insists on paying her half of the fare. She doesn’t want his charity because of Stark Industries past selling munitions to the government. Even the fact that Stark Industries has moved onto non-violent scientific pursuits is enough to what Roxanne sees as blood money. Still, when Tony asks her out on a date, Roxanne decides to take him up on it because he is interested to know what a wealthy businessman could find interesting in an activist that is against everything he stands for.[2] When they enter Roxanne’s apartment they find a paparazzi who is looking to make some money off exclusive photos of Tony Stark with a new woman. Annoyed by this invasion of privacy, Tony warns the photographer that he knows who owns his paper and can pull some strings to have him fired. Fearing for his continued employment, the paparazzi takes off pretty quickly.

Later, when Tony returns to the Stark Industries divisional headquarters, he finds Pepper Potts is still upset over the news that her husband, Happy Hogan, has decided to leave her.[3] Although he finds himself torn between his friendships with both Pepper and Happy, Tony offers her his support.

Meanwhile, Happy has arrived at the Stark offices in New York City and is annoyed to learn that Tony and his wife will be in Detroit for another week on business. Storming out of the office, Happy doesn’t say hello when he bumps into his old boxing friend, Eddie March. March has arrived with a Doctor Kenji Obatu who has come for an arranged meeting with Tony Stark. Suddenly, Obatu is attacked by a group of men all wearing identical blue outfits. Eddie, despite the blood clots in his head caused by years of boxing, steps in and helps Kenji fight off his attackers. Obatu is not only impressed by Eddie’s fighting skills, but that he was nicknamed after Iron Man himself after his unwillingness to give up in the ring.[4] Deciding to go to Detroit to meet up with Tony Stark there, Obatu convinces Eddie to accompany him so he has a bodyguard should he be attacked again.

Hours later, Tony Stark is overseeing the reconstruction of a space shuttle previously stolen by the Masked Marauder.[5] This effort is interrupted when Doctor Spectrum attacks the plant, seeking to get a rematch against Iron Man.[6] Surviving Specturm’s initial attack, Tony is allowed to leave to get Iron Man. Tony quickly changes into his alter-ego.[7] When Iron Man arrives on the scene he discovers that Doctor Spectrum’s Power Prism is not only sentient and can speak, but the two have an uneasy symbiotic relationship. As Spectrum and the Prism fight over dominance, Iron Man tries to defeat them. Unfortunately, the bickering between the two doesn’t prevent Spectrum from burying Iron Man alive. Considering this a victory, Doctor Spectrum leaves, sparing Iron Man’s life.

Vowing not to get caught off guard a second time, Iron Man returns to Stark Industries where he changes out of his armor. When he finds Pepper still struggling with her marital problems, Tony once again tries to comfort her. He tells her how much he envies her marriage to Happy Hogan since he hasn’t found his own soul mate.[8] Pepper reveals to Tony that her marriage is far from idyllic. While she was content to be a house wife, she found that over time she had changed and needed to get out of a situation she found stifling. She is also touched by Tony’s concerned and, before he can stop her, Pepper kisses him. This happens at a very bad time as Happy Hogan arrives and is shocked to see his best friend kissing his wife.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Doctor Spectrum, Roxanne Gilbert, Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts, Eddie March

Continuity Notes

1. Iron Man first met Roxanne Gilbert while fighting her brother, Firebrand, in Iron Man #59. In that story, she was injured by her brother and has since been recuperating in the hospital.

2. Tony Stark had decided to shift Stark Industries focus away from munitions to other scientific endeavors in Iron Man #48.

3. Pepper just recently started working for Stark again. Pepper previously worked for Stark from Tales of Suspense #45 to 89 when she married Happy Hogan and quit. Tony hired her in issue #57. Happy has been upset that Pepper is working and trying to pressure her into quitting since issue #59.

4. Eddie March’s boxing injuries and his association with Stark Industries was detailed in Iron Man #21-22.

5. The Masked Marauder stole the Stark space shuttle in Iron Man #60-61.

6. Doctor Spectrum last fought Iron Man as part of Kang and the Grandmaster’s Game of Galaxies in Avengers #70.

7. Here, Tony remarks how he’s gone the longest without a special chest plate that keeps his heart beating. 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. His heart has since begun to finally heal starting in issue #58, making him rely on the chest plate less and less.

8. Here Tony recounts two of his most recent losses:

   • The death of Kevin O’Brien, Tony’s closest friend from Iron Man #31 on. Having built a similar suit of armor for Kevin in issue #43, the technology drove Kevin mad leading to a fight to the death with Iron Man that ended in tragedy. See Iron Man #45-46.

   • He also thinks about his failed romance with Marianne Rodgers. Tony and Marianne had been dating since Iron Man #36 and got serious enough for Tony to propose to her in issue #45. The engagement proved short-lived after her precognitive visions caused her to panic and abandon Tony when he needed help in issue #50. He called off the engagement in the following issue. She later tried to get a job in issue #52 but completely lost her shit and had to be committed.

Topical References

• The cameras used by the news photographers in this story are 60’s era cameras with telescoping lenses. Their depiction here should be considered topical because these kind of cameras are obsolete.

• The taxi driver that gives Tony a list comments to himself that giving a ride to Tony Stark is better than “that old lady with the tennis shoes". I’m assuming this is a reference to Isabella Cannon, who went on to become the first female mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina in 1977. At least that’s all I could find on Google. Don’t tell me what connection she would have had to Detroit in 1973. Even if I’m wrong, this is still referring to a real life person and should be considered topical.