Rokk Cometh!

Iron Man is assisting the city of Detroit in demolishing an old building and constructing a new one in its place. After his recent ordeals, Tony Stark relishes the distraction from his problems. This not only includes his recent defeat at the hands of Doctor Spectrum, but how Happy Hogan walked in on Tony kissing his wife, Pepper Potts. Although Pepper threw himself at Tony, Happy assumes the worst and storms out before Tony can explain himself.[1]

As Iron Man is being congratulated by the mayor of Detroit, he is suddenly ambushed by Doctor Spectrum who is looking for another rematch. This time, Iron Man has equipped his armor with ultraviolet light projectors, as it can counter act the effects of Doctor Spectrum’s sentient Power Prism. Rendered temporarily powerless against his foe, Spectrum creates a cloud of smoke to cover his retreat, vowing to get revenge later.

When Tony Stark returns to the Detroit regional headquarters of Stark Industries, he is told that there is a man who barged into his temporary office. It’s Happy Hogan, who is still furious over catching Tony kissing his wife. Hogan wants to fight it out with Tony, but has an issue with fighting someone with a health condition like Tony. That’s when Tony reveals that his heart is fully healed and he no longer needs to wear a special chest plate to keep his heart beating.[2][3] Happy then starts a brawl with Tony and as the pair fight, Stark tries to explain what has really been going on. The fight is broken up by Pepper when she returns to the office. She is disappointed in both of them fighting over her and tells Happy that they’re going to have a long talk in the conference room.

However, before Happy and Pepper’s marital problems can be sorted out, Eddie March arrives with Doctor Kenji Obatu, an economics minister from West Africa. Pepper warns Tony that Obatu is a hardcore nationalist who seeks out talent in the black community. Tony is surprised when Obatu explains that he has come seeking to hire Iron Man to protect him as there have been a number of threats made on his life. Suddenly, a being calling himself Rokk comes crashing in through the wall. Rokk is a massive blue-skinned entity wearing a loincloth and wielding a massive wooden club. As Happy leads Pepper to safety, Rokk tries to nab Doctor Obatu. Eddie and Tony stand in his way, but both men are tossed aside. Rokk then threatens to harm Tony’s loved ones. Rokk then surprises Tony by being able to probe his mind and learns that he is romantically interested in Roxanne Gilbert.

As Rokk nabs Obatu and flees, Tony is surprised that the mental probe was able to sort out his feelings for Roxanne. This doesn’t change the fact that she is in terrible danger and changes into Iron Man and races off to stop Rokk. That that moment, Roxanne is working at the health food store that she operates. She is also thinking about Tony Stark, and these feelings are quite complicated. This is partially due to the fact that Stark was her late father’s former boss.[4] The other issue is that Stark Industries — up until recently — was involved in weapons manufacturing, something the activist is totally against.[5] Her thoughts are interrupted when Rokk comes crashing into her store to kidnap her as well.

Iron Man quickly arrives on the scene and prevents Rokk from nabbing Roxanne. However, his opponent appears to have limitless strength and the battle eventually wears down Iron Man’s power supply. When his batteries are at their lowest ebb, Rokk suddenly transforms into a massive scimitar that is then suspended over the hero’s head. As it turns out, Rokk was nothing more than a construct created by Doctor Spectrum to weaken his foe and prevent him from exploiting the weaknesses of his Power Prism. With Iron Man now subdued, Doctor Spectrum prepares to destroy the Avenger once and for all.

Recurring Characters

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

Continuity Notes

1. The love triangle between Tony, Pepper, and Happy is a complex one. Tony and Happy had competed for Pepper’s affections dating back to Tales of Suspense #45, ultimately Happy won over Pepper and the pair got married in issue #89 of that series. 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. When Happy threatened to leave her in issue #61, Pepper became distraught and kissed Tony last issue mistaking his concern for her well being as romantic interest.

2. 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.

3. Happy knows all about Tony’s former disability after he also stumbled upon his secret identity back in Tales of Suspense #70.

4. Simon Gilbert was the former chairman of the board for Stark Industries who attempted to oust Tony Stark. This scheme ran from Iron Man #44 through 48, when Gilbert was fired and later blew himself up trying to destroy the Stark Industries facility in New York.

5. Tony Stark had decided to shift Stark Industries focus away from munitions to other scientific endeavors in Iron Man #48. There are some sticky issues with this, see below for more details.

Topical References

• The Mayor of Detroit, although unnamed here, is drawn to resemble Roman Gibbs. Gibbs was the mayor of Detroit from 1970 to 1974. His depiction here should be considered topical, particularly since Gibbs has been dead since 2016.

• Roxanne Gilbert’s dislike of Stark Industries business practices present the situation that Stark Industries — under Tony Stark — provided munitions to the US government during the Vietnam War for an entire decade. All references to the Vietnam War as happening during or occurring in the recent past from Modern Age stories have since been deemed topical references. For more on how I’ve chosen to navigate the Vietnam War reference in this case, see my extended notes on it here.