The Icy Hand of Death!

Stark International is under siege by a new villain calling himself the Blizzard, who has come for revenge and to steal a weather control device designed by the company. With police cordoning off the area, Happy Hogan arrives concerned about his wife’s well being after spotting her car on the property during a news broadcast. At the scene, he learns from two guards that the Blizzard has incredible freeze powers that can cryogenically freeze people, albeit temporarily.

As Happy wonders why Iron Man hasn’t defeated this attacker yet, he doesn’t know that Iron Man is just the latest victim of the Blizzard’s freezing abilities. Coming upon the frozen hero, Pepper assumes that Blizzard has killed Iron Man. Hearing the villain gloat, Pepper finally recognizes who he is: George Shapanka, a former Stark employee who was fired for trying to steal company secrets. Although he came back as the villainous Jack Forst, he was defeated by Iron Man and sent to prison.[1] Blizzard confirms this to be true, and explains that — while in prison — he slowly developed his new suit of freeze technology and used it to break out of his cell. With all opposition out of his way, Blizzard finishes cracking Tony Stark’s safe and absconds with the weather control device. As Blizzard clashes with security, Pepper discovers that Iron Man is still alive. Seeing that he is looking at a nearby dynamo, she plugs it into Iron Man’s armor in the hopes that it’ll thaw the hero out.

Elsewhere, Michael O’Brien continues to investigate the death of his brother, Kevin. Convinced that Tony Stark murdered Kevin and used his wealth to cover it up, Michael promises that the memory of his brother, and his Guardsman alter-ego, will live on.[2]

By this time, Iron Man has been thawed out by the power of the dynamo. As he rigs up a device to help him battle the Blizzard, Tony admits that it is his fault that Happy was injured recently and that he has no right to involve them in his dangerous double life.[3] Pepper, glad that Tony is alive, tells Tony that she was wrong and that both she and Happy love him very much and are willing to do anything for him as much as he is willing to do for them. As Iron Man finishes his portable dynamo device, Happy arrives on the scene and is relived that they are both still alive. When Happy suddenly becomes dizzy, Pepper realizes that he is still recovering from his recent injuries and orders him to go back to bed.

By this time, Blizzard is trying to escape using the waters of Long Island Sound to create an ice-slide to rid on. Iron Man catches up with his foe and this time is able to weather the effects of Blizzard’s freezing powers with his portal dynamo. Blizzard tries to escape by threatening a sailing boat operated by a pair of kids, but Iron Man quickly rescues them. Catching up with Blizzard, Iron Man then plugs his portable dynamo directly into his opponent’s armor, shorting out the freeze unit inside and rendering the Blizzard powerless. Yanking Shapanka from the water, Iron Man then turns him over to the police and jokingly suggest they lock him up someplace real warm.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Blizzard, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, Michael O’Brien,

Continuity Notes

1. George Shapanka’s brief career as Jack Frost was chronicled in Tales of Suspense #45.

2. In reality, Kevin’s Guardsman armor drove him mad leading to a battle with Iron Man that ended in his death. See Iron Man #46.

3. Happy was recently injured while masquerading as Iron Man in issue #82. Undergoing surgery, he was briefly transformed into the Freak again in issues #84-85. Up until now, Pepper blamed Tony for what happened.