Iron Man #90
When Calls the Controller
Following his battle with the Blood Borthers, Iron Man assists the guards at Ryker’s Island contain one of the brothers. Sealed in a metal cage and gassed, the alien is subdued. With the other Blood Brother contained at McGuire Airforce Base, Iron Man hopes the monsters can be contained until a more permanent solution can be found. With his armor in shambles, the golden Avenger then heads back to Stark International to do repairs and make some upgrades while he still can.[1]
Meanwhile, the homeless man known as Scrounger has succeeded in implanting mind control discs on a number of homeless people, finally giving the Controller the strength he needs to pull himself free from the ruins of a collapsed building. The Controller recounts his origins and how he was recently used as a pawn against the Avengers by the Mad Titan known as Thanos. When the Controller was unable to defeat Captain Marvel, Thanos grew impatient and banished him to another dimension. However, upon Thanos’ defeat, the Controller found himself returned to Earth, but without any mind-controlled slaves, he was trapped beneath the rubble of the building. He was only kept alive thanks to Scrounger, who was able to squeeze in between the rubble and feed the Controller. Initially, the Controller telepathically contacted the Blood Brothers for assistance in getting out, but their defeat at the hands of Iron Man and Daredevil prevented this. Now that he is free, the Controller intends to find many more slaves to continue increasing his power.[2]
By this time, Iron Man has returned to Stark International where he discovers that there is a fire raging out of control. This was caused by Harry Key — a crooked private investigator — who infiltrated the building disguised as a security guard in order to steal company secrets. The fire allows Key to get by Iron Man undetected. However, once he is outside, he is stopped by Michael O’Brien, who reminds Key that he is working for the detective to help him bring down Tony Stark.[3] Unaware of the new wrinkle in the plot against him, Iron Man quickly puts out the fire before returning to his lab to finally repair his armor. As he works, Tony begins to feel dizzy for some unknown reason and dismisses it as coming from a lack of sleep.[4] That’s when Tony is contacted by his fellow Avenger, the Beast, who confirms that the site where he stopped the Blood Brothers was the same place where the Avengers battled the Controller during the Thanos War.
With his armor completely repaired, Iron Man begins searching for sign of the Controller. Coming upon a robbery at an electronics part factory, Iron Man overhears how a shipment of components were stolen. The police also found an unconscious homeless man passed out at the scene. Seeing a circular imprint on the bum’s forehead, Iron Man deduces that the Controller is trying to build more control discs as he only has a limited supply. He decides to search the factory once own by Janice Cord.[5] There he finds all of the Controller’s slaves and is ambushed by his foe. As they fight, Scrounger manages to turn on the machine that begins reproducing the control discs in large quantities. Unaware of this, Iron Man manages to overpower the Controller and restrains his foe with a steel girder. As his master is being led off to the authorities, the Scrounger vows to free his master by finding able bodied people to enslave.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Controller, Michael O’Brien, Scrounger, Harry Key, Blood Brother, Beast
Continuity Notes
Iron Man recounts how he recently upgraded his armor. This was in issue #85, which made it more compact and easier to change into but at the expense of losing some of the protection offered by earlier models.
The Controller goes over a lot of details here:
He retells his origins and his first defeat at the hands of Iron Man. This happened in Iron Man #13.
The Controller also recounts his involvement in the Thanos War, which was chronicled in Captain Marvel #25-33, Marvel Feature #12, and Avengers #125. The Controller’s own involvement was seen in Captain Marvel #28-30.
Iron Man and Daredevil’s battle with the Blood Brothers was in Iron Man #88-89.
Michael believes that Tony Stark murdered his brother Kevin and covered it up. In reality, Kevin was driven mad by his own Guardsman armor and died battling Iron Man in issue #46. Michael has been investigating his brother’s death since issue #82.
It’s really the return of Tony’s recurring heart problems, which he will come to realize in Iron Man #95. Tony has had heart problems since he got shrapnel in his ticker in Tales of Suspense #39. Although he received life saving heart surgery back in Iron Man #19, his heart has had intermittent problems since then.
Tony recalls how he once loved Janice. The pair shared an on-again-off-again relationship after first meeting in Iron Man #3 until he death at the hands of Titanium Man in issue #21.