Iron Man #96
The Power and the Fury!
Ultimo is attacking Washington, DC, and when Iron Man tries to stop the android his old heart problems have popped back up, weakening him.[1] Ultimo’s path to the Capitol Building is interrupted by an arriving SHIELD jet-car whose passenger lands long enough to pull Iron Man on board. The Avenger is surprised to see that his savior is none other than Jasper Sitwell, Stark International’s former SHIELD liaison who has just returned to active duty.[2] Jasper then buzzes around Ultimo until the massive android ignores its original mission and starts giving them chase.
Back in New York City, Michael O’Brien uses his police credentials to get access to the Stark Industries facility, claiming that he has come on a routine inspection. In reality, he is trying to find evidence that Tony Stark murdered his brother, Kevin, and used his wealth to cover it up.[3] Although he gets past the front gate without issue, Michael becomes nervous because this is the first time he has acted outside of the law. Waiting for him in the parking lot is a crooked private eye named Harry Key. Key has been blackmailed into helping O’Brien, but now feels that he can turn things around on the detective now that he is engaging in illegal activity himself.[4] Harry tries to get himself to calm down, deciding to wait until the moment is right.
In Washington, Iron Man uses Jasper’s SHIELD vehicle to recharge his batteries. Once they are recharged, the hero goes back out to fight Ultimo. Inside the Capitol Building, Senator Andrew Jackson Hawk tells his colleague, Jonathan Rich, that Ultimo was smuggled into the country because Stark International’s defense systems suffered catastrophic failure. Rich is convinced that this is proof that Tony Stark has been compromised by foreign governments. When Hawk orders John to start preparing subpoenas, Rich races off to get the job done.
While back in New York, Krissy Longfellow — Tony’s new secretary — spots Michael O’Brien snooping around and decides to follow him to see what he is up to. Before she starts following the rogue cop, she activates the silent alarm in the hopes of drawing security.[5]
At this same moment, Iron Man is doing everything he can to keep Ultimo at bay, but he can’t stay on the defensive forever. Thinking back to his first battle against the massive android, he recalls how he managed to defeat it by knocking Ultimo in an active volcano.[6][7] Since there are no volcanos to be hand, Iron Man uses his repulsor rays to begin digging a hole deep into the Earth. As he planned, Ultimo follows the Avenger down into the pit. Eventually, Iron Man digs down deep enough to strike an underground lava flow, causing a massive explosion. While Iron Man is expelled from the deep pit by the blast, he believes he has destroyed Ultimo for good.[8] With the battle over, Jasper helps the red-hot Iron Man to his feet and leads him off the battle field.
Meanwhile, back at Stark International, Krissy Longfellow decides she can’t wait for security to show up and confronts Michael O’Brien herself. He easily bats her aside and walks out into the light revealing that he is wearing his brother’s old Guardsman armor, which he intends to use to destroy Iron Man.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Ultimo, Guardsman, Krissy Longfellow, Jasper Sitwell, Abe Klein, Harry Key, Andrew Hawk, Jonathan Rich
Continuity Notes
Tony’s heart was originally wounded with shrapnel from a bomb back in Tales of Suspense #39. This plagued him until heart surgery removed the shrapnel and replaced the damaged parts of his heart in Iron Man #19. The heart was at risk of rejecting the synthetic parts when under stress until it appeared to fully heal in issue #58. However, Tony has been suffering dizzy spell since issue #82 signaling heart problems that he acknowledges for the first time last issue.
Jasper was assigned to Stark Industries in Tales of Suspense #95 until Iron Man #34, when he was shot trying to stop the Spymaster from escaping. Jasper has been healing from those injuries ever since.
Kevin O’Brien was driven mad by his Guardsman armor and died battling Iron Man in in issue #46. Michael has been trying to pin Kevin’s death on Stark since Iron Man #82.
Harry Key was caught engaging in corporate espionage by Michael back in Iron Man #88 and was blackmailed into helping O’Brien’s cause.
“Krissy Longfellow’s” bold behavior here is a hint that she’s actually Madame Masque in disguise, as we’ll learn in Iron Man #103.
Iron Man first fought Ultimo back in Tales of Suspense #77-78.
Here, the Mandarin is referred to as the creator of Ultimo. However, this is not true. As revealed in Iron Man (vol. 3) #24, Ultimo was actually an alien construct that the Mandarin co-opted for his own purposes.
He didn’t. Ultimo turns up again in Iron Man #298.
Topical References
This story uses a lot of dated Cold War references, such as referring to China as “Red China”, these references should be considered topical.
