At the Mercy of the Mandarin

Sunfire has attacked Stark International, leading to clash with Michael O’Brien wearing a suit of Iron Man’s armor. When O’Brien is teleported away, the Japanese mutant believes that nobody can stop him from destroying the Stark facility until the real Iron Man — clad in an older suit of armor — arrives on the scene. Watching the battle from the sidelines is Jasper Sitwell, SHIELD liaison to Stark International, as well as Goro and Fujiko Watanabe. When Sunfire is knocked to the ground, Jasper pulls his gun on the mutant. Laughing at this pitiful attempt, the mutant uses his powers to blast the gun out of Sitwell’s hand.

Elsewhere in the facility, Harry Key — a crooked private eye — uses the chaos to sneak into the facility to steal another suit of Iron Man armor. He is caught by a mysterious woman hiding in the shadows. When she reveals her true identity to him, he can hardly believe who it is because he had heard she was dead.[1]

Meanwhile, the battle between Iron Man and Sunfire rages on. The hero tries to remind Sunfire that they were once allies, but this falls on deaf ears.[2] With no other choice, Iron Man is forced to knock Sunfire out. With the immediate battle over, Tony Stark returns to his lab to try and figure out what happened to Michael O’Brien, who was teleported away in the middle of his battle with Sunfire. Using Stark satellites to track the suit of armor Michael was wearing, Iron Man locates him China in front of the Mandarin’s castle, which has been completely rebuilt.[3] He witnesses as Michael is ambushed by a number of warriors wearing ancient Chinese battle armor. That’s when a mysterious figure — hidden in mists — knocks O’Brien out and drags him inside the castle. It’s only here that Tony sees the leader of this group and is shocked to discover that it is none other than his old foe the Mandarin, somehow alive and well.[4] He is horrified to observe the Mandarin tie Michael to a missile which he is going to launch. Tony realizes that the Mandarin is trying to kick off a world war as part of a mad scheme to take over the world.

This suddenly makes the accusations that Tony was being bribed by foreign powers, the failure of his defense systems, and the recent attack on Washington by Ultimo make sense.[5] Needing to get to China right away, Tony leaves Jasper and Krissy Longfellow in charge while he heads off to save O’Brien. After recharging his armor, Iron Man then flies to Avengers Mansion where he takes one of the team’s Quinjets to make the trip.

Meanwhile, in Washington, DC, a senate hearing organized by Senator Andrew Hawk into Tony Stark’s troubles is well underway. Here, Jonathan Rich reveals that he has one of Tony Stark’s briefcases and that the contents will prove the case against Tony Stark.

By this time, Iron Man has arrived in China just as the Mandarin has launched his nuclear missile. Flying out of the Quinjet, Iron Man rescues Michael O’Brien and attaches a jammer that renders the missile harmless. Retreating to a nearby cave, Iron Man and O’Brien switch armors. Michael is shocked to discover that Iron Man is Tony Stark. This revelation makes O’Brien realize that he had been wrong about Stark’s role in his brother’s death.[6] With Michael sent home in the Quinjet, Iron Man heads to the Mandarin’s castle for the final showdown.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Mandarin, Sunfire, Krissy Longfellow, Jasper Sitwell, Michael O’Brien, Goro Watanabe, Fujiko Watanabe, Harry Key, Edwin Jarvis, Harrington Byrd, Andrew Hawk, Jonathan Rich

Continuity Notes

1. This is Madame Masque, as we’ll learn in Iron Man #103 and that she has been posing as Krissy Longfellow, Stark’s secretary. Harry’s comments to the fact that she is dead dates back to Iron Man #19 when she appeared to drown following a battle with Mordecai Midas. Although she would reappear in Iron Man #24, 35-36 and Daredevil #73, it’s reasonable to assume that her survival wasn’t widely known, particularly to a penny-ante crook like Key.

2. Iron Man and Sunfire last encountered each other in Iron Man #68-70, where they worked together to stop the Mandarin.

3. The Mandarin’s castle was destroyed in Iron Man #71.

4. The Mandarin’s was seemingly killed in Iron Man #71 in a battle with Yellow Claw. Next issue reveals that while the Mandarin’s physical body died, his mind was transferred to his ten power rings and took possession of the person foolish enough to try and wear them.

5. Tony’s head of troubles and battle with Ultimo were chronicled in Iron Man #95-96.

6. Kevin O’Brien was driven mad by his Guardsman armor and later died in battle with Iron Man in issue #46. Thinking Kevin was murdered, Michael O’Brien had been on a crusade to prove this since issue #82.

Topical References

• This story uses old Cold War terminology, such as referring to China as “Red China”. These should be considered topical.