The Back-Getters!

It’s after hours at Henry Beckham High School and Gerrard Pithins is being chased through the hallways. He is afraid of the beating he will get once his pursuers get him. Unfortunately for him, he trips over some books while running downstairs and tumbles to the ground.

The next day, at Stark International, the reconstruction of the facility is nearly complete.[1] When a construction vehicle break slips, sending it rolling towards some workers on their lunch break, they are saved by timely intervention by Iron Man. After the rescue, the Avenger returns to Tony Stark’s recently rebuilt penthouse to change out of his armor. Tony remarks how little time he has spent at home since his relationship with Bethany Cabe ended.[2] Entering his main office, Tony is told by Bambi Arbogast that the purchase of Cord Conglomerate has been completed and he tells her to send Scott Lang to head down to their scientific warehouse to take inventory.[3]

Tony then heads down to the public relations department to see what Arthur Pithins has written up for a press release. When he arrives at Pithins’ office it’s just as he is firing Diane Caruthers for not having a report ready in time. This is uncharacteristic behavior from Arthur and Tony asks Pithins what’s wrong. Pithins reluctantly tells Tony about his problems at him, telling Tony how his son was recently beaten at school. This isn’t the first time it has happened as another boy named Daniel Pigget was run over on the school soccer field a few weeks earlier. This was on top of bad drugs being sold among the students. That’s when Pithins asks Tony if Iron Man can be present at the school’s upcoming career carnival to see if the hero can uncover who is responsible for these acts of violence. Tony assures Arthur that Iron Man will be there.

When Arthur returns home he is warmly greeted by his wife Margaret and his daughter Denise. However, things turn sour at dinner time when Gerard comes home. Despite his injuries he tells his father that he wants to try out for the school football team. Arthur absolutely refuses this, saying the sport is too dangerous. This angers Gerard who feels like his father is being overprotective. When Arthur tells his son to start acting like a man, Gerard storms up to his bed, giving Arthur a lot to think about.

The following day, the career carnival is in full swing. Among the displays is the one for the military which have brought a tank to put on display. As Arthur Pithins works the Stark International booth he is approached by Mark Simmons and the student council. They ask how Gerard is doing and he tells him his son is healing nicely. Simmons can relate, revealing that his sister got sick by some of the bad drugs that have been sold around campus. However, Pithins is far from sympathetic, pointing out that she chose to do drugs. As the student council leaves, Gerard arrives and tries to talk to his father. However, his apology is ignored when Iron Man eventually arrives. As the Avenger entertaining the other students, Gerard is given a note telling him to meet with Coach Baily in the gym.

Inside, Geard is cornered by the members of the student council who want to finish the beating they started the other day. Realizing that he’s in serious trouble, Gerard pics up a dumbbell handle to tosses it through a window so he can cry for help. As people rush to see what’s going on, a kid climbing the military tank accidentally trips and falls inside the cockpit. This starts the engine and causes the tank to speed toward the crowd. As Iron Man struggles to stop the tank while Arthur races inside to help his son. Inside, Arthur learns that the reason why the student council is beating his son is because he was the one responsible for selling the bad drugs to the other kids. Gerard explains that he was reduced to selling drugs because his father wouldn’t let him to anything. Despite this, Arthur defends his son from his attackers.

By this time, Iron Man has gotten the tank under control and when he checks on Arthur and his son he discovers that the crisis is over.

Several days later, Tony checks on Arthur and finds him in better spirits. He even re-hired Diane Caruthers. Diane is surprised when a bouquets of roses are delivered to her desk. As she wonders who they could be from, Tony plucks a rose pedal from Arthur’s sleave and figures he has an idea who they are from.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Arthur Pithins, Bambi Arbogast

Continuity Notes

1. Stark International got wrecked during an attack by Blacklash in Iron Man #146-147.

2. Here, Tony mentions that his relationship with Bethany Cabe recently came to an end. She broke up with him after discovering her husband was still alive, as seen in Iron Man #153.

3. Cord Conglomerate went up for sale after its owner, Edwin Cord, got into some legal trouble as seen in Daredevil #167 and Iron Man #145. Lang’s inventory is far from uneventful, as we’ll see next issue.

Topical References

• Real world products: Perrier water

• One of the kids watching the tank getting trashed by Iron Man quips that watching this is better than watching Dukes of Hazzard. This should be considered a topical reference as the series ran from 1979 to 1985. Although there was a film version made in 2005 and the show continues to air in syndication, it seems unlikely that kid today would make this comparison.

• After Iron Man trashes the tank a soldier cries over “his” tank until he remembers that it’s actually “Ronnie’s tank”. This is in reference to Ronald Reagan who was President of the United States at the time this story was published. This should be considered topical because Reagan’s time as POTUS ended in 1989 and he subsequently died in 2004.