The Mauler Mandate

Stark International has acquired the Cord Conglomerate and have sent Scott Lang to the Cord warehouse to take inventory. As he opens various storage crates is surprised to find the Mauler armor.[1] He is about to phone it in when an Irishman breaks into the building and knocks Scott out from behind and steals the armor.

Meanwhile, at Stark International, Tony Stark calls a woman named Cindy to reschedule their date, hoping that seeing another woman will get his mind off Bethany Cabe.[2] After checking with Jim Rhodes to make sure his plane will be ready for a trip to Acapulco, he takes a ride with his vice-president — Yvett Avril — to discuss the Cord acquisition as they drive to the head office. That’s when the facility alarm goes off, prompting Tony to rush off so he can change into Iron Man and deal with the situation.

The alarm is coming from the central computer network where the Mauler is trying to force one of the technicians to access some important data. However, before he can get what he wants, Iron Man arrives on the scene and a battle breaks out. Mauler is looking forward to the opportunity to match his armor against that of Iron Man. The fight takes them all the way out to the hanger, where Iron Man is knocked into a stack of shipping crates. Pinned under the debris, Iron Man is at the Mauler’s mercy but is saved when Jim Rhodes begins spraying Mauler with a firehose. Looking at Rhodney, the Mauler recognizes him as his “leftenant” and takes off. When Iron Man asks what that was all about, Jim can hardly believe who the Mauler might really be.

Later that day, the Irishman who has become the Mauler — bereft of his armor — pays a visit to Edwin Cord at a nearby minimum security prison.[3] Cord has hired him to not only recover the Mauler armor, but to erase all the data on its design so Cord has something to sell to prospective buyers once he gets out of prison. The Mauler admits that he failed in his first attempt to destroy the data, but assures Mr. Cord that his next attempt will be successful thanks to a recent development.

Later still, Jim Rhodes returns to his apartment and notices a strange scratch mark on his door knob, tipping him off that someone has broken in. Going up to the roof, Jim then climbs down to his balcony to get the drop on the intruder. This turns out to be the same Irishman, who was expecting Rhodes to enter that way and has his gun ready. As it turns out, the Irishman is Bren Doyle, a man who Jim worked with as a mercenary once they got out of the military. Although Jim went on to work for Tony Stark, Brin stayed in the business. Although Brin owes Jim his life, he has come to force him to give him access to the Stark International database in exchange for his own life.

Jim complies and helps smuggle the Mauler back onto the property. However, a keen security guard notices that Jim his heading to the computer center and not the hanger and reports this to Tony Stark. Suspecting that something is wrong, Tony quickly goes to change into Iron Man.

Meanwhile, Jim and the Mauler arrive at the computer center where they discover that Scott Lang is there working overtime. This works out great for the Mauler who orders Lang to erase the Mauler data from the computer database or else he will kill Rhodes. That’s when Iron Man arrives to stop him. They are forced to fight hand-to-hand due to the closed quarters and Iron Man is able to hold his own thanks to the combat training her recently received from Captain America.[4]

While Mauler is busy, Scott begins setting up a means of transmitting copies of the Mauler specs to every Stark International office around the world. By this time, security has arrived prompting Mauler to blast the ceiling. This forces Iron Man to shield their bodies from the falling debris. When Lang threatens to transmit the data, Mauler blasts the computer screen, temporarily blinding Scott. Jim then reaches for the button and tells Brin that if he is going to kill him to just do it, otherwise he’s still going to push the button. After thinking for a moment, Mauler remembers the debt he owes Jim and decides that he will pay it in full by sparing his life, besides he figures he can make much more money using the Mauler suit in the future. As Iron Man checks on his friends, Mauler takes off. When Iron Man asks what that was all about, Jim explains that while the Mauler didn’t complete the job he was hired for, he finally got what he wanted.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Mauler, Edwin Cord, Jim Rhodes, Scott Lang, Yvette Avril

Continuity Notes

1. This suit of armor has been mothballed since the original Mauler, Aaron Soames, died in battle. See Daredevil #167.

2. Tony dated Bethany shortly after they first met in Iron Man #117. At the time, Bethany believed she was a widow after her husband, Alex Van Tilburg, drove his car off a the side of the road while on a drug binge. In reality, he was captured by Russian operatives to learn NATO secrets. She and Iron Man rescued Alex and Beth cut off her relationship to help her husband through recovery. See Iron Man #128 and 152-153.

3. Cord was arrested for compromising national security and hiring men to attack an electronics tradeshow. See Daredevil #167 and Iron Man #145.

4. During a period where Tony couldn’t become Iron Man, he was trained in self-defense by Captain America in Iron Man #125.

Topical References

• This story states that the data Edwin Cord is seeking is recorded on a data tape. This was a common storage medium back when this story was published. However, this is an obsolete technology and its reference here should be considered topical.

• Brin refers to himself and Jim as the “best mercenaries to come out of ‘Nam". This should be considered a topical reference. Per History of the Marvel Universe #2, Jim' and Brin’s Vietnam service has since been changed to the Sin-Cong Conflict. Go here for more details.