The Menace Within!

The quiet day at Stark International is suddenly interrupted when the facility is attacked by two facsimile World War II fighter planes. This prompts Tony Stark to change into Iron Man and try and stop the attack. When attacking the planes, he quickly discovers that they are being piloted by remote control and trashes them.

In the aftermath of the attack, injured staff are taken to hospital and repairs are quickly begin. One of the structures damaged is the Stark International’s arch, which is quickly being repaired.

Among those injured was Bart Ainslee, someone who has worked for the company since it was run by Tony Stark’s father, Howard.[1] However, they are surprised when Ainslee — face bandaged up — returns to work. He brushes off his injuries as superficial as he wants to show off a new set of wireless headphones using the company’s new corundum circuits. He asks if he can pass around the prototypes to other members of the staff for a consumer test. Tony likes the idea and greenlights it, but is still concerned about Bart’s wellbeing. Ainslee assures him that he’s fine and that he is flattered over the concern.

As Tony goes about his business, he gets a call from his secretary — Bambi Arbogast — who gives him the messages he missed while they were out. She also asks if he was the one who sent her the gift that arrived for her, but he tells her it wasn’t and wonders if Bambi might have a secret admirer. After ending the call, Bambi opens the box and is surprised to find it contains a gun. As Tony heads to the office he is surprised when a car going the other way intentionally drives off the road and into a tree. Pulling over and changing into Iron Man, Tony pulls the driver (who is wearing a set of Bart’s headphones) from the car and flies him to the nearby hospital. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done and the man dies on the operating table. Suspecting some kind of foul play, Iron Man asks for a copy of the autopsy to be on his desk by the end of the night. When Tony then calls Bambi to tell her what happened, he is surprised when she doesn’t answer the phone.

Little does Tony know that Bambi Arbogast (also wearing the headphones) is slowly loading the gun that was sent to her.

Deciding that he needs some time to unwind, Tony heads out for one of his social engagements. One of the people at the party notices that Tony looks depressed and offers him a drink to take the edge off. Having struggled with alcoholism in the past, Tony struggles with the pressure to drink at this party.[2] However, he remembers how much of a mess his life was when he was a drunk and dumps the drink out instead of giving in to temptation and leaves the party. When Tony returns to his office, he is shot at by someone in the darkness. When he knocks the shooter out he is surprised to see that it is none other than his secretary Bambi Arbogast. She’s knocked out and is expected to be in a coma for some time. Checking in with Vic Martinelli, his head of security, he learns that this is the least of the problems that have been happening at the company recently. Over the last day there have been a series of fist-fights, accidents, and snafus all over the facility. Although they haven’t figured out what is causing this rash of disasters, Tony orders Vic to get to the bottom of it.

The next day, Tony heads into the office by riding the tram at Stark International. Many of the passengers are wearing Bart Ainslee’s headphones. When one of the passengers in headphones hits the emergency stop button on purpose, this starts a massive brawl as the passengers wearing headphones attack those who are not. Caught in the dogpile, Tony manages to open his briefcase and uses Iron Man’s uni-beam to cut a hole open in the bottom of the tram so he can slip out and change into his alter-ego. He quickly subdues the berserk passengers. When one of them gets their headphones are knocked off, they snap back to normal with no memory of what they had done. Realizing the headphones must be the problem.

Taking a set of the headphones back to his lab, Tony discovers a hidden microwave receiver that has been transmitting subliminal instructions to the listener. He also manages to intercept a transmission to a man named Tattoo from his employer. He orders Tattoo to initiate “plan ultra” within the next fifteen minutes. With no time to lose, Iron Man traces the signal to who is receiving it and is shocked to discover Tattoo has been posing as Bart Ainslee, taking advantage of Bart’s injuries and their similar appearance to blend in. Tattoo explains that he murdered Ainslee and that in the next five minutes everyone wearing a set of his headphones will attack, destroy, or kill whatever they are looking at as part of a coordinated effort to destroy Stark International.

Knocking Tattoo out, Iron Man quickly races outside to try and figure out where the main transmitter could be hidden. Remembering how the company arch was damaged during the initial attack, Shell-Head quickly deduces that the device is hidden within and destroys it, saving the company. When Iron Man goes back to question Tattoo, he discovers the spy is dying thanks to a small explosion that was triggered in his brain while receiving his final orders. Unfortunately, Tattoo dies before he can reveal who his employer is, his final words being “man” before training off. This leaves Iron Man to wonder if this is the work of his old enemy the Mandarin, and vows to find out who is responsible and get them first before they can get him.[3]

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Vic Martinelli, Bambi Arbogast

Continuity Notes

1. Some facts about Stark International’s past:

   • Tony states here that Howard Stark is his father. However, it’s revealed in Iron Man (vol. 5) #17 that Tony was actually adopted. His biological parents are actually Amanda Armstrong and a man named Jude. See International Iron Man #5-6.

   • Here, Tony states that Howard Stark founded the company. However, this is not correct. Stark Industries had it’s start back in the 19th century and was founded by Isaac Stark, Sr. as explained in Invincible Iron Man (vol. 2) #5. The company has consistently been in business with ownership being passed down to every generation since then. One could assume that Tony means that his father Howard founded the contemporary version of the company’s main line of work: electronics.

2. Tony’s drinking problem was chronicled from Iron Man #120-128. He has been on the wagon ever since. However, events will conspire to push him over the edge again in issue #167.

3. The idea that this attack may have been caused by the Mandarin is actually a red herring. Iron Man #166 reveals that this was the work of Obadiah Stane, a rival businessman trying to take over Stark International. Stane will ultimately succeed in issue #173.

Topical References

• The wireless headphones that “Bart Ainslee” has created are described as being able to receive AM/FM transmissions and have a portable cassette player. This technology should be considered topical as it is incredibly dated. If you have a pair of bluetooth wireless ear-buds you know what I’m talking about.

• Real world businesses: Sony, General Electric

• A woman at the party tries to remember the last time she saw Tony Stark. While she believes it was in Paris circa 1979, Stark corrects her by saying it was a film festival in Rio in 1980. These years should be considered topical. One could assume that they last saw each other two or three years prior to this story during some event that was not depicted in the comics (because you know, nobody reads Iron Man to know every boring party that Tony goes to, but the parts with all the punching and lasers)