Iron Man #173 — Nick Peron

Jan 3

Jan 3 Iron Man #173

Judas is a Woman

Spiraling further and further into alcoholism, Tony Stark has reduced himself to drinking on the streets.[1] There he is hassled by a gang of thugs looking to rob him. However, Tony is saved by a pair of private investigators who have been hired to find him. Taking him to a hotel, they dress Stark up in a tuxedo and tell him that he has an important party to attend. He is then taken by limo to the Stark International headquarters on Long Island.

There, he is greeted by Obadiah Stane who has successfully taken over his company. Stane has brought Tony out to witness as the sign for Stark International is changed to Stane International.[2] Moments later, Vic Martinelli and Bambi Arbogast — Stark International’s head of security, and Tony’s personal secretary — hand in some resignations. Vic tells Stane that there will be more coming and he orders them to get off his property because they are now trespassing. Before leaving, Bambi tells Tony that it is terrible to see him destroying himself like this before saying goodbye. To rub in salt, Stane also tells Stark to get off his property as well. Tony complains that he has no way home when Stane refuses him a limo ride back into the city. This falls on deaf ears.

That’s when Iron Man arrives on the scene, furious that Stane is taking so much joy humiliating Tony like this. However, Stane offers the hero the opportunity to get Tony to stop drinking. He explains that Stark was pushed into it by his operative, Indria Moomji, who is currently a prisoner of the Sisters of Ishtar, a freelance espionage organization.[3] Obadiah offers to have Indria fix Tony if Iron Man brings her to him. Desperate to try and save his friend, Iron Man agrees to do so.

But first, Iron Man flies Tony to Philadelphia. Changing out of the armor, Jim Rhodes takes Tony to his mother’s house for safe keeping.[4] Jim’s mother is confident she can keep Tony out of trouble since she once looked after Jim’s uncle Josh when he had a drinking problem.

Jim then makes his way to the southwest and searches the desert as Iron Man to find the secret hideout of the Sisterhood of Ishtar. With his infrared scanners he finds the secret entrance and forces his way inside. His intrusion is quickly picked up on the security system and the leader of the Sisterhood instructs Indries to trap Iron Man in something called the vortex.

Meanwhile, Iron Man fights his way through the various automated defenses to the control center of the facility. There he finds Indries who immediately starts trying to seduce Iron Man. Finding himself unable to resist, Jim steps toward her and falls through a hologram on the floor. He begins falling down a huge pit that leads to pool of lava. However, escaping is easier said than done as the magma is creating a heat vortex that is pulling him down with enough force that even his jet boots can’t pull him free. Quick thinking, Iron Man cuts hand-holds in the wall with the diamond cutter built into the finger of his gauntlet and climbs his way out of the pull of the vortex so he can fly out of the trap.

He then snatches Indria and escapes, the Sisters of Ishtar offering no resistance. However, as Jim flies Moomji back to his plane, she reveals that she wasn’t a prisoner of the Sisterhood, but a member. On the flight back to New York, Indries tells Iron Man that she was able to seduce Tony thanks to her ability to control pheromones. However, she didn’t drive Tony to start drinking again as her abilities cannot force someone to do something they wouldn’t normally do and that Tony’s desire to start drinking again was all his own. She may have pushed him along a little faster, but it was ultimately a foregone conclusion. When they arrive in New York, Jim realizes that Indries cannot fix Tony and lets her go.

Iron Man then returns to Stane International to confront Obadiah Stane over his deception. He warns Stane that setting Indries loose was the first loss Stane has felt since going after Tony. It might not seem like much, but Iron Man is convinced that this will ultimately lead to Obadiah’s downfall. After walking out, Jim calls his mother to see how Tony is doing. His mother tells him that Tony managed to find and drink a bottle of cooking wine that she had stashed away and then took off and she has no idea where he could have went.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Tony Stark, Obadiah Stane, Bambi Arbogast, Arthur Pithins, Yvette Avril, Vic Martinelli, Indra Moomji, Roberta Rhodes

Continuity Notes

After being sober since Iron Man #128, Tony Stark fell off the wagon again in issue #167 due to the machinations of Obadiah Stane. Stane has been trying to destroy Tony in order to take over his company since issue #162. Tony won’t sober up until after a brush with death in Iron Man #182.
Stane’s acquisition and re-naming of Stark International will be a long running one. When Tony sobers up he starts a new company called Circuits Maximus in Iron Man #188. It is later re-named Stark Enterprises in issue #217. In the meantime, following the death of Stane in Iron Man #200, Stane International will exchange hands until Stark buys it back from its last owner, Justin Hammer in Iron Man #283. Stane then became a subsidiary of Stark International until Tony shut it down in issue #301.
Indries Moomji was hired by Stane to seduce Tony Stark and then destroy him emotionally A task she carried out from Iron Man #163 through 167.
Jim’s mother is not identified by name here. She’s identified as Roberta Rhodes in Secret War: From the Files of Nick Fury #1. However, War Machine (vol. 2) #6 she states her name is Gloria. The War Machine profile in Iron Manual Mark 3 #1 also confirms her name is Roberta. No explanation for the discrepancy at this time (November, 2022), probably an error. I wouldn’t be surprised if they ever update her name to be Roberta Gloria Rhodes or something like that.