Though my Life be Forfeit…

Captured by the Mandarin and subjected to his mind control ring, Jim Rhodes has been forced to unmask and ordered to cut his throat with a sword. Luckily, Jim is struck by another painful headache, overriding the mind control.[1] Slashing the Mandarin across the belly with the sword, Jim grabs his Iron Man helmet and puts some distance between himself and his foe. Smashing his way out of the Mandarin’s mountain hideout, he dives into a nearby lake to regroup and figure out his next move.

Although he is furious over his enemy escaping, the Mandarin still wants to go ahead with his plan. He explains to the Radioactive Man that he is going to wipe out all the agriculture on mainland China in the hopes of triggering a destructive third world war so he can seize control of whatever is left. When the Radioactive Man reminds him that Iron Man is still on the loose, the Mandarin personally blames him for Iron Man cutting him with a sword and blasts the Radioactive Man with one of his rings.

Meanwhile, back in New York City, a heavy winter storm is rolling into the city. At a local soup kitchen, Tony Stark continues looking for his friend Gretl Anders who is due to have her baby any day now. Nobody has seen her recently so Tony goes back out on the street looking for her. He walks past a bar little knowing that Gretl is inside ordering a drink to drown her sorrows as she no longer believes that Tony actually loved her.[2]

By this time, Iron Man has decided that preventing an international incident is out of his scope. However, as he takes off, he sees a local rice crop begin to blacken and die and realizes that he can’t do nothing about it.

Iron Man takes advantage of the fact that the Chinese military won’t take kindly to him flying in their airspace. He then lures them to the Mandarin’s mountain hideout. While the Mandarin is distracted by the attacking fighter planes, Iron Man goes inside and destroys the device killing off China’s agriculture. With his plan foiled, the Mandarin tries to retreat in an escape ship. Iron Man follows after him but is blasted by one of the Mandarin’s rings, giving him a painful headache that sends him crashing to the ground. With the Mandarin making a clean getaway, Iron Man figures the only thing he can do is return to Hong Kong and lay low until his flight back to the United States.

The following day, Jim arrives at JFK International Airport where he calls Morley Erwin to check in. Morley tells him that a strange structure has appeared in Central Park. Jim decides to investigate as Iron Man. Once he arrives, something compels Iron Man to walk inside the structure, causing him to be teleported away to points unknown.

… This story is continued in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Mandarin, Radioactive Man, Tony Stark, Gretl Anders, Morley Erwin

Continuity Notes

1. The cause of Jim’s headache is because the cybernetic connection to Iron Man’s armor was calibrated for Tony Stark’s mind, not Jim’s as explained in Iron Man #187. He will later be cured of his headaches in issue #195.

2. Stark spiraled into alcoholism in Iron Man #167 and has been living on the street since issue #172. He met Gert in issue #178. She ran off on him last issue when he wasn’t able to provide her money or shelter so she can safely give birth to her baby.

Topical References

• In this story, the Mandarin specifically states that he is going to wipe out all the rice patties in China. As if that is the only component of Chinese agriculture. This isn’t topical so much as it’s wrong and coming from a place of ignorance on the part of the writer. If only Denny O’Neil could have predicted some asshole like me smugly looking up agriculture in China on Wikipedia 40 years after the fact.

• The Chinese fighter planes are depicted as Shenyang J-8’s. This should be considered a topical reference because these jets were all retired in 2010.