Deliverance

Despite the fact that the city is being hit by the biggest winter storm in a while, Tony Stark is searching the streets trying to find his friend, Gretl Anders, who is due to have her baby. He bumps into two cops who tell him to get to shelter as he is likely to die out in the cold. Continuing his search, Tony runs out of booze and stops at a pawn shop where he sells his jacket. Seeing what sort of state he’s in, the shop owner tells Tony to find someplace warm for the night because he won’t survive a night out in the cold.

Going back out, Tony considers getting a cheap room for the night but decides against it. Going back to the liquor store, Tony buys the most expensive bottle of booze he can get intending to stay out and die in the cold. As he laments over how he wasted his life, Tony is surprised when Gretl finds him. She is in agony because the baby is coming.

Unable to make it to a hospital in time, Tony brings Gretl to a doorway where they can try and keep warm for the night. Tony offers her some of her booze, but Gretl turns it down because she doesn’t want her baby to be born drunk, like that kid isn’t going to have all bigger problems. As the pair stay close to each other to keep warm, Tony thinks about how he used to wrap himself in armor to insulate himself from the outside world and figures it was not all that surprising.[1] That’s when Gretl begins to have her baby and the agony causes her to panic. Pleading with Tony for help, Stark tosses away his bottle of booze and helps Gert deliver her baby. She gives birth to a baby boy and realizing that she is dying of exposure, she asks Tony to look after her boy for him. Tony vows that he won’t let this baby die.[2]

The following morning, as the city begins digging itself out of the snow, a man comes upon Tony, Gert, and the baby and gets some cops to get some help. They are taken to a hospital where Gert is pronounced dead. The baby is put in an incubator and is expected to make it. Tony, on the other hand, is suffering from exposure, cirrhosis, heart damage, and frostbite. His recovery is going to be touch and go. Sometime later, Gert’s body is being buried in a paupers grave. The man digging her grave dismisses her as another worthless drunk.

Sometime later, in Central Park, the structure that kidnapped Iron Man and the Avengers has reappeared and returned the missing superheroes. Iron Man tells the Avengers to call him if they ever need him. He then takes off to test out the new enhancements he added to his armor while fighting in the Beyonder’s Secret War.[3] Going to where a new highway is going to be constructed, Iron Man tries to clear some of the rubble and is shocked when his new repulsors blast a massive hole in the ground. He goes back to his apartment to see if his partner, Morley Erwin can figure out what’s going on with his new gear. Erwin figures that the new equipment is unstable because it might not be compatible with Earth. However, Morley says that there are more important things to worry about now since he just heard that Tony Stark is in the hospital clinging to life.

Iron Man races to the hospital and stays by Tony’s side until he comes out of his coma. When Tony does wake up, he tells Jim that he has decided to quit drinking. He explains that he was willing to let himself die in the blizzard. However, when he was forced to keep Gretl’s baby alive he realized that his own life had value and made a vow to turn things around. Jim is glad to hear it and asks Tony if he’ll want his armor back. Tony declines the offer, saying he won’t be wearing the armor for a while.[4] A few weeks later, Tony Stark is released from the hospital and walks out into the city where he takes the first steps onto his road to sobriety.[5]

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Tony Stark, Gertl Anders, Morley Erwin, Avengers (Captain America, Thor, Wasp, Hawkeye, Captain Marvel)

Continuity Notes

1. Tony recounts the injury that led to creating his Iron Man armor. Tony got shrapnel in his heart from a trip mine back in Tales of Suspense #39. However, Tony has long since repaired the damage to his heart in Iron Man #19.

2. Yeah although Tony agrees to look after the child, he actually sends it to an orphanage, as revealed in Iron Man #199-200. The kid is never seen again and when Tony later relates to this incident in Invincible Iron Man #500.1, Tony is about to talk about how Gertl gave birth but decides against it saying it’s “not important”, like the horrifying monster Tony Stark really is.

3. Iron Man was kidnapped by the Beyonder to fight in the Secret Wars last issue. These events were chronicled in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1-12. Iron Man used the technology on Battleworld to upgrade his armor in issue #8 of that series.

4. Tony let Jim take over as Iron Man in Iron Man #169-170. Although he will be forced back into the armor in issues #191-196, he refuses to retake the mantle until Iron Man #199-200.

5. Tony’s sobriety will actually stick for a long time after this. Not counting the time his body was taken over by an artificial intelligence in Iron Man #308, Tony doesn’t take another drink until Fear Itself #4. He did so as a sacrifice to Odin to gain the All-Father’s help to defeat the Serpent.

Topical References

• Iron Man tests out his new weapons system at the construction site of the Brooklyn Highway. This should be considered topical as this highway has already been completed.

• The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline in this story. This should be considered topical as they were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 and subsequently replaced with the Freedom Tower.