Iron Man #186
Though This Fault Be Mine…
Tony Stark, Jim Rhodes, Morley Erwin and his sister Clytemnestra have bought some land in California for their new tech start-up. There is a lot of work to be done and Jim begins suiting up in his Iron Man armor to start the construction work when the area is struck by an earthquake.[1] Morley assures them that it’s a small one and there isn’t any real danger.
However, not far away, wealthy industrialist named Franklin Fortney is pressuring his technician, Professor Alton Vibreaux to continue with the test of a new device that will help prevent earthquakes. This requires Vibreaux to go down into a hole near the the San Andreas fault line. His assistant warns that this will be dangerous because the device — powered with nuclear energy — is not stable. Vibreaux insists on doing the job despite the risk of another earthquake because his boss wants result. Sure enough, once he is down in the pit, another earthquake happens. This shatters the machine sending Vibreaux falling into the fault line as he is bombarded with radiation.
A few days later, the construction of the new company is well underway. While spending the evening in their hotel room, Tony asks to see Jim’s Iron Man armor so he can repair the repulsor rays.[2] Jim changes the subject by suggesting they watch some TV. The news has a two top stories: the first is about a strange man that crawled out of the hole at the site of the Vibreaux accident and how Franklin Fortney is being held hostage at a nearby oil rig by terrorists. The mystery man is Vibreaux who has been transformed into a being who can control seismic energy. Wandering the streets in town, he happens upon the news report about Fortney’s hostage situation. Even though he doesn’t remember who he is, Vibreaux — now calling himself Vibro — knows that Franklin is responsible for his situation and vows to get revenge.
Meanwhile, Jim decides to rescue Fortney and the rig workers as Iron Man. When Tony offers his advice, Jim curtly reminds him that he’s the hero now and to not forget it. Although he doesn’t have his respulsor rays, Iron Man ambushes the terrorists. However, his sloppy execution results in one of the hostages getting winged with a bullet. As he is dealing with the terrorists, Vibro uses his new powers from shore to shatter the oil rig. Franklin Fortney gets pinned under water by some of the debris but is quickly rescued by Iron Man. When the Coast Guard arrives to rescue everybody, Fortney offers him money to be flown back to shore ahead of everyone else. Since his company still needs money to get started, Jim obliges even though this is against Coast Guard regulations.
There, they are ambushed by Vibro who has arrived to finish the job of killing Fortney. Iron Man defends Franklin but is quickly sucked into the ground by a sinkhole created by Vibro. Discovering that the ground insulates him from Vibro’s power, Iron Man tunnels under his foe and busts out from under him. Knocking Vibro out with a single punch, Iron Man then flies off to deliver the killer to the authorities.
Back at the hotel room, Jim admits that he needs repulsor rays to be useful in a fight and hands over his gauntlets to Tony for repairs. Although these gauntlets do not have any repulsor rays built into them, Tony asks for some common household items that he can jury-rig into a new set.
While back at the police station, Vibro has been placed in the cell and is allowed to watch some television while he stews. Catching an interview with Franklin Fortney, who thanks Iron Man for saving his life. This puts Vibro into another fit of rage and he vows to get revenge against both Fortney and Iron Man.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Vibro, Tony Stark, Morley Erwin, Cly Erwin
Continuity Notes
Jim is protective of the fact that he’s Iron Man. This is because his personality is being affected by the cybernetic uplink in his armor as it was calibrated for Tony Stark’s mind. This will be revealed next issue. Jim’s personality problems and headaches will continue until he is cured in issue #195.
Jim upgraded his armor with alien technology in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8. When this equipment wouldn’t work, Jim dumped the gear and leaving him without his repulsor rays. See Iron Man #183.
Topical References
The TVs in this story are depicted as CRTs with knobs and dials. This should be considered topical because this is obsolete technology.
Franklin Fortney offers Iron Man $1000 to fly him to the mainland. Adjusting for inflation this would be $2,683 in 2022 money.
The motel Jim and friends are staying at advertises a room with a single bed for $28. Adjusting for inflation this would cost $75.13 in 2022 money.
One of the items Tony asks for is a Frisbee. This should be considered a topical referenc as Frisbee is a real world brand name for generic toy discs.
