Iron Man #189
A Thing That Bores From Within…
In the LA neighborhood of Watts a hostage situation is underway. The gunman demands that the police do something about the “white rabbit”.
Not far away, Jim Rhodes is regretting going for a walk on such a hot summer day, but he needed to clear his head after the Avengers recent battle with Maelstrom.[1] He is also having difficulties with his best friend, Tony Stark and isn’t looking forward to going back to Circuits Maximus.[2] That’s when he comes upon the hostage situation. He quickly ducks into an alley to change into Iron Man and deals with the hostage taker in moments. Although the LAPD aren’t happy that Iron Man acted without consulting them, they are glad he intervened nonetheless. The woman he saved, Ida Powers, is grateful for the rescue, and Jim boldly asks her out on a date.
Meanwhile, back at Circuits Maximus, Clytemnestra Erwin returns with more business for their fledgling tech start-up. This time it is a contract to help create industrial robots for Fetison Electronics. They agreed to hire Circuits Maximus for the job once they heard that Tony Stark was working for the company. When she wants Jim to go into town to buy supplies, Erwin and Tony point out that Jim isn’t around. Tony figures that Rhodes is afraid he is going to have to give up being Iron Man now that Tony stopped drinking. However, Tony has no interest in doing so after his hard won sobriety.[3]
In the city, Jim pays a visit to Ida Powers at her apartment out of costume. However, he does so wearing a hat in a poor effort to hide his identity. However, Jim is nervous and on edge and when Ida suggests that he needs to relax, Jim realizes that this is probably part of his problem.
At that moment, somewhere in Silicon Valley, an industrial saboteur called the Termite uses his powers to dig Fetison Electronics and sabotage some equipment. This causes a fire that sets the entire building ablaze. Retreating through his tunnel, the Termite observes his work and considers it a job well done.
Back in Los Angeles, Jim’s date with Ida is not going very well. When he apologizes for how bad things are going, he gets offended when she tries empathizing with his position and storms out. Out on the street, Jim chastises himself for being so rude when he is suddenly struck by another powerful headache. Not understanding why he is still plagued by them, Jim begins to believe that Tony lied to him when he claimed to have fixed the problem.
By this time, Cly has been called into Fetison Electronics and sees the damage done by the saboteur. Seeing that this is a job for Iron Man, she offers his services to defend the facility from another attack. When she returns to Circuits Maximus and tells her brother, Morley points out that they still don’t know where Jim is. Meanwhile, Tony continues to tinker on recreating his original suit of Iron Man armor, not to wear, but as a form of work therapy for himself.[4] That’s when Jim finally returns and tells them an idea he had for an upgrade to the suit of Iron Man armor he wears. Recounting the hostage situation, he suggests that they install a magnetic device to disarm gunmen in the future. That’s when Tony points out that the suit already has those capabilities. Having this pointed out to him puts Jim right back into his sour mood.
However, after hearing about the attack on Fetison Electronics, Jim takes on the security job. It’s quiet, giving Jim to catch up on the news. One report is about how he and the new West Coast Avengers recently stopped Graviton.[5] Tony Stark also happens to be watching this broadcast and he is upset that Jim didn’t tell him he joined up with the Avengers, a team that Tony help found.[6] While Jim is distracted by the television, the Termite returns to the facility to wreck it again. Hearing the saboteur as he burrows into the room through the wall, Iron Man attacks him. Thinking that the Termite’s ability to cause things to crumble at a touch are derived from technology built into his gloves, Iron Man uses his magnetic device to yank them off. However, Termite’s abilities are natural and when he realizes he is outmatched, uses his abilities to escape. Realizing he misjudged the situation, Jim chastises himself for being so stupid.
Meanwhile, the Termite has returned to his hideout where he contacts his employer, Obadiah Stane. Stane orders Termite to use his mutant gifts in a more creative way, perhaps utilizing his love of art, in order to defeat Iron Man. Hanging up the phone, Stane wonders if it is time for him to deal with Iron Man more directly again.[7]
By this time, Jim has returned to Circuits Maximus to tell his friends how he botched his job. When brainstorming how to defeat the Termite, Tony suggests following his underground tunnels to see where he came from. This angers Jim since he didn’t think of this first and decides to go out and get some air. However, Jim eventually decides that Tony had the right idea and goes back to the scene of the crime as Iron Man.
Sure enough, he finds the Termite in the underground tunnel. In the ensuing battle, the structural integrity of the Fetison building is compromised, prompting Iron Man to break off his attack and rescue its owner. He then plugs the hole to the Termite’s tunnel with a car before spotting his foe trying to make a getaway in a van. Catching up with the vehicle, Iron Man yanks the Termite out. However, before he can take the Termite to the authorities, the mutant uses his powers to damage on of Iron Man’s jet boots. This forces Jim to let him go and try to prevent crashing while the Termite manages to burrow back into the ground and make good his escape. Adding more frustration to this defeat, Iron Man witnesses the Fetison building collapse.
Returning to Circuits Maximus at dawn, Jim wonders how he is going to tell the others about his failure. Inside the lab he sees the chestplate of the suit of armor Tony’s been working on and angrily tosses it across the room.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Termite, Tony Stark, Morley Erwin, Cly Erwin, Obadiah Stane,
Continuity Notes
Iron Man and the Avengers fought Maelstrom in Avengers #250.
As explained in Iron Man #187, Jim Rhode’s mind was negatively affected by the cybernetic uplink in Iron Man’s armor. This is because the armor was calibrated for Tony Stark’s mind and not his. Although this has been fixed, the effects will persist until Jim is cured in issue #195.
Tony spiraled into alcoholism from Iron Man #167 through 182. Although he is sober he has no interest in becoming Iron Man again. However, he will be forced back into the role in issue #199-200.
This suit is based off the original armor that Tony created way back in Tales of Suspense #39. The last model of that suit was destroyed with all of Tony’s other spare armors by Jim in order to keep them from falling in the wrong hands. See Iron Man #174-175.
The West Coast Avengers battle with Graviton happened in West Coast Avengers #4.
Tony, as Iron Man, was a founding member of the Avengers as seen in the premiere issue of their series.
Obadiah Stane clashed with both Iron Man — both Stark and Rhodes — while involved in a hostile takeover of Stark International. This ran from Iron Man #162-173. However, while unable to utterly destroy Tony Stark or Iron Man, he did succeed in taking over Tony’s company.
Topical References
Jim and Tony are both depicted watching TV on a CRT television. This should be considered as these are obsolete.
Iron Man plugs the Termite’s tunnel with an 80’s model VW Beetle. This should be considered a topical reference since there are not many of these vehicles on the road anymore.
