Iron Man #208
Firefang!
AIM has staged a successful coup on the island of Boca Caliente. Its success was thanks to a weaponized satellite that Tony Stark inadvertedly put into orbit on behalf of one of AIM’s front companies. Blaming himself for allowing this to happen, Tony is determined to liberate the Central American nation. Jim Rhodes tries to convince Tony that it is not his fault, but Stark refuses to accept his reasoning and heads off to get the job done.[1]
Meanwhile, in Germany, Bethany Cabe has returned to her husband Alex Van Tillburg only to discover that he has spiraled deeper into his drug addiction. She had hoped that he would go clean after she rescued him from Russian spies, but she sees that he is beyond help and no longer has the energy to deal with his substance abuse anymore. She tells him that she is going out to get divorce papers drawn up and will only be back to get him to sign them.[2]
At that moment, Iron Man is approaching Boca Caliente. Using his armor’s built in stealth capabilities he covertly observes what is happening on the island. He is horrified to discover that its citizens are being forced into slave labor by their new masters. Worse, his scanning devices have uncovered a secret underground bunker carrying nuclear missiles. Realizing that the situation is more dire than he thought, Iron Man heads to Washington, DC to get permission to act.
He meets with a representative of the State Department, who denies Iron Mans’ request to intervene on behalf of the people of Boca Caliente. He is told that the political situation is very delicate and the US government’s hands are tied. When Iron Man suggests getting involved anyway, he is warned that going against the wishes of his government would be treason.
Back in Germany, Bethany Cabe meets with an informant named Ludwig for help securing a lawyer in the area. Ludwig wishes to help, but he also tells her about some intel he received about Alfredo Pechter, the former dictator of Boca Caliente. Apparently, he wishes to avenge his ouster by seizing control of the island’s nuclear missile cache and launching an attack the United States. However, before Ludwig can get into more detail, he is fatally shot by a man hired to kill him for not repaying a debt. Still, Bethany gets enough information to know that this is a serious situation and decides to contact Iron Man and tell him everything she just learned.
In California, Tony Stark and Jim Rhodes are working on their space shuttle when they are visited by Clytemnestra Erwin. She has been debating on if she wants to join Tony on his new business venture or joining an international study on Haley’s Comet. She has come to tell them that she has decided to stay, much to Tony and Jim’s delight. That’s when they receive a radio call from Bethany Cabe, who warns Tony of the situation in Boca Caliente. Realizing that he has to act, changes into Iron Man and heads back to Washington to warn the State Department.
Meanwhile, Alfredo Pechter uses a secret entrance to gain access to the missile launching facilities. He succeeds in reaching the control room, just as Iron Man’s request to act is once again being denied. Frustrated with the government red tape, Iron Man decides to interfere anyway. Using his cloaking device as he reaches the airspace over Boca Caliente, Iron Man is too late to stop the missiles from being launched. Luckily, his armor’s onboard weapons are strong enough to disable the missiles which are forced into the ocean where they harmlessly explode, their nuclear payloads undetonated.
Later, Iron Man is back out with Jim Rhodes on the Stark space station. As they work, Tony is taken away by the majesty of space and hopes that when humanity finally makes their way into the stars they find a way to keep all the madmen, tyrants, and bureaucrats from coming along for the ride.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, AIM, Jim Rhodes, Bethany Cabe, Cly Erwin, Alexander Van Tilburg
Continuity Notes
AIM took over Boca Caliente last issue.
As explained in Iron Man #128, Alex has had an long standing drug abuse problem. This resulted in his death being faked by Russian spies seeking to use him to learn government secrets by capturing him. After Beth and Iron Man rescued him in issues #152-153, she stayed with Alex to get clean but these attempts have obviously failed. She mentions her recent trip to America, this happened from Iron Man #193-205. She went back to see if she still loved Tony Stark and upon discovering that she still did, came back to Germany to resolve things with her husband.
Topical References
This story uses a number of Cold War terms, such as “Eastern Bloc” and “The Iron Curtain”. These are dated terms since the dissolution of the USSR in 1991 and their reference here should be considered topical.
