Iron Man #216
Requiescat ... and Revenge!
Tony Stark and Jim Rhodes are forced to evacuate their newly built space station after it was infected by a bio-weapon by Advanced Idea Mechanics.[1] Without a ship, the two men put on Iron Man armor and attempted to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. With Jim’s suit damaged in the battle with AIM and he is now starting to burn up in re-entry. As smoke pours out of Jim’s armor, Tony tries his best to shield Jim with his own armor. Once they arrive over Los Angeles, Tony flies to the nearest rooftop where he can strip off Jim’s armor. Jim has been seriously burned and he is quickly rushed to the hospital. Later, when Tony arrives at the hospital and deals with the red tape he is finally allowed to see Jim. The doctors tell him that his burns will heal after some time to recover.
When Tony returns to his office at Stark Enterprises, the place is a complete zoo as his secretary struggles to manage people’s concerns. Tony is annoyed by the crowd that has gathered and tells her to get things in order. When Clytemnestra Erwin asks Tony what’s going on, he tells her how AIM ruined their space satellite. He then calls Senator Boynton to find out what the government is doing about AIM’s conquest of the Central American nation of Boca Caliente. The Senator tells Tony that he will be filing an official report with Congress after winter recess.[2] This is the final straw for Stark, who has been dealing with government red tape over this ordeal and decides to take matters into his own hands. When Tony tells his secretary that he is going to be away until next Thursday, Clytemnestra wonders what Tony is up to.
Tony then goes to visit Jim in the hospital and tells him that he is going to liberate Boca Caliente and will be using “Mi Casa”, his island retreat in the Caribbean as a staging ground for his plan. After he leaves, Cly comes to visit Jim to find out what Tony is up to. When he tells her what’s going on, she fears that Tony is nuts to go up against Yorgon Tykkio. She then abruptly ends her visit, telling Jim that she’s heading back to keep an eye on things at Stark Enterprises.
Hours later, Tony has arrived in Nassau in the Bahamas and has rented the fastest, most expensive speedboat money can buy. Tony soon arrives at “Mi Casa”, glad that a technicality in international law allowed him to keep it while he was struggling with his alcoholism.[3] Going inside he remembers the last time he was at the island with all of his friends.[4] Moments after he has arrived, Tony is ambushed by AIM operatives that have been tipped off to his plan. Seemingly caught off guard, Tony tries to flee in his speed boat but it is blown out of the water by an AIM gunship. The captain of the ship believes Tony Stark is dead and thanks their informant, Clytemnestra Erwin!
Back in the United States, Jim Rhodes can’t keep his mind off his troubles. He keeps on thinking about how Tony is going up alone against Advance Idea Mechanics. That’s when he suddenly realizes that Clytemnestra knew the name of their leader, something that neither he nor Tony knew, and realizes that there has been some kind of set up. He then rushes to get dressed so he can come to Tony’s aid even though he is still recovering from his own injuries.
At that moment, on the island of Boca Caliente, rogue operatives of AIM free Yorgon Tykkio with the help of Cly Erwin. She hands over Tony Stark’s briefcase which contains Iron Man’s armor so he can use it in his takeover bid. However, Erwin keeps the fact that she knows Tony is Iron Man a secret for now.[5] However, when they pry open the briefcase, they are shocked to discover that it actually contains a listening device allowing Tony Stark to hear everything they said. Having survived the attempt on his life by changing into Iron Man, Tony is angered to discover that Clytemnestra was the person responsible for betraying him. He knew there was a spy leaking information to AIM within his new company but he never suspected how close that person was.[6]
Racing to Boca Caliente, Iron Man tries to use his cloaking device to enter unobserved. However, he suddenly feels a stabbing pain in his head and realizes that this technology is responsible for his recent neurological deterioration and has to stop using it for his own health.[7] As he recovers, AIM launches an attack on him. After trashing a ground vehicle, Iron Man takes to the air to blast the fighter planes out of the sky. However, there are too many targets in the sky that Tony’s armor can’t parse the information in a useful way. Luckily, Jim Rhodes arrives on the scene in a jet and crosses paths with the AIM fighter jets, causing them to crash while they try to avoid a mid-air collision.
With the tide of battle turning, Yorgon Tykkio begins considering a surrender in order to put blame on his brother, the Scientist Supreme, to help pivot into the position himself. Angered at this betrayal, Clytemnestra shoots Yorgon in the back, killing him. She then takes command and orders the soldiers to kill Iron Man. By this point, Jim’s plane is crippled, forcing Iron Man to grab the plane and fly to safety. Obsessed with avenging the death of her brother, Cly becomes furious and wants to continue going after Stark.[8] As fate would have it, Erin’s revenge is to be denied when a damaged AIM fighter plane crashes into the command center, killing everyone inside.
The destruction of AIM headquarters marks the end of their conquest of Boca Caliente. Later, Iron Man and Jim Rhodes oversee the liberation of the local population. In the aftermath of the battle, Iron Man feels guilt over Clytemnestra's fall from grace and wished he could have talked to her some more about what happened. Jim points out that Tony isn’t at fault and that Cly is responsible for her own actions. Tony reluctantly agrees and decides to put this all behind him and move forward with the rest of his life.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man (Stark), Iron Man (Rhodes), Cly Erwin, AIM, Bethany Cabe, Ling McPherson
Continuity Notes
AIM unleashed a bio-weapon in Tony’s space station, making it completely uninhabitable. This happened last issue.
AIM took over Boca Caliente back in Iron Man #207-208.
Tony glosses over his recent woes and drinking problems. This was due to the machinations of Obadiah Stane who began a hostile take over of Stark International that lasted from Iron Man #162-173. The stress drove Tony to start drinking again in issue #167. Tony eventually got sober in Iron Man #182 and reclaimed his remaining fortune and assets in Iron Man #203.
The last time Tony came to this island was on a vacation with all of his friends in Iron Man #141.
Clytemnestra became involved in the life of Iron Man during the period in which Jim Rhodes was in the role from Iron Man #169-195, issue #171 specifically. It was during this time that she also learned that Tony Stark was the original Iron Man.
Tony references his recent clashes with AIM. The only instance that has not previously been referenced was when they attacked him with MODOK in Iron Man #205.
Tony learned that something in his armor was causing him neurological damage last issue.
Clytemnestra’s brother, Morley, was killed in a bomb blast in Iron Man #198. While the bomb was planted by Obadiah Stane, Cly has blamed Tony Stark for the death of her brother.
Topical References
When Tony tells Jim that he’ll come back to see him in the hospital, Jim asks that he not tell any Richard Pryor jokes. This story was written at the height of Pryor’s popularity. This should be considered a topical reference, particularly since Pryor died in 2005.
Tony is depicted driving a Nissan 300ZX. These sports cars ended their production run in the year 2000. This could be considered a topical reference unless you want to believe that Tony is a vintage car buff.
Jim brags about a projection TV, a remote CD player and matching VCRs in his hospital room. This would have been extravagant in 1986 when these technologies were new and very expensive. This should be considered topical particularly since CD players (with a remote!! Bah ha ha) and VCRs are either inexpensive or obsolete or both.
The rental fee for the speed boat in this story is $40,000. Adjusting for inflation it would cost about $101,000 in 2022 money.
At the hospital, Jim tries watching the film Top Gun. While the film came out the year before this comic was published its reference here might not necessarily be topical. Here, Jim is commenting how watching Top Gun usually takes his mind off his troubles, suggesting that it is favorite of his.
Iron Man remarks that an AIM vehicle has more cannons than the USS Nimitz. This should be considered a topical reference as the USS Nimitz will eventually be retired in 2025.
Likewise, Jim wishes that Tony had F-16’s in the Stark Enterprise fleet. While these fighter planes are still in use and being manufactured, there will come a time when they are retired.