Ghost in the Machine!

After his failed attempt on Tony Stark’s life, the Ghost returns to his hideout to repair his equipment. He vows that once he has destroyed Stark Enterprises and Accutech, he will be going after Roxxon after they sent Spymaster to interfere with his plans.[1] To get his ultimate revenge, the Ghost intends to leave a recording that implicates Carrington Pax of Roxxon in hiring the Ghost.

Weeks later, a muscled bound man called Flex is terrorizing the patrons of a burger joint in order to try and force them into making healthier choices. The scene attracts the attention of Iron Man who gets a good laugh over Flex before easily trouncing him. As he flies back to Stark Enterprises, Tony is in a better mood, thanks to his much needed encounter with Flex. When he arrives he finds that Jim Rhodes is still sweeping the facility to find spy devices after Stark Enterprises was infiltrated by both the Ghost and Spymaster.

After a shower and change of clothes, Tony cancels a date with a Hollywood starlet since the current troubles at his company are taking all of his focus, much to Tony’s chagrin. Jim — armed with a gun — escorts Tony up to his office where his secretary is getting by with the typewriter she is being forced to use for security purposes but can’t wait to get her computer back. His secretary tells him that the bank is not willing to extend anymore loans to Stark Enterprises following his purchase of Accutech. He is riding on the success of Accutech’s beta particle generator, but if he can’t find investors by Friday he will lose everything.

On Friday afternoon, Tony Stark holds a press conference unveiling the beta particle generator to the public. When the Ghost arrives and tries to shoot Tony, he discovers that this was actually a holographic projection. That’s when Iron Man comes out a secret passage and reveals that the Ghost has walked right into his trap. Surrounded by Iron Man and some armed guards, the Ghost tries to cover his escape by tossing some flying bombs that begin hovering around the members of the press. With 15 seconds before the bombs go off, Iron Man scrambles to disable the explosives. He gets them all except for one, which explodes near two people. Luckily, they aren’t seriously injured and while the others care for the wounded, Iron Man goes after the Ghost.

When Iron Man finds one of the guards has been murdered, the hero vows to stop the Ghost. He goes to the room where Jim Rhodes is guarding the real particle generator. Suspecting that the Ghost might be in the room, cloaked by his invisibility, Iron Man orders Jim to activate the generator. Sure enough, when the device beings interfering with the Ghost’s electronic devices, rendering him visible. Iron Man tells the Ghost that as long as the beta particle generator is active he won’t be able to get close as it will eventually overload his armor and it will explode.

Despite this warning, the Ghost continues to advance toward the device, willing to sacrifice his life to destroy it and — by extension — Stark Enterprises. Realizing the depths of the Ghost’s insanity, Iron Man prepares to shut down the generator. However, as fate would have it, the heat generated from the overload of the Ghost’s armor causes the floor under his feet to melt. The Ghost then falls through multiple floors into the basement of the building. When Iron Man goes after him all he finds is smoldering remains of the Ghost’s armor and assumes that he is dead.[2]

Quickly changing out of his armor, Tony meets with potential investors who all pledge money to the beta particle generator. It’s enough money to save his company from insolvency. By this time, Jim has examined the Ghost’s remains and found an audio recording. However, the energy from the generator ruined it. Although all evidence suggests that the Ghost died, Tony isn’t entirely sure if he is.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Ghost, Jim Rhodes, Atha Williams

Continuity Notes

1. The Ghost was hired by Roxxon to destroy Accutech but after Iron Man interfered he went against order to try and destroy him and Tony Stark. See Iron Man #219-220. The Ghost’s hatred of corporations is unexplained here. In Thunderbolts #151 the Ghost claims that his hatred stems from when he was screwed over by a company.

2. The Ghost is not dead and will return again in Iron Man #238-240.

Topical References

• The Ghost’s recording of Carrington Pax is depicted as being held on a cassette tape. This should be considered topical as cassettes are considered an obsolete technology.

• The fast food restaurant terrorized by Flex is depicted as Burger King (although parts of the name are obscured for… trademark reasons I guess?) its depiction here should be considered topical as this is a real world business.

• Tony calls a movie star who is shooting a movie for Paramount Pictures. The reference to Paramount should be considered topical as it is a real world film company.

• Here, Tony’s secretary is depicted using a typewriter instead of her computer. This wouldn’t be considered topical since Tony is forcing her to use one for security reasons. Its depiction here is intentional and important to the plot.