Epitaph in Grey

While out on a date with Jim Rhodes, Marcy Pearson notes that a nearby gallery is displaying sculptures by Paul St. Pierre, whose haunting work is taking the Los Angeles art scene by storm. The couple are working on improving their relationship after hitting a rough patch. After eating lunch, the pair pass by the gallery and Marcy gets a chill from one of the statues who looks like her friend, Cinda Kendrick, who had recently bought a St. Pierre statue.

Meanwhile, Tony Stark is visiting his new girlfriend, Rae LaCoste at her mansion. There, he discovers that she too has recently bought one of Paul St. Pierre’s statues. Tony finds the statue haunting but agrees to be Rae’s date when she goes to a party honoring St. Pierre’s work. That’s when Jim Rhodes arrives in a Stark Enterprise helicopter to pick Tony up. On the way home, Tony checks his messages with Bambi Arbogast. Among the messages, his lawyer tells him that the current lawsuits against Stark Enterprises will soon be settled out of court, and that Kathy Dare has called for Tony six times today.[1] Tony is a little bothered by how much Kathy has called, but decides he will call her later.

When Tony arrives at home, his groundskeeper Juan tells him that a large present has arrived for him. Kathy Dare then shows up to visit Tony. The present that was delivered turns out to be a Paul St. Pierre statue sent to him by Rae LaCoste. Learning that another woman is sending Tony gifts, Kathy gets upset and storms off.

That evening, Marcy Pearson can’t get her mind off the fact that the statue she saw earlier looks so much like her friend. Deciding to check in on Cinda she calls the television station where she works and learns that she hasn’t shown up for weeks and that nobody has heard from her. This news disturbs Marcy who wonders what to do next.

The following morning, Iron Man arrives at Stark Enterprises where he tests out the new security system installed. Although Iron Man is able to defend himself against all the weapons and traps he is confident that it will keep his facility safe.[2] Retiring to his penthouse, Tony finds Jim in a worried state as Marcy abruptly took emergency leave without telling him what’s wrong and where she is going.

Marcy has taken the time off to find out what happened to her friend, Cinda Kendrick. Breaking into her home, Macy discovers that Cinda was investigating the disappearance of a number of women who were associated with Paul St. Pierre in one way or another and believes that he might also be responsible for Cinda’s disappearance as well.

The part being thrown for Paul St. Pierre is that evening and Marcy arrives shortly after Tony Stark and Rae LaCoste. When Tony meets St. Pierre, he can’t help but shake the feeling that they have met before.[3] Marcy uses Cinda’s invitation to the party to get in, tipping off Paul St. Pierre that there is an uninvited guest. Avoiding Tony, Marcy then sneaks outside and breaks into Paul’s studio and finds no art supplies. There she is confronted by Paul St. Pierre who has decided that she needs to be silenced. Removing his dress gloves, Marcy is shocked to see that one of Paul’s hands is made of stone. Then, touching his hands together, Paul St, Pierre transforms into his alter-ego, the Grey Gargoyle!

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Grey Gargoyle, Jim Rhodes, Bambi Arbogast, Marcy Pearson, Bert Hindel, Garrison Quint, Kathy Dare, Rae LaCoste

Continuity Notes

1. These lawsuits stem from Iron Man’s attacks on various armor wearers that were using stolen Iron Man technology. Although Iron Man was “fired” from Stark Enterprises then “killed” and “replaced” with a “new” person, many still held Stark Enterprises responsible and sued him. See Iron Man #225-231.

2. Tony mentions the recent attack on his company. This was when mercenaries hired by Edwin Cord tried to crash a press conference in Iron Man #233. This story incorrectly attributes this to issue #223.

3. That’s because Paul St. Pierre is actually the Grey Gargoyle. Tony has fought him as Iron Man on a number of occasions in Tales of Suspense #95-96 and Avengers #190-191.

Topical References

• Kathy Dare is depicted driving an 80s model Porche. This could be considered topical unless you wish to believe that Kathy likes vintage cars.

• Kathy also brags about cancelling a date with the E Street Band. They are the back-up band for musician Bruce Springsteen who was at the height of his popularity when this comic book was published. This was back when Springsteen and his band were in their relative prime. This should be considered a topical reference as these musicians are all in their 70s now and its unlikely they’d have a young groupie like Kathy Dare nowadays.

• Cinda’s apartment has a poster for a Elvis Costello album called True Blue. The album is misidentified here, it’s actually titled Almost Blue and was released in 1981. This is included among her music collection which also includes The River by Bruce Springsteen (1980), Armed Forces by Elvis Costello (1979), Purple Rain (1984) and 1999 (1982) by Prince, as well as albums by Julio Iglesias, Sade, and Sting. Unless you want to believe that Cinda is big into 80s music, these should all be considered topical.

• Cinda is also depicted as keeping notes on a cassette recorder. This technology is obsolete.