China See!

Tony Stark has come to Hong Kong to purchase Huang Hao Industries. However, when the owner is murdered by an assassin with a ring that can fire beams of energy, Tony chases after the killer as Iron Man. Unfortunately, when he catches up with the killer he uses his ring to incinerate his body. The ring then teleports away. All Iron Man can learn is that the killer represents an organization called the Hand. Returning to Huang Hao industries, Tony quickly changes out of his armor before the authorities arrive.

When the police arrive on the scene, they have no interest in taking statements from either Tony or Jim Rhodes, and they are ordered to leave before they are arrested. As they head back to the hotel, Tony is annoyed that his attempts to set up an office in Hong Kong have been stopped by someone calling himself Zhang Tong. He believes that the Hand might be working for him. He also recognized the assassin’s ring from somewhere but can’t place where.

Meanwhile, at a mansion on an island in the South China Seam Zhang Tong — actually the Mandarin — confronts one of his followers who is trying to question his authority. Putting on his ten rings, he uses his disintegrator to vaporize the dissenter.

At that moment, Tony and Jim return to their hotel room where his lawyer Felix Alvarez and secretary Bambi Arbogast are waiting to report on their investigations into Zhang Tong. He also sets up a video conference with Marcy Pearson who is still in the United States. They have uncovered that Tong has a lot of influence and that he has both local government, law enforcement, and industry in his back pocket. Their meeting is interrupted when Kathy Dare interrupts Marcy’s report. Fed up with Kathy’s obsession with him, Tony orders her to leave Stark Enterprises or he will have her prosecuted. Kathy angrily complies.

When Tony attends another meeting about expanding his operations in Hong Kong, Zhang Tong’s name comes up again. Surprisingly, the man himself shows up to discuss business with Tony. Stark is surprised to see that Zhang Tong is the Mandarin but wonders why he acts as though he and Tony have never met.[1] Zhang Tong tells Tony that he will only be allowed to open up operations in Hong Kong only if Tony agrees to work for him. Stark, naturally, refuses and walks out of the meeting.

Anticipating this, “Zhang Tong” has sent his Hand to kidnap Jim Rhodes and Bambi Arbogast who are out shopping while Tony is in his meeting. Using the Mandarin’s power rings, they manage to incapacitate and take Jim prisoner, allowing Bambi to go free so she can tell Tony what happened. Tony decides that it is time for him to deal with Zhang Tong directly, as Iron Man.

Changing into his armor, Iron Man travels to Zhang Tong’s private island where he is attacked by the Hand. Although each member has one of the Mandarin’s rings, Iron Man easily fights his way through them all. Entering Tong’s mansion, Iron Man confronts the Mandarin who reveals that he also captured Felix Alvarez and Bambi Arbogast while he was busy. The Mandarin then tells Iron Man that they will fight to the death or else he will execute the hostages. Realizing he has no choice, Iron Man agrees to the terms: If Iron Man wins, the hostages will be released. However, if he loses Tony Stark agrees to work for him exclusively forever.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Mandarin, Jim Rhodes, Bambi Arbogast, Felix Alvarez, Marcy Pearson, Kathy Dare

Continuity Notes

1. The reason for the Mandarin’s amnesia is due to the fact that he had transferred his mind into his rings to avoid death by transferring his mind into a new body circa Iron Man #70/100. The amnesia was caused when one of his rings was secretly replaced with an imitation Chen Hsu. This will all eventually get explained in Iron Man #261.

Topical References

• Tony is stated as staying at the Hong Kong Hilton. This should be considered topical as Hilton is a real world band. The Hilton in Hong Kong referenced in this story was later shut down and torn down in 1994.