Master Blaster!

Jim Rhodes, Bambi Arbogast, and Felix Alvarez have been captured by the Mandarin while on a business trip with Tony Stark to set up a Stark Enterprises office in Hong Kong. The Mandarin — now calling himself Zhang Tong — arranges a meeting with Tony Stark to discuss terms: Iron Man is to battle the Mandarin to the death. If Iron Man wins, his friends go free, if he loses Stark agrees to work for the Mandarin forever. Tony is annoyed that the Mandarin is also arranging to make the battle a televised event with profits going to his criminal organization. Realizing that he has no other choice, Tony signs the contracts and leaves so he can come up with a plan for the coming battle. Changing into Iron Man, he remembers someone he can call on for some help.

Meanwhile, on the Mandarin’s private island estate in the South Chinese Sea, Jim and the others are tossed into a dungeon. when Felix asks why Jim doesn’t use his military training to get them out, Rhodes points out that their captors all have guns. One of the guards then mocks Jim, saying his brother killed a lot of Americans in the last war, earning Jim’s ire. Later, Tony Stark pays a visit to Soo Lin to ask her for some help with his current situation.[1] Soo Lin’s father is busy meditating, but she agrees to help. As they step out, Soo Lin’s father perks up long enough to ask them to bring back a pizza with no the anchovies.

Back at the Mandarin’s mansion, “Zhang Tong” engages in some meditation to prepare for the coming battle. He is observed by his assistant Li Fong, who has remained loyal to his master even through his current lapse of memory. He recalls that this sudden amnesia happened when the Mandarin was examining the properties of his ten power rings to learn their secrets. While examining his mento-intensifier ring there was a sudden flare of energy that left the Mandarin in an catatonic state for some time.[2] When the Chinese government came to try and apprehend his master, Li Fong escaped with the Mandarin. He ended up stumbling upon a long lost temple where Shan-Tun monks worshiped. They cared for the Mandarin until he awoke from his state. No longer remembering his past, the Mandarin began to believe that his rings — alien in origin — were actually passed down from his ancestors. He then decided that China was destined to rule the world and set up his Zhang Tong identity and the Hand criminal empire to bring about this goal. When he learned that Tony Stark was planning in opening a new Stark Enterprise facility in Hong Kong, “Tong” decided to use Stark as a means of gaining more global influence. Li Fong’s recollection ends just as the Mandarin comes out of his meditative trance and begins preparing.

Meanwhile, Tony and Soo Lin return to Tony’s hotel room to prepare as well. There is a package from Kathy Dare waiting for him. Inside is a ruined fur coat that Tony had given her as a gift. Having bigger concerns, Tony goes to take a shower. While he is busy, Soo Lin answers the phone. It’s a call from Kathy Dare and she is angered to hear another woman answering the phone and hangs up. Disturbed by Kathy’s reaction, Soo Lin decides to tell Tony it was a wrong number when he gets out of the shower and asks who called.

Soon, Iron Man meets with the Mandarin on an empty beach as a film crew records the proceedings. Soo Yin, having disguised herself as a technician, uses equipment to hack into the Mandarin’s security system and unlock the cell where Jim and the others are being held prisoner. Discovering that his prisoners have escaped, the Mandarin gives five of his rings to his minions, the Hand, to recapture them. With the Mandarin’s power halved, Iron Man begins gaining ground but the pair are still evenly matched.

Meanwhile, Jim and the others managed to commandeer a helicopter to try and escape the Mandarin’s island. When the Hand catches up to them, the Mandarin is briefly distracted when they ask for his next orders. This allows Iron Man to knock the Mandarin out with a barrage from his pulse blaster. This causes his five rings to return to his hand, leaving the Hand powerless to stop Jim and the others from escaping. Soon after, Tony Stark opens the Stark Enterprise branch in Hong Kong.

Returning to his California Mansion, Tony Stark discovers his framed photo of Rae LaCoste has been shattered. That’s when he is confronted by his stalker Kathy Dare who managed to talk her way into his home. She says she has come to say goodbye and shoots Tony through the chest.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Mandarin, The Hand, Jim Rhodes, Bambi Arbogast, Felix Alvarez, Kathy Dare

Continuity Notes

1. Soo Yin helped Tony exercise the so-called All-Devourer that was being summoned by a magic spell programmed into a Stark International computer. This happened in Iron Man #130.

2. The cause of the Mandarin’s amnesia is a lot more complicated than Li Fong could ever imagine. The details:

   • The issue stems from the fact that the Mandarin transferred his mind into his power rings in order to cheat death. While his physical body was killed, the Mandarin’s mind lived on in the body of Toc Lo, a former minion of rival criminal Yellow Claw. See Iron Man #70 and 100 for the details on that.

   • It’s later revealed that Chen Hsu, a Kakarantharian dragon hiding out on Earth, replaced one of the Mandarin’s rings with a duplicate. This ring contained a number of the Mandarin’s more recent memories and is the real cause of his amnesia. This will all be explained in Iron Man #261.

Topical References

• The guard who mocks Jim’s military service states that his brother was a member of the Khmer Rouge, the name given to soldiers who supported the Communist Party of Kampuchea that ruled over Cambodia and warred with Vietnam from 1978 to 1989. The implied meaning here is that Jim was originally written as a veteran of the Vietnam War. However, this is a weird flex to make since the United States is believed to have allegedly support the Khmer Rouge and their leaders bloody regime when he was in power. As such, this animosity doesn’t even make any historical sense. Either way, this reference should be considered. Since the publication of History of the Marvel Universe #2, one could assume that this guard had a brother who fought against America in the Sin-Cong Conflict.