Iron Man #246
Heavy Mettle!
Tony Stark and Jim Rhodes go over the footage of Iron Man’s recent clash with the Maggia with the Sub-Mariner. During this encounter he discovered that the crime cartel is engaging in war with its competitors, something he learned at the apparent expense of Namor’s life.[1] Also of concern is the murder of his ex-girlfriend and Maggia leader, Whitney Frost aka Madame Masque. Tony has found out that the woman who murdered her took Whitney’s place and he wants to bring her to justice.[2]
Their meeting is interrupted by Marcy Pearson, Stark Enterprises’ head of public relations. She has come to remind Tony of a business meeting. Since Tony has other concerns, he insists that she can handle it. Because of this order, Marcy has to cancel her date with Jim. When Rhodey expresses his concern over Tony avoiding his personal life in favor of being Iron Man all the time, Stark gets angry and reminds his friend that he’s confined to a wheelchair after getting shot by Kathy Dare, and wearing his Iron Man armor is the only way he can feel like a normal man.[3] Tony then storms out and checks in with Felix Alvarez, his lawyer, to get an update on the Kathy Dare trial. Out in the parking lot, Tony and Felix are confronted by Kathy Dare and her lawyer, Bert Hindel. Hindel, who was Tony’s lawyer until he was recently fired, has intentionally come with Kathy to antagonize Stark and get material for the book he intends to write.[4] Felix is furious and threatens to go to the Bar Association regarding Bert’s misconduct. As the two lawyers argue, Tony slinks away and leaves in his modified van.
He decides to go visit his girlfriend, Rae LaCoste, the only person who hasn’t treated him differently following his disability. Opening up to one another, Tony talks about how happy he is that she is standing by him, particularly since most women he’s dated in the past have suffered some kind of tragedy.[5] He then asks her if she will attend Whitney Frost’s funeral with him. Although she feels really uncomfortable at funerals she agrees to go with him.
When they attend the funeral, Tony spots an FBI agent named Mallard among the mourners. He encountered Mallard while helping the LAPD with stopping the Dreadnaughts and was told to butt out of their investigation.[6] As Tony, Jim, and Rae leave the funeral they are accosted by some men posing as reporters. Subduing Rae and Jim, they grab Tony and flee in a truck. The men warn Tony to stop sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong and dump him in the street. When Jim catches up with Tony in a commandeered hearse, Tony climbs in so he can change into Iron Man and chase the men who kidnapped him. Catching up with them, Iron Man blasts the kidnapper’s van off the road onto a beach. There he rounds them all up and hands them over to the police. After Iron Man takes off, Agent Mallard arrives and orders the men released as they have been working for him.
Meanwhile, Tony Stark visits his resident hacker, Abe Zimmer, and asks him to search the net for any new breakthroughs in spinal surgery and nerve damage in the hopes that they can find a cure for his condition. When Tony returns to Stark Enterprises, Bambi Arbogast tells him that agents from the FBI are waiting for him in his office. Agent Mallard has come to enlist the aid of Iron Man to crash a Maggia meeting that evening to capture their leader. Since he wants to capture the new Madame Masque and bring her to justice, Tony promises Iron Man will be there.
That evening, when Iron Man arrives at the warehouse he discovers that it isn’t the meeting place for a Maggia meeting, but a secret hideout for Advance Idea Mechanics. He is attacked by a team of AIM operatives who are piloting their newly created Dreadbuster battle mechs. Although Shell-Head is caught off guard, he manages to trash the robots. Realizing he has been set up, Iron Man wonders how the government is involved in the Maggia’s war against rival organizations and vows to find out what is going on.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Maggia (Madame Masque), Marcy Pearson, Felix Alvarez, Abe Zimmer, Rae LaCoste, Hydra, AIM, Dreadnaughts, Kathy Dare, Bert Hindel,
Continuity Notes
Iron Man and the Sub-Mariner teamed up in Iron Man Annual #10. Although he apparently died here, Namor survived the explosion and goes into hiding while recovering from his injuries. He’ll turn up again in Fantastic Four Annual #22.
The situation with Madame Masque is complicated. The details:
Tony dated Whitney Frost from Iron Man #100 to 116. She left him after her father, Count Nefaria, died battling Iron Man. She then rejoined the Maggia.
Whitney appeared to get shot by a mysterious successor in Iron Man #238.
What nobody knows is that Whitney Frost, in fear of her own mortality, began using bio-duplicates to act has her proxies starting in Iron Man #138. It was this bio-duplicate that was murdered. It’s also revealed that the bio-duplicate’s killer was a replacement bio-duplicate. This is all explained in Avengers (vol. 3) #32.
Tony was shot by Kathy Dare in Iron Man #242. This will remain the status quo until Tony’s damaged nerves are repaired with a bio-chip in issue #248.
Bert Hindle was fired by Tony back in Iron Man #237. He took the Kathy Dare case in issue #243 to get revenge against Tony and write a book about the trial that he believes will make him a lot of money.
Tony’s track record with women has not been the greatest. Other than Kathy Dare and Whitney Frost, other women in his life has included:
Bethany Cabe: She dated Tony from Iron Man #116 until her husband — Alex Van Tillburg, previously believed to be dead — turned up alive again in Iron Man #152-153, she went back to him to try and get him to kick his drug habit. When last seen in Iron Man #211, Alex had died of a drug overdose and Bethany had his body buried in his native Germany. We won’t see her again until Iron Man #284.
Clytemnestra Erwin: Tony didn’t really date Clytemnestra even though she was romantically interested in him since they first met in Iron Man #182. When her brother Morley was murdered by Obadiah Stane in issue #198 she blamed Tony for his death and tried betraying him to Advance Idea Mechanics leading to her own death in Iron Man #216.
These aren’t the only women that had their lives ruined by their association with Tony Stark and Iron Man. He omits to mention the following people:
Janice Cord: Janice met Tony in Iron Man #2, they dated for a time until she was killed during a battle between Iron Man and the Crimson Dynamo in issue #22.
Marianne Rodgers, who Tony first met in Iron Man #36. Her ESP drove her mad, prompting Tony to end their relationship in Iron Man #51. She had to be institutionalized in Iron Man #59. She later broke out and tried to kill Tony from Iron Man #103-107 until she was institutionalized.
Indria Moomji: Started seeing Tony in Iron Man #163. However, she was secretly working for Obadiah Stane who was trying to take over Stark International at the time. She was hired to emotionally crush Tony and drive him to start drinking again. She abandoned him after accomplishing her mission in Iron Man #167.
Iron Man encountered Mallard last issue.
Topical References
Jim and Marcy had a standing date at the Hamburger Hamlet, a chain of burger joints in Los Angeles. This is a topical reference as Hamburger Hamlet is a real world business.
