Put the Hammer Down

Tony Stark has learned that Justin Hammer — through Stane International — framed Stark Enterprises for a nuclear fusion disaster in Japan. In his new War Machine armor, Tony has decided to take the fight directly to Hammer himself on his private island. Joining him on this suicide mission are Jim Rhodes and the Masters of Silence — a group of cybernetic ninjas who were duped into attacking Stark.[1]

Flow to the island in a helicopter, Iron Man and the Masters of Silence lay siege to it. Justin Hammer’s domain is being protected by operatives working for Hydra and the Hand. However, they are ill prepared for the Masters of Silence’s cloaking device and the artillery from Iron Man’s War Machine armor.

Ultimately, Iron Man fights his way into the main complex with little opposition. Watching from a monitor room, Justin Hammer begins to grow nervous and orders his men to deploy the Mandroids. Although these armored combatants are much larger that Iron Man he makes short work of them as well. Hammer then uses a video screen to try and negotiate with Iron Man, but the hero is in no mood to discuss things by proxy. He soon forces his way into the control room. However, while he is busy with the last of the guards, Justin Hammer makes an attempt to flee. Unfortunately for him, his path is blocked by the Masters of Silence, allowing Iron Man to catch up with him after dealing with the last of his foot soldiers.

Realizing that he has lost and that there is no escape, Justin Hammer agrees to cut a deal with Iron Man. Iron Man’s conditions are stern: He tells Hammer that he must publicly clear Stark Enterprises of any wrong doing in the Akane Fusion disaster, that he help finance the clean up efforts, and lastly he must sell off all control to Stane International to Stark Enterprises for a dollar. He also warns Hammer that if he gives Tony Stark any more trouble in the future he will hire the Masters of Silence to deal with him permanently. Realizing he has no other choice, Justin Hammer agrees to these terms.

When Jim Rhodes arrives to pick Tony up, he congratulates Stark for beating Hammer and getting his old company back.[2] However, this has come at a cost as the battle taxed his ruined nervous system and the technology that kept him going has begun to fail again. Jim rushes Tony back to Stark Enterprises. Hearing what Tony had done, resident doctor Erica Sondheim gives him another stern talking to about pushing himself as it will greatly shorten his already diminishing lifespan.[3]

However, Tony still has a lot of work to do. He checks in with Abe Zimmer who says what Tony is asking for in so short of time is a miracle in the asking but gets down to work on getting it done. He then contacts the head of Stark Enterprise’s cryonics development and asks for a full report on their work within the hour. He also arranges for an immediate meeting with his lawyer Felix Alvarez. Lastly, he calls Bambi Arbogast and orders her to make arrangements with acquisitions to get cracking on the Stane International buy out as well as having new holo-projectors set up in his room. With all of this out of the way, Tony wracks his brain trying to think if there is anything he is missing. He can’t think of anything, but that does little to comfort him as he sits in his hospital bed waiting for the inevitable.

Recurring Characters

War Machine, Masters of Silence (Kaminari, Inazuma, Kaze), Justin Hammer, Hydra, the Hand, Erica Sondheim, Abe Zimmer, Jim Rhodes, Felix Alvarez, Bambi Arbogast

Continuity Notes

1. Hammer and his conspirators framed Stark Enterprises in issue #281. Jim Rhodes uncovered the truth by getting intel from SHIELD last issue.

2. Stane International was originally Stark International, the company that Tony inherited from his family after the death of his parents (as explained in Iron Man #288). Tony lost the company due to a hostile take over by Obadiah Stane in Iron Man #173 who renamed the company after him. Despite the death of Stane in Iron Man #200, Tony decided that he wanted to start fresh and began Stark Enterprises in issue #217.

3. Recently, Tony was shot in through the spine in Iron Man #242 leaving him disabled from the waist down. He cured himself with an experimental bio-chip in issue #248. This chip was used by the Marrs twins as a backdoor to override Stark’s nervous system with an artificial one that allowed them to take control of his body. Iron Man uncovered and foiled this plot over the course of Iron Man #258-266. Tony’s condition will persist until Iron Man #290.

Topical References

• When given a tall order, Abe Zimmer tells Tony that he can’t just pull it out of nowhere like Mandrake the Magician. Mandrake was the title character of his own syndicated comic strip which began in 1934. It was published by King Features Syndicate. The series ended its run in 2013. Its reference here should be considered topical, particularly since I had to explain who Mandrake was.

• When Felix asks if he can get coffee before meeting with Tony, Stark quips that he’ll get Juan Valdez to serve it himself. Juan Valdez is the fictional mascot for Columbia Coffee. This reference should be considered topical as that is a real world product.