Iron Man #285
Ashes to Ashes
Tony Stark is believed to be dead and Jim Rhodes holds ceremony where he tosses who he believes to be Tony’s ashes off the roof of the Stark Enterprises building. Attending are many of Tony’s closest friends and allies. The somber moment is soiled when a news helicopter flies in to get a shot of the event, prompting Jim to tell them to get lost.
Soon there is a wake for Tony and the guests are all find it in poor taste that Kathy Dare has showed up to the event. When Kathy tries to apologize for Jim about what happened and tries to explain that she is being treated for her mental illness, this only angers Rhodes further. He sternly tells her that it’s her fault that Tony is dead.[1] Among the mingling crowd are Erica Sondheim and Abe Zimmer, two of the few people that know that Tony is still alive and being kept in cryogenic stasis elsewhere in the building. Erica finds this whole show a travesty since Tony is still alive. Zimmer reminds her that unless they can find a cure for Stark’s damaged nervous system he’s as good as dead anyway.[2]
The wake is soon interrupted when Stark Enterprises is attacked by Spymaster, Blacklash, Blizzard, and the Beetle. They crash a helicopter into the side of the building and then begin accessing the computers to steal the company’s industrial secrets. Jim realizes that it is up to him to stop Spymaster and his cronies from stealing from the company. However, with the building on fire, he has to help everyone get to safety force before racing back into the inferno to recover the War Machine armor.
Meanwhile, in another part of the building, Tony Stark remains in cryo-stasis and he begins to dream about his past. He remembers a moment from his childhood. He was sitting down to dinner with his parents, Howard and Maria Stark.[3] Howard was in a foul mood because he had been dealing with the unions all day and has begun drinking the moment he got home. Seeing how drunk and abusive his father was back in those days makes Tony realize that his own alcholism was a product of generational trauma and abuse.[4] Seeing the way his son is looking at him, Howard Stark grows angry and threatens to hurt the boy unless he stops. Luckily, Tony’s mother was there to protect him.
By this time, Jim has changed into Iron Man and learned who is attacking the building. When he confronts Spymaster and his team, he quickly takes out Blacklash, Beetle, and Blizzard. However, Spymaster turns the tables by unleashing an electromagnetic pulse that shuts down the War Machine armor. This causes Jim to collapse to the ground as he suddenly has to support the weight of the armor’s heavy artillery. Jim refuses to give up and manages to get back to his feet through sheer will power and knocks out Spymaster before he can escape.
At that same moment, members of the Avengers West Coast — Hawkeye, the Wasp, Hank Pym, and Living Lightning — arrive on the scene to lend a hand.[5] Learning of the situation from fire crews, the Avengers race inside. There, Jim Rhodes is waiting for the effects of the EMP to wear off so he can move around again. However, before this can happen Hawkeye and the others arrive on the scene. Not recognizing the War Machine armor, Hawkeye blames Jim for what happens and orders the Avengers to prepare to attack.
Recurring Characters
War Machine, Spymaster, Blacklash, Blizzard, Beetle, Felix Alvarez, Kath Dare, Erica Sondheim, Abe Zimmer, Bambi Arbogast, Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts, Rae LaCoste, Tony Stark, Avengers West Coast (Hawkeye, Wasp, Hank Pym, Living Lightning), (in flashback) Howard Stark, Maria Stark
Continuity Notes
Tony dated Kathy Dare for a short period of time starting in Iron Man #233. She soon grew obsessed with him and when he did not return her advances she shot him in Iron Man #242. The bullet ended up hitting Tony’s spine confining him to a wheelchair. That was until Tony had an experimental bio-chip installed to repair the damage in issue #248. The bio-chip was actually a trap set by Marrs Corporation to hack Tony’s body and control it. As Tony fought against the chip it ruined his central nervous system, as seen in Iron Man #258-266. From then on, Tony was living on borrowed time until he seemingly died last issue.
After Tony flatlined last issue, Erica and Abe followed Stark’s orders to have him cryogenically frozen until a cure for his condition could be found. They will eventually succeed and revive Tony in Iron Man #289-290.
Tony refers to Howard and Maria as his parents here because at the time of this story he was unaware that he as actually adopted. For more on this see Iron Man (vol. 5) #17 and International Iron Man #6-7 for more on that.
Tony is a recovering alcoholic having survived two benders in the past, as seen in Iron Man #120-128 and 167-182.
A footnote here states that the rest of the team are busy on another mission, referencing Avengers West Coast #88-89. I think they are actually referring to issues #87-88 since that was a two part story where the team fought against the Russian operatives known as the Bogatyri. Issue #89 is the start of a storyline involving Ultron which includes Hawkeye and the other Avengers seen here.
Topical References
Kathy Dare states that she is taking Prozac to treat her mental health. This should be considered a topical reference because Prozac is a real world brand name for an anti-depressant called Fluoxetine. They’re never really clear on what mental illness Kathy suffers from and, while I’m no expert, I don’t think an SSRI drug like Fluoxetine would have worked.
Jim quips that if the mourners don’t get out of the fire they’ll all end up like McNuggets. Chicken McNuggets are a branded product sold by the McDonalds fast food chain. Their reference here should be considered topical as it is a real world product.
