Iron Man #286
Dust to Dust!
Tony Stark is apparently dead and Stark Enterprises is now under the command of Jim Rhodes.[1] When the facility is attacked by Spymaster, who was trying to take advantage of Stark’s demise to steal secrets, Jim suited up in the War Machine armor and put a stop to him. Hearing that the Stark facility was under attack, the Avengers West Coast — Hawkeye, the Wasp, Hank Pym, and the Living Lightning — have come to lend a hand. They arrive just as Iron Man is waiting for an electromagnetic pulse to wear off. Not recognizing this new suit of armor, Hawkeye and the others assume that Jim is the attacker and prepare to strike.
Jim tries to explain that he’s Iron Man, but Hawkeye doesn’t buy it since he knows that Tony Stark was really Iron Man.[2] He orders the Avengers to attack. In the ensuing melee, Hank Pym uses his Pym Particles to shrink Iron Man down in size, giving him a distinct disadvantage against his attackers. As the battle rages, emergency crews try to get the attendees of Tony’s wake to get to safety.[3] Everyone complies by Kathy Dare, who pulls a gun from her purse.
As the Avengers try to subdue Iron Man, Spymaster and his allies — Blacklash, Blizzard, and the Bettle — all wake up and ambush the heroes. When Iron Man comes to the aid of the Wasp, she realizes that he isn’t a bad guy and uses her own Pym Particles to restore him to normal size. Iron Man then helps take down Spymaster and the others.
That’s when Kathy Dare arrives on the scene, blaming herself for Tony’s death she tells everyone that she still loves him and cannot live without him.[4] Putting the gun to her head, Kathy pulls the trigger in an act of suicide. When Stark Enterprises’ resident doctor, Erica Sondheim, checks Kathy she pronounces her dead. Jim feels incredibly guilty and wonders if his angry words toward her at Tony’s wake was what pushed her over the edge. Scanning the crowd, Jim is shocked when he suddenly sees Tony Stark in the crowd for a brief moment. But when Tony disappears he dismisses it as his mind playing tricks on him.[5] Soon paramedics arrive on the scene to take Kathy’s body away. The Avengers have also shrunk down Spymaster and his allies and take them away as well.
Later, Jim has changed out of his armor and return to Tony’s former office and begins trying to figure out how to run this company. That’s when he is visited by Tony’s previous girlfriend Rae LaCoste. She tells Jim that he is a suitable replacement for Tony and suggests that they go out for dinner. Jim can’t bring himself to argue with her and they both head out. Out in the hallway they past Erica Sondheim who doesn’t have much to say to Jim.
Erica is making her way down to the cryo-stasis lab where she and Abe Zimmer have secretly put Tony Stark on ice while they try to find a way to cure him. Abe has made a shocking discovery just now, despite the fact that Tony’s body has been completely frozen he is still picking up brain activity, hammering home the fact that they are well into uncharted territory with this technology.
Tony Stark’s brain is indeed very active and in his mind’s eye he is being shown events from his childhood. He sees his younger self discovering a knack for invention. His father a stern but caring man encouraged the boy’s further education.[6] However, he pushes his son to be strong, telling him that Stark men are made of iron. Tony witnesses the different sides of his father: the caring and nurturing parent and husband, but also the alcoholic prone to angry outbursts. This memory concludes for Tony as he sees his younger self build his first Iron Man out of a toy construction set.
Meanwhile, in the waking world, Tony’s cousin Morgan Stark just learns the news of Tony’s demise. Stabbing photo in the front page story with a knife, Morgan is pleased by the news because now it finally the time for him to take over Stark Enterprises once and for all.[7]
Recurring Characters
War Machine, Avengers West Coast (Hawkeye, Wasp, Hank Pym, Living Lightning), Spymaster, Beetle, Blizzard, Blacklash, Kathy Dare, Erica Sondheim, Abe Zimmer, Rae LaCoste, Morgan Stark, Bambi Arbogast (voice), Tony Stark impostor, Tony Stark, (in flashback) Howard Stark, Maria Stark
Continuity Notes
Tony isn’t really dead, but in cryogenic stasis as we saw in Iron Man #284. This has been to slow his declining health after his central nervous system was left ruined in issue #266. Tony will eventually be cured in issues #289-290.
Hawkeye learned Tony’s true identity in Iron Man #193.
While being attacked by the Avengers, Jim suddenly understands why Tony is an alcoholic. Stark has struggled with alcohol abuse his entire adult life and at the time of this story had two very bad benders. See Iron Man #120-128 and 167-182.
Kathy is partially to blame for Tony’s “demise”, as she and Tony briefly started dating in Iron Man #233. However, he decided not to pursue a long term relationship with her. Kathy soon began stalking Tony and became so obsessed that she shot him through the spine in issue #242. This led to Tony being paralyzed from the waist down until he had an experimental bio-chip installed in his spine in issue #248. This bio-chip was all an elaborate trap created by the Marrs Corporation to take control of Tony’s body. His resistance to this control led to the ruination of his central nervous system and his “demise” a few issues ago.
This is actually the Living Laser in disguise. Unaware that Tony is “dead”, he began posing as Stark while waiting for the right time to strike. He is attacking to get revenge for his defeat in Iron Man #263. He’ll make his move in Iron Man #288-289.
Here, Howard and Maria Stark are identified as Tony’s biological parents. Years later it will be revealed that Tony was actually adopted. See Iron Man (vol. 5) #17 and International Iron Man #6-7.
Everyone presumes that Morgan Stark is Tony’s biological cousin. Years later, it is revealed that Tony was adopted by Howard and Maria Stark as a baby. This would mean that he and Morgan are not actually blood relatives. See Iron Man (vol. 5) #17 and International Iron Man #6-7 for the details.
Topical References
Tony’s adopted parents are depicted dancing to the song “As Time Goes By”, the song was best known for appearing in the 1942 film Casablanca. Normally something like this would be considered a topical reference. However, since there is strong evidence that Howard Stark was alive in the 50s (namely Citizen V and the V-Battalion, S.H.I.E.L.D. (both volumes) and Operation S.I.N). Stark likely had access to technology that extended his life due to his associations with the Brotherhood of the Shield. That said, his taste in music would likely be rooted in the era in which he grew up (just like anyone else) and hence why he’d be dancing to a song that was written in the 1930s.
Tony’s family is depicted as playing the boardgame Monopoly as a family and Tony is later seen playing with an Erector Set to build his Iron Man toy. These should be considered topical references as these are real world products.
The cover price for the Daily Bugle in this issue is 50 cents. This should be considered topical as that was the average price for a newspaper when this comic was published in 1992. Depending on where you live, newspapers easily cost double this price now.
Also on Morgan’s desk is a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. This should be considered topical as this is a real world brand.
