Iron Man #288
Ground Zero
The radioactive eco-terrorist has taken over a Stane Enterprise nuclear facility. Although Iron Man has gone to the scene to deal with this menace, those in charge at Stane have decided to handle it in their own way. Calling in favor with the Pentagon, the military has deployed their own armored soldier: Firepower.
Meanwhile, soldiers arrive on the scene to secure the area, removing reporters in the middle of a news broadcast. As soon as the area is cleared, Firepower arrives on the scene. After learning that nobody has heard from either Iron Man or Atom Smasher, Firepower decides to go inside hoping to teach Stark Enterprises how professionals deal with a situation like this.
Inside, Firepower interrupts Atom Smasher as he tries to incinerate Iron Man — aka Jim Rhodes — who has been trapped under the rubble from the facility’s collapsed ceiling. This interruption allows Iron Man to try and break free. Instead he ends up falling through a hole in the floor and lands in the middle of the a secret storage facility. He is horrified to discover that there are barrels of poorly contained nuclear waste some of it dating back to the 1940s. Jim realizes that perhaps Atom Smasher was right about the Stane facility being an environmental threat.
Regardless of the fact that Atom Smasher being right, he is still a threat. Iron Man then returns to the surface just as Firepower is defeated by the terrorist. Jim lays into Atom Smasher and beings fighting him into submission. Damaging Atom Smasher’s containment suit, Jim is shocked to see that the man is basically a walking radioactive corpse. Atom Smasher explains that he once worked at the Stane International plant, uncaring of the dangers of nuclear waste even though the cancer rate in the area was 33% higher than anywhere else in the country.[1] That was until he discovered the barrels of waste being secretly stored in the facility basement and that they were leaking, putting the local water supply at risk. When he threatened to blow the whistle, his bosses hired some men to deal with him. The man who would become Atom Smasher was gunned down, his body then shoved in a barrel of radioactive waste and tossed into the sea in an effort to cover things up. However, rather than dying, the radioactive material triggered a mutation changing Atom Smasher into the ghoulish creature he is now.
Hearing all of this, Iron Man empathizes with Atom Smasher’s situation but believes that there is a better way than inflicting radiation sickness on innocent people just to get his point across. Atom Smasher says there isn’t. That’s when Jim offers to have Stark Enterprises shut down all their nuclear industry holdings and expose all the secret toxic waste dumps and clean them up. When Atom Smasher asks why he should trust Iron Man, Jim tells him that he’s seen the underground dump. That’s when Firepower comes barging in and tries to kill Atom Smasher. In order to stop him, Iron Man activates an electromagnetic pulse that shut down both him and Firepower. He tells Atom Smasher that he made himself helpless in order to prove that he wants to do the right thing. Deciding he can trust Iron Man, Atom Smasher tells him that he’ll be watching and if he goes back on his word he’ll return. With that, Atom Smasher flies away.[2]
Firepower promises to make Iron Man pay once his system boots back up. However, he doesn’t expect that Jim’s armor would come back online sooner than his. Iron Man then carries Firepower outside and dumps him off to his military handlers. He then tells them that unless they have a warrant to search the property they are trespassing and to get lost.
Meanwhile, Marcy Pearson breaks in to Jim Rhodes’ house where she plants an envelope in his bookshelf. She then reports her success to Morgan Stark, Tony Stark’s cousin.[3] He is pleased as what they planted is falsified evidence that frames Jim for the murder of Tony Stark.[4]
The following morning, Jim holds a board meeting with Stark Enterprise management. He tells them that the company is getting out of anything involving nuclear development. This is met with protests, but nothing anyone can say will waver Jim’s resolve. After the meeting, a co-worker has come to express his concern as staff keep reporting sightings of Tony Stark. Having thought he saw Tony himself a few days earlier, Jim decides that something might be up.[5] At that moment, Bambi Arbogast tries to bar a man from entering Jim’s office. However, when she looks up she is shocked to see that the man looks exactly like Tony Stark. He blasts her with a bolt of energy then enters Jim’s office. At first Jim also thinks that this is somehow Tony Stark, back from the grave. However, the intruder quickly drops his disguise and reveals that he is none other than the Living Laser.
Recurring Characters
War Machine, Tony Stark, Atom Smasher, Firepower, Living Laser, Bambi Arbogast, Marcy Pearson, Morgan Stark
Continuity Notes
Atom Smasher’s real name is never given in this story. However, Iron Manual Mark 3 reveals it to be Kevin Leonardo.
As of this writing (August, 2022) Atom Smasher has not been seen since.
Everyone believes that Tony had died in Iron Man #284 due to complications from a damaged central nervous system. In reality he’s not dead at all and has secretly been kept in cryogenic suspension. He will be revived in issue #289-290.
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.
Jim saw this specter of Tony Stark in Iron Man #286, as we’ll learn later this issue it is actually the Living Laser choosing a very poor disguise. The Laser has been seeking to get revenge for his defeat at the hands of Iron Man in issue #263.
Topical References
The situation in this story is compared to the Chernobyl disaster of 1984. This isn’t necessarily a topical reference as that disaster is frequently used as a historical point of comparisson when it comes to measuring potential nuclear disasters.
One of the reporters states “wait until Ted Koppel hears about this!” Koppel was a news anchor best known for his tenure on the Nightline news program on ABC from 1980 to 2005. This should be considered a topical reference as Koppel has long since retired and at 82 years old (as I write this) he’s not going to be long for the world at that age.
Iron Man quips “You wanted to get on the tube so bad — you should have tried Letterman!” This is in reference to David Letterman who, at the time this story was published, was the host of Late Night with David Letterman which ran from 1993 to 2015. Although Letterman still does a talk show (My Next Guest Needs No Introduction) on Netflix as I write this (August, 2022), at 75 years of age he is also not going to be around for very much longer. References to Letterman should be considered topical.
Iron Man’s use of the slang “tube” to describe television should also be considered topical. This is a term that referred to the fact that televisions used cathode-ray tubes that were integral to their operation. With the obsolescence of CRT televisions cathode-ray tubes have also stopped being used in constructing newer TVs. As a result, not many people refer to the television as “the tube” anymore. If I had to explain it to you, then you know why this is now a topical reference.
Living Laser asks Jim if he’d prefer being “original recipe or extra crispy?” this is a reference to two types of chicken served at Kentucky Fried Chicken, a fast food restaurant. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world product.
Soul on Ice
Since Tony Stark’s “death”, Abe Zimmerman and a secret team of Stark Enterprise scientists have been working around the clock to find a cure to Tony’s medical condition. They go over the fact that Tony’s central nervous system had been replaced by a technorganic parasite and that it needs to be dealt with if they ever want to get Tony out of cryogenic stasis.[1] The biotech team has come up with a possible solution: They have tailored a virus that could re-write the genetic code of the technoganic parasite that has co-opeted Tony’s nervous system. Erica Sondheim then proposes they implant a tiny micro-circuit behind Tony’s ear lobe that would then reprogram the parasite and turn it into an artificial central nervous system that sustains Tony’s life functions. However, this move is not without its risks as it will require that they thaw out Tony and there is much that could go wrong with the de-thawing process.
As the team of scientists begin preparing for a miracle, Tony Stark’s mind has remained active even though he is completely frozen. Since his “death”, Tony has been reliving his past. After seeing much of his childhood he then witnessed his further education. Graduating as valedictorian and double majors in physics. Tony soon lived the life of the idle rich. He drove fast cars, engaged in extreme sports, and dated beautiful women. However, after a while this all became burning to Tony and he started to feel a huge void in his life.
That’s when tragedy struck when his parents were killed in a car accident.[2] When it was determined that their deaths were due to a fault in the break system, Tony suddenly went to work on solving the problem. When he was given control of Stark Industries the first thing he did was purchase the car company and implement his new design so nobody would suffer the same tragedy he did. From there, Tony found a new exciting game to play and focused on the family business. He transformed Stark Industries from a weapons manufacturer into Stark International, the leader in cutting edge technology.[3] As the business grew and he became more wealthy, that same restlessness soon took over until the faithful day he took a trip to Southeast Asia, a trip that would change his life forever.
Suddenly, Tony fast forwards through his entire career as Iron Man, all the victories, all the tragic losses, the many advancements made to his armors over the years.[4] As he sees his final moments in the waking world,[5] the Stark scientists have successfully thawed out Tony’s body and implanted the circuit behind his ear. This suddenly allows Tony access to the computer systems and visualizing a computer begins working on re-writing his central nervous system all on his own.
In the waking world, the scientists are all surprised when Tony takes over control. He then issues them a message on the computer screen that reads “Sorry to yank the job out from hands — but I always did like the idea of being a self-made man. Good work, people.”
Recurring Characters
Tony Stark, Abe Zimmer, Erica Sondheim
Continuity Notes
Tony’s central nervous system issue has been a long stemming problem that began when he was shot through the spine in Iron Man #242. This left Tony paralyzed until an experimental bio-chip was implanted in his spine in issue #248. This was then used as a back-door by the Marrs Corporation to try and take over Tony’s body. While fighting to regain his autonomy, Tony ruined his central nervous system as seen over the course of Iron Man #258-264. The deterioration got so bad that he needed to wear a circuit mesh to move around when not in his armor and his health rapidly deteriorated until he was secretly frozen in issue #284.
Howard and Maria Stark are referred to as Tony’s biological parents here. However, there is more to that and the car accident they were involved in than meets the eye:
Howard and Maria actually adopted Tony when he was a baby. Something that Tony himself will not learn until many years later. See Iron Man (vol. 5) #17 and International Iron Man #6-7.
Although Tony’s adopted parents are stated as having died in the car accident, that might not actually be the case. S.H.I.E.L.D. #5 reveals that the Brotherhood of the Shield, an organization that Howard worked for in the 50s, had a contingency plan where they would fake a his death by fabricating a car accident. If this is what really happened to Howard remains to be revealed as of this writing in August, 2022.
Here, Tony states that he turned Stark Industries into Stark International and went from weapons manufacturing to cutting edge technology. The way the narrative frames it makes it seem as though Tony had done this prior to becoming Iron Man. However, that is not the case. After seeing the horrors of war, Tony decided to step Stark Industries away from munitions manufacturing starting in Iron Man #48. He later changed the name of the company to Stark International to better reflect the scope of the company — which had been operating globally for some time — in Iron Man #73.
What we get here is a two page splash of various moments in Iron Man history. They include:
Tony Stark’s chest injury, the creation of the first Iron Man armor with Ho Yinsen, and defeat of Wong Chu circa Tales of Suspense #39.
Iron Man in his gold armor fighting the Hulk from Avengers #1.
Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan, two of Tony’s longest friends. They first appeared in Tales of Suspense #45.
The original Crimson Dynamo, aka Anton Vanko, who first clashed with Tong in Tales of Suspense #46.
The Mandarin, one of Iron Man’s most enduring foes. He first appeared in Tales of Suspense #50.
Hawkeye and the Black Widow as they were when Iron Man first fought them in Tales of Suspense #52 and 57 respectively.
Iron Man fighting the Black Knight, which took place in Tales of Suspense #73.
Captain America, the Wasp, Thor, and Giant-Man are as they appeared circa Avengers #4.
Madame Masque: She first fought Iron Man as the “Big M” of the Maggia starting in Tales of Suspense #97. She took on the Madame Masque identity after her face was horribly scarred, as seen in Iron Man #17.
Iron Man fighting Doctor Doom: The pair had some intense adventures involving time traveling and Camelot. See Iron Man #149-150 and 249-250.
Iron Man fighting MODOK in his Scarlet Centurion armor is from Iron Man #205.
Jim Rhodes: Tony’s closest friend dating back to the day he first became Iron Man as seen in Iron Man #144.
The Avengers West Coast. Tony has been a member of the group since West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #1. The team on display here — Scarlet Witch, US Agent, Spider-Woman, and Wonder Man — is circa Avengers West Coast #74.
Iron Man’s most recent suit of Iron Man’s red-and-gold armor during this period. This would be the Model 9 armor that first appeared in Iron Man #231.
The War Machine armor, which first appeared in Iron Man #281.
Tony recounts his final battle, which was alongside the Masters of Silence against Justin Hammer. See Iron Man #281-283.
Topical References
One of the primary concerns about thawing Tony out is graphically stated as “turning him into the world’s richest Slurpee”. A Slurpee is a frozen beverage brand sold by 7-Eleven convenience stores. It’s reference here should be considered topical as it is a real world product.
The whole “turning him into a Slurpee” is also a comment on the limitations of cryogenics that were at issue at the time this comic was written in 1993. I’m also not a scientist but I think that it is still a problem now in 2022. The issue is the fact that the process of freezing someone cryogenically can cause irreparable harm to the body due to ice crystallization in the freezing process. Right now if you tried to thaw someone out who has been cryogenically frozen they’d come out as a liquid slurry. That said, science always advances and maybe some new discovery in the future might make this concern a topical reference.
