Iron Man #292
Mixed Reactions
Tony Stark has revealed to the world that he is still alive.[1] The reaction to the news is mixed. Tony’s cousin, Morgan Stark, is furious and smashes his TV. He vows that he will kill Tony himself if he has to. Captain America is delighted to hear the news and updates the team records on Iron Man so they no longer list him as deceased. Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan are delighted to hear the news. While Nick Fury figures he shouldn’t have been surprised Stark faked his death for a little while, figuring it must have been some kind of tax dodge. Lastly, a withered individual more machine than man also watches the news and turns up the volume to hear more.[2]
However, Tony isn’t out of the woods yet. Even though he has cheated death, his body is suffering from near total paralysis. Able to move his right hand and make a fist amazes doctors who didn’t know how much mobility he would regain. That’s when Tony is visited by Veronica Benning. She is a rather gruff physio-therapist who has been hired to help Tony get mobile again. Tony doesn’t like her stern attitude but Veronica doesn’t care. She tosses him a rubber ball and tells him to start working on that and walks out of the room. Erica Sondheim — Tony’s resident doctor — questions Veronica’s methods, but Benning assures her that her stern approach brings results.
Tony is next visited by his lawyer Felix Alvarez who has come to update Tony on what has happened while he was in cryogenic stasis. There are details regarding damages made by Spymaster and the battle-droids, the personnel records detailing the firing of Marcy Pearson, the destruction of Avengers West Coast Compound, and a final interesting tidbit Jim Rhodes had sent them an envelope that he found planted in his apartment that suggested that Jim had murdered Tony.[3] This last bit of news has Tony curious and he has Marcy Pearson called in to discuss matters with her. Marcy thinks that Tony has called her to give back her old job. Instead, Tony threatens to call the police unless Marcy comes clean about why she tried to frame Jim for murder. Realizing that she is caught, Pearson explains that Tony’s cousin Morgan put her up to it.
A few hours later, Felix Alvarez pays a visit to Morgan Stark at his home.[4] Felix has come with a laptop computer that allows Tony to video conference with his cousin. He tells Morgan that he knows what has been going down and out of respect for Morgan’s late father, Tony will not press charges unless Morgan leaves the country immediately.[5] Although he vows to get revenge against Tony, Morgan packs up his things and leaves town. However, as he is driving along the highway a sniper shoots out one of the tires of his car causing it to crash.[6] The assassin then calls Osamu Moroboshi to tell him that Morgan Stark has been silenced. Pleased, Moroboshi then calls his mysterious employer the good news. The response is a high pitch squeal across the phone line that is so powerful that Osamu dies of a brain hemorrhage.[7]
Back at Stark Enterprises, Tony tries to strengthen his right arm with the rubber ball given to him by Veronica Benning. However, when it slips through his grasp and a nurse finds it, he tells her that it is not important. Tony then remotely connects with his Iron Man armor to enjoy the freedom its mobility bring to him. He decides to pay a visit to his mansion, which has stood unoccupied for many months now. There he is ambushed by a cyborg calling himself Berserker-7. As Iron Man takes out his frustrations on the cyborg, the doctor and nurse charged with his care — now in some kind of trace — tranquilize the guards posted outside Tony’s room. They then enter the room but Tony can’t see them because he is interfacing with his Iron Man armor.
When they tranquilize him it instantly cuts off his connection to his Iron Man armor, which falls into the ocean outside his mansion.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Berserker 7, Felix Alvarez, Erica Sondheim, Veronica Benning, Marcy Pearson, Morgan Stark, Osamu Moroboshi, SHIELD (Nick Fury), Captain America, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, Cal Oakly, Sheila Carter, VORTEX (unidentified)
Continuity Notes
Lots going on off the top so let’s break it down: Tony was shot in the spine and got a bio-chip implant to regain his mobility. Some bad guys hacked it ruining Tony’s central nervous system making him a man on borrowed time. Stark then faked his death and went into cryogenic suspension while a team of scientists worked to find a cure. Jim was then appointed CEO and was unaware that Tony was still alive. When Tony was cured and dethawed he revealed he was still alive to Jim and Rhodes was so upset he quit on the spot. See Iron Man #242, 248, 258-266, 284 and 289 for the harrowing drama. Tony will be fully back on his feet in issue #300.
Next issue we’ll learn that this is the Controller.
Felix drops a lot of continuity bombs on Tony here. The details:
Spymaster and his goons attacked Stark Enterprises during Tony’s wake in Iron Man #285-286.
Marcy Pearson was fired by Jim in Iron Man #284 after she gave Jim a choice between the company or their relationship.
The headquarters of the West Coast Avengers was heavily damaged during an attack on the facility by Ultron. See Avengers West Coast #89-90.
Marcy — working for Morgan Stark — planted the phony evidence to try and frame Jim for Tony’s death in Iron Man #288.
Felix remarks that Morgan’s smashed TV looks familiar. This is a reference to the fact that he walked into a similar scene when he told Jim Rhodes about Tony’s “death” and that Rhodes was to succeed him as CEO, as seen in Iron Man #284.
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.
Here it is implied that Morgan Stark is dead. However, Morgan survives this attempt on his life — albeit horribly disfigured — and will resurface in Iron Man #327, and 330-331.
As of this writing (August, 2022) Osamu Moroboshi remains among the deceased. He was killed by VORTEX, an artificial intelligence that is going after Stark Enterprises in a preemptive bit of self-preservation. See Iron Man #307.
Topical References
One of the television personalities commenting on Tony Stark’s return is depicted as late night talk show host Jay Leno. At the time this comic was published Leno was the host of the Tonight Show. This should be considered a topical reference as he has retired as a talk show host in 2014.
The televisions in this story are depicted as CRT models. This should be considered topical as this is an obsolete technology.
Tony jokes that his limited mobility will be great if he wants to play Nintendo for the rest of his life. This should be considered a topical reference as Nintendo is a real world product.
