Iron Man #294
Orbital Resonances
Iron Man is heading into Earth orbit to check out the situation aboard the Stark Enterprises space station. He had recently rented the facility out to Cauwfield Multichemical Corporation.[1] Something has gone wrong and now he needs to fix the situation. Using his telepresence armor, allowing him to pilot his Iron Man suit remotely, does have a nice advantage: Reaching escape velocity via jet engine isn’t as much as a strain to the Iron Man armor’s mechanical body.
This is relief for Tony, who just recently started physio-therapy with Veronica Benning as he focusing most of his time to get mobile again.[2] So far, the process has been slow going and painful, not to mention that Benning is a gruff woman who doesn’t put up with any whining.
As the Iron Man armor makes its way into space, its onboard computers detect a powerful solar flare coming its way. The suit activates shields but it is not enough and the suit is destroyed. However, moments later it is reformed by a cosmic being called the Goddess. She appears to him as an astral projection and explains that she has saved his life in order to recruit Iron Man into her holy crusade to bring peace to the universe.[3] Hearing that she is gathering those of faith, Iron Man tells her that he isn’t interested as he is not a religious man. As a man of science, the only thing he has faith in — if you were to call it such — is the scientific method. This angers the Goddess who warns Tony that he is about to come face-to-face with something that’ll shake his faith in science and then he will be willing to join up with her cause. She then sends Iron Man back on his way.
Once he finally boards the space station, Tony finds one of the monitors is still on and picking up news broadcasts from the planet’s surface. It is currently playing a report on Tony’s recent interview with the press. Using a Life Model Decoy to hide the true extent of his physical condition, Tony addresses media questions regarding his miraculous recovery from near death.[4] He explains the cryo-genic process that preserved his life, but tells the press that it would only work on someone in his unique medical situation and has no practical application outside of that. Tony is pretty bothered by the religious tone of the questions and takes issue with his recovery being compared to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. After the press conference, Tony’s lawyer and new VP, Felix Alvarez, points out that it is hard for people not to draw that comparison. It was after the press conference that Tony got a call from Abe Zimmer telling him that there’s been some trouble.
As Tony had been recollecting all of this he has been looking through the space station’s records. He finally finds a recording from Lloyd Peterson, the Cauwfield Project Supervisor. He explains that one of their experiments had gone out of control and emergency protocols have proven inadequate, resulting in two of the crew being killed. He blames this on two other scientists named Berman and Piller who intentionally tampered with assembler tanks causing forced mutation conditions, creating a technorganic parasite that is now running rampant in the facility. That’s when one of the other scientists interrupts, saying that they did what they had to because their nanotechnology project would have been shut down had they not produced any results.
This reminds Tony of the conference they had with Winston Cauwfield prior to his departure into space. At that time, Abe Zimmer had reported that all contact with the space station had been cut off. When holding a teleconference with Cauwfield, he denied any knowledge of what could have caused this disconnect. When Tony grilled Winston on what exactly what they were working on in the station and any threat it may pose, Cauwfield insists that there are no dangerous experiments going on. Suspecting that Winston has been hiding something, Tony then decided to send his Iron Man suit up to investigate for himself.
Finding more footage of what happened to the crew, Tony is horrified to see that they were all consumed by this rogue nanotechnology which begun assimilating all seventeen staff into technorganic beings. As he makes this grisly discovery, he is then attacked by these new technorganic beings. The fight doesn’t go very well at first since these creatures can excrete corrosive fluids that eat through the Iron Man armor, which translates into physical pain for Tony back on the ground. Breaking free, Iron Man finds the weapons store and rigs up a powerful gatling laser that blows all the technorganic creatures to pieces. However, they are far from destroyed. The shattered remains being merging together until they form a massive insectile creature that calls itself Technovore.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Technovore, Felix Alvarez, Abe Zimmer, Veronica Benning, Controller, Goddess
Continuity Notes
Tony started renting his space station to Cauwfield in Iron Man #256.
Long story short: Tony was shot in the spine and crippled. He had an experimental bio-chip implanted there. It was hacked and his nervous system ruined by enemies. He then went into cryo-stasis for a time until a cure could be fashioned. He was thawed out but lacks full mobility at this time. 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.
The Goddess’ plan is chronicled in the pages of Infinity Crusade #1-6 and various other Marvel books at the time (see below). This encounter with the Goddess happens after the first two issues of Infinity Crusade.
The reason why Tony is using an LMD here is to dissuade kidnappers, referencing his recent capture by the Controller in Iron Man #292-293.
Topical References
While undergoing phsio-therapy, Tony is watching a Jane Fonda workout tape. These were quite popular at the time this story was published in 1993. This should be considered a topical reference as Fonda stopped making exercise videos in 2012. Also at 84 years old as I write this (August, 2022) she doesn’t.
When Tony calls Veronica a doctor, she corrects him by saying she isn’t an MD, but a physical therapist or PT. This prompts him to quip “More like WWF”. The WWF or the World Wrestling Federation, is a massive media empire centered around professional wrestling. However, this organization was forced to change their name to WWE, or World Wrestling Entertainment, after settling a lawsuit with the World Wildlife Fund over a trademark dispute for the acronym WWF. It was a thing that happened. Anyway, regardless WWF, WWE, doesn’t mater, this is a topical reference since the WWE is a real-world media brand.
Infinity Crusade Reading Order
Infinity Crusade #1, Iron Man #294-295, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #18, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #54, Alpha Flight #122, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #56, Terror Inc. #13, Thor #463, Avengers West Coast #96, Thor #464, Warlock Chronicles #1, Infinity Crusade #2, Web of Spider-Man #104, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #55, Thor #465, Alpha Flight #123-124, Darkhawk #30, Warlock Chronicles #2, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #19, Cage #17, Web of Spider-Man #105, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #57, Infinity Crusade #3, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #56, Avengers West Coast #97, Darkhawk #31, Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #16-17, Warlock Chronicles #3, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #20, Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #83, Infinity Crusade #4, Warlock Chronicles #4, Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #84-85, Infinity Crusade #5, Deathlok (vol. 2) #28, Web of Spider-Man #106, Warlock Chronicles #5, Thor #466, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #21-22, Infinity Crusade #6, Deathlok (vol. 2) #29, Thor #467
