Crash & Burn Part 1: Broadcast Storm

After a leak of sensitive information stolen from Stark Enterprises was made public, Deathlok has ventured into cyberspace to go over the data himself. With the aid of his internal computer he is able to find Cybertek — the company responsible for turning him into a cyborg — had 27 license agreements with Stane International, now owned by Stark Enterprises.[1] Deathlok decides that this licensed technology needs to be destroyed before it can be used to ruin anyone else’s life.

Meanwhile, at Tony Stark’s penthouse, Tony is annoyed that he had suffered erectile dysfunction the first night in bed with his new lover, Veronica Benning. She tries to assure him that its fine and that it happens from time to time. This does little to appease Tony who insists that this never happens to him. This awkward moment is interrupted by a call from Felix Alvarez who tells Tony to put on the news right away. Flipping on his television, Tony is shocked to learn about the recent data breach and that sensitive information about his company has been leaked to the media. Worse, there are now accusations that Stark Enterprises has been involved in a number of shady and/or illegal business dealings.

Tony quickly calls a meeting with upper management to discuss the current crisis. He learns that all of the information in the data breach all pertain to the business dealings of Stane International, a company that Tony had recently required. This makes Tony realize that when he forced Justin Hammer to sell the company back to him, Hammer wasn’t reluctant to do so because he was giving Tony a “poison pill” that would tarnish his reputation. Tony decides to get to the bottom of the hack as well as do damage control so his company can come out the other side of this relatively clean. He tells Felix to fully cooperate with any state and federal investigations that might come from this, he assigns Abe Zimmer with the task of finding out how security was breached and find the hacker responsible, he gives Bethany Cabe unlimited resources to beef up security, and has his head of public relations to set up a press conference.

After the meeting, Tony meets with Beth in his private office and thanks her from coming onto the job two weeks earlier than planned. Cabe explains that it wasn’t any trouble since she hasn’t had much going on since her security consulting partner retired.[2] Their conversation is interrupted by Tony’s AI assistant HOMER, who warns Tony that there is an intruder on the premises. Tony, who is still working on regaining his full mobility, asks Beth to help him to his office storage where he keeps his Iron Man armor.[3] He then suits up and heads down to investigate who has broken in and why.

When Iron Man finds Deathlok snooping around, he believes that Harlan Ryker sent the cyborg to his facility for some corporate espionage. Before Deathlok can explain himself, Iron Man attacks. The shatters any belief that Stark Enterprises was an altruistic company and Deathlok fights back. The two battle it out, but ultimately the end up in a stand-off. Deathlok decides to explain why he came here, explaining how Ryker forced him into the cyborg body he now lives in. He explains how the technology used was licensed by Stane International and that he had come to wipe out the information in order to prevent it from being further abused. Iron Man realizes that Deathlok is doing the exact same thing he did not too long ago when he was trying to stop his own stolen technology from being misused not that long ago.[4] Not only does Iron Man stop opposing Deathlok, he actually helps him erase the data from Stark Enterprises’ database.

By the time Tony returns to his office he is exhausted but he still gets ready for the upcoming press conference. There he announces that he is deeply disturbed by the allegations and his company is doing a full investigation to determine the truth. He also pledges that he will take full accountability for the wrongs that have been committed and will not rest until justice is done. Little does Tony know that the press conference is being observed by Eddie Brock, who doesn’t buy anything that he is saying. Since innocent people were hurt, Brock decides that it is time to get vengeance.

Later, Tony returns to his office and walks into a massive spider-web set up to trap him. That’s when Venom emerges from the darkness to reveal that he is the one responsible.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Deathlok, Veronica Benning, Felix Alvarez, Abe Zimmer, Bethany Cabe, HOMER, Venom

Continuity Notes

1. So a bit of exposition off the top. The details:

   • Stane International was previously Stark International, Tony’s family business. It was stolen away from him by Obadiah Stane during a hostile take over in Iron Man #173 and renamed after himself. After Obadiah’s death in Iron Man #200, the company eventually ended up in the hands of Justin Hammer who sold it back to Tony for a dollar in Iron Man #283. During its operations Stane International got involved in a lot of shady business that just came to public attention last issue.

   • Cybertek was the company that Michael Collins worked at to develop cybernetic limbs. A subsidiary of the Roxxon Corporation, they were pretty shady as well. Collins discovered that Roxxon was only interested in cybernetics to create human war machines. Upon finding out, Collins was betrayed by his friend Harlan Ryker who put Michael’s brain into their new Deathlok cyborg. See Deathlok #1.

2. Bethany Cabe previously worked with Ling McPherson. They owned a joint private security firm together as detailed in Iron Man #126. Ling was last seen in Iron Man #227. The reason why Ling retired has not been explained.

3. 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. Although Tony regained most of his mobility last issue, he’s still shaky on his pins.

4. This is in reference to the first Armor Wars wherein Tony was bricking all rogue Starktech that was out in the wild. See Iron Man #225-232 and Captain America #340.

Topical References

• Felix Alvarez tells Tony to put it on CNN to see the latest news about their company. This should be considered topical as CNN is a real world network.

• The televisions in this story are depicted as CRT models. This should be considered topical as this is an obsolete technology.

• Deathlok insultingly calls Iron Man “Ronald McDonald with Rivets”, this is in reference to the once famous mascot for McDonalds restaurants. The character had been a spokes person for the franchise since 1963. This should be considered topical as McDonalds is a real world company, moreover since 2016 the company has been downplaying the character due to various controversies.