Crash & Burn Part 2: Oil and Gold

Stark Enterprises has been caught in scandal after a data leak has exposed the shady dealings of Stane International, a recently purchased subsidiary.[1] Although Tony Stark has publicly vowed to investigate and take full responsibility for what has happened, not everyone believes him. Case in point, the vigilante known as Venom has broken into Tony’s private office and trapped Stark in his webbing. However, when Venom tries to manhandle Stark, his head suddenly snaps off. As it turns out, this is not the real Tony Stark, but a Life Model Decoy that he employs in public while his body is still regaining its mobility.[2]

Venom correctly deduces that the real Tony Stark is hiding up in his penthouse apartment and crawls up the side of the building to get there. Sure enough he catches Stark sitting in his hover chair. Tony leaps out of the device and commands it to ram into the intruder. This buy’s Tony time to make it to the private elevator down to his private lab. Although Venom rips his way down the elevator shaft to get at him, the vigilante is unable to stop Tony from locking himself in his lab. Undaunted, Venom begins clawing at the thick reinforced doors to try to get at him.

Elsewhere in the facility, Abe Zimmer has been working hard to try and find out who had hacked into the Stark Enterprise database and leaked sensitive information to the media. He finally makes a breakthrough as the hacker himself left a traceable presence on the computer systems that he can track.[3]

Back in the sub-basement, Tony has changed into Iron Man and fights back against Venom. The symbiotic creature proves vulnerable to Iron Man’s sonic weapons, bringing the fight to stand still. Iron Man reasons with Venom, by pointing out that he has no proof that Tony Stark is directly responsible for Stane International’s past crimes. Realizing that this is true and since the fight is going nowhere, Venom decides to give Stark the opportunity to demonstrate his guilt or innocence, vowing that he’ll be back if he is proven right. Tony knows he shouldn’t let Venom go, but after the various battles of the past few days he is incredibly exhausted.[4] Returning to his lab he called Bethany Cabe to help him out of armor and assist him in getting back up to his apartment.

When they get upstairs they find Veronica Benning waiting for them. She has seen the damage to Tony’s penthouse and asks what happened. Tony says that it is a long story and when Beth decides to get going, Veronica — who is feeling a pang of jealousy — agrees that Cabe should go.[5]

Several days alter, Tony is contacted by Dwayne Taylor, head of the Taylor Foundation. He wants to talk to Tony about improprieties surrounding a Stane built plasma inversion dam that has been constructed in Nadua. Tony appreciates Taylor’s concern but tells him that if he needs outside help he’ll reach out directly and terminates the video call. After getting the cold shoulder from Stark, Taylor suits up as Night Thrasher. He tells his fellow New Warriors that since Stark won’t work with them voluntarily, they’ll have to take a more direct hand in the matter.

Back at Stark Enterprises, Tony is informed that his 11 am appointment has arrived. Moments later, Captain America enters the room and says that they need to talk.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Venom, Abe Zimmer, Erica Sondheim, Bethany Cabe, Veronica Benning, Bambi Arbogast, Captain America, New Warriors (Night Thrasher, Firestar, Nova, Speedball, Rage)

Continuity Notes

1. 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 in Iron Man #300.

2. 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 in issue #300, he’s still shaky on his pins.

3. The hack in question is Philip Grant, aka the Raven. He was hired by Marcy Pearson in Iron Man #300. She has been motivated by revenge after being fired from Stark Enterprises back in Iron Man #284. This is all part of a larger scheme by an artificial intelligence called VORTEX, it is trying to ruin Tony’s company in an act of preemptive self-preservation as we’ll learn in issue #307.

4. Tony specifically references his battle with Ultimo (Iron Man #298-300) and Deathlok (last issue)

5. Veronica has reason to be jealous as Tony and Bethany used to date. Their romance began shortly after they first met in Iron Man #117. However, Beth ended their relationship when her late husband, Alex, was revealed to be still alive in issue #152-153. When Alex died of a drug overdose in Iron Man #211, Beth briefly considered getting back with Tony but nothing ever came of it.