Iron Man #309
Signal to Noise
Tony Stark’s body has been hijacked by the artificial intelligence known as VORTEX.[1] His mind transferred into a robotic body, Tony has tracked down the rogue AI to Microware Inc. where — as Iron Man — VORTEX has just murdered its creator.
However, VORTEX refuses to give up its new body of flesh and blood and is willing to fight to the death for it. This leads to a brawl between the pair. Well aware of his Iron Man armor’s capabilities, Tony’s robotic body is armed with weapons to counteract them, as well as take advantage of VORTEX’s new human vulnerabilities.
The battle is evenly matched until Stark manages to land a blow hard enough to cause VORTEX pain. Having never experienced the sensation before, VORTEX is overwhelmed by it. VORTEX cannot believe that a human being could with stand such pain. Tony tells the AI that this is nothing and tells it to scan his memories to learn how painful it is being a human being. Revisiting all of Tony’s many life threatening injuries over the years — a wounded heart, transplant surgery, alcohol withdrawal, and neurological degradation[2] — VORTEX cannot handle it and deletes itself rather than have to experience pain ever again. With VORTEX destroyed, Tony quickly wires his robotic body into his Iron Man armor so he can transfer his mind back into his real body. The process works but Tony soon realizes to his horror that he is drunk.[3]
Meanwhile, in China, the Mandarin’s search for his ten rings of power has brought him to a foreboding castle that beckoned to him. Deciding to investigate inside, he discovers that the ancient structure has been abandoned for centuries. Deep inside its walls he soon comes across a massive orb of arcane power called the Heart of Darkness. Touching the ancient artifact, the Mandarin is bombarded with mystical energies. He is finally given a level of awareness that makes him realize what his true destiny is and that he will destroy Iron Man once and for all. Sometime later,[4] the Mandarin has gathered an army of loyal followers and is now preparing to strike.
By this time, Tony Stark has changed out of his armor and does something he never thought he’d ever do again: The walk of shame back into work after a night of drinking. The moment he walks into the building he becomes aware of all the eyes that are upon him and that shameful awareness that they know their boss has fallen off the wagon. Heading into his office, he finds a note from Veronica Benning. It says that she cannot watch him destroy himself by drinking and has left. She tells him that she is leaving town and for him to not to come looking for her.[5] Tony angrily crumples the note, cursing VORTEX for screwing up his relationship, when suddenly he is struck with a wave of sickness. Throwing up in his waste basket, Tony suddenly is hit with the desire to start drinking again to take the edge off. After a struggle with his will power, Tony instead calls in Bambi Arbogast and tells her to get rid of the bottle of bourbon out of his sight.
Moments later, Tony gets a call from Jim Rhodes who has come asking Tony for help. His War Machine armor has been damaged and he doesn’t have the resources to fix his suit.[6] Tony, his emotions running high due to his intoxication, becomes angry over Jim’s recent activities and the fact that he walked out on him during their last encounter, tells Rhodes to get bent.[7] After slamming the phone down, Tony realizes what he just did and instantly regrets it.
On the other end of the line, Jim realizes that Tony has fallen off the wagon again. Still, Rhodes refuses to be shut out and since Tony Stark won’t talk to Jim Rhodes, Rhodey suits up to speak to him face-to-face as War Machine!
… This story continues in War Machine #8.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, War Machine, VORTEX, Mandarin, Veronica Benning, Q’Wake (unidentified)
Continuity Notes
VORTEX stole Tony’s body back in Iron Man #307.
By this point, Tony Stark had been through a lot of a lot. Here is a run down of his various life threatening injuries over the years:
His heart was wounded from bomb shrapnel back in Tales of Suspense #39. Early on in his career as Iron Man he was required to wear a chest plate to 24/7 to keep the shrapnel from reaching his heart and killing him.
Tony eventually received a heart transplant in Iron Man #19, removing the shrapnel and replacing his damaged heart with synthetic parts. For a short time afterwards Tony had to watch not to strain himself too much or his body would reject the synthetic parts. He suffered from a weak heart for years after the fact.
Tony has had two bouts with alcoholism lasting from Iron Man #120-128 and again in Iron Man #167-182. He had been sober ever since, but the binge drinking did serious damage to his liver.
More recently, Tony was shot through the spine in Iron Man #242 leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Although he obtained an experimental bio-chip that restored his mobility in issue #248, it was hackable and was used to utterly destroy his central nervous system. See Iron Man #258-266.
By issue #284 he had to be put in cryogenic suspension until a new artificial central nervous system could be created to replace the damaged one. After being revived in issue #288 he underwent painful physio-therapy to regain his mobility that lasted up until Iron Man #300.
Giving in to Tony’s chemical dependency for alcohol, VORTEX drank an entire bottle of brandy last issue.
For more on the Mandarin’s schemes check out Marvel Comics Presents #169-170.
As of this writing (August, 2022), we have not seen hide nor hair of Veronica Benning.
Jim’s armor was damaged during a fight with the Cold Warrior in War Machine #7.
The friendship between Tony and Jim has been strained when Stark faked his death and kept it a secret from nearly everybody, including Jim circa Iron Man #284. When Tony revealed that he was still alive in Iron Man #288, Jim was so furious he quit. Things got worse when Jim was convinced to help battle Ultimo while Tony was in a coma circa Iron Man #298-300. After Ultimo was defeated, Jim told Stark not to contact him again. This story misattributes this incident to Iron Man #292. Here, Tony also mentions the international incident War Machine got himself involved in. This was the liberation of the nation of Imaya in War Machine #1-4.