Strange Bedfellows

With Titanium Man on the rampage in Russia, Tony Stark has agreed to stop him in the Crimson Dynamo armor. This is at the assistance of its regular pilot, the injured Valentin Shatalov, who insists that it must be a Russian hero that stops Titanium Man, for the sake of his country amid a changing political landscape.

Since the armor’s functions all operate in the Cyrillic alphabet, Tony has the Black Widow and Shatalov on radio helping him figure out its functions. This serves a dual purpose, allowing Valentin to speak to Titanium Man through the armor making it seem as though he is the one in the fight, not Tony Stark.

Once in the air, Stark is told to head to the Kazakhstan border where Titanium Man is clashing with the local air force. When Tony engages Titanium Man, Shatalov beings trying to reason with the old soldier, trying to get him to peacefully surrender. The Titanium Man, who wants to see Russia go back to the days of old before the Cold War, refuses to surrender and fights back.

As the battle rages, the Black Widow gets a call from the Scarlet Witch who has just heard about the situation and offers to send Force Works to assist. Natasha relays this offer to Tony, who turns it down since the victor has of this fight has to appear to be the Crimson Dynamo, and the Crimson Dynamo alone.[1]

Meanwhile, the battle takes Stark and Titanium Man to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the heart of the Russian space program. To try and avoid collateral damage, Shatalov instructs Tony on how to use the Crimson Dynamo’s Vanko Generators to try and overload Titanium Man’s systems. Unfortunately, Stark is stunned by a blow from his opponent that he is too dazed to let go before the generators overload, catching both combatants in a spectacular explosion. When the two recover on the ground, the Black Widow tries once again to appeal to Boris Bullski, the man inside the armor. She tries to appeal to his long lost humanity and it works for a little bit, but Titanium Man quickly decides that they are trying to deceive him again.

With no other options left, Shatalov convinces Tony to use the Crimson Dynamo’s fusion caster. Unfamiliar with the weapon, Tony follows Valentin’s instructions and unleashes a full power blast which shatters the Titanium Man’s armor. Falling to the ground, Boris Bullski’s apparent final words are to complain to his father that it is cold outside.[2] Believing he killed Bullski, Tony storms back to the control center and tells Shatalov off for what happened. Valentin explains that he did what needed to be done and that Boris died fighting for his country. Tony is furious to have blood on his hands, but Valentin insists that Bullski’s death were entirely on his own and that he’ll face the consequences of his actions alone. The Black Widow then suggests that she and Tony leave.

The following day, Shatalov is brought before his superiors who are furious that he overstepped his authority by killing the Titanium Man. They inform him that while they will not be imprisoning him, he is to be transferred to a less sensitive post, losing the right to be the Crimson Dynamo.[3]

Later, Tony Stark is back in his hotel room making arrangements for his return to trip back to Los Angeles. After getting off the phone with Bambi Arbogast, he is visited by the Black Widow who decided to dress up in her original costume since Tony previously mentioned having a thing for it.[4] However, before they can get down to some romance, Tony suddenly realizes that Titanium Man’s first name was Boris and hers is Natasha and begins to laugh about it. This sours the Widow only very briefly before they start getting it on.

Back in the United States, Tony’s former teacher Ted Slagh was caught in an explosion in the laboratory of the California Poly-Technical Institute. Covered in a new experimental metal, Slagh has been transformed into a being of boiling liquid metal that burns whatever it touches. As it emerges from the ruins, this hideous creature blames Tony Stark for what has happened to it and vows to get revenge.[5]

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Black Widow, Titanium Man, Slag, Valentin Shatalov, Force Works (Scarlet Witch, Spider-Woman, US Agent)

Continuity Notes

1. US Agent makes an off hand comment about how Iron Man is going to be in shit when he gets back. This is in reference to Force Works #13 where the Scarlet Witch chews Iron Man out for not being committed to the team as much as she thinks he should.

2. Although we are led to believe that the Titanium Man has died here, he turns up alive again in Iron Man (vol. 3) #49.

3. And that friends, is the last we’ve seen of Valentin Shatalov — as least at the time of this writing in August, 2022. He will be succeeded by an unidentified individual in Captain America (vol. 3) #42.

4. The Black Widow didn’t start wearing a costume until Tales of Suspense #64. One of its defining characteristics was that it included fishnet stockings. Natasha ultimately scrapped that look in Amazing Spider-Man #86. Tony mentioned having a thing for her original outfit back in Iron Man #315.

5. Slagh blames Tony Stark here because it was Tony who discovered that Ted was suffering from a neurological disease that was affecting his memory, leading to this and a previous accident. See Iron Man #315-316.

Topical References

• This story is framed as though the fall of the Soviet Union happened a few years prior. all such references should be considered topical as the USSR crumbled in 1991. Modern readers should interpret this to mean that softening ties between the US and Russia in this story are due to a recent event unique to the fiction as opposed to a real world incident.

• The reason why “Boris and Natasha” is so funny to Tony Stark it is the names of the villains from The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends which ran from 1959 to 1961. The two characters were Russian spies and they basically became the archetype for a Russian stereotype in American culture. Usually something like this would be considered a topical reference, however you cannot generalize the joke and have it still make sense, so I guess Tony Stark is secretly a huge Rocky and Bullwinkle fan? Whatever, some of these are not perfect.

Brothers in Arms

This story continues from War Machine #15…

There is a civil war brewing in the nation of San Revilla between the Shadows and the local government. War Machine, Hawkeye, and US Agent have found themselves caught in the middle of it. With both sides spoiling for a fight, War Machine incapacitates the cyborgs Hazzerd and Troubleshooter while US Agent orders the government forces to stand down.

The two compare notes, and War Machine explains that he came to stop a war from breaking out and found Hawkeye working with the Shadows and the Agent for the government. US Agent explains that he was instructed to assist the government from the Commission on Superhuman Activities who told him that the Shadows were a terrorist organization. He now realizes that they misled him.

Realizing they’ve been duped, US Agent and War Machine save Hawkeye from Hazzerd. War Machine explains to his allies that both sides of the conflict have been manipulated by a man called the Advisor wants both sides to slaughter each other. The trio then agree to work together to put an end to the conflict on both sides. In fact, the cyborgs Hazzerd, Troubleshooter, and Sundance are the Advisor’s agents that have been stoking the flames. The three former Avengers quickly take them out. Upon their defeat, a holographic image of the Advisor appears before them and warns them to sleep with one eye open as he’ll be gunning for the trio from now on. Unphased by the threat, War Machine tells the Advisor to get used to losing as society is smartening up to manipulators such as him.

On the flight back to America, War Machine and Hawkeye are surprised to see the usually gruff US Agent playing with refugee children aboard the plane. The Agent is eager to get back to Force Works since his teammates don’t know where he is. This makes Hawkeye long for being on a team, however he has no interest in joining the Agent’s group due to their close association with Tony Stark.[1] Instead, Clint thinks maybe he’ll look into joining World Watch, the organization War Machine works for. Jim tells him to do just that and the trio pose for a photo together to commemorate their mission together.

Recurring Characters

Hawkeye, War Machine, US Agent, Hazzerd, Troubleshooter, Sundance, Advisor, Luke Bergier

Continuity Notes

1. Hawkeye is still raw that Iron Man was the deciding vote that led to the disbanding of the West Coast Avengers, a team that Hawkeye helped found. See Avengers West Coast #102.