Iron Man Annual #14
Unfamiliar Faces
Creighton McCall, a wealthy businessman, has just received an ancient mask, a Tsuburaya that originates from 16th century Japan. While marveling over his latest purchase, McCall cuts his hand on one of the sharp edges of the mask. This causes him to drop the artifact on the floor, shattering it to worthless pieces. From the mask emerges the ancient demon called the Face Thief. Freed for the first time in centuries, the creature murders Creighton McCall. This horrific scene is witnessed by his son-in-law, Richard Stevenson. The monster quickly kills Richard as well. From there, the Face Thief removes Creighton’s face and puts it on his own, transforming into an exact copy of the man it just murdered. The Face Thief is pleased that it was able to pose as a man of wealth and power as it will suit his plans rather well.
At that moment, in Tokyo, Kaze of the Masters of Silence is awoken from his meditations as he senses the presence of the Face Thief. Seeing the carnage caused by the monster has already caused, Kaze knows it is time for him to act. He goes down into his headquarters and suits up in his cybernetic armor. He then finds Kaminari and Inazuma and tells them that their ancient foe is awake once more and they must destroy the Face Thief. The trio travel to America where they show up at Stark Enterprises. They are greeted at the front gate by Iron Man who, after hearing that they have come requesting Tony Stark’s help, invites them inside. Once face-to-face with Tony Stark, the Masters of Silence explain how their ancestors were charged with keeping Kao-Goto-Suru — the Face Thief — in check. Now that the monster is free, they need Stark’s help and resources to find and contain the monster.
Learning how the creature operates, Tony uses his computer to do a search of any wealthy individuals that might have been involved in a murder recently. They come across a police report about the death of Richard Stevenson at the McCall residence. Tony is shocked to learn about this because he has a past history with Creighton McCall. Many years ago, when Tony was still a teenager he had fallen in love with Creighton’s daughter, Meredith. However, neither Tony’s father Howard, nor Creighton McCall approved of the romance as their families were business rivals. In order to prevent the teens from seeing each other, both fathers sent their children off to private schools on different parts of the globe.[1]
This gets Tony to thinking how much his life has changed since those more innocent times. He recalls how the near fatal accident in Southeast Asia led to the creation of Iron Man to protect his injured heart from bomb shrapnel.[2] While Tony eventually underwent surgery to repair his heart,[3] he faced many adversities such as his struggles with alcoholism,[4] to his central nervous system being ruin, forcing him to fake his death for a time while he underwent a cure.[5] Although he is alive and healthy, his body is still on a long road to full recovery. Snapping back to the present, Tony notes that there is a funeral for Stevenson the following day and decides he should be in attendance to scope things out.
The following day, Tony attends the Richard Stevenson’s burial. Meredith is deeply upset that her husband is dead and that her father doesn’t seem to care. When she sees Tony — who actually sent a Life Model Decoy in order to hide the fact that he is confined to a wheelchair — she tells him how her father has been acting strangely ever since Richard’s death. Thanking Tony for coming, Meredith is about to leave when she is nabbed by some men who force her into a car and drive away. Tony’s natural instinct is to do something, but the Masters of Silence convince him it would be too dangerous to the bystanders in the cemetery to engage in a battle there.
Later that day, Tony sends his LMD to visit Meredith at her father’s estate. However, security refuses to let him past the front gate. That’s when the Stark LMD deactivates and Iron Man comes smashing out of the vehicle’s trunk. Iron Man clashes with the security forces on site in order to create a distraction so the Masters of Silence can sneak into the mansion.
Inside, “Creighton McCall” has trapped Meredith in his private study and tries to make an advance on her. Disgusted, Meredith accuses her “father” of murdering Richard and slashes him across the face with her finger nails. This damages the flesh mask worn by the Face Thief bad enough that he loses the form of McCall. However, before the demon can attack her the Kaze arrives in time to rescue her. As Meredith flees into the hall, she runs into Iron Man who tells her that he has come to help her. Joining with Kaminari and Inazuma, Iron Man heads off into the study to help Kaze.
Meredith is furious that this has happened to her and decides that she is not longer going to be powerless against whatever is attacking her. She then takes the uniform and weapons of one of the unconscious guards and heads for the study herself.
Iron Man and the others arrive just as Kaze is fatally injured. The trio then fight the Face Thief, which takes on an even more demonic form. They are helped by Meredith who comes barging in with guns blazing, impressing Kaminari and Inazuma. Ultimately, it is Iron Man who defeats the monster by keying into its mystical energy signature and disrupting it with his on-board weapons. Realizing that it cannot win this fight, the Face Thief vows to return and rips off its own face causing the monster to vanish.[5]
With the Face Thief gone, Kaminari and Inazuma race to Kaze’s side but it is too late to do anything as he is dying. He tells them to keep fighting on and, impressed by Meredith’s bravery, decides to pass his powers on to her. As Kaze dies, energies transfer to from himself to McCall, causing her body to suddenly bulk up with new muscles. She decides that she wants to join the Masters of Silence so she can track down and destroy the Face Thief once and for all. As she and the other Masters teleport away, she tells Iron Man to say goodbye to Tony Stark for him.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Masters of Silence (Kaminari, Inazuma, Kaze), Meredith McCall, Creighton McCall
Continuity Notes
Tony’s past romance with Meredith and his more recent reunion with her were chronicled in Iron Man #28.
Tony suffered this injury and became Iron Man way back in Tales of Suspense #39.
Tony has suffered two near catastrophic alcoholic benders in Iron Man #120-128 and 167-182. Tony has been sober ever since.
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.
As of this writing (August, 2022) Kaze remains among the deceased. Although vowing revenge, the Face Thief has also not been seen again, time of this writing.
Topical References
McCall states that he paid $500,000 to obtain the Face Thief mask. This should be considered topical due to inflation. For example, $500k in 1993 money would now be worth over a million dollars.
Tony’s sports car is depicted as a 90s model Porsche 911. This could be considered a topical reference unless you believe Tony collects classic cars.
While the Band Plays On
Optech Systems in Silicon Valley, California, has been attacked by a group of terrorists. Taking out security, they rush a lab where a new satellite being designed for the CIA. They have come so they can steal a supply of plutonium that is used to power the satellite. In order to force the staff to co-operate, the terrorists set up a bomb.
Meanwhile, at Avengers West Coast compound, Hawkeye and War Machine — aka Clint Barton and Jim Rhodes — are stuck on monitor duty. They two get heated when mention is made of Iron Man, whom Jim is not on speaking terms with.[1] That’s when the call comes in about the hostage situation at Optech. When they arrive on the scene they learn about the bomb. With no time to negotiate, Hawkeye suggests that they rush the terrorists inside. War Machine concedes to this idea, but wants to do it his own way.
With only a minute left on the bomb’s countdown, War Machine comes crashing in through the wall. As he rushes for the bomb, Hawkeye bursts in through the door and takes out the terrorists with some gas arrows. Unable to defuse the bomb, War Machine grabs it and flies high into the air where it harmlessly explodes. Going back to the ground, Jim questions the terrorists. He learns that they were actually trying to stop the launch of the satellite due to fears that a shuttle explosion could cause its plutonium power source to rain down onto unsuspecting people and give them cancer. While Jim empathizes with their concerns, he believes that there was some other way. As the police cart the eco-terrorists away, Hawkeye rankles Jim when he calls him “shellhead” a nickname usually given to Iron Man.
This entire experience puts Rhodes in a sour mood, and when they return to headquarters Hawkeye demands to know what the big deal is. Jim explains that while super-villains and alien invaders come and go, it seems like superheroes don’t tackle real world issues like terrorists trying to blow things up, or corrupt corporations that put profits over people, or solving world hunger. Hawkeye understands Jim’s frustrations as he was once felt the same way. However, Clint believes that those problems are just too big for them to tackle. Jim thinks this is a cop out and wants to do something to make the world a better place. Seeing that they are at odds over this, Barton storms off telling Jim to go ahead and think of ways to save the world, leaving Jim to ponder how he can make more of a difference.
…. This story is continued in War Machine #1.
Recurring Characters
War Machine
Continuity Notes
Mentioned here are War Machine and Iron Man’s tenures on the Avengers as well as Jim’s current falling out with Tony Stark:
Tony, as Iron Man was a founding member of the Avengers way back in Avengers #1 and has been a recurrent member on both the east and west coast rosters. He was primarily on the west coast team from West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #1 through Iron Man Annual #14.
Jim’s membership on the west coast team actually predates Tony’s as he was a member in West Coast Avengers #1-4. This was during a period where Jim had taken over the mantle of Iron Man from Iron Man #169-195.
More recently, Tony and Jim had a falling out when Tony faked his death to undergo treatment for a potentially fatal health condition. See Iron Man #284 and 288-289 for the gist of it. I went into a more detailed account above (did you miss it?).
After falling out with Tony, Jim ended up joining the West Coast Avengers as War Machine in Avengers West Coast #94.
Topical References
One of the terrorists asks War Machine to remember the Challenger. He is referring to the Challenger space shuttle which, due to faulty parts, exploded during launch on January 28, 1986. Since he is referring to the accident in the past tense, this wouldn’t necessarily be considered a topical reference. You could argue that it could be given that someone would be more inclined to mention the Columbia space shuttle disaster of February 1, 2003, as that one is more recent. While I tend to be a little pedantic with my index I’m not that pedantic.
Heritage of Vengeance
Since Meredith McCall has joined up with the Masters of Silence, she has been keeping a journal of her experiences. Having relocated to Japan with the group, they hold a ceremony where her superiors — Kaminari and Inazume — explain their origins. Their tale begins with the arrival of Kao-Goto Suru — aka the Face Thief — a Japanese demon that appeared in their homeland centuries ago.
The creature murdered and stole the identity of a great and noble warlord named Tezuka. Under this identity, he tricked Tezuka’s followers on a failed war against the Emperor of Japan. The entire army was slaughtered save for three. The survivors soon uncovered that the Face Thief had been responsible. The three vowed to avenge their fallen comrades and they sought the spirits of the three storms to grant them power. Their prayers were answered and these three men became the original Masters of Silence. Each member was named after lightning (Inazume), wind (Kaze), and thunder (Kaminari).
They used their supernatural powers and natural abilities to become masters of stealth. They also devoted themselves to the path of vengeance and vowed a tradition of service to avenge those who could not avenge themselves. This has been the heritage that has been passed down to each successive generation over the centuries. With their story told, Kaminari and Inazume tell Meredith that their enduring mission to protect the innocent and mete out just retribution will ensure that vengeance never dies.[1]
Recurring Characters
Masters of Silence (Kaminari, Inazume, Meredith McCall)
Continuity Notes
For more on the Masters of Silence see Marvel Comics Presents #137-142.
Supplement Material
This issue features a cover gallery which the covers to Iron Man #284 through 294.
This comic also came polybagged with a trading card of the Face Thief.