Power Tools

In Denver, Colorado, the Thunderbolts are helping evacuate an apartment fire. As they work, the villain known as Nefarious arrives on the scene in the hopes of getting revenge against Moonstone for stealing his original powers.[1] However, before he can attack he is enveloped by a strange black fog that sucks the energy from his body leaving him a withered husk.[2]

Meanwhile, in Seattle, Tony Stark is returning to the Stark Solutions office just as SHIELD agent Jenna Carlisle has come calling for him. After changing out of and storing his Iron Man armor he welcomes her into his office. Carlisle is a forensic investigator who has been looking into recent crimes involving ionically powered individuals. So far she has investigated the murder of Charlie Gray, the defacing of Rafe Michel’s grave, and the recent murder of Nefarius.[3] Tony agrees that this is something he can assist with and agrees to aid SHIELD in any way he can.

To this end, Tony calls Dr. Jason Rivera at Project PEGASUS and asks for all his data on ionically powered superhumans.[4] Although Rivera’s database isn’t the most up to date, he passes along everything he has on record.[5] The list is short, but they’re still going to have to track everyone down, prompting Agent Carlisle to request that Iron Man help her on her search.

As Iron Man, Tony heads to Avengers Mansion where he contacts those he can reach to warn them about the threat to ionic powered individuals. His first call is to Hawkeye, leader of the Thunderbolts, to advise him to keep an eye on his teammate Atlas.[6] Wonder Man is easier to warn since he is a current Avenger, but Simon tells him that there are eight more people that he might want to look into. These would be the Crazy Eights, a group of novice superheroes that gained their powers through Wonder Man and operate out of Los Angeles.[7] Iron Man rushes to California and meets with four of the members: Aundray Phelps, LaHoya Scripps, Gloria Angel, and Estiban “Spider” Beach. Although they aren’t sure who would come after such low profile heroes such as themselves, Iron Man asks them to be vigilant. When Spider tries to brush this off as no big deal, Iron Man sets him straight.

Tony’s warning is very valid as the man responsible for the murders is watching the meeting from the building across the street with two armed men. Although he was planning to target the Crazy Eights next, Iron Man’s sudden involvement has convinced him that the armored Avenger needs to be dealt with first.

Meanwhile, Tony Stark meets up with Jenna back in New York City to give her an update. She also has new information about the deceased. The murdered was somehow able to drain all of the ionic energy from their bodies. As they puzzle out who might be responsible for the killings, Tony gets a call from Dr. Rivera, who has managed to learn that the grave belonging to Grover Raymond, aka Aries, is in a cemetery on Long Island.

When Iron Man arrives at the scene later, he discovers that he is too late as whoever is responsible has already dug up Raymond’s grave. His arrival triggers a boobytrap but he blasts the laser columns that pop out of the ground. That’s when he is ambushed by the Deathsquard, Whiplash, and Nitro.[8] As Iron Man recently fought all of these foes he doesn’t think it is a coincidence that they are attacking him again now. They all attack Iron Man en masse and when Iron Man attempts to exploit the signal that makes Nitro explode he discovers that the villain has been outfitted with a device that will prevent that from happening again. Unfortunately for Iron Man’s attackers, the jamming device protecting Nitro is damaged. This allows Iron Man to batter his opponents around by making Nitro explode over and over again.

That’s when Agent Carlisle arrives on the scene and tries to pick a fight with Whiplash, requiring Iron Man to come to her rescue when she bites off more than she can chew. This allows the Deathsquad to make their escape, prompting Iron Man to follow their aircraft. Along the way, Tony wonders if his obsession with being Iron Man recently is a new addiction like his past struggles with alcohol, particularly in the face of the fact that it has cost him many relationships.[9] Although Agent Carlisle helps him with a volley of missiles fired at him by the Deathsquad, he convinces her to turn back and let him handle things.

The Deathsquad lures Iron Man to Italy and a familiar looking castle that he can’t quite place. There he engaged the Deathsquad and is trouncing them until someone unleashes an ionic shockwave that stuns them all. This was caused by mobster Vittorio Silvani who reminds Iron Man that he vowed revenge after their last encounter.[10] Iron Man quickly blinds Vittorio before he can unleash another ionic blast and easily takes him down. That’s the real mastermind behind all of this makes his appearance. Iron Man is shocked to discover that it is none other than Count Nefaria, somehow back from the dead![11] Not only does Nefaria reveal that he is Silvani’s uncle, but he never truly died and has since evolved into an “ionic vampire” to sustain his life. Now at his full power he has come to get his revenge against Iron Man for defeating him in the past.[12]

Nefaria is much more powerful than Iron Man and batters him around the area, heavily damaging his armor. However, when things are looking bleak for the Avengers, Agent Carlisle arrives on the scene with an army of SHIELD agents and forces Nefaria to surrender.

Later, in Seattle, Tony Stark meets with Jenna for dinner to get an update on the Nefaria situation. Unfortunately, the Italian government refused to extradite the villain. More shockingly, they granted him immunity and released him from prison. Tony figures that Nefaria won’t be much of a threat as long as he doesn’t have access to anyone else with ionic powers to regain his strength. Unfortunately for Tony, Count Nefaria has just kidnapped and killed the ionically powered Therak.[13] With his power restored, the Count vows that there will be a reckoning very soon![14]

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Count Nefaria, Death Squad (Rocket-Launcher, Airborne, Smokescreen, Boobytrap, Firefight), Nefarius, Nitro, Whiplash, Vittorio Silvani, Crazy Eight (Attractive Lad, Glamor Girl, Snap, Stat), Edwin Jarvis, Jason Rivera, Therak, Wonder Man

Continuity Notes

1. Nefarious and Moonstone have a rocky history together. Nefarius, aka Lloyd Bloch was the original Moonstone, as seen in Captain America #169. After he was arrested in Captain America #175, he was put in the care of psychologist Karla Sofen, with authorities unaware that she was a criminal as well. Sofen used her psychological skills to trick Bloch into surrendering the Moon Stone that gave him his powers and she usurped his identity starting in Incredible Hulk #229. Bloch later got out of jail and used the a process go give himself the same ionic powers as Count Nefaria (more on him in a bit) so he could get revenge against Karla in Captain America #379.

2. As of this writing (September, 2022), Nefarius continues to be considered among the deceased.

3. Both Charlie Gray and Rafe Michael were once possessed by the alien known as Lucifer, temporarily gaining his ionic powers in the process. The details:

   • Charlie Gray was possessed by Lucifer when he was a security guard at Stark Industries circa Iron Man #20. Charlie was freed after Lucifer was defeated by Iron Man. Gray was murdered in Iron Man (vol. 3) #16. As of this writing, Gray remains among the deceased.

   • Rafe Michel was possessed by Lucifer in Captain America #177-178 alongside Grover Raymond, aka Aries of the Zodiac crime cartel. Neither men fared very well as the experience left them both death. Michael’s grave was dug up in Iron Man (vol. 3) #18. As of this writing, both Michel and Raymond remain among the deceased.

4. Tony, as Iron Man, learned that Jason Rivera was compiling a database on superhumans when the Avengers visited Project PEGASUS in Avengers (vol. 3) #6.

5. Other than the characters I’ve already mentioned, Dr. Rivera’s list includes:

   • Lucifer: A member of the Quist race who tried and failed to conquer Earth on a number of occasions. He first appeared in X-Men #9. He is believed to be dead at the time of this story after his failed attempt to possess Michel and Raymond. Despite this, Lucifer will turn up again in Astonishing X-Men (vol. 4) Annual #1.

   • Count Nefaria: Luchino Nefaria is a Maggia crime boss who first appeared in Avengers #13. However, he did not gain ionic powers until Avengers #164-166. However, a side effect to the process caused him to start rapidly aging. He seemingly died in battle with Iron Man in Iron Man #114-116. As we’ll learn later this issue, Nefaria is alive and well and is the one responsible for all of the murders.

   • Wonder Man: Simon Williams was given ionic powers by Baron Zemo in Avengers #9.

   • Atlas: Aka Erik Josten, also got his powers from the same process that turned Simon Williams into Wonder Man. See Avengers #21.

   • Therak: Aka Theodore Davros, first seen in Avengers West Coast #82. He obtained his ionic based spider-powers from a criminal known as the Manipulator. See Spider-Woman (vol. 2) #2.

6. Iron Man notes to himself that Hawkeye has come a long way since he first nominated him for the Avengers. Iron Man chose Hawkeye to join the team way back in Avengers #16. At the time of this story, Hawkeye left the Avengers to lead and mentor the Thunderbolts a team of villains trying to go straight. See Avengers (vol. 3) #9 and Thunderbolts #21.

7. The Crazy Eight first got their powers after being bombarded with ionic energy that was flowing wildly out of Wonder Man’s body circa Wonder Man (vol. 2) #11.

8. Iron Man was attacked by the Deathsquad, Whiplash, and Nitro in Iron Man (vol. 3) #1, 8, and 15 respectively.

9. Tony has struggled with alcohol all his adult life and has had two terrible benders as seen in Iron Man #120-128 and 167-182. Here he also mentions a number of his failed relationships that are partially due to his double life as Iron Man:

   • He first mentions Ramona Napier, which is odd because the pair haven’t really had a relationship to speak of. Tony first met her in Captain America Annual #9. At the time of this story he has only taken her out on a dinner date once in Iron Man (vol. 3) #16-17. At the time, she seemed more interested in talking about Iron Man than Tony Stark.

   • Rumiko Fujikawa: Tony first met her in Iron Man (vol. 3) #4. However, their budding romance came to an abrupt end in issue #13 when she decided that she can’t be in a serious relationship with someone who works all the time like Tony.

   • He also mentions Bethany Cabe. She and Tony started dating shortly after they first met in Iron Man #117. However, it wasn’t Tony’s double life that set them apart, but the discovery that her late husband Alex Van Tillburg was still alive in Iron Man #152. She returned to him until his death from a drug overdose in issue #211. Although the pair briefly got back together in Iron Man #319, they drifted apart shortly thereafter. We won’t see her again until War Machine (vol. 2) #1.

10. Iron Man busted Vittorio after he attempted to rob the Avalon Trading Company in Iron Man (vol. 3) #1.

11. Here we are treated to a recap explaining who Nefaria is and how he died. Other than instances I’ve already mentioned above, Iron Man also notes that Nefaria has clashed with the X-Men on a few occasions and that he is the father of Madame Masque. Whitney Frost’s relation to Nefaria was first revealed in Iron Man #8. The Count later went on to fight the X-Men in X-Men #22-23 and 94-95. Iron Man also remembers that the castle he is presently in was once shipped brick-by-brick to America back in Avengers #13. Villains were really big on that back in the day.

12. Nefaria’s return from the grave isn’t that outlandish since other ionic beings have cheated death before. Notably Wonder Man who seemingly died due to a side-effect of his powers in Avengers #9. However, his body actually entered a death-like state as his body was converted into pure ionic energy and he came back to life in Avengers #151, although this wouldn’t be properly explained until issue #164 of that series.

13. As of this writing, Therak remains among the deceased.

14. Count Nefaria will resurface again in Captain America (vol. 3) #29-31.

Topical References

• The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline in this story. This should be considered a topical reference as they were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 and subsequently replaced with the Freedom Tower.

• A passerby who notices Tony’s holographic projecting communicator quips that you can buy them out of the Sharper Image catalog for $59.95. This should be considered topical due to the fact that Sharper Image is a real world business. Also a device like Tony is using for $59.95 is impossibly cheap for such technology even for 1999. Adjusting for inflation (as of September, 2022) that would be worth $106.58 in todays money.