Iron Man (vol. 3) #10
Revenge of the Mandarin Part 2: In the Belly of the Beast!
The Mandarin has returned and has unleashed an invading army in Russia. As the Winter Guard defends their homeland, they are joined by the Avengers who have come to assist their teammate Iron Man stop the Mandarin’s current scheme. That’s when the Mandarin’s Dragon in Heaven warship arrives on the scene and begins decimating the area. Needing extra firepower, Captain America convinces the Scarlet Witch to use her powers to summon Wonder Man so they can add his strength to their forces.[1][2] Wonder Man joins the other fliers — Firestar, Justice, Vostok, Powersurge, and Darkstar — in attacking the dragon ship.[3]
Inside the ship, Iron Man — who was seriously injured by an attack by the Espionage Elite — is now a prisoner of the Mandarin.[4] The Mandarin is pleased to see that his old enemy is finally awake and takes the opportunity to explain how he survived their last encounter. He recounts how he attempted to push the world back to the feudal period using the mystical artifact known as the Heart of Darkness. He was ultimately defeated when Iron Man infected him with a technorganic virus that made the Mandarin vulnerable to the anti-technology field created by the Heart. However, the Mandarin cheated death when the Heart of Darkness imploded. Its magics transformed him into a lowly janitor that worked for Stark Enterprises.[5] After regaining his memories, the humiliating experience made him realize that his renouncement of technology was a foolish notion and decided to reincorporate into his world domination goals.
When the Mandarin did regain his faculties he was disappointed to hear that Tony Stark was apparently dead, but is happy to see that this is no longer the case.[6] Tony then asks if the Mandarin wanted to destroy him directly, why did he send so many others after him. The Mandarin admits that he employed some to attack Stark, but only half of those he mentioned were his own operatives, pointing out the fact that he is not the only one who wants to see Iron Man dead.[7] When asked why he chose to invade Russia, the Mandarin figured why not. While he considers the Russian inferior compared to his native Chinese, they come from a similar peasant background and that is suitable enough for him. To Tony, this all rings false to him and suspects that there is something more to all of this that the Mandarin isn’t being forthright about.
Elsewhere, Madame Masque is plotting her latest scheme confident that she is safe in her bunker as nobody but her knows where it is. However, she is interrupted when an intruder bursts in and fatally shoots her. Madame Masque’s killer picks up her victim’s golden mask, explaining that she has come to take over Madame Masque’s criminal empire and her entire life.[8]
Back in Russia, the battle rages on, as the Avengers and Winter Guard work together to stop the invaders. The sky team attempts to breach the dragon ship, but it is too powerful and too heavily armed to breach. When Vostok attempts to use his machine controlling powers on it, the feedback temporarily shuts him down. Although his efforts to seize the machine were a failure, he was able to confirm that Iron Man is being held inside as a prisoner.
Inside, the Mandarin is still ranting away about his master plan, but Iron Man — due to his injuries — is finding it harder and harder to focus on his words. Looking around, he notices that one of the components and recognizes it as one that was being designed at the Mandarin’s Australian slave labor camp.[9] Stark then keeps his foe distracted while he triggers the armor reboot switch hidden in his chin toggle. With his armor secretly booted up, Iron Man is then able to hack into the ship’s signal and breaks free from his bonds. However, the Mandarin can still command the various components of his ship with his rings of power. Unable to get in a good position due to the tight quarters, Iron Man decides to flee since fighting the Mandarin directly isn’t going to work.
Instead, the hero flies to the power core of the Dragon in Heaven and destroys it and the three robot warriors guarding the device. With the ship starting to blow apart, Iron Man convinces the Mandarin to surrender to him so they can both get away. The Mandarin refuse to do any such thing and leaps out of an open floor hatch. Iron Man tries to follow after him but he is caught in an explosion just moments before the massive dragon shaped ship comes crashing down to the ground. Soon, Russian military officials are scouring the wreckage. They find Iron Man who is just barely alive, but there is no sign of the Mandarin. Iron Man figures that his old foe survived and will eventually turn back up again sometime soon.[10] That’s when the Black Widow and the Avengers arrive. Tony is happy to see Natasha and jokingly tells her they need to stop meeting like this before he collapses to the ground.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Mandarin, Black Widow, Avengers (Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Firestar, Justice), Winder Guard (Darkstar, Vanguard, Sibercat, Steel Guardian, Vostok, Powersurge, Fantasma)
Continuity Notes
Wonder Man was killed in Force Works #1. More recently, the Scarlet Witch has been able to make a connection and draw Wonder Man’s energy form into the physical world to help in battles since Avengers (vol. 3) #2. Simon Williams will be fully resurrected again in issue #11 of that series.
Here, the Scarlet Witch is referred to as a mutant. However, a few years later it is learned that is not the case. As a child she was experimented upon by the High Evolutionary and in order to cover up his work he made it so future genetic tests would have her register as a mutant. See Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5.
Justice mentions how Steel Guardian recently changed his name. Josef Petkus was previously known as the Red Guardian, starting in Captain America #352. He changed his name and identity to better suit the current political situation in Russia as explained last issue.
Tony Stark had the living shit beat out of him by the Espionage Elite in Iron Man (vol. 3) #8. Despite these injuries, he still went after the Mandarin last issue.
This previous battle was chronicled in the Hands of the Mandarin storyarc which took place in Force Works #6-10, Iron Man #310-312, War Machine #8, and Marvel Comics Presents #169-172. The Mandarin didn’t simply die at the end. Instead, the Heart of Darkness trapped him in the form of a janitor with only a glint of memory regarding his past. This was also when the Mandarin learned Tony’s secret identity.
Yeah, Tony went through a rather complicated death and resurrection in the recent past. Led to believe he was a sleeper agent for Kang the Conqueror, Tony sacrificed his life to save his friends in Avengers #395. He was replaced by his younger self who was pulled forward in time in Avengers: Timeslide #1. The young Tony Stark sacrificed his life along with the Avengers and Fantastic Four in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. Franklin Richards then transported them all to a pocket universe where a now adult Tony Stark lived a reimagined version of his past starting in Iron Man (vol. 2) #1. He and the others were eventually returned to their proper reality in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4. It’s later explained in Avengers Annual 2001 that Tony was resurrected and merged with his younger self, thus re-establishing the status quo. Confusing, no?
Tony mentions his past attackers: The Deathsquad (Iron Man (vol. 3) #1), the Dreadnaughts (issue #2-3), Iron-Hand Hauptman (issue #6), Whiplash, and Spymaster and his Espionage Elite (issue #8). The Mandarin disavows using the Deathsquad, Hauptman, or Whiplash. It’s later revealed in Iron Man Annual 1999 that Count Nefaria was behind the Deathsquad and Whiplash was Count Nefaria.
Confused? Well here’s the thing: Madame Masque has been using bio-duplicates that operate as her proxies in the real world after she became afraid of her own mortality. These bio-duplicates have been in play since Iron Man #138. Every time one outlives its usefulness, Madame Masque sends a new bio-duplicate to murder its predecessor and take its place. This will all get hashed out in Avengers (vol. 3) #32.
Tony Stark was a temporary prisoner at the Mandarin’s camp in Iron Man (vol. 3) #6.
The Mandarin did indeed survive and will be seen again in Wonder Man (vol. 3) #2-3.
Topical References
Justice states that he read in Newsweek that the Red Guardian recently changed his name to Steel Guardian. This should be considered topical as Newsweek is a real world publication.