The Hunt

Now

Tony Stark and his former colleague Yvette Avril are flying across Angoulême, France in Tony’s flying car. They are being pursued by Whiplash who has been hired to kill Stark. With his car damaged, Tony flies down into a nearby train tunnel to get under cover. There he tells Yvette to run and get help while he stays behind to distract Whiplash. Once she is gone, Tony begins changing into Iron Man and thinking back to how he got himself into this mess….

Earlier

Tony had just returned to Stark Tower after assisting the Avengers in stopping a Kree plot to destroy the Earth,[1] and is now back trying to learn the identity of the Arms Merchant’s secret client who is constructing a powerful flying battle station of some kind.[2] Tony thought he was getting nowhere in his search,[3] until some hired assassins tried to shoot him in the streets. This convinced him he was on the right track and decided to visit the Stark-Fujikawa branch in France on business as touring the company’s European holdings would provide him with cover while he tracked his mystery foe across the country.[4]

Now

Tony has finished changing into Iron Man and confronts Whiplash who comes at his with sadistic glee. Iron Man questions why Whiplash went back to his old ways and taken up waring bondage gear and become so sadistic. As it turns out, Marc Scarlotti has erased his old self since they took his kid away from him.[5] Iron Man is not ready for Whiplash’s new arsenal of weapons, including a kinetic whip. Knocking Iron Man into a building below, Whiplash decides to retreat since he has lost track of Tony Stark. Before leaving, he tells Iron Man to warn his “boss” that he’s still coming and give the hero some advice before then: retire.

This only further reinforces that Tony is getting closer to uncovering the true identity of his mystery foe. After checking in back at Stark Solutions, Tony decides to keep on working in Paris. Taking a break from his search, Tony goes for a walk with Yvett through Paris and tries to tell her that she doesn’t need to stick by him, especially after Whiplash put her life at risk. Avril reminds Tony that she is loyal to him and will remain by his side no matter the threat. Tony is flattered by this and she buys him a flower to cheer him up. This reinvigorates Tony to get back in front of a computer and try to track down the Arms Merchant’s client. Following their communications trail online, Tony manages to get a lock on the point of origin. However, the online security begins trying to sever his connection, prompting Tony to frantically try to hack his way onto the other database before he’s shut down.

Back in the States, Happy Hogan and Pepper Potts are at Stark Solutions and squabbling bout Pep’s dog, Socrates.[6] Hogan also rankles her about all the attractive women that Tony has been seen with recently.[7] When Socrates begins barking at him, Hap backs off and trips over one of the dogs bones, falling on his back. On the ground, Happy sees a weird device that has been planted under one of the tables.[8] Tony shows it to Pepper who identifies it as a bug. This is really bad because not only does the person plant it know where Tony is, they also know that he’s also secretly Iron Man because they have been openly talking about Stark’s double identity.

By this time, Tony has gotten past the security firewall but all it brings him to is a single Chinese ideogram. Tony recognizes it as a pre-revolutionary character used during the days of Imperial China, aka the days of the Mandarins. He finally realizes who he is up against and goes looking for Yvett. A woman outside the room tells Tony that Avril went outside. However, when he goes out the door he is instead attacked by the Espionage Elite who have been brought out by his old foe Spymaster.[9] The Elite quickly knock away Tony’s brief case and toss it into a nearby river then begin beating the shit out of him.[10] Luckily, the Black Widow arrives on the scene and fights off the Espionage Elite. When she goes to check on Tony, she is horrified to discover that his heart has stopped beating.[11]

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Whiplash, Espionage Elite, Spymaster, Yvette Avril, Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts, Socrates

Continuity Notes

1. This was during the Live Kree or Die! even that took place last issue, Captain America (vol. 3) #8, Quicksilver #10, and Avengers (vol. 3) #7. Here, Tony also mentions his concern over his former teammate Warbird who is struggling with alcoholism. Carol Danvers rejoined the Avengers in Avengers (vol. 3) #4. However, at the time her powers were fading and developed a drinking problem. These two factors led to questionable performances in battle. When Captain America ordered her to shape up, she rage quit in issue #6. Carol will go on denying she has a problem until ultimately accepting it and starts attending Alcoholics Anonymous starting in Avengers (vol. 3) #26.

2. Here, Happy and Pepper have a spiteful repartee with one another. This is because the couple has recently undergone a divorce, as explained in Iron Man (vol. 3) #4. Both hired onto Tony’s new company in issue #1, the two have been on pins-and-needles with one another.

3. Tony has been searching for the Arms Dealer’s mystery client since issue #2. He will learn that it is the Mandarin in issue #9-10.

4. Here, Tony recounts how Yvette Avril was once the Vice President of Stark International and that she had quit during a “difficult time”, but since started working for Stark-Fujikawa. There is a lot of corporate history here. Let me explain:

   • Stark International was Tony’s original company and Yvette started working at its Paris branch circa Iron Man #119. Tony made her Vice President of the company in issue #146.

   • The “difficult” time Tony is speaking of is when he succumbed to alcoholism during a period where rival business man Obadiah Stane was engaging in a hostile take over. Tony fell off the wagon in Iron Man #167 and by issue #173 lost his company to Stane. Yvett resigned from her job in the following issue out of loyalty to Tony. Stark didn’t get sober until issue #182 and by that point he lost it all.

   • Although Stane died in Iron Man #200, Tony started a new company: Stark Enterprises in issue #215. It later purchased Stane International in Iron Man #283. After Tony died in Avengers #395, the Stark Enterprises was merged with the Fujikawa Corporation in Iron Man #329.

   • When exactly Yvette returned to work for this company is unspecified.

5. There is kind of a lot going on with Whiplash here. The details:

   • Iron Man refers to Whiplash by his real name: Mark Scarlotti. This name was first given in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #2. This is the first time that Tony uses his name in a story. He probably figured out Mark’s real name during one of his many arrests.

   • Iron Man also mentions that Mark previously went by the name Blacklash. More specifically, he started his career as Whiplash in Tales of Suspense #97. He later reinvented himself as Blacklash in Iron Man #146.

   • Previously, Mark had given up being Blacklash in order to raise his son Michael in Elektra #5-7.

6. Happy and Pepper have had a rocky relationship since their recent divorce, as revealed in Iron Man (vol. 3) #4.

7. Happy rhymes off all the women that Tony has been hanging out with recently:

   • “The countess” is reference to Countess Stephanie de la Spiroza, whom Tony spent time with in Iron Man (vol. 3) #2-3.

   • “The Fujikawa girl” is referring to Rumiko Fujikawa whom Tony spent time with in issues #4-5.

   • The Black Widow: Whom Tony recently went on a mission with in issue #6.

8. This bug was planted there by a spy named Doreen, who has been charming up Happy since issue #3. She planted her bug in issue #6.

9. Don’t remember the Espionage Elite? They first appeared in Iron Man #33-35 and Daredevil #73. They were last seen in Marvel Super-Heroes (vol. 2) #12.

10. Tony recounts how he received fight training from Captain America himself. This happened way back in Iron Man #125.

11. No, Tony’s not dead. The Widow manages to revive him next issue. Obviously.

Topical References

• Tony is depicted transferring data from a computer into the computer in his briefcase using what looks like a headphone jack. This should be considered a topical reference since this is no longer a standard method of data transferal.

Translations

• Page 13, Panel 1: French: “mettez-la sur mon compte, Jean.” = “Put it on my account, Jean.” “D’acord” = “okay”

• Page 16 Panel 3 and 4: French: “exscusez-moi, mademoiselle. Je cherche Mlle. Avril. Est-elle toujours ici?” = “Excuse me Miss. I'm looking for Ms. Avril. Is she still here?”; “Oui,oui — Je veins de la voir passer par lá.” = “Yes, yes - I just saw her pass by.”; “Merci” = “thank you”; “Sortie” = “Exit”

• Page 15, Panel 6: Chinese character. I think this is a made up character as I haven’t been able to find a corresponding ideogram in real life to make a translation. Then again, I am not an expert on Chinese dialects. If this means something and you know what it means, by all means e-mail me and let me know.

• Page 22, Panel 2: Russian: “Bozhe Moi” = "My God”