The Mask in the Iron Man, Part 1: A Boy and his Toys

Tony Stark has been having trouble with his relationship with Rumiko Fujikawa. As he is keeping his double identity as Iron Man a secret, she had recently started accusing Tony of being a coward whenever there was trouble that warranted Iron Man.[1] The two recently made up and went out to celebrate together.[2]

They had gone out to a trendy dance club. While Tony felt out of place, Rumiko owned the dance floor. When one of the dancing men tried to get too hands on, Tony stepped in and got decked in the face. Rumiko then laid the guy out with a single punch. The night was over after that, Tony’s nose was bandaged and he was sent home. Even though things are back on track, Tony fears that the relationship will end badly eventually, just like all the others. He takes a drink, and for a second thinks he poured himself a glass of scotch and spits it out. It was only carbonated water and he figures he was confused because he needs to get some sleep.[3]

The following day, Tony Stark is giving a demonstration at a technology convention. It gives him the opportunity to test out the autonomous functions of his Iron Man armor, making it look like he and his alter-ego are two different people. This is all to promote Stark Solution’s partnership with Askew Technologies to help develop their new liquid digital technology. To this end, “Iron Man” shows off the company’s new Synth-Kinetic Interfacing Nano-Fluid, or SKIN for short. To that end, he coats a basketball with the new metallic substance. While the basketball becomes as durable as Adamantium, it retains his natural properties. Tony has “Iron Man” demonstrate this by throwing the ball through a concrete wall. While it shatters the wall to pieces, it harmlessly bounces on the ground toward Rumiko, who is networking in the crowd. Then to demonstrate its remote control properties, Tony asks Ms. Fujikawa to toss the ball back to him. Realizing that he interrupted her because he was jealous, Rumiko throws the ball at him as hard as she can. However, using a control device he is able to redirect the basketball so it lands in the basket instead of hitting him in his already injured face.

Rumiko gives Tony an earful on the drive home, but realizing that she is starting another argument so soon after they made up, stops herself and changes track. With New Years Eve right around the corner, Rumiko is looking forward to celebrating in style at one of the trendiest places in town. The club in question is called Fluid and when they arrive Rumiko begins chatting up every man who shows her attention. This doesn’t sit well with Tony, who tries to tell Ru to be more careful, particularly after what happened the other night. She gets upset with him, because he is being protective of her without actually being open about his feelings for her. She reminds him that she is hopelessly in love with him, but when Tony can’t bring himself to say it back, Rumiko gets upset and storms off in tears.

Ashamed of himself, Tony leaves, and heads back to his penthouse. However, he only stays long enough to change into Iron Man and take to the air so he can get some fresh air. This is just as the clock strikes midnight. As fireworks begin going off, Rumiko doesn’t feel much like celebrating and heads home.

Iron Man, meanwhile, is chastising himself for screwing things up with Rumiko. His thoughts are interrupted when he is suddenly ambushed by Whiplash. He explains that he has been hired by someone to eliminate his old foe.[4] However, when asked, Whiplash refuses to reveal the identity of his employer.[5] The battle isn’t easy, as Iron Man also has to contend with the fireworks which are throwing off his sensors. Worse, Whiplash has a brand new weapon which can channel lightning from the nearby clouds. The electrically charged whip is able to crack Iron Man’s armor, much to Tony’s annoyance.

Getting in close to try to prevent Whiplash from using his trademark weapons. Unfortunately, mother nature has other ideas. Striking the filament whip, it causes a huge electrical discharge that sends both men plummeting to the ground. As Tony falls, a voice — in Iron Man’s modulation — cries out for help, saying that they are dying.[6] Tony doesn’t know where the voice is coming from and before he can make sense of it, he hits the ground hard.

When Tony wakes up he is in a hospital bed surrounded by his friends: Jim Rhodes, Pepper Potts, and Happy Hogan. They try to get him to relax when Rumiko Fujikawa barges into the room demanding to know why Tony never told her. When he asks what she is talking about, she tosses a newspaper on his bed. The front page story is about how Tony Stark has been outed as Iron Man when someone at the crash site lifted up his face plate so a picture could be taken.[7]

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Ultron, Whiplash, Jocasta, Rumiko Fujikawa, Pepper Potts, Trevor Donahue

Continuity Notes

1. Rumiko was upset that Tony wasn’t present during the evacuation of Isla Suerte during a volcanic eruption in Iron Man (vol. 3) #4-5, and again when Ultimo was on the rampage in Iron Man (vol. 3) #23-25.

2. Tony and Rumiko made up with one another in Iron Man (vol. 3) #½.

3. Stark is afraid of drinking alcohol because he is a recovering alcoholic. His drinking problems were first explored in Iron Man #128.

4. Whiplash mentions his last clash with Iron Man, that was in Iron Man (vol. 3) #8.

5. We’ll learn that Trevor Donahue — a crooked business man — is the one who hired Whiplash this time around. See Iron Man (vol. 3) #29.

6. This is the awakening of “Ultron Imperative” program that as secretly installed into the armor when Tony took on Jocasta as his onboard AI system in Iron Man (vol. 3) #18-20. This will all be revealed in Iron Man (vol. 3) #48.

7. This is a fake out, next issue we’ll learn that this is all just a dream. However, this nightmare takes place in Reality-29134 per the Unofficial Appendix. I don’t think it’s been mentioned anywhere in any official capacity and could be subject to change.

Topical References

• This story has Tony Stark and Rumiko Fujikawa celebrating New Years Eve 1999. This and references to it being the year 2000 or the “start of the new millennium” and other such phrases should be considered topical as they are relative to the date of publication. The celebration of New Years wouldn’t necessarily be considered topical as it is somewhat integral to the plot. Major holidays often happen in defiance of the Sliding Timescale.

• The event that Tony attends is called Tek2K the 2K standing for the year of the convention. This is another topical reference as it is relative to the date of publication.

• Joking about Tony’s injured nose, Rumiko suggests that he could be a model for Johnson and Johnson. J&J are a company that produces pharmaceutical products. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world company.

• Rumiko refers to something as the “bomb”, this was late 90’s early 00’s slang for something being very good. This should be considered topical as this is a dated term no longer used in youth culture. To call something “the bomb” now would actually make you sound old and lame.

• Rumiko mocks Tony’s $200 haircut. Adjusting for inflation the same haircut would cost about $350 in 2023 money.