Iron Man (vol. 3) #39
Remote Control, Part 3
Now
Tony Stark is being chased by three armed gunmen. All he has to defend himself is a pair of pistols. Running into the World Trade Center for cover, his would-be assassins follow him inside.
Ducking into a closet, Tony realizes he can will his armor to materialize around him and he does. He blasts through his attackers and decides it is time to end things.
How is all of this possible? Well it’s a long story….
Earlier
Tony Stark has been having a rough go of it recently. Not long after Rumiko Fujikawa dumped him, he caught her in bed with Tiberius Stone, an old friend from private school. This was followed by a media smear campaign by medica companies that are owned by Viastone, Ty’s multimedia company.
Currently, the news magazine program 20 Vision is holding a special report on Tony’s secret alter-ego, Iron Man. The report brings up another of controversies involving the hero including the murder of the Carnelian Ambassador, the so-called Armor Wars, it raises questions about Iron Man’s recent involvement in the disappearance of Littletown, Nebraska, and recent allegations of religious intolerance. It then turns to Tony Stark’s questionable behavior over the years. From his struggles with alcoholism, to his relationship with former Maggia boss Madam Masque, the loss of his company to Stane International. Lastly, they touch on the time he was shot by obsessed ex-girlfriend Kathy Dare, creating an injury that Tony briefly faked his death while searching for a cure.[1]
Host, Beatrice Walders has Captain America as a guest to answer her questions about both Iron Man and Tony Stark. Cap says that both men are beyond reproach, reminding Beatrice how Iron Man has saved the world countless times as well as Tony’s philanthropic contributions through the Maria Stark Foundation. In fact, the hero takes offense as to how the media is portraying either man, calling it a smear campaign. He says if there is any truth to any of the accusations, Captain America would be the first person to bring either man. Cap takes even more offense when the reporter suggests that his opinion might be influenced by the fact that Stark’s company finances the Avengers. When the interview is over, Cap is joined by Carol Danvers — aka Warbird — who assures Cap that he did his best she should know as she once worked for J. Jonah Jameson.[2]
At that same moment, Iron Man saved Tiberius Stone from being held hostage by the Radioactive Man. With the villain reaching critical mass, the hero dumped him in the middle of Central Park where it will be easier to minimize the damage. Caught in the nuclear blast, Iron Man’s armor is at risk of melting under the extreme heat. Even though he is still working out the bugs, he channels all available power to his new experimental teleportation device. With some lucky, he manages to teleport to safety.
As he crash lands on the ground, Tony gets a call from his assistant, Pepper Potts. This comes at the perfect time as he needs help getting back to the office to recharge his mechanical heart.[3] The reason why called was because Trevor Donahue wants to have a meeting with Stark. Since Donahue somehow factors into all of this, Stark is very interested to hear what he has to say. After a quick recharge and chanting out of his Iron Man armor, Tony is at Donahue’s office. He’s not interested in listening to any more bullshit. He wants to know what Trevor’s connections are to the smear campaign that has been targeting him.
Donahue says that he wasn’t involved in this plot at all, Trevor points out that his reputation was already in the gutter, so he doesn’t have a reason to drag his own name through the mud. He insists that the mastermind behind all of this is Tiberius Stone. Tony admits to himself that Ty is the only one who could have done all of this, but just refused to allow himself to believe it. He decides to hear out Travor’s explanation. Donahue says that this all started with the death of Tiberius’ parents. Trevor reminds Tony that he was friends with Ty’s father, who was a primary rival Howard Stark, Tony’s father.[4] Tony can believe that his father was that ruthless. That’s when Trevor implies that the Stone car accident wasn’t an accident. When Tony calls him out on this, Trevor clarifies by saying that it’s wasn’t an accident, but a suicide brought about by the loss of the Stone family business.
This is a shock and Tony butt it also explains why Tiberius might be trying to ruin his life. Trevor continues his story, saying that he took young Tiberius under his wing and taught him everything he knows about running business. The young Stone is a hundred times more ruthless than Trevor could ever be. Tony then asks what Trevor has to gain from telling him all of this. That’s when Donahue reveals that he has nothing to gain from any of this because he has a terminal illness that doctor’s can’t identify. He knows that Tiberius was the one who made him sick and the merger with Donahue Developments is his coup de gras. Trevor hopes that Tony can take down Stone for him because he is too old and sick to do it himself.
Meanwhile, Iron Man takes another publicity hit in the aftermath of his battle with the Radioactive Man. It left part of Central Park partially radioactive. It has also apparently taken the life of the Radioactive Man and Milo Stevens, the latter of was Tiberius Stone’s right hand man.[5]
Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan are watching this news coverage when Tony returns to the office. He tells them how this is all the work of Tiberius Stone. Tony intends to end thing right away. However, he intends that this will hurt his business even further. He doesn’t want Pep or Hap to get caught up in it and says he is releasing them from their contracts so they can leave and find new work so they aren’t affected from the fallout. After a moment’s consideration, both decline Tony’s offer, saying that they are there for him no matter what. With warms Tony’s heart, but feels he doesn’t deserve such great friends.
Tony then races down to the Viastone building. After checking to make sure his signal watch is in working order in case he needs to become Iron Man at a moment’s notice. When he approaches the front door, security invites him in, saying that Tiberius is expecting him. When he arrives in Stone’s office, Ty mocks him for not figuring things out soon. Tony doesn’t bother speaking, he just hits his former friend with a good right hook. When Ty gets back up, Tony tries to understand why. It’s then that he learns that Ty’s parents didn’t die in a suicide. In fact, Tiberius tampered with his parents car to intentionally cause an accident. His reasons for ruining Tony’s life weren’t revenge, but their long running competition with one another. When Tony threatens to brings this public, Stone laughs. He doubts that the police will re-open the case. More over, when the media gets wind of it, people will think that Tony Stark is lashing out against his negative publicity.
Tony begs to differ and attempts to storm out of the office. That’s when Ty activates a device that pierces Tony’s neck, putting him in a catatonic state.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Tiberius Stone, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, Trevor Donahue, Carol Danvers, (in flashback) Howard Stark
Continuity Notes
Lots of Iron Man related drama that is recounted here. Some are referenced, some are not. Let’s break it down:
Some of the footage that goes unreferenced is a image of Iron Man and Firestar fighting Ultron drones. This was from when Ultron wiped out the nation of Slorenia in Avengers (vol. 3) #19-22.
Iron Man seemingly murdered Carnelian ambassador Sergei Kotznin in the middle of a press conference as seen in Iron Man #124. He later proved that rival businessman Justin Hammer had hacked into his armor and remotely triggered his repulsor rays as seen in issue #126.
The Armor Wars happened when Tony discovered that some of his Iron Man tech had been poached and was being used without his authorization. As Iron Man he went about bricking everyone’s stolen Iron Man tech, including government operatives. In order to escape persecution, Tony faked Iron Man’s death, he then tricked the public into thinking he hired someone new to wear the suit. See Iron Man #225-232 and Captain America #340.
More recently, Iron Man and the Fantastic Four tried to save Littletown from being consumed by the Ego spore. Unfortunately, they arrived too late to save the town, but they did save the world. See Iron Man (vol. 3) #35 and Maximum Security #1-3.
Also recently, Iron Man got in hot water for trying to refusing to admit Triathlon into the Avengers in Avengers (vol. 3) #27. This was because Triathlon was a member of the Triune Understanding which was secretly trying to smear the Avengers good name since issue #9 of that series.
Tony has had a long history of alcohol abuse which included two particularly damaging benders from Iron Man #120-128 and 167-182.
Madame Masque, aka Whitney Frost, had a short lived romance with Tony Stark from Iron Man #104 through 116.
The loss of Stark International to Obadiah Stane happened during Tony’s second bender, circa Iron Man #173. Stark did eventually buy back the company in Iron Man #283.
Tony was shot through the spine by Kathy Dare in Iron Man #242. Tony was confined to a wheelchair until he restored his mobility with an experimental bio-chip in Iron Man #248. TL;DR this led to further health complications forcing Tony to fake his death in Iron Man #284 while a cure was found in Iron Man #289.
Lastly, they mention the rivalry between Stark and Trevor Donahue and how Iron Man murdered Whiplash. See Iron Man (vol. 3) #26-29 and the last two issues.
J. Jonah Jameson, best known for being the publisher of the Daily Bugle newspaper, has had it out with superheroes (and Spider-Man in particular) since Amazing Spider-Man #1. Carol previously worked for Woman Magazine which was published by Jameson. Her tenure at the mag lasted from Ms. Marvel #1 to 22. Jameson ended up firing her.
Tony had his original heart (which was failing on him) with a mechanical one in Iron Man (vol. 3) #30. Now he needs to keep it charged or he will die. No pressure.
Howard Stark is spoken about as though he is Tony’s biological father. However, years later, it is revealed that Tony was actually adopted as revealed in Iron Man (vol. 5) #17.
Reports of Radioactive Man’s death are greatly exaggerated, as we’ll see next issue.
Topical References
Tony is depicted going into one of the original twin towers of the World Trade Center. It is also seen as part of the New York City skyline in this story. This should be considered a topical reference as these buildings were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. They were replaced by a Freedom Tower.
Some of the computer monitors and TVs in this story are depicted as CRT model units, especially in the flashbacks. This should be considered topical as these are now obsolete technologies, even the flashbacks as they take place in the Pre-Modern Age.