Iron Man (vol. 3) #51
Jane Doe, Part 1
The police have discovered another dead sex worker on the streets of New York. reason for her death isn’t obvious so they bag and tag her as another Jane Doe.
Not far away, a young street walker named Shelly is picked up by Tony Stark. As they head to “his place”, Tony learns that she has been living on the streets since she was 15 years old. She ran away from an abusive father who was addicted to crack. Sure, she sells her body on the street, but at least she is in control of her life.
In case you’re wondering why Tony Stark is picking up a prostitute, it’s because he is bringing her to a group home he funds call The Haven. He explains that the home exists to help young girls get off the street, get off drugs, and build new lives for themselves. He introduces Shelly to Abby St. Clair, who helps run Haven for him. Tony gives Shelly’s two hours pay to stick around and see what Haven has to offer. If she doesn’t like what she sees, she can keep the money and go back to her old life. While Tony Stark gave Shelly the soft pitch, Abby is more direct — if Shelly doesn’t want to listen to what they have to offer her, she can beat feet.
Meanwhile, Tony changes into Iron Man so he can get uptown in time for a special meeting of industrialists, entrepreneurs, and politicians to discuss the best way to enter a new Eastern European market opened up following the overthrow of dictator Milo Radanovich.[1] Other than Tony Stark, other important individuals in attendance include financial wizard an political heir Randall Johnson, Sr., sports equipment manufacturer Jean Claude du Beaubienne, Cardiff Construction owner Thomas Adkins, and Anjiro Shigeta of the Five Rings Corporation. Appearing before the press, Tony Stark tells the reporters that the people of Eastern Europe has been through a lot and the last thing they need is for American business interests to come in and exploit them further.
When finally goes inside, Pepper gives him grief for running late as he has a very busy schedule ahead of him. That’s when Tony realizes that he left his briefcase — the one he keeps his documents in, not the one he stashes his armor in — back to Haven. Pepper tells him to deal with the guests while she calls Abby and has her run the briefcase uptown to him. Tony meet first with Randall Johnson and his wife Helen. The couple joke about Tony interrupting their vacation, and he teases back by suggesting that Johnson is using the benefits of this trade deal to follow in the family footsteps and run for Senate, or perhaps the Oval Office. When Helen talks about how hard it is to get Randall to stop working, everyone jokes that “something came up” was Johnson’s usual excuse for cancelling plans.
That’s when when Jean Claude du Beaubienne comes in to schmooze with the ladies. Since Helen is married to Randall, he sets his sights on Tony’s assistant, Pepper Potts. Tony warns him that he’s barking up the wrong tree, but Jean Claude is convinced he could convince any woman to go home with him. It’s a good thing he didn’t place any bets because Pepper proves him wrong by dumping her drink on his pants. That’s when Adkins shows up badgering his assistant — Mary Reilly — the whole time. Tony also meets with Anjiro Shigeta. Tony remembers him from when Rumiko Fujikawa outbid him on the acquisition of Daltech the year before. Being reminded of this, rankles Anjiro who has some choice words to say about women in the work place. That’s when Mary Reilly tells her boss that she managed to get ahold of a client, Adkins leaves to take the call and puts down his assistant the entire way.
Back at Haven, Abby shows Shelly her paintings, which couldn’t have been possible had Tony not helped her turn her life around. She has aspirations to move to Sante Fe and become the next Georgia O’Keefe. She also tells Shelly her story, she got addicted to crack at age 14 and worked on the street just as Shelly is currently doing. That was until a violent John put her in a coma for two months. She doesn’t really remember what he looked like, but she gets short flashes of memories.
To try and jog her memory, she has done a number of paintings of his features as best she can over the years. She hopes to one day confront her attacker and ask her why he did what he did. Shelly doesn’t think men have a reason, recounting how her step-father sexually abused her as a child. How her mother refused to believe the truth because she didn’t want to be left like Shelly’s biological father. So the abuse continued and Shelly tried to normalize it because it couldn’t be stopped. Abby says life doesn’t have to be that way, she can take control of her life and get a fresh start through Haven, get the opportunities that Abby had once she was released from the hospital.
When Shelly asks about Stark himself, Abby assures her that he is not like other philanthropists who donate money to a cause and nothing more. Tony actually cares about the girls at Haven and can relate to their addictions issues as he has had his own demons to fight.[2] That’s when Abby gets a call from Pepper Potts, asking her to bring the briefcase that Tony forgot. Abby says she’ll run it right up. Before she leaves, she tells Shelly that her two hours are up, but she and Tony hope that she’ll still be at Haven when she comes back.
A few hours there is a fire at the warehouse distract that soon becomes a raging inferno. The building is one big fire hazard. When a team goes inside to make sure nobody is trapped inside, they find themselves trapped when the part of the roof collapses. The captain doesn’t want to risk any more of his men as those trapped inside are as good as dead. When the trapped fire fighters radio in to ask for help, the other turn it off so they don’t have to listen to their friends die.
That’s when Iron Man arrives and smashes into the building and clears the rubble so the firemen can get out. Tony detects that there is another person inside, trapped in the basement. Even though the heat from the flames are maxing out his armor’s cooling systems, he decides to venture deeper into the fire to rescue whoever that is. When he reaches the basement he is shocked to discover that the person trapped down there is Abby St. Claire. That’s when the ceiling collapses on top of him,
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts, Randall Johnson, Jr., Helen Johnson, Jean Claude du Beaubienne, Thomas Adkins, Mary Reilly
Continuity Notes
Iron Man kind of, but not really, helped overthrow Radanovich last issue.
This is a reference to Tony’s history of alcoholism. This was first explored in Iron Man #128.
Topical References
This story uses a lot of dated terms when referring to those who work in the sex trade and those with drug addictions. Prostitutes, hookers, junkies are the most commonly used ones. To many, these terms are considered derogatory and dehumanizing vulnerable people.
Tiffany charges $200 an hour, which would be about $334 in 2023 money. I wouldn’t know if this amount of money is on par for prostitutes who work on the street, so I can’t tell you if this is accurate or not. Probably isn’t.
When Iron Man speeds past a police speed trap, the officer checking the reading thinks Mario Andretti was driving by. He was one of the most famous race car drivers of his time. However, he retired in the year 2000. This should be considered a topical reference for that fact, but also because you can replace his name with a more contemporary race car driver and the joke will still work.
Tony compares Thomas Adkins yacht with the Queen Elizabeth II. At the time this was a famous luxury cruise ship. However, it went on its final cruise in 2008. It’s now an attraction. This should be considered a topical reference.
Abby St. Claire says that she wants to become the next Georiga O’Keefe. O’Keefe is a celebrated artist who died in 1986. She was considered a legend in 1920.
The news cameraman covering the fire is depicted using a camera that records footage on cassette tape. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a obsolete technology.
