The Deep End, Part 1: Meeting Hell

Hatra, Iraq - Ten Days Ago

Archeologist Rob Schweiger is investigating ancient Mesopotamian ruins when he is found by American soldiers on patrol. At first they think he is a looter and order him to stand down. Rob convinces them that he is from the Lake Superior State University. He is delighted to have someone to talk about his discovery. He tells them that this is temple was the center of a Assyrian cult that worshiped the goddess Ishtar. He gets lost explaining to the soldiers that Ishtar was the goddess of war and love that he has to be shoved to the ground when they start taking enemy fire. Whatever is shooting at them fires plasma that completely incinerates a soldier where he is standing. Soon, all the soldiers are dead, leaving only Rob Schweiger the only left alive. That’s when an entity made of fire reaches approaches him. He believes that this is Ishtar, and the entity confirms this. Seeing him as a man of knowledge, she tells him to take her hand and know her. Moments later, Rob Schweier screams.[1]

Washington, DC - Now

Tony Stark is being sworn in as the new Secretary of Defense outside the Capitol Building in Washington. Among members of the government and the media who are present for the ceremony are members of the Avengers, as well as Tony’s former employees at Stark Enterprises. After signing the proper documents, Tony spends some time shaking hands with people in the crowd, but he is eager to get to work. As he makes his rounds, officials watch, amused as they only view Stark as a rich playboy who they think will be in over his head.

When Tony is brought to the Pentagon a few hours later, he is introduced to most of the military brass that was available at the time. After formalities are out of the way, Stark surprises them by getting right down to business. Tony then goes around the room and gives instructions to each and every man in the room. He has full command of the situation and leaves them all in stunned silence, shattering any illusion they had that this Secretary of State was going to be a pushover.[2]

Tony maintains a professional and strong composure until he is alone in his office. Then he allows himself to let his guard down as he realizes the magnitude of the job he has undertaken. He only wanted this job to stop Sonny Burch from putting the troops in harms way. He isn’t sure if he can handle such an overwhelming job. Looking at his Iron Man helmet, which still needs to be repaired after the cargo plane incident, Tony doesn’t even know when he’ll have time to make repairs.

Soon, Tony is called to a meeting that has been bumped up in the schedule. On his way, he is met by Commander John Rayburn, who was involved in the Sonny Burch fiasco. Tony is happy to hear the Rayburn is co-operating with the investigation into the incident as he wants no secrets regarding the fiasco. He wants Tony to meet with their someone in Burch’s “alpha team” at DARPA. When Tony tries to brush him off, John shouts that Burch had a good idea. This stops Tony dead in his tracks and he turns around to hear what Rayburn has to say. John repeats that it was a good idea, even though Burch went about it all wrong. He just wanted Stark to know that the soldiers on the team didn’t like how Sonny went about his job. Tony knows what he means, referring to the soldier who tipped him off to the crisis as it was unfolding — perhaps implying that he knows it was John himself that made the call — and hopes that the people on John’s team can follow that example.

When Tony sits down to a meeting at the White House, he informs the Vice President that he stopped the use and sale of a Russian Crimson Dynamo unit. However, when it comes to the situation in Iraq, he doesn’t know what to do. That’s when he is given intel on the recent situation. A team of soldier and an archeologist went missing days in the desert between the Tigers and the Euphrates. Since then milk and oil tankers have gone missing from the highway to Kurdistan. There were no clues until a few days ago they found the remains of some of the missing vehicles. The strange thing is that something has corroded them so badly that they appear to have been out in the desert for decades instead of days. The only chatter they have gotten from insurgents in the area is oddly about procuring paintball equipment. When the President arrives and is informed about the situation, Tony has determined that this is a Avengers level threat. The President then suggests that Tony pack a bag and investigate the situation in person.

Meanwhile, at Edgewood arsenal, that technician that Commander Rayburn wanted Tony to speak to gets news that his request was denied. Furious, the man puts on another suit of armor and vows to get revenge on Tony Stark for everything that he has done to him.[3]

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Stuart Conrad, John Rayburn, “Ishtar”, Henry Gyrich, Avengers (Captain America, Black Panther, Warbird, Falcon), Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts, Force, Redwing

Continuity Notes

1. It’s later revealed in Iron Man (vol. 3) #81 that “Ishtar” is actually an ordinary woman named Leyla an Iraqi that was transformed by mine run off years earlier.

2. One of the things Tony wants to do is straighten out the mess left by Sonny Burch. Burch was the former Undersecretary of Procurement. When Tony revealed his identity to the public in Iron Man (vol. 3) #55, Burch exploited a loophole in the law that allowed him to unseal previously top secret Stark weapons patents. However, these were based on old Stark tech and was prone to malfunction. When Burch almost caused a plane full of soldiers to be blown out of the sky, he chose to commit suicide than face punishment. See Iron Man (vol. 3) #73-79.

3. Unidentified here, we learn next issue that this man is Clayton Wilson, aka Force, who first appeared in Sub-Mariner #66-68. Following the events of Iron Man #222-224, Tony helped Clayton get out of a life of crime and the wrath of Justin Hammer by setting him up with a new identity and a job. He was last seen in Iron Man #300.

Topical References

• This story was written during the early days of the War on Terror and the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan that were in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. As such, a lot of the attitudes and depictions of the United States government are influenced by this particular point in time. While these themes are merely implied, they should be considered topical.

• That said, the story is rooted as taking place in and around Iraq. This fact cannot be changed without altering the story. Modern readers should interpret this story as taking place in Iraq, although not during the conflict that took place between 2003 and 2011. One could assume that this is a conflict unique to the fiction, much in the same way that Marvel has created the Sin-Cong Conflict to stand in for Modern Age stories that were written during and featuring the Vietnam War.

• Rob Schwigger is wearing a Detroit Tigers baseball cap. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world baseball team.

• Rob Schwigger states that research into the temple was stopped by former Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, years earlier. IRL, Hussein was captured and executed in 2006 during the Iraq War. Schwigger’s statement isn’t necessarily topical as his statement could still be true in a historical context.

• When Rob tells the soldiers that the people here worshiped Ishtar, one of the soldiers quips that they “could pick a better movie than that.” He is referring to the 1987 comedy Ishtar. The movie followed American song writers travelling to Morocco and getting caught up in a Cold War stand-off. The film was a commercial flop. Since this is just a joke (and a dated one at that) this is a topical reference with extreme prejudice.

• The military equipment depicted in this story was what was used by the various branches of the military at the time this story was published. Instead of singling them all out and identifying them one at a time, just assume they are all topical as they are or will be replaced with something new in the future.

• The President, Vice-President, and Secretary of State are depicted as George W. Bush, Dick Chaney, and Condoleezza Rice respectively. These were the individuals who filled those roles at the time this comic was published. As the Bush administration finished its two terms in 2009 this should be considered a topical reference as well.

• Tony warns the brass that he wants to hear about things from them before its aired on CNN. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world TV network.

• One of the military brass quips “So much for morning briefings at the Playboy Mansion.” This was the name of the home owned by Playboy founder Hugh Heffner. Heffner lived there from 1974 until his death in 2017. The mansion has since become designated a historical building, as such its reference here would not be considered topical.

• When told that he has a meeting coming up, Tony jokingly asks where the secret escape hatch is, quipping that Robert McNamara must have had one installed. McNamara was the Secretary of Defense from 1961 to 1968. Since this is a historical reference this wouldn’t be considered topical.