Iron Man #102
Dreadknight and the Daughter of Creation!
While trying to return home following his battle with the Mandarin, Iron Man finds himself brought to a Swiss castle by none other than the Frankenstein Monster and the diminutive Children of the Damned. Iron Man was brought to help liberate their mistress, the Baroness Frankenstein from the Dreadknight. However, they were caught bringing the Avenger to the castle and Dreadnight — astride his genetically modified Hellhorse — incapacitates both Iron Man and Frankenstein with his high-tech weapons. With their defeat, Dreadnight orders the Children to toss them in the dungeon.
Back in the United States, Krissy Longfellow and Harry Key notice that they are being followed by Jasper Sitwell, SHIELD’s liaison to Stark International.[1] When Harry whips his car around onto the opposite lanes on the highway to make an escape, Jasper activates his car’s flying function so he can continue pursuit. The entire scene is witnessed by Jack Hart who notices the two drivers came from Stark International and decides to check things out.
Meanwhile, Iron Man wakes up in the castle dungeon shackled to a machine that is recharging his armor but also using its power to keep him restrained. Locked up with him is the Frakenstein’s Monster and the Baroness Frankenstein,[2] who tells Iron Man how she ended up a prisoner in her own dungeon. It all started with Bram Velsing, a scientist who worked for Doctor Doom in nearby Latveria. Velsing felt that his talents were being wasted working for a tyrant like Doom and intended to flee the country with Maria, his lover. However, he was overheard calling himself Doom’s superior and was confronted in his home. Doctor Doom admitted that he and Bram Velsing were indeed very similar with one exception: Victor Von Doom’s face was horribly scarred, forcing him to wear a mask at all times.[3] Doom decided to make them even more equal, and had his men fuse a mask to Bram’s face.
That’s when Dreadknight enters the dungeon and finishes the tale: After the mask was fused to his face, Bram Velsing fled into the wilderness where he eventually collapsed from exhaustion. There he was found by the Children of the Damned who took him back to Castle Frankenstein where Victoria nursed him back to health. When Velsing awoke, Victoria welcomed him as a guest and showed him a winged horse she has failed to restore to normal.[4] This, and Victoria’s other creations inspired Bram Velsing to amass an army of mutated creatures to get revenge against Doctor Doom. He then began creating armor and weapons and started calling himself the Dreadknight.
With the explanations out of the way, Dreadknight demands that the Baroness reveal the location of Victor Frankenstein’s notebooks. When she refuses, he begins threatening to burn her with the flame thrower built into his lance. Seeing his mistress in trouble angers the Monster of Frankenstein giving the creature enough strength to break free from his bonds. Catching Dreadknight off guard, the monster also manages to free Iron Man from his shackles as well. Dreadknight flees outside where he takes flight on his Hellhorse. However, Iron Man is just as adept in the air as he is on the ground and he eventually manages to knock the villain from his horse.
The Dreadknight then tries to escape by blasting the rampart wall where the Baroness is watching the battle, causing her to fall. As expected, Iron Man stops fighting in order to save her from harm. However, before the villain can escape he is knocked out by the Monster. In the aftermath of the battle, Iron Man figures that the Dreadknight will become another charge in Victoria’s care. This prompts the Frankenstein Monster to consider himself and the other creatures who live there as nothing more than freaks that need to be hidden away. Iron Man disagrees with this, telling the Monster that it is more human than most. This is mirrored by the Baroness who tells the creature that it’s not the monster it makes it out to be and asks it to stay and help raise the Children of the Damned with her.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Dreadknight, Krissy Longfellow, Jasper Sitwell, Frankenstein’s Monster, Children of the Damned, Baroness Frankenstein, Jonathan Hart, Harry Key, Hellhorse, Doctor Doom (flasbhack)
Continuity Notes
“Krissy” is actually Madame Masque in disguise and the pair are involved in a scheme by Mordecai Midas to seize control of Stark International. The whole convoluted plot is detailed in Iron Man #103-107.
Here Veronica Frankenstein states that she is the great-granddaughter of Victor Frankenstein, the man who created the titular monster. This is proven false in Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #37, which specifies that she is actually a descendant to Ernst Von Frankenstein, Victor’s brother. That said, Victoria’s position on the Frankenstein family tree is locked in place, per Hulk Monster-Sized Special #1 which reveals that Victoria had access to a formula that slowed her aging process.
Doctor Doom’s own hubris led to his face being disfigured when he attempted to contact his mother in the afterlife with a device that literally blew up in his face. Accounts of how seriously his face was scarred vary, but Doom later caused even more damage when having his iron mask forged by monks and put it on before it could properly cool. See Fantastic Four #5, 276, Annual #2, and Books of Doom #1-6.
Iron Man realizes that this horse was the own previously owned by Nathan Garrett, the evil Black Knight who died fighting the hero in Tales of Suspense #73.
