Iron Man #128
Demon in a Bottle
Having had enough of Tony’s downward spiral into alcoholism, Jarvis has resigned from his post as the Avengers butler. Used to blaming all his problems on Iron Man, Tony realizes that he only has himself to blame for Jarvis quitting.[1] He also knows that Iron Man is not to blame for SHIELD trying to buy up controlling stock in his company in order to force it back into the munitions game.[2] Drinking heavily this entire time, an inebriated Tony Stark decides to stop being so gloomy and go out on patrol as Iron Man. Tony is so impaired that he forgets to open the window before taking off with his jet boots.
Soon, the intoxicated hero comes upon a train derailment. It was carrying a tanker car filled with toxic chlorine gas. As the police begin cordoning off the area and arranging for safe removal, Iron Man arrives and tries to help. However, in his drunken state he manages to rupture the the tanker causing it to leak. Luckily, the area was already evacuated and the officers were wearing gas masks so nobody was hurt. This doesn’t change the fact that Iron Man fucked up bad and he is told to get lost.
Annoyed by the lack of gratitude, Tony returns to Stark International where he strips off his armor and goes to pour himself another drink. He is stopped by Bethany Cabe, who is concerned for Tony’s well being and has come to confront him about his drinking problem. At first, Tony tells her that he doesn’t need any help, but she tells him that he is acting just like Alex, her late husband. Tony is surprised to hear that Beth was once married that he stops to listen. She explains that she fell in love with Alexander Van Tilburg several years ago when he was named Germany’s Junior Ambassador to the United States. The pair quickly got married and Beth soon discovered that she was nothing more than window dressing for his diplomatic ambitions. So focused on his job, Alex soon became dependent on stimulants to meet the grueling demands of the job. His dependency turned into addiction and this led to the deterioration of their marriage. Not willing to get help for his problem, Alex soon drove Beth away. She concludes her story by saying that Alex died one night after driving his car off a bridge, but the doctors aren’t sure if this was suicide or if his drug abuse caused his heart to give out while driving, causing the accident.[3]
Tony gives Bethany his condolences, but she explains that she didn’t tell him this deeply personal story for his sympathy. She told it to him because she wanted to see how he is ruining his life like her late husband did. However, where she turned away from her husband, Beth refuses to abandon Tony. She scolds him for always shouldering everything by himself, pointing out that he has countless friends and loved ones who want to help if only he’ll let them into his life. When Tony continues to be silent, Beth figures her words are falling on deaf ears. However, before she can leave, Tony asks her for help and she runs back to him. As they hug one another, Tony drops his glass of whiskey, causing it to shatter on the ground.
Bethany is there for Tony every step of his drying out period. This is a very turbulent period as Tony becomes temperamental and verbally abusive whenever she denied him a drink. Cabe suffers this abuse until Tony breaks down, admits that he has a problem and begins the long road to healing. Soon, Tony can start focusing his mind on his work and can resume his work on new inventions with a steady hand. Once the worst of his withdrawal symptoms are over, Beth accompanies Tony on his road to making amends to the people he has wronged. The first person he visits is Jarvis, and apologizes for how shitty he was to the butler. Jarvis accepts Tony’s apology and agrees to come back to work. However, Jarvis’ mother has grown sick again and asks Stark for some time to be with her as she undergoes her expensive medical treatments. Tony agrees but tells Jarvis that he’ll foot the bill. That’s when Jarvis explains that he got the money by getting a loan. In order to do so, he had to use his two shares in Stark International as collateral.
Fearing that this could lead to SHIELD getting the final two stocks to get majority share in his company, Tony asks Jarvis to get the shares back. However, when the butler calls the loan holder, Mister Benchley, and explains the situation he is informed that the loan has entered into default because Jarvis did not disclose his recent unemployment. Hearing this, Stark realizes that Jarvis was screwed around by a loan shark and decides to do something about it. Changing into Iron Man, Tony pays a visit to Benchley at his Rockefeller Plaza office. There Iron Man offers to pay back the loan plus interest in exchange for the loans. When Benchley refuses, Iron Man begins wrecking the office until he pleads with the Avenger to stop. As much as Benchley now wants to give the shares back, he can’t because he already sold them to a government agency.
Realizing that his biggest fears have come to pass, Tony returns to Stark International and tries to pour himself a drink. Bethany and Jarvis try to talk Tony out of it and for a moment it looks like the pressure is going to break him. Thankfully, Tony’s willpower wins the day and he decides against having that drink. Later, while out for a drive with Bethany, Tony admits that he feels good for the first time in a long time and that his problems don’t seem so difficult anymore. He is now going to focus his energy on preventing the hostile take-over of his company and he is confident that this is a battle he can win.[4]
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Bethany Cabe, Edwin Jarvis, SHIELD, Alexander Van Tilburg (flashback)
Continuity Notes
Here, Tony states that Jarvis was in his employ for over 20 years. However, Iron Man: Legacy #1 shows Jarvis working as the Stark family butler back when Tony was still a young child. One could assume that here Tony is referring to how long Jarvis has worked for him directly and any time prior to that he was employed by Tony’s adoptive parents.
SHIELD has been trying to buy controlling stock in Stark International since Iron Man #119. Tony provided munitions to SHIELD since the modern version of the agency began operation in Strange Tales #135 until his company stopped manufacturing weapons post Iron Man #46.
However, Alex did not die here. His death was faked and has been living in a German prison ever since as we’ll see in Iron Man #152-153.
Although this story tries to wash away Tony’s alcoholism with a neat little resolution his struggles are far from over.
We will also learn that his drinking problem is deeply rooted. Iron Man #285-286, and 313 reveal that his adoptive father, Howard Stark, was an abusive alcoholic that once forced Tony to drink brandy to “be a man”.
Tony began his early experimentation with alcohol as a teenager as seen in Iron Man: Hypervelocity #1.
Tony will later fall off the wagon in Iron Man #167 leading to a bender that he will not get out of until issue #182.
Topical References
Alex Van Tilburg is identified as a diplomat for West Germany. When this story was published, Germany was split in two different countries following the end of World War II. The East was a communist country while the West was democratic. This was until 1989 when both halves of Germany reunified. It’s reference here should be considered topical.
Jarvis is depicted as having a rotary phone in his home. This should be considered a topical reference as this technology is obsolete.
