Iron Man #188
And Grimm Shall Be Their Name!
After discovering that the Iron Man armor’s cybernetic interface has been the cause of Jim Rhodes’ headaches and personality changes, Tony Stark goes to Bistro Electronics to make the necessary adjustments.[1] The owner of the company, Benny Bistro, asks Tony to repair a waveform analyzer. Tony agrees to do the job in exchange for their surplus components that would help the new start-up company Tony is building with Jim, Morly Erwin and his sister Clytemnestra. rimes.
Meanwhile, at a closed down theater purchased by Barton and Percy Grimes, the two brothers have come across the costumes once owned by the Brothers Grimm. Barton is certain that they can make up for the losses from buying the theater by using the costumes to committing crime.[2] Putting on the costume, Barton fires streamers out of his fingers that tie up his brother. He realizes that the magical weapons the Brothers Grimm used are somehow tied to the costumes, making them even more valuable.
While back at the Erwin tech start-up, Tony Stark returns Jim’s Iron Man helmet. Although Jim thanks Tony for his work, its a back handed compliment as he also brings up Tony’s past drinking problems.[3] Jim’s continued cruel streak has Tony and the Erwin siblings even more concerned for his well being. Not far away, Jim is testing out his armor to ensure that it is in proper working order when he is struck by yet another headache, despite the adjustments Tony just made to his armor.
The next day, the Grimes brothers have decided to use their newfound powers to attack the Pines restaurant. They wanted to buy the business for themselves but were outbid by a rival named Winston Agronsky.
Meanwhile, Cly Erwin arrives at work with their first commission: helping with the development of a video game called Circus of Monsters. This gives her inspiration for a name to call their new start-up: Circuits Maximus. Although Morley finds it corny, Jim likes it. Tony meanwhile looks over the specifications and comes up with a design in a matter of moments, impressing Cly. With their first job in the bag, Jim suggests that they go out and celebrate.
Incidentally, they all agree to go to Pines and are present when the Brothers Grimm begin terrorizing the patrons. Jim slips away and changes into Iron Man to face them. Although the hero is more powerful than the Brothers, Jim’s increasingly erratic behavior causes them to make fools out of Iron Man and escape. His pride injured by this defeat, Iron Man insists on standing guard at the Pines until the Brothers Grimm return. Concerned about Jim’s sanity, Tony and the Erwin siblings begin looking into the Brothers Grimm. When the Brothers Grimm return to the Primes, Iron Man manages to drive them off, but not before they set the business on fire.
Meanwhile, Tony checks the city records and from the information he gathers, he is able to tip off the police to the true identity of the Brothers Grimm. When Percy and Barton Grimes arrive at their real estate business the next day, the cops are waiting to put them under arrest.
Back at Circuits Maximus, Tony explains that he was able to figure out the Brother’s true identity when one of them accidentally referred to themselves as the Brothers Grimes. This allowed Tony to look up land records and discover that they lost their bid to Pines. This annoys Jim who is beating himself up for screwing up his job so badly and storms out. Tony figured something like this would happen but they all figure he’ll get over it. They then turn their attention to Tony’s latest pet project, a reconstruction of his original Iron Man armor.[4] While outside, Jim is struck with another headache, as a pain subsides he finds himself unable to control his temper and shouts that he hates Tony Stark.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Brothers Grimm, Tony Stark, Morley Erwin, Cly Erwin
Continuity Notes
Since becoming Iron Man in Iron Man #169, Jim has been plagued with headaches and a change in personality. The improper calibrations were discovered last issue. Jim’s health problems will endure until he is cured in issue #195.
Barton recounts the criminal career of the original Brothers Grimm. See Spider-Woman #3-12.
Having developed a drinking problem, Tony is current recovering from his recent bender that occurred from Iron Man #167 through 182.
This would be a recreation of Tony’s first suit of armor built way back in Tales of Suspense #39. The last model of this armor was destroyed by Jim along with all of Tony’s other spare suits of armor in order to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. See Iron Man #174-175.
Topical References
Clytemnestra states that their first gig as a company is to develop a circuit board for a new video game. This story was written during the heyday of video games where games were stored on cartridges that ran all the game functions on an circuit board inside that was tailor made for that specific game. As home consoles advanced the hardware needed to run games was streamlined to be on the consoles themselves with the games themselves being entirely software based. As such, what Circuits Maximus is building in this story should be considered topical.
