Iron Man #190
Losing the Touch!
Following his battle with Termite, one of Iron Man’s jet boots was damaged. Returning to Circuits Maximus, Jim Rhodes asks Tony to repair it. However, his tone is an angry one, as Jim has convinced himself that Tony is going to try and take back his Iron Man identity.[1]
Meanwhile, the Termite is still fleeing from the scene of his battle with Iron Man. Using his mutant powers to burrow through the earth he eventually finds himself in an underground cavern. Eyeing a massive stalagmite that he reminds him of how he was a talented sculptor before his mutant powers first manifested. He decides to use his powers to sculpt the mount of rock before him and creates a statue of a man. He decides that this statue will help him lure Iron Man out into the open so he can destroy the hero on behalf of Obaidah Stane.
Back at Circuits Maximus, Jim impatiently hovers over Tony’s shoulder while he is repairing the jet boot. When Tony suggests Jim talk about what’s bothering him. Jim’s temper explodes and he pulls out the chest plate that Tony’s been working on and says this is what’s bothering it. When Tony suggests that Jim get professional help, Jim grabs Tony by the collars and reminds him that he was being Iron Man while Tony was drinking his life away.[2] When Tony admits that this was true, Jim finally puts him down and storms out. While Morely Erwin is upset that Jim would behave in such a manner, Tony can empathize since he has figured out that Jim fears what might happen if he is forced to quit being Iron Man. With Jim becoming even more irrational with each day, Tony asks Morley and his sister Clytemnestra to help him finish rebuilding his original armor as he fears that he might be the only one to stop Rhodes if he gets out of control. [3]
Meanwhile, Iron Man has gone to a nearby forest to blow off some steam by wrecking the place. Being in the Iron Man armor makes Jim feel better. He then decides to prove he is worthy of being Iron Man by trying to pick up the Termite’s trail. Returning to the scene of their last battle, he uncovers the tunnel the Termite created to escape. He follows the tunnel to the cavern where the evil mutant created his sculpture. When part of the ceiling crumbles and falls on him, Jim spots another tunnel that the Termite used to leave the tunnel a few minutes before his arrival. Iron Man follows the tunnel to the surface which leads him into the middle of a highway. There he sees that the Termite’s attempt to escape caused a car accident between a couple out on a drive and a tanker hauling a load of liquid oxygen. This has caused a fire, and Iron Man is forced to stay behind and pull everyone to safety before the liquid oxygen explodes. However, in doing so, he is forced to let the Termite escape him again.
Back at Circuits Maximus, Tony Stark has made a deduction about the Termite being a mutant and calls the Vision at Avengers headquarters for help. While back in New York City, Obadiah Stane and his new mysterious female colleague are following Iron Man’s clashes with the Termite intently. Although his operative has not performed as well as he planned he still has his uses. He also looks forward to working with this woman, believing that it will be mutually advantageous.[4] Later, Jim Rhodes is back at Circuits Maximus moodily watching TV. When he catches a report about the Termite’s statue mysteriously appearing at an art gallery and decides to go and investigate.
As Iron Man departs from Circuits Maximus, the Scarlet Witch arrives at the facility in a Quinjet. She has come to deliver a mutant power nullifying weapon that she got from the government.[5] When Tony asks how Wanda feels about such a weapon since she herself is a mutant, the Witch figures she can trust the government to use the weapon responsibly.[6]
Meanwhile, the Termite arrives at the art show to see how people are responding to his work. When they dismiss it as being not very good, the Termite gets insulted and begins terrorizing the patrons. That’s when Iron Man arrives on the scene to engage his foe. However, Jim has become so irrational that he begins putting innocent bystanders at risk during the battle. Luckily, Tony Stark and the Scarlet Witch arrive on the scene and Tony uses the power nullifying weapon on the Termite to shut down his powers. Hearing the villain scream in agony, the Scarlet Witch realizes that this weapon is horribly inhuman. Furious that Tony and Wanda bailed him out, Iron Man grabs the weapon and snaps it in half before storming off.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Termite, Tony Stark, Morley Erwin, Cly Erwin, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Obadiah Stane, Madame Masque
Continuity Notes
There is a lot of interpersonal drama going on here:
Not long ago, Tony fell off the wagon in Iron Man #167 and spiraled deep into alcoholism to the point where he gave up being Iron Man, forcing Jim to take on the role in issue #169-170.
While Jim grew into liking the role, as explained in Iron Man #187, the cybernetic uplink in the Iron Man armor was not properly calibrated for his brain. As a result, Jim has been suffering painful headaches and has grown increasingly paranoid and irrational.
Tony eventually sobered up in Iron Man #182 and came back into Jim’s life. Since then, Jim has come to believe that Tony is going to take back the Iron Man armor from him despite the fact that Tony has no intention of doing so.
Despite this, Tony will be forced back into the roll in Iron Man #199-200.
Tony went on a lengthy bender from Iron Man #167-182.
Tony has been building a new suit of armor since last issue. It’s a replica of the original suit he first made back in Tales of Suspense #39. The last version of this armor was destroyed with all the other spare suits of Iron Man armor by Jim Rhodes in order to keep them from falling in the wrong hands, see Iron Man #174-175.
This mystery woman is Madame Masque as revealed in Iron Man #198, or rather a bio-duplicate of her as explained in Avengers (vol. 3) #32.
This was the same weapon that was used against Storm of the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #182. This story incorrectly attributes this to issue #181 of that series.
In reality, Wanda isn’t actually a mutant, something she won’t learn until years after this story. As an infant, she was experimented upon by the High Evolutionary. In order to cover up his work, he made it so future DNA tests would register her as a mutant. See Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5.
Topical References
Jim is depicted watching Popeye on TV. This is not necessarily a topical reference as Jim could be watching a re-run on TV. That said, he is watching it on a CRT television, which would be topical as these are obsolete.
