Iron Man #194
Otherwhere!
Tony Stark — forced into becoming Iron Man again — carries the mutated form of Godzilla out into the middle of the Pacific Ocean.[1] This task wears out the battery in Tony’s suit of armor. unable to power his jet boots, Tony falls into the ocean where he begins to sink like a stone. Since this original model has no life support systems, Tony realizes he might drown.
Meanwhile, Jim Rhodes arrives at the lab of Hank Pym in St. Louis. He hopes that Pym can cure him of the headaches he has been getting since becoming the new Iron Man.[2] He arrives just as Hank is activating a portal to another dimension. Pym is excited to tell Jim how he discovered that the mass he gains or displaces when he used his size changing powers actually comes from another dimension and that he wants to explore and learn more about it.[3]
As Pym is explaining the science behind his discovery, a tall crook barges into the lab hoping to use Hank’s Pym Particles to reduce his height by a few inches in order to evade capture by the police.
Back on the west coast, Hawkeye and Mockingbird are worried that Tony Stark hasn’t returned from disposing of Godzilla and go out looking for him in their Quinjet. Meanwhile, Tony struggles to strip off his armor before he is dragged down too deep. He manages to get free and swim to the surface before drowning. However, there is another storm coming in and he has no idea where he is or how to get back to the mainland. He decides to swim for it and hopes he’s going in the right direction.
And, at Hank’s lab, Jim decides to step in and shoves into the crook trying to threaten Hank. This causes him to fall backward into the portal. Hank reaches out to stop him from falling in, but gets pulled through the portal as well. Needing to save both men, Jim quickly changes into Iron Man. However, before he can enter the portal he is discovered by Hank’s assistant Alice Nugent. Quickly explaining the situation, she hands Iron Man a device that will help him get back to their dimension once he has found Hank and the crook. Jim hopes this will be a simple operation, but as he passes through the portal he is instantly disorientated by the this alternate plane of existence.
Meanwhile, Bethany Cabe arrives at Circuits Maximus looking for Tony Stark. There she meets with Morley Erwin and his sister Clytemnestra who tell her that Tony is out and they don’t know when he will be back. She tells them that she’ll be staying at a hotel in San Francisco.[3] Cly is instantly jealous of Bethany leaving her brother to realize that she is falling for Tony Stark.[4]
Out on the Pacific, Hawkeye and Mockingbird can find no trace of Tony Stark. Clint decides that it’s time to give up and suggests they pick up their other jet and head back to the mainland to report Tony lost at sea.
While in another dimension, Iron Man struggles to orientate himself in a world that doesn’t adhere to the usual laws of physics. Calling out to Hank Pym, he quickly finds the scientist and the crook trapped in this dimension. Not knowing how the device given to him by Alice, Hank instructs him how to use it. On the other side of the dimensional portal, Alice waits for Iron Man to come back, little realizing a creature from the other dimension has materialized in the lab. It quickly grows in size and attacks her from behind.
Across the country, in New York City, Obadiah Stane is annoyed that his operative, the Termite, failed to destroy Iron Man.[5] His mysterious female benefactor offers to send an operative of her own to finish the job.[6] She calls the Enforcer who agrees to take on the job. However, as he is heading out of his hotel room he is accosted by a homeless woman begging for change. When he tells her to scram, she pulls out a gun and shoots him through the chest with explosive shells, killing the Enforcer instantly. As his body falls to the ground, the woman proclaims that justice has been served.[7]
Out at sea, Hawkeye and Mockingbird arrive at the downed Quinjet and are delighted to find Tony on board alive and well. He was able to swim back to the ship and make the necessary repairs, figuring that Clint and Bobbi would come back here eventually.
While back in the other dimension, Iron Man fights off the strange creatures from this other dimension and succeeds in pulling himself, Hank Pym, and the crook back through the portal. Their return shunts the creature back, saving Alice’s life in the process. Once back in their proper dimension, the crook realizes that he’d rather face an unknown alien dimension than the authorities and leaps back through the portal. Hank vows to return the crook later, but first he wants to get a look at Iron Man and try and cure him of his headaches.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man (Stark), Iron Man (Rhodes), Enforcer, Scourge of the Underworld, Alice Nugent, Hank Pym, Bethany Cabe, Morely Erwin, Cly Erwin, Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Obadiah Stane, Madame Masque, Godzilla
Continuity Notes
Here, Godzilla isn’t referred to by name. The creature appeared in the Marvel Universe in the officially licensed Godzilla #1-24. However, at the time this story was published, Marvel no longer had the Godzilla license. While they could continue to feature their version of Godzilla, the creature had to be significantly changed and no longer mentioned by its original name.
Since becoming Iron Man, Jim had been afflicted with headaches and changes to his personality. This was because the cybernetic interface for the Iron Man armor wasn’t properly calibrated for his mind. This was revealed in issue #187 and fixed, but the issue continued to persist. Jim will be cured in issue #195.
The reason why Bethany is out looking for Tony is because she is trying to reconcile her feelings between him and her husband, Alex Van Tilburg. She will ultimately decide to divorce her husband. See Iron Man #205, 207-208.
Morley recounts how his sister kissed Tony Stark recently to wish him luck. That was in Iron Man #192.
The Termite went up against Iron Man in issue #189-190. He was de-powered and arrested for his crimes.
The mystery woman with Obadiah Stane is Madame Masque, or rather a bio-duplicate of her. Her identity is revealed in Iron Man #198. That she is a bio-duplicate and not the real Madame Masque is explained in Avengers (vol. 3) #32.
This killer is the Scourge of the Underworld, part of a league of assassins created by the golden age hero known as the Angel to kill supervillains, as explained in US Agent #1-4. This is but one of many victims. In Captain America #320, Scourge claims to be the Enforcer’s brother and this was his motivation for killing super-villains. However, since every Scourge seems to have a sob story about being related to a criminal, this confession is highly suspect.
