Iron Man #229
Stark War: Chapter 5 - Red Snow
This story continues from Captain America #339…
After Iron Man’s growing crusade against those using his technology without authorization, the West Coast Avengers can no longer sit idly by and do nothing. After Iron Man bricked the Guardsmen armor at the Vault, Hawkeye calls a team meeting where the confront Tony Stark on what’s going on. Tony decides that he can’t keep the truth from them any longer and explains how his Iron Man technology was stolen and sold to criminals and other organizations. Fearing that his technology might harm innocent people, Tony decided to shut it all down. This has led to him attacking various super-villains as well as SHIELD and the Vault Prison.[1] When asked why he didn’t ask for help, Tony knew that the Avengers would have helped him and he doesn’t want them tarnishing their reputation. Now that the West Coast team is being considered guilty by association and since Tony has refused their help, Hawkeye warns him that the vendetta needs to stop.
Iron Man, however, leaves without a single word and returns to Stark Enterprises where he and Jim Rhodes begin planning their next target.
In Russia, the Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man have been called to Moscow to meet with government officials. The Russian government has been following Iron Man’s quest to shut down those using similar technology. Having deduced that similar components were used in both the Dynamo and Titanium Man’s armor, they have come to offer government protection. While the Crimson Dynamo is loyal to the state and welcomes their aid, the Titanium Man — aka the Gremlin — refuses their assistance, as he doesn’t trust them. The Crimson Dynamo’s attempts to convince the Gremlin to side with his government fail. This actually is playing into the government’s hand, as they intended to use Titanium Man as bait to destroy Iron Man.
Back in the United States, Tony Stark is hard at work rebuilding his stealth armor. While this will allow him to sneak into Russia undetected, he has to sacrifice a lot of his weapon capabilities to do so.[2] However, he was still able to add a few extra surprises to help him on his mission. Because this is going to be a very dangerous trip, Tony insists that Jim stay behind, instead flying himself to Russia with a pair of rocket thrusters attached to his armor. Once he crosses over into Russia, Iron Man heads to Siberia to search for the Titanium Man the ruins of Bitterfrost, the Gremlin’s former hideout.[3]
Iron Man’s hunch is correct as the Gremlin is hiding out in a secret underground bunker beneath Bitterfrost. Not far away, Russian operatives are observing the area waiting for Iron Man to appear so the Crimson Dynamo to go into action.
Although Iron Man gets the drop the Gremlin a security alert warning of the Crimson Dynamo’s approach distracts the hero long enough for Gremlin to get into his Titanium Man armor. Needing to change tactics, Iron Man retreats back outside where he will have more room to fight. After a brief clash with the Crimson Dynamo, Iron Man is able to attach a negator pack and disable his armor. That’s when Titanium Man arrives and Iron Man utilizes his ace-in-the-hole — the ability to change his armor from jet black to pure white so he can more easily blend in around the snow. However, Titanium Man isn’t willing to go down without a fight and after incapacitating Iron Man with a stasis beam grabs him in a bear hug.[4]
With no way to break free, Iron Man gambles by increasing the intensity of his jet boots to heat up Titanium Man’s armor to the point where the material of his suit catches fire. This gambit pays off, but the Titanium Man suddenly bursts into flame and crashes into sea. Believing he killed his foe, Iron Man is horrified and is forced to flee as Russian soldiers begin opening fire with him.[5]
The battle in Russia turns into an international incident and, back in the United States, the government decides that something needs to be done about Iron Man. Senator Boynton meets with Edwin Cord. The government has agreed to fund Project: Firepower in order to put a stop to the rogue Iron Man. Meanwhile, Tony is called in to yet another meeting at Avengers Compound. There, Hawkeye informs him that the team can no longer turn a blind eye to Iron Man’s activities and he has no choice but kick him off the team.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, Jim Rhodes, West Coast Avengers (Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Wonder Man, Hank Pym, Tigra), Edwin Cord,
Continuity Notes
In Iron Man #225, Tony discovered that Spymaster stole his Iron Man tech and sold it to Justin Hammer who in turn sold components to villains and organizations who use high tech armor. Here, Tony glosses over the various targets he has shut down, they include: the Controller (issue #225), the Raiders and Stingray (issue #226), the Beetle and SHIELD’s Mandroids (issue #227), and the Vault Guardsmen (issue #228 and Captain America #332)
Tony first created the stealth armor back in Iron Man #152. The suit was later destroyed in issue #175 to keep it and other spare suits of Iron Man armor from falling into the wrong hands.
Bitterforst was absolutely trashed in Incredible Hulk #188.
Iron Man recalls how Titanium Man used a stasis beam against him during their last battle. This happened in Iron Man #135. However, the man operating the Titanium Man suit was Boris Bullski, the original Titanium Man. The Gremlin usurped the Titanium Man identity with his own suit of armor in X-Men vs. The Avengers #1. However, Bullski is simultaneously active at the same time as we’ll see in Thor #354 and 357-358.
Although presumed dead here, the Gremlin will resurface — sans Titanium Man armor — in Savage Hulk #1.
Topical References
This story is full of dated Cold War references: Russian being referred to as being “behind the iron curtain” and as “Reds”. Russia is also called the USSR here. These should all be considered topical as the USSR dissolved in 1991.
