Iron Man #291
Judgement Day
The robotic forces of Osamu Moroboshi have attacked Stark Enterprises. Their mission is to eliminate Jim Rhodes, who they still believe is CEO of the company. Little do they know that Jim has quit and Tony Stark is back with a brand new suit of remotely piloted Iron Man armor primed to stop them.[1]
While Iron Man is fighting off the invaders at his company, Jim Rhodes is being attacked by a second unit of battle robots that have showed up at his house. Annoyed by this attack, Jim races up to the roof of the building for better cover.
Meanwhile, back at Stark Enterprises, Iron Man manages to get on the remote piloted tank and hard wire into its computer interface. This causes his mind to be directly linked to the computer through the Iron Man armor’s remote interface. The sensory input is almost too much for him to handle and he just barely manages to shut down the tank and the other robots before his mind is lost. He also picks up the secondary mission parameters targeting Jim Rhodes. Even though his armor is heavily damaged — which translates to physical pain for Tony — he heads off to save Jim.
He arrives as Jim is cornered on the roof by his would be assassins. Iron Man then drops a metal backpack containing the War Machine armor, telling Jim that he must use it to defend himself. Since the Iron Man armor is heavily trashed, Jim realizes that he has no choice and grudgingly puts on the War Machine suit. With the War Machine’s heavy weaponry, Jim makes short work of the robots.
Deciding that he and Tony need to talk, Jim then hauls the ruined suit of remote Iron Man armor back to Stark Enterprises and dumps it at the foot of Tony’s hospital bed. He tells Tony that they are done for good this time and begins stripping off the War Machine armor. Tony uses his mental control over machines to lock the room just long enough for Jim to hear him out. Stark apologizes for keeping his survival a secret and regrets it because it has now cost him his friendship with his best friend. Still, he tells Jim that he should take the War Machine armor as he earned the right to wear it and he can still do lots of good with it. With that Jim is allowed to leave and he is about to storm out empty handed when he realizes that Tony’s at least right about how much good he can do as War Machine. Grudgingly taking the armor back home with him, Jim then puts in a call to the Avengers West Coast.[2]
Back at Stark Enterprises, Tony reflects on all the changes that have happened recently. As he contemplates an uncertain future, Erica Sondheim comes in to check up on him and notices that Tony’s hand is moving. To his surprise, Stark is able to lift his arm up off the bed, all be it he is still very weak. Erica wants to run a bunch of tests, but Tony says that they can wait until after he holds a press conference to announce to the world that he is still alive.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, War Machine, Erica Sondheim
Continuity Notes
Lots going on off the top so let’s break it down: Tony was shot in the spine and got a bio-chip implant to regain his mobility. Some bad guys hacked it ruining Tony’s central nervous system making him a man on borrowed time. Stark then faked his death and went into cryogenic suspension while a team of scientists worked to find a cure. Jim was then appointed CEO and was unaware that Tony was still alive. When Tony was cured and dethawed he revealed he was still alive to Jim and Rhodes was so upset he quit on the spot. See Iron Man #242, 248, 258-266, 284 and 289 for the harrowing drama.Tony will be fully back on his feet in issue #300.
This leads to War Machine joining the AWC as seen in Avengers West Coast #94.
Topical References
On the opening splash page, Iron Man says “Say goodnight, Gracie.” This is a quote frequently said by comedian George Burns when he signed off at the end of every episode of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show which ran on television from 1950-1958. This should be considered a topical reference for a lot of reasons. Burns died in 1996 being a good one. If you didn’t know any of this going in, that’s why this is a topical reference.
The narrative of this story states that it is the year 1992. This date should also be considered topical relative to the date of publication due to the Sliding Timescale.
Likewise should references to Iron Man’s armor being called the “1993 model” be considered topical.
