Iron Man (vol. 3) #17
Your Young Men Shall Slay Dragons
Seduced by a mystical jade dragon statue, Seattle native Billy Yuan had been possessed by the dragon known as Fin Fang Foom. In a battle with Iron Man, Yuan was then swarmed by an army of lizards that merged together to transform him completely into Fin Fang Foom. Finally free after years of being imprisoned the massive dragon chases Iron Man across the skies over the city.[1]
As Iron Man fights for his life, Happy Hogan is on the first day of his new job as head of the Maria Stark Foundation. He is taking Hannah Donovan — who runs the local children’s gym — with him. Happy is nervous about being a spokesperson for Tony Stark’s philanthropic efforts, particularly since he has no experience and worried he’s going to screw things up.[2][3] That’s when they hear a radio bulleting about Iron Man’s battle with Fin Fang Foom that’s happening at the Pike Place Waterfront. Happy quickly turns his car around and heads in that direction.
Meanwhile, Fin Fang Foom finds himself fighting on two different fronts. In the physical world, he is trying to destroy Iron Man, while in his mind he is in a struggle for dominance with Billy Yuan. Having wanted the dragon’s power to somehow save his sister — who is in a coma due to a drug overdose — he now realizes that Fin Fang Foom used him. Foom attempts to dominate Billy’s essence and make their merger permanent, but Billy continues to fight him. As the battle rages on over Seattle, emergency crews arrive on the scene and begin evacuating people from the area. Happy Hogan soon arrives on the scene as well and volunteers to help on behalf of the Maria Stark Foundation.
Eventually, Fin Fang Foom grows impatient with the two battles he is fighting and breaks off his attack from Iron Man. Diving into the ocean, Fin Fang Foom loses his foe by burrowing deep below the silt on the ocean floor. While the dragon could stay hidden for years, it yearns to be free and wants to destroy Iron Man. However, Fin Fang Foom wants to deal with Billy Yuan first so he can have full control over his new body.
By this time, Iron Man has come to assist with the relief effort. When the news media arrives to get the story, the rescue crews are wondering where to put all the displaced people. That’s when Happy Hogan says to put them all in hotels and that the Maria Stark Foundation will pick up the tab. When a reporter asks if he is serious, he confirms that he is but doesn’t stick around to talk much because there are still people who need help.
With most of the hard work done, Iron Man returns to the Space Needle and changes out of his armor just in time to see Ramona off. As planned, Pepper shows up and tells Tony that there is important work that needs his attention back at Stark Solutions. As they see Ramona off, Pepper notes how pretty shit is. Tony then explains that she seems more interested in Iron Man than himself and wonders if he’ll ever meet the right woman. This leads to an awkward moment of silence between the pair before they get back to business.[4] The “emergency business” was just a cover so Tony can go back to helping as Iron Man. As he changes back into his armor, he tosses his car keys to Pep and asks her to drive his car back home.
Meanwhile, Fin Fang Foom has emerged from the ocean with a fresh idea on how to rid himself of Billy Yuan. Remembering that his sister was in a coma at the local hospital, the massive dragon decides to kill her by destroying the hospital. Luckily, Iron Man arrives just in time to stop him and starts driving the monster back out to sea again. After confusing the creature with holographic projections of himself, Iron Man uses his Avengers priority to have a nearby Naval ship fire its missiles at Fin Fang Foom. Rather than move out of the way, the dragon finds itself rooted in place thanks to Billy Yuan, who is still fighting him from inside. After being struck with the missiles a disorientated Fin Fang Foom is knocked down by Iron Man’s pulse blaster. As the dragon drifts into unconsciousness, it cannot believe it was defeated by the sacrifice of a lone mortal. Since Iron Man had no idea that Billy Yuan was trapped inside the monster, he is confused by what the monster means.[5]
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Fin Fang Foom/Billy Yuan, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, Hannah Donleavy, Ramona Napier
Continuity Notes
Fin Fang Foom took possession of Billy last issue. He is seeking revenge against Iron Man after he was banished to another dimension at the end of their last battle, which took place in Iron Man #275.
Happy mentions how he was first hired by Tony to be his driver, this happened back in Tales of Suspense #45. Hap left the company in Tales of Suspense #91 and was mostly unaffiliated with it until he was briefly put in charge of managing Tony’s corporate assets in Iron Man #327, although he expunged himself from this duty when he sold Tony’s business to the Fujikawa Corporation in issue #329. Tony recently rehired Happy when he started up Stark Solutions in Iron Man (vol. 3) #1. Tony appointed Hap to be the public liaison for the Maria Stark Foundation last issue.
Here, Happy refers to Maria Stark as Tony’s mother. In reality, she is his adopted mother. The revelation that Tony was adopted won’t be revealed for another few years. See Iron Man (vol. 5) #17 and International Iron Man #6-7.
This awkward moment is due to the fact that Tony and Pepper once had romantic feelings with one another. When Happy was added to the mix it created a love triangle between the trio. Eventually, Pepper chose Happy and the pair were married in Tales of Suspense #91.
Although not entirely clear here, Billy Yuan’s spirit drifted into nothingness at the end of this story. This was confirmed in the Fin Fang Foom profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #4. We never hear from him again, at least time at the time of this writing in September, 2022.
Topical References
The radio in Happy’s car is depicted as having dials and push buttons that have not been common in vehicles since the mid to late 90s. Unless you want to believe he’s driving around in a vintage car (not impossible given who he works for) then this could be considered a topical reference.
