Iron Man (1998 series) #36

Iron Man flies out to a SHIELD ship during a terrible storm, summoned by Nick Fury. Earlier, Jasper Sitwell had described a submarine trapped on a narrow shelf near a deep trench far underwater so Tony Stark made his apologies to Rumiko Fujikawa once again and headed out. Fury tells Iron Man to survey the situation but not to attempt a rescue. After some minor annoyance by a great white shark, Iron Man discovers the sub and realizes it has been there much longer than Fury told him. He also discovers the craft belongs to Hydra, confirming that Fury has been lying to him. Fury just wants Shellhead to make sure the sub doesn’t slide into the deep trench before SHIELD can recover it. Iron Man hears noises coming from inside so, against Fury’s orders, he enters via an airlock. A reconnaissance uncovers a lot of damage and a lot of skeletons—until a huge tentacled insectoid creature with a semi-human face jumps out and seizes him. The ensuing fight dislodges the sub and it falls into the trench, the added pressure smashing the hull, allowing Iron Man to escape and return to the ship. Shellhead demands an explanation from Fury who reveals that Hydra were trying to create a hybrid human that could survive deep underwater. It escaped and killed the scientists and SHIELD was hoping to recover it but now it’s dead at the bottom of the trench (but the reader can see it isn’t)….