Iron Man (1998 series) #8

On a dark night in Western France, a flying car piloted by Tony Stark with his European chief Yvette Avril is being pursued by Iron Man’s old enemy Whiplash on a small flying platform. The villain wrecks one of the car’s hover-units and Tony is forced to drive into a railroad tunnel. There, he sends Yvette for help while he dons the Iron Man armor to face Whiplash….

Tony recalls the adventures of the previous few issues, working with Happy Hogan and Pepper Potts, quarrelling since their divorce, to uncover the identity of the Arms Dealer’s mysterious employer. Dodging an attempt on his life by gunmen, Tony decided to investigate personally by travelling around Europe with business matters for a cover, using Yvette as his entree….

Now Iron Man is fighting a faster, meaner version of his old enemy, armed with a more dangerous whip. Shellhead asks why this professional killer is now so vicious and sadistic; Whiplash explains that he had a family and his wife was murdered and his son taken away from him and he’s now bitterly cynical about everything but money. Iron Man tires to reason with him and damages his flying platform; the villain is forced to retreat, clobbering the hero with his kinetic whip and knocking him to the floor of an outdoor café, leaving him with a warning for his true target, Tony Stark….

The next day, he learns that Yvette, despite the danger, will stick by him, whatever happens, and she buys him a flower as a gift. Then as he’s working, he finally manages to crack the Arms Dealer’s code. In New York, Happy and Pepper are bickering about Pep’s mean little dog; Happy stumbles and spies a listening device planted under a table. They also realize that only Doreen could have placed it there (see issue #3) and then they know that whoever was listening now knows Tony’s secret identity as Iron Man. In France, Tony sees the Chinese characters on his screen and knows his enemy is the Mandarin. As he leaves the building, he gets a warning call from Pepper, and as soon as he is out the door he is attacked by a band of blue-clad commandos; following orders, they take his briefcase (containing his armor) and throw it into the river. They then proceed to beat Tony to a pulp and looking up he sees their leader is Spymaster. Suddenly, Black Widow arrives and takes on the baddies, chasing them off—and then she realizes Tony’s heart isn’t beating….