Synopsis
Iron Man (1968 series) #244 synopsis by
T Vernon
Rating:
Tony Stark, paralyzed from the waist down, is released from the hospital. He is in a silent and bitter mood as James Rhodes and Mrs. Arbogast have to help him to a meeting with the board. He reacts angrily to the awkwardness of the wheelchair for getting close to the table and snarls at Mrs A when she offers to get him coffee. He wants to show the world he is not helpless....
At Roxxon Corporation headquarters, Jonas Hale plots to take advantage of Tony's helplessness....
Tony reads about a suspicious explosion at Barstow Electronics and is frustrated that he can't investigate as Iron Man. And Rhodey still does not want to get back into the armor. Later, a lonely Tony calls Brie Daniels but she declines awkwardly, not wanting the negative publicity. Rhodey meanwhile meets with Clay Wilson, the former Force, and offers him the black Iron Man armor to help stop the bad guys....
Late that night, the Fixer breaks into another Stark company and finds himself facing a dark Iron Man and a well-armed Rhodey. They stop the Fixer from sabotaging anything but the villain gets away....
Tony stops by Rae Lacoste's salon and proposes they go out. When she pleads an appointment with Michael Jackson, Tony is crushed, but she changes her mind when she sees how much it means to him....
The next day, Stark Enterprises is attacked by the Fixer, with a jet pack and some heavier weaponry, to take out the Power Activator. Rhodey, Clay (as Iron Man), and security guards battle the baddie and Tony feels useless....
At the hospital for physical therapy Tony meets a man in an iron lung who is in a happy mood. Later, the incident causes Tony to recall a time many years ago, when at an auction aboard a yacht he ran into Joanna Nivena, which caused him to recall an even earlier time in his life. After his experience in Vietnam and becoming Iron Man, he returned to America and was met by his fiancee Joanna—but he wouldn't allow him to hug her lest she feel the metal chest plate keeping him alive. For some time after that he held everyone at a distance, the loneliness and boredom driving him to despair—until he hit upon the idea of the Human Machine. He recreated the Iron Man armor and put on demonstrations for the press, advertising a version available to consumers. When a bunch of crooks broke into the Stark plant, Tony quickly donned the armor and subdued them....
Joanna Nivena confronted Tony demanding to know what his problem is—so he told her and everything was settled between them. Terrorists invaded a tennis match they were attending and Joanna encouraged Tony to put on the armor so he did. He defeated the bad guys, smothering their bomb and the crowd cheered for him. Later Tony told Joanna he had found his purpose—but she realized she could not marry a man who would never be there for her so she sacrificed her love for him so he can fulfill his purpose....
And “now” they have met again at the yacht-board auction. When her husband arrives, he bids her farewell and gives her the painting they had been competing for in the auction....
These memories encourage him not to give up so he disappears into his lab creating a new Iron Man armor.... Shortly thereafter, the Fixer arrives to destroy Stark Enterprises in a flying battle tank. It is more than a match for Clay and Rhodey, not to mention the security guards—until the new Iron Man arrives and knocks the thing out of the sky in seconds with a combination of moves. Later Tony tells Rhodey that he has solved one problem but having to be handicapped Tony Stark will be harder....
Characters:
Plus: Fixer, Force, Jonas Hale, Mrs. Arbogast, Rae LaCoste, Roxxon Corporation (
Roxxon).