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Iron Man #281

Jun 1992

Len Kaminski, Kev Hopgood

Story Name:

The Masters of Silence

Synopsis

Iron Man #281 synopsis by T Vernon

Rating:

Tony Stark is having a nightmare that as Iron Man he is confronted by a giant robot that melts his armor off and impales him and twists him in wires—betrayed by technology. James Rhodes wakes him up: Tony's life support had malfunctioned as he was recovering from the beating he took last issue. The displeased Dr. Erica Sondheim advises Tony to rest and recuperate....

Meanwhile, a secret cabal led by [spoiler alert] Justin Hammer knows Tony Stark is incapacitated and plots to seize his business holdings and divide it between their groups (including Hydra, Roxxon, and Moroboshi International)....

Tony prepares for the worst scenario, calling his lawyer Felix Alvarez to revise his will. On TV he notes news of a reactor failure in Japan, unaware that he is about to become personally involved....

Rei Takahashi, CEO of Akane Fusion is ruined, the failure of his reactor caused by defective valves purchased from Stark Enterprises. To get revenge he calls on the Masters of Silence, a trio of Ninja assassins who judge Tony Stark deserving of death and set out to exact that price....

Tony has some instructions for Abe Zimmer and Mrs. Arbogast and then Rhodey smuggles in a remote armor interface allowing Tony to operate Iron Man armor in order to work on a project in the lab. The Masters of Silence enter the building and Tony detects their presence. He sends Iron Man to face them and the ninjas with their energy weapons and expertise defeat the armor but Tony set it to self-destruct. The Masters find Tony in the hospital ward but he turns out to be a hologram, taunting them—and followed by an explosion, to slow them down. Meanwhile, Tony has completed a neuro-booster, allowing him to don a new, gray, weapon-heavy armor to face his enemies....

Review / Commentaries

Iron Man #281 Review by T Vernon (June 26, 2018)

Comments: Part one of three parts. First (brief) appearance of the War Machine armor. First appearance of the Masters of Silence. Dr Erica Sondheim has appeared intermittently over the years, starting in issue #120; she is the one who implanted the chip that allowed Tony to walk again (issue #248). First appearance of Moroboshi International. The Trinational Commission appears to be based on the real-life Trilateral Commission. Ally Abe Zimmer and Tony's lawyer Felix Alvarez were recurring characters in David Michelinie's run but hadn't been seen since.

Review: A cool new armor for some cool new foes! We won't see War Machine in action until next issue but the Masters of Silence are some bad dudes. Yeah, I know, stereotypical ninjas but with a sense of honor and justice usually lacking in the comics sets them apart from the usual kung fu types. It just gets better from here. Stay tuned.

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Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Main/1st Story Full Credits

Len Kaminski

Kev Hopgood

Bob Wiacek

Mike Rockwitz

Kev Hopgood (Cover Penciler)
Bob Wiacek (Cover Inker)

Additional Credits

Letterer: Michael Heisler.
Editor: Nel Yomtov. Editor-in-chief: Tom DeFalco.

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Abe Zimmer
(Abraham Zimmer)

Iron Man
(Anthony Stark)

James Rhodes
(Rhodey)

Plus: Erica Sondheim, Felix Alvarez, Justin Hammer, Masters of Silence, Mrs. Arbogast.

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