Iron Man (1998 series) #85

At the Pentagon, Tony Stark’s sudden silence worries the Senate/military team though Senator Zimmer suspects Stark of some sneaky scheme….

Vision arrives outside Avengers Mansion to find the public in turmoil: the jamming signal sent out by Henry Peter Gyrich not only blocked the Pentagon’s line but the electronics of every person in a large radius. He enters the Mansion grounds to find his teammates (Falcon, Wasp, Ant-Man, Black Panther and of course Iron Man) in battle with the giant robot called Arsenal Alpha. The action is chaotic and fails to slow the monster down, while Henry Peter Gyrich accuses Iron Man of having deliberately activated it. The heroes are taking a beating until Warbird arrives to blast Arsenal. While Warbird’s SWAT team tries to wrap the monster up, it revives and starts shooting again. A messenger arrives with papers from the Pentagon which explains why everything went off the rails: A constant broadcast from the Institute of Standards Time Clock was kept Arsenal immobile; the sudden jamming of that signal was the trigger for it to arise and go on its path of destruction. So, while Iron Man occupies Arsenal, Warbird smashes the dish jamming the signal and the giant robot goes immobile again. Gyrich taunts Tony over the conflict between his dual offices and heads off to try to negotiate a deal with the trash collectors’ union….

At a D-Day memorial, Tony Stark makes a speech on the nations of the world joining together in the name of peace. After the meeting he talks with Stu Conrad about the conflict between his two roles: Iron Man and Secretary of Defense, despairing over not getting any real work done. Stu congratulates him: he is now a politician which should humble him, and Stu recommends he grow a little armor to be able to ignore attacks….