Machine Man has taken refuge in a remote cabin with his friend, psychiatrist
Peter Spaulding, to attempt to repair the detached head of his beloved
Jocasta. A mad bear, infected with the
Terminus virus (Stage 2 of the creature), crashes into the cabin and mutates into a clawed robot. It clobbers Machine Man, rips off his left arm and eats it. To save his pal, Peter activates
MM’s boot jets sending him away from the monster—which then kills Peter….
Not far away,
Tony Stark is at
Baintronics, meeting with CEO
Sunset Bain about a joint robotics project when Machine Man comes crashing down from the sky. Secretly changing into
Iron Man, Tony recovers the damaged robot and heads to LA in search of replacement parts. In his absence, Sunset Bain, secretly the villainess
Madame Menace, has her staff create a duplicate of Machine Man, planning to replace the original. The Terminus-bear invades, searching for more titanium to eat. Bain quickly calls Iron Man to return to battle the monster. Recalling that cold hurt the monsters in
CAP ANNUAL #9 Shellhead douses his foe with liquid titanium but it only causes the creature to grow. The damaged Machine Man recovers and joins in the fight. They dump molten metal on the monster and this destroys it. The heroes then hear on the news that Terminus-infected wildlife is terrorizing Seattle and take off. Sunset Bain, her plans foiled, now ponders joining Jocasta’s head to her robot duplicate to market a line of female machines. Iron Man and Machine Man return to the cabin to repair the damaged robot and deal with the body of Peter Spaulding. They then head to Seattle to deal with the
Termini….
Story continues in
THOR ANNUAL #15.
Excelsioring your collection
Story #2Terminus Factor Media Watch
Writer:
Evan Skolnick.Penciler:
Richard Howell. Inker:
David Day. Colorist:
David Day. Letterer:
Rick Parker.
Synopsis
A local news team covers
Iron Man and
Machine Man fighting against the
Terminus-infected animals in the streets of Seattle.
Story #3Mobility
Writer:
Evan Skolnick.Penciler:
Gavin Curtis. Inker:
Harry Candelario. Colorist:
Evan Skolnick. Letterer:
Pat Brosseau.
Synopsis
A group of disabled people organize to appeal for their rights; their first mission is to protest a major bus line (“Silverhound,” ha ha) for having no wheelchair accessible vehicles. They blockade the company’s L.A. bus terminal with leader
Jim Clay chaining himself behind the wheel of a bus. The mood grows ugly as frustrated passengers demand to complete their trips.
Tony Stark hears about the incident on the radio and, having recently been cured of paralysis, heads out there as
Iron Man to forestall any violence. But the bus with Jim Clay has been sabotaged; it begins rolling down the street and ends up perched on the edge of a bridge. Iron Man prevents it from falling but another protestor is revealed to be trapped beneath the bus. While
Shellhead holds the vehicle in place, Jim Clay, using only the strength of his arms, frees his partner. The bus company agrees to the group’s demands and Tony Stark calls Jim Clay a hero.
Story #4The Awesome Origin of Mrs. Arbogast
Writer:
Carrie Barre. Penciler/Inker:
Steve Ditko. Colorist:
Renee Witterstaetter. Letterer:
Chris Eliopoulos.
Synopsis
Tony Stark is seeking a new secretary; the next applicant, a
Mrs. Arbogast, is asked to wait in Mr. Stark’s office for his return from an urgent matter. As she sits in the office,
Iron Man and
Whirlwind appear outside the window, locked in combat. They crash inside and as the two antagonists thrash around the room, Mrs Arbogast deftly rescues the goldfish and fields phone calls. When Whirlwind seizes her, she hands him the phone saying, “It’s for you.” Thus distracted, the villain is clobbered by Iron Man. As the hero carries his fallen foe away, Mrs. Arbogast sets herself to the task of straightening up the office. When Tony Stark finally arrives, he offers her the job without an interview.
CharactersGood (or All)Plus: Mrs. Arbogast.
Story #5The Devil's Playground
Writer/Penciler:
Rob Tokar. Inker:
Chris Ivy. Colorist:
Joe Rosas. Letterer:
Jack Morelli.
Synopsis
A kid who idolizes
Iron Man so much that he always wears a cheesy home-made
Shellhead costume is so bored that his mom throws him out of the house. His fellow “
Avengers” are all away except for “
Captain America” but his mom won’t let
him out until he finishes his broccoli. That night, “Iron Man” undertakes a dangerous mission: sneaking back into his room. Once there he is attacked by his “other armors” (equally crummy costumes) and a major pretend battle breaks out—to the confusion of his parents.
Story #6Correspondences
Writer:
Dwayne McDuffie. Penciler/Inker:
.
Synopsis
Story in the form of business letters details how
Damage Control accidentally recovered an experimental power source invented by
Tony Stark during the clean-up of a Stark lab. While Tony gets a runaround trying to get it back from the company, it overloads dangerously and
Iron Man is able to carry it out to sea in the nick of time. The head of Damage Control takes the opportunity to put the touch on Tony for a contribution to her political action committee.
CharactersGood (or All)Plus: Mrs. Arbogast.