Synopsis
Iron Man (1968 series) #189 synopsis by
T Vernon
Rating:
James Rhodes, still mad at Tony Stark, walks down a Los Angeles street after an adventure with the Avengers. He comes upon the police surrounding a house where a man is holding a woman hostage at gunpoint. Once Rhodey learns what's going on, he dons the Iron Man armor, enters, and overcomes the bad guy easily. The rescued woman offers to make the hero dinner....
Circuits Maximus (Tony, Rhodey, and the Erwins' company: see last issue) has scored a big contract with Fetison Electronics which will mean success for the fledgling company....
Rhodey arrives for his dare with Ms Ida Powers but he is so stressed from recent events that things go badly. Then there's the recurring headaches which Tony's adjustment of the armor did not relieve....
That night, a villain called the Termite burrows into the Fetison plant and destroys machinery with just a touch of his hands and leaves as quietly as he came. When Rhodey finally returns to the firm, Clytemnestra sends him to guard Fetison as Iron Man. The Termite returns and wrecks some more machinery; Shellhead pulls off his enemy's gloves and thinks he is disarmed; when the police he's summoned arrive, the Termite is gone, as his power to make things crumble is a part of him....
On orders of his boss, Obadiah Stane (surprise!), Termite returns to undermine the foundations of the Fetison plant; Iron Man also returns and the two have a battle underground that ends up destroying the entire building, though Shellhead is able to rescue the owner, Osgood Fetison. The Termite again escapes by quickly burrowing into the ground...
Epilogue: A dejected Rhodey returns to the company HQ to find everyone else has gone. He discovers that Tony has been working on an armored chestplate and snaps....