Synopsis
Iron Man (1968 series) #5 synopsis by
T Vernon
Rating:
In his lab preparing for a weapons test, Tony Stark is suddenly engulfed in a whirlpool of light and pulled forward into the 24th century by a Time-Probe. There he is sentenced to be executed to prevent him from creating Cerebrus. Explanation: if not stopped, Tony will build a master computer to coordinate defense planning which will slowly be expanded to control affairs for the entire world. It will gain sentience and enslave humanity, dividing people into zombie-like servants or underground rebels. And now the rebels have devised a solution: kill Stark before Cerebrus was created. But they’ve stalled too long: the energy expended by the Time-Probe has attracted the notice of Cerebrus and the mad computer’s massive metal tracking coils burst through the walls, followed by its slave army. In the chaos Tony escapes into the caverns; wandering aimlessly he is discovered by a young woman named Krylla, who helps him get away from pursuing rebels. This lovely historian was opposed to the scheme to alter time so she leads Tony to the forgotten ruins of a museum where he finds a perfectly preserved suit of Iron Man armor in a display case. He dons the armor and uses his chestplate to power it up just as Cerebrus’ tracking coils arrive. The hero carries Krylla into one of the coils and they try to trace it back to its source. On the way Iron Man defeats a heat ray and a huge robot. The enraged computer then suctions Iron Man to its central chamber where Cerebrus appears as a giant floating head composed of pure energy. Cerebrus then takes the form of a giant armored warrior and Iron Man engages it in battle while Krylla tries to find the master computer bank to sabotage it. Iron Man is quickly overwhelmed by the resources of a world-controlling computer—so he resorts to a dangerous stratagem: he unmasks as Tony Stark, informing Cerebrus that if he is killed, the massive machine will never have been created. The time paradox confuses the villain long enough for Krylla to destroy the central system, causing Cerebrus to explode. As the world’s power begins shutting down, a grateful Krylla rushes Tony into the Time-Probe, returning him to his own era just seconds after he left.
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