Iron Man (1968) 103

Iron Man (1968) 103
Oct 1977

Run for the Money!
by Bill Mantlo, George Tuska, and Mike Esposito

All sorts of stuff happens!

Jasper loses Krissy Longfellow and Harry Key. Their car is grabbed by a flying fortress commanded by Midas. He was last seen in Iron Man 19 when he seemed to have been killed when his throne exploded. Harry Key reveals that he has been working for Midas all this time. Midas is displeased when he finds out that the Iron Man armor which Harry stole is fake. He punishes Harry by throwing him from a deadly height from his flying fortress.

Krissy takes off her mask and reveals her true identity to Midas: Madame Masque. He seems conflicted but says he bears no ill will towards her even though she left him for dead. He is conveniently forgetting the part where she helped Tony Stark or maybe he just doesn’t remember that part.

Iron Man flies back to the US from France via a commercial airliner. He arrives just in time to discover that Midas has engineered a takeover of Stark International. Midas has fired Stark’s security force and replaced them with his own men.

Jack Hart arrives at Stark International just in time to see Iron Man go ballistic. Jack transforms into Jack of Hearts and tries to restrain Shell Head from wrecking havoc. This just makes Iron Man, who isn’t fully aware of what has happened just yet, angrier. Iron Man cuts into Jack’s armor which holds back the “explosive force” in Jack’s body. A huge explosion occurs and Iron Man has to scramble to prevent Jack from falling to his death. The two heroes crash through Midas flying fortress and find the villain and Madame Masque. Midas reveals that she was masquerading as Krissy Longfellow. Iron Man is unsure what to do now that Midas has legal control of Stark Industries. He flies off with Madame Masque in one direction. Jack of Hearts takes off in another direction.

Other things:

• Jo Duffy makes a cameo appearance on the plane as Iron Man. They share a panel while she is getting his autograph.
• In a brief aside Jack of Hearts reveals that Tony Stark is one of the trustees of his father’s estate.
• Marianne Rogers, a woman from Tony's past, is shown being released from Milford Sanitorium.
• Jasper arrives just in time to see what’s happened and watch Shell Head and Madame Masque fly away. They are too far away for him to recognize the person with Iron Man.

Good read. Not great but I am enjoying seeing all the pieces come together. Jack of Hearts and Madame Masque will both be regulars in Iron Man for about a year.