This issue is a remembrance of
Tony Stark's life as
Iron Man, and a prelude to the (short) career of his 19 year old self, brought to the present by the
Avengers in
Avengers: Timeslide.
Ths story opens with a recap of the climax of
Iron Man #325, where older Tony ripped the heart out of younger Tony. And the end of
Avengers #395, where older Tony redeemed and sacrificed himself by destroying the weapon that would have given Kang control of a devastated Earth.
Now
Giant-Man (
Henry Pym) and other specialists have fitted young Tony with an artificial heart, and a chestplate like Iron Man's to keep it running. Only time will tell if he will recover from his coma.
A motley group of Avengers waits outside the operating theatre.
Black Widow, Captain America, Crystal, Hawkeye, Hercules, Quicksilver and
Vision were all in at the end of the saga in Avengers #395. Only
Century and
Wasp are missing from the roster of heroes in that issue.
Beast, Black Panther, Deathcry, Jarvis, Scarlet Witch and
Thor all had roles of varying sizes in the Crossing crossover.
Jarvis elects to watch over the patient, along with
Happy and
Pepper Hogan. Pepper recalls the previously unseen day when Stark made her his PA. Happy tells how he saved Tony from a crashed racing car, and became Tony's chauffeur, in
Tales of Suspense #45. Jarvis picks a time between those, Iron Man's origin in
Tales of Suspense #39, including Stark and his bulky chestplate distancing himself from his fiancee
Joanna Nivena, as told in more detail in a flashback in Iron
Man #244.
Captain America and Hawkeye reminisce about Iron Man's many armours, allies, enemies and battles. But they can't help being drawn to his final battles in the Crossing crossover. How he killed
Yellowjacket (
Rita DeMara) and
Marilla in Avengers: The Crossing and
Amanda Chaney in
Force Works #19, and seriously injured Wasp in
Avengers #393 causing her to evolve into her current insectile form. They also say he is also indirectly involved in the deaths of 2 others, by which they presumably mean
Gilgamesh and teenage
Luna.
They repeat how
Kang (said that he) tried to corrupt Hank Pym, but Pym resisted, leading to his nervous breakdowns (e.g. the Yellowjacket Schizophrenia in
Avengers #59-60, and the period leading up to his court-martial in
Avengers #213). But Stark succumbed, and turned against the Avengers in the Crossing crossover. Hawkeye blames it on Stark's weak character, exemplified by his alcoholism and womanising.
Masque, who aided the Avengers during the crossover, slips into the recovery room and uses her image inducer to masquerade as a series of Tony's female acquaintances:-
Kathy Dare (stalked him from Iron Man #233, shot him in IM#242),
Meredith McCall (Tony's first love, seen in Avengers: Timeslide, who popped up again, married, in IM#28),
Janice Cord (Tony thought about marrying her in IM#21, so of course she was killed in IM#22),
Gretl Anders (a pregnant homeless woman whom drunken Tony befriended in IM#178, but who died in chidbirth in IM#182),
Su Yin (temporarily cured Stark's neurological damage in IM#270-272),
Whitney Frost (it's complicated) and
Bethany Cabe (this one's complicated too).
Next
Marianne Rodgers, another player in the crossover and in the older Stark's life, telepathically checks that young Tony is truly free of Kang's influence. But she also finds the same vulnerabilities as older Tony.
Finally a mystery villain appears by hologram to threaten young Tony, and taunt him with the 'return' of some of Iron Man's foes:-
Blacklash, Ghost, Mandarin, Controller, a successor to
Jack Frost, and an unnamed villain.
Until Tony awakens to find Jarvis still by his side.
The epilogues to the Crossing continue in
FORCE WORKS #21.
For the special marvelite in you