Iron Man #215 (February 1987)

The superhero life can have its fair share of ups and downs. Tony Stark is definitely familiar with that. After all, he's been through a lot in his superhero career. He's battled the bottle, financial problems, his fellow Avengers...yeah. He's had a lot of battles in his day.

The comic we are looking at this week is depicting a time of recovery for Tony Stark. At this point, he's been through arguably one of the toughest battles of his time as a superhero. He had lost his company to the manipulative Obadiah Stane and spent time as a vagrant. But Stark would rise again, with a new company and a new suit of armor: The Silver Centurion suit, which he would use to help bring Stane down. So, let's see what further adventures Tony goes from here in Iron Man #215!

The cover is Mark Bright and Bob Layton piece. It's pretty cool. It depicts two Iron Men flying out of a space station. It gives me the vibe of a movie poster. I also have to say, I love the masthead logo here. It's in big bold angular letters with rivets on them. I always liked this masthead logo, and not just because it was my first exposure to Iron Man (it was used in the 90s cartoon). I feel it fits the character perfectly. 

"The Shattered Sky"
Writers: David Michelinie, Bob Layton
Penciler: Mark Bright
Inker: Bob Layton
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Editor: Mark Gruenwald
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with Tony Stark at the doctor's office, getting himself a checkup. However, our man Stark doesn't quite have a clean bill of health. You see, the doctor has discovered that Tony's nervous system is deteriorating, and if it continues...Tony will be heading to the great blacksmith's forge in the sky.

The news is not all bad, though. It was detected early, so there's a chance it could end up correcting itself. The doctor recommends staying at the clinic for a few days for further testing, but Tony is a busy man. He'll keep an eye on things, and alert the doctor if things get worse. As the genius billionaire playboy industrialist heads out, he theorizes that something in his then-new Silver Centurion armor is causing it. It's not an unreasonable assumption. After all, he's always tinkering and upgrading his suits. It's perfectly plausible that some new system or component is causing the problem, considering the Silver Centurion suit has some new tricks his previous armors did not. 

Despite this, Tony is in a great mood. Why's that? You see, he's building his new company up: Stark Enterprises.

All it needs now is the arcade and bowling alley. 👍

Tony's on the comeback trail after Obadiah Stane, the Iron Monger, took over the old Stark International in Iron Man #173-200 (). Stark also got his fortune back, so he's been working hard at building his new company. He also has got himself a space station going. 

Tony meets up with his friends Jim Rhodes and Clytemnestra "Cly" Erwin. They report that the shuttle that will take the final components the space station needs is almost ready to go. Unknown to the group, one of the shuttle's workers overhears them, and is doing a bit of plotting of his own. We then briefly look in on the Caribbean island of Boca Caliente, which is under the grip of the group of mad scientist/beekeeper cosplayers known as Advanced Idea Mechanics, aka AIM. We look in at one of those beekeepers, a Yorgon Tyykio.

The family Thanksgiving dinner that year was very awkward…

Yeah, I know. His parents must have been on something when they named him. Anyway, he'd been busted down to doing menial work thanks to his trying to overthrow his brother, the Scientist Supreme. Basically, he tried to do a supervillain version of a corporate takeover, but it blew up in his face.

Yeah. But that hasn't stopped Mr. Tyykio from trying again...

Meanwhile, back in California, Stark has been getting ready for the launch. Jim Rhodes is going to be flying the Stark Shuttle. And the launch is a success.

Man, I love when a plan comes together.

Stark slips out and changed into his Iron Man suit. He doesn't anticipate trouble (which he really should, considering he's a superhero and all), he's just flying alongside the shuttle as a way for Tony to build publicity for his new company. The Stark Shuttle makes its way to the new space station.

“Eat your heart out, Skylab!”

Rhodes is hard at work, but he does wish he could listen to some tunes while he's there. Don't blame him. I wish I could listen to videos on YouTube while I work, too. Unknown to him, some of AIM's beekeepers had managed to sneak on board. Why are they there? Well, Tony Stark's satellite has powerful sensors on it. Sensors that allowed it to detect the weaponry that AIM used to take over Boca Caliente. Basically, they want to eliminate any evidence of their takeover. Tony and Rhodes discover this and engage them in combat.

AIM's standard weaponry has no effect on the Armored Avenger, but they still have one nasty little surprise in a vial for him. 

“My blood! It sucked up all of my blood!”

It's called the Omega Bascillus, a special little bio-weapon. As you can see in the panels, contact with it tends to end fatally. The Bascillus is spreading rapidly, and Tony seals off the lab it's growing in an attempt to contain it. Tony's repulsors can burn it but said weapons can't blast wide enough to completely destroy it. The Unibeam is useless. Sonics are also useless. And the Bascillus is still spreading. Tony gets Rhodes out of the station, but AIM made off with the Stark Shuttle.

There's a spare Iron Man suit in the shuttle, and Tony needs it. He rockets out and breaks into the shuttle. But the AIM men aren't going to let him capture them, so they blow themselves up real good.

Obligatory villainous one-liner here.

Tony has not time to ponder the madness he just witnessed. He has to get that suit and get out of there.

Once he does, Rhodey armors up and the two get out of the station. 

In case you’re wondering, Rhodes is on the left.

Stark realizes that the Bascillus has contaminated the whole station. Unless it's cleared out, nobody will ever be able to work or even live on the station again. Well, that's $200 I'm never getting back.

Tony and Rhodey head back to Earth. However, Rhodey's having a bit of trouble breathing. Tony realized Rhodes's armor somehow got damaged. Tony tries to get his friend through the atmosphere, but the heat keeps damaging the man's suit further. The story ends with Rhodey screaming...because he's burning.

I enjoyed this comic. To be honest, I think that in the late-1970s-1980s, Iron Man's book was one of the sleeper hits of the Marvel lineup at the time, despite this era spawning two storylines that would be very influential on the character: Demon in a Bottle and Armor Wars. This was a fun story. I do think there was potential for some real horror here with the bacillus making its way through the station, nothing being able to stop it, and Tony's weaponry barely being able to do any real good against it. Rather appropriate I look at this comic in October, huh? 

Bright turns in some spectacular art here. It's very clean and detailed. I also always liked his rendition of Iron Man's armor. He makes it look shiny. His art is also rather expressive. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2010 trade paperback Iron Man: Armor Wars Prologue. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!