Issue(s): Iron Man #292, Iron Man #293
Cover Date: May-Jun 93
Title: "Mixed reactions" / "Controlling interests"
Credits:
Len Kaminski - Writer
Kevin Hopgood - Penciler
Steven Mitchell - Inker
John Lewandowski - Assistant Editor
Nel Yomtov - Editor

Review/plot:
What do you do when your hero is crippled and controls his suit of armor by remote? Have him fight an equally bed-ridden super-villain.

The Controller remotely controls his pawns too, so it's the perfect low stakes storyline.

There's also some cyberspace stuff.

This story has the balls to act like the Controller has been crippled since Iron Man destroyed his armor during Armor Wars, as if he hadn't appeared in several other books since then.

I guess we can assume that either his problem had a delayed effect, or he's been using remotely-controlled doubles in all his other appearances. But seriously? No one thought to check if the Controller was used elsewhere, at least to slip in a line of dialogue?

The Controller has human hostages, so Iron Man doesn't try to apprehend him after defeating his attackers.

The experience gets Tony Stark to take his physical therapy seriously. He has to squeeze a ball with his non-paralyzed hand. He initially gave up trying to do that in favor of the quick fix of controlling Iron Man.

On the corporate side of things, as we saw last issue, Morgan Stark's plans to take over Stark Enterprises have been cut short. In this arc, Tony Stark gets a package from James Rhodes showing "evidence" that Rhodey killed Tony. Tony reasons that Marcy Peterson is the most likely candidate to have planted that false evidence, and he calls her to his bedside and gets her to admit that Morgan was behind it. Tony contacts Morgan and tells him that if he leaves the country permanently he won't press charges. As Morgan is leaving someone shoots out his car's tire and he drives off a cliff. The shot was arranged by Osamu Moroboshi, who calls his mysterious boss to inform him. Moroboshi tells his boss that he's honored to know the boss's "true nature", and he's rewarded with a sonic attack delivered over the phone line, which kills him. So that's that whole plotline swept under the carpet (except for the matter of the boss, which is a new element).

At the end of this issue, we see trouble on Stark's former space station.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: This story begins with news reports that Tony Stark is alive. We saw such a report in Avengers West Coast #93, which took place concurrently with the last arc, so you'd think that this probably doesn't take place too long afterwards. But it's said at the beginning of this arc that the attack from the battledroids happened "last week". The reports can't be written off as re-runs or follow-ups because too many people (Morgan Stark, Captain America, Nick Fury, Happy & Pepper) are shown reacting to them for the first time. So maybe the report in AWC was some reporter jumping the gun after the emergence of the new Iron Man, and it's only now that it's really been confirmed that Tony is back. Either that or the opening pages of issue #292 should be treated as flashback, but i'm going with the "jumped the gun" idea so that i can tag Cap, etc., as Characters Appearing. The Controller's appearance in Alpha Flight #121 isn't any better before or after this issue.

References:

• Tony receives news clippings regarding the destruction of the Avengers' west coast compound, which happened in Avengers West Coast #89-91.
  
• The origin of the Controller was shown in Iron Man #12.
  
• Iron Man destroyed the Controller's suit in Iron Man #225.
  
• Stark's space platform has been leased out to Cauwfield Multichemical since Iron Man #256.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

The cyberspace "I am God here" scene is probably an homage to The Lawnmower Man movie.

Who are the assimilating villains in the end scene? They look like the Phalanx, but they can't be...