Issue(s): Iron Man annual #12
Cover Date: 1991
Title: "A Storm in Subterranea: The homecoming / At last! Quasimodo lives again! / The trap / Metamorphosis"
Credits:
Roy Thomas & Dann Thomas / Len Kaminski / Dwight Jon Zimmerman / Gavin Curtis - Writer
Tom Morgan / Barry Kitson / John Stanisci / Gavin Curtis - Penciler
Tom Morgan / Andrew Pepoy / Don Heck / John Tartaglione - Inker
Nel Yomtov - Editor

Review/plot:
Let me cover the back-ups from this annual first, since i'm saying they take place directly before the main story.

In the first one, Quasimodo returns.

But he's rebuilt himself from parts at Stark's factory, so Iron Man is able to shut him down.

However, Quasimodo begs him to build him a regular body.

Stark takes pity on him, but instead of building him a body, he puts him in a virtual reality where Quasimodo just thinks he's got a new body.

I'd like to think that Stark checks in on Quasimodo every so often and sees if he's behaving himself in his new body, with the idea that if he's being good that maybe Stark would release him into the real world. But i'm not sure if this is ever addressed. A quick skim of Spider-Man Team-Up #2, Quasimodo's next appearance, seems to ignore this story altogether.

Next up, James Rhodes is delivering a package of computer discs for Tony Stark, and he's attacked by a mystery man who -- oh, it's just Paste Pot Pete.

Of all the villains that i wouldn't mind seeing an out-of-armor Rhodey beating up, the Trapster is at the top of the list. But Trapster actually manages to capture Rhodey.

And holy crap, he beats Iron Man, too!

What's going on here? The answer is that this isn't Petey.

But this new Trapster's bosses at Roxxon decide that they'll only be impressed if he actually kills Iron Man. And while the Trapster hesitates, Iron Man frees himself, and just chases everyone away. I'd say it's weird that Iron Man doesn't try to actually capture the new Trapster and have him arrested, but since this is the last we see of him i guess it's no big deal.

The final back-up is an Ant-Man story, showing Scott Lang getting a job with a Callahan Dultry, a former actress that has retired to become an animal trainer. When Scott hears a weird noise, he investigates and finds a giant dragonfly.

A giant bee controlling dragonfly.

It turns out to not just be a dragonfly, but the Dragonfly, a character that is getting a surprising amount of play this year. She's also Callahan's sister.

Ant-Man has to flee, but comes back later with the police and is able to locate where Callahan has hidden her sister.

Now on to the main story, a continuation of the Subterranean Wars annual event. We saw a mysterious old woman in Avengers annual #20 making her way to Iron Man. It is here that she turns out to be Kala.

Kala explains what's been going on in Subterranea. She's come to love the Mole Man, and so she's come to ask for Iron Man's help. Note the too-cute-by-half mixed message from Stark's temp secretary.

Before Stark can respond, the Mole Man's Outcasts arrive.

The Outcasts have obviously been hitting the steroids, and in addition to getting bigger, it's made them extra dumb. They have been assigned by the Mole Man to guard Kala, but that includes keeping her in the Mole Man's kingdom. So even though Kala is trying to get help for the Mole Man, they just drag her back to Subterranea.

Iron Man got his armor shredded during the fight with them...

...but he still follows after Kala.

Meanwhile, though, Kala convinces the Outcasts to take her back to her old kingdom instead of going to the Mole Man's. The theory is that if she could re-take over her kingdom (the "Netherworld"), she'd be able to help the Mole Man. She also says that the very atmosphere of her kingdom contains the same properties as the Fountain of Youth, so if the Outcasts go there they'll become immortal, and that helps convince them.

Iron Man arrives and joins Kala and the Outcasts. After a quick show of force, and after Kala's youth and beauty is restored, the denizens of the Netherworld quickly become loyal to her again. But Kala decides that she doesn't really want to rule a kingdom; she wants to be by the Mole Man's side. The Outcasts also leave because Landslide is upset that he caused a cave-in that nearly killed anyone (and this is the last we'll ever see of them. The fact that Water Witch was recently appearing in Captain America isn't mentioned either).

Kala's decision is a little weird. I don't know why she couldn't rule her kingdom and help the Mole Man, as she originally intended. This could have been a turning point in the story, but instead it becomes another tangent, albeit one with slightly more relevance than the previous two chapters.

I did like seeing the Outcasts again.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: This is part four of the Subterranean Wars; part five takes place in Avengers West Coast annual #6. The MCP places the back-up stories in this issue directly before the main story, which is why i covered them before the main story. Iron Man and Kala go directly to Avengers West Coast annual #6 from here.

References:

• In addition to the other back-ups, there is a one page origin of Iron Man, recapping events from Tales of Suspense #39.
  
• Quasimodo had been trapped in computer systems, as seen in Avengers #253 (but really since ROM #43).
  
• Iron Man defeated Quasimodo once before, in Fantastic Four #202 (incorrectly footnoted as #203, which to be fair did show some repercussions from Quasimodo's attack in the prior issue).
  
• Quasimodo's plea reminds Stark of when he was paralyzed, in Iron Man #243.
  
• Dragonfly returned to Earth in Quasar #19 (but she appears in Captain America #387-392 prior to this story).
  
• Kala knows Iron Man from Tales of Suspense #43.
  
• She joined, and then betrayed, the Mole Man in Fantastic Four #127-128.
  
• She fought the Mole Man again in Marvel Treasury Edition #25.

Crossover: Subterranean Wars

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

My first thought was that the Quasimodo story was ripping of Star Trek: TNG's "Ship in a Bottle" - with holodeck Moriarty being convinced he had been freed from the holodeck but was in actuality in a VR environment. But that episode turns out to be from 1993, so it was Marvel who beat ST to the punch.