Mandarin returns as a cult leader—“Hands of the Mandarin.”
He gives various rings to members of the cult and engineers a battle with Iron Man for the corporate supremacy of Hong Kong by kidnapping Tony Stark’s lawyer, James Rhodes, and secretary Mrs. Arbogast. If Iron Man wins a duel, the three live and Stark can have exclusive trade with Hong Kong. If Iron Man loses, Stark International cannot expand into HK.
Yeah, it’s a ridiculously nonbinding way to explore corporate expansion, but in a world of flying armored bodyguards and magical ring cults, it’s a cool concept.
Of course Iron Man wins in the end.
At the very end of the issue, a female Stark International employee who is also a stalker shoots him because he won’t date her. That will be the story next issue.
