—Madame MasqueI've got a surprise for you...... You won't like this one.
Appearing in "The Maze"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- ⏴ Madame Masque ⏵ (Possesses Bethany Cabe)
- "Ermarks"
Other Characters:
- ⏴ Bethany Cabe ⏵ (Possesses Bethany Cabe)
- Obadiah Stane (Only in flashback)
- Dr. Theron Atlanta (Only in flashback)
- Barry Kranz (First appearance)
- Henry Pym
- Morley Erwin (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Sol (Main story and flashback)
- Earth (Main story and flashback)
- North America (Main story and flashback)
- United States of America (Main story and flashback)
- New York (Main story and flashback)
- Long Island (Main story and flashback)
- New York City (Only in flashback)
- Queens (Only in flashback)
- Flushing (Only in flashback)
- Stane International (Only in flashback)
- Flushing (Only in flashback)
- Queens (Only in flashback)
- New York City (Only in flashback)
- Long Island (Main story and flashback)
- California
- Los Angeles County
- Palos Verdes
- Los Angeles (Mentioned)
- Los Angeles County
- New York (Main story and flashback)
- United States of America (Main story and flashback)
- North America (Main story and flashback)
- Earth (Main story and flashback)
Items:
Synopsis for "The Maze"
Bethany Cabe and Madam Masque's minds have been swapped at the behest of Obadiah Stane, with the goal of assassinating Tony Stark. Madame Masque, now in Bethany's body, flies to Los Angeles to meet Tony, who flies her to his temporary residence as Iron Man. Clytemnestra Erwin arrives, grieving over her brother’s death but determined to help Tony recover his lost wealth.
Madame Masque, disguised as Bethany, attempts to shoot Tony but is thwarted when Clytemnestra inadvertently blocks her clear shot. Clytemnestra explains that Tony has only a short window to access a computer program in which Stane has hidden his wealth — one that will soon delete the data irreparably if not recovered in time. Tony suits up as Iron Man and heads off to see Henry Pym, hoping Pym can shrink him down to infiltrate the program's digital defenses.
Meanwhile, back on Long Island, the real Bethany — trapped in Madame Masque's body — desperately attempts to warn Tony. She hijacks a small plane and heads to California.
At the Avengers Compound, Iron Man explains his plan to Pym. Pym questions whether reclaiming his fortune will truly bring happiness, but Tony insists he deserves to restore his legacy despite past mistakes. Pym shrinks Iron Man to a microscopic size, allowing him to enter the program, where Tony discovers that his mind is generating visual metaphors of his experiences.
Inside the program, he encounters flying weapons representing "ermarks" — security constructs designed to prevent tampering. He tries to fight them physically but struggles to overcome them, realizing he needs more power. With time running out, he draws voltage from the computer hardware to destroy the ermarks, then locates a microchip symbolizing his lost data. He successfully fuses it, preventing the scheduled erasure.
Upon returning to normal size, Tony heads home — only to find Madame Masque (still appearing as Bethany) holding him at gunpoint. Suddenly, the real Bethany (in Madame Masque's body) bursts through a window and shoots the imposter in the arm before she can fire. Tony is left stunned, unable to comprehend the bizarre scene that just unfolded.
Solicit Synopsis
Notes
- Bethany Cabe and Madame Masque still have their conciousness in each others body courtesy of Dr. Theron Atlanta's "Psyche Imprint Transfer" process.
- In this issue, Tony Stark takes a major step in recovering his fortune which was lost to the late Obadiah Stane.
- This issue contains a letters page "Printed Circuits". Letters are published from William Charles Benton, Jim Baker, Steve Young, Chris Paucek, Christopher Moody, Janette Gerdes, Bill Egan, and Cherly Ann Klepper.