Appearing in "The Cutting Edge of Death!"
Featured Characters:
- ⏴ Iron Man (Tony Stark) ⏵ (Main story and recap)
Supporting Characters:
- Roxanne Gilbert
- Stark Industries
- Eddie March (Impersonates Iron Man) (Possessed by Krimonn)
- Pepper Hogan
- Happy Hogan
Antagonists:
- Doctor Spectrum (Kinji Obatu) (Main story and flashback; identity revealed)
- Doctor Spectrum's Power Prism (Krimonn) (Main story and flashback) (Possesses Iron Man (Tony Stark))
Other Characters:
- Rokk (Only in recap)
- Avengers (Referenced)
- Luke Cage
- Skrull Empire (Main story and flashback)
- Dorrek VII (Only in flashback)
- Numerous unnamed Skrulls (Only in flashback)
- "Monstrous Human Phantasm" (Construct) (Only in flashback)
- Squadron Sinister (Mentioned)
- Gamemaster (Grandmaster) (Behind the scenes) (Only in flashback)
- Jarvis
- ⏴ Thor ⏵ (Cameo)
- Lord (Invoked)
- Odin (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
- Humans (Main story and flashback)
- Skrulls (Main story and flashback)
- Unidentified alien species (Behind the scenes) (Only in flashback)
- Asgardians (Cameo)
Locations:
- Milky Way (Main story and recap)
- Earth (Main story and recap)
- North America (Main story and recap)
- United States of America (Main story and recap)
- Africa (Only in flashback)
- Uganda (Only in flashback)
- India (Only in recap)
- Taj Mahal (Only in recap)
- North America (Main story and recap)
- Earth (Main story and recap)
- Andromeda Galaxy (Only in flashback)
- Tarnax IV (Only in flashback)
Items:
- Iron Man Armor Model 3 (Main story and recap)
- Doctor Spectrum's Power Prism (Main story and flashback)
- Mjolnir
Synopsis for "The Cutting Edge of Death!"
His power weakened, Iron Man fends off Dr. Spectrum. Roxanne flees the scene and meets Eddie March; Eddie hopes to help Iron Man somehow. Happy and Pepper have another confrontation and Happy reveals to her that Tony is Iron Man. In New York, Luke Cage receives a telegram from Obatu asking him to be his bodyguard, but Cage is not interested. As Spectrum nearly has Iron Man beaten he recalls his origins; Iron Man manages to escape him. As Spectrum searches for his foe he finds Iron Man near Roxanne and attacks. Iron Man is swiftly beaten and the Power Prism decides to make Iron Man the new host for its power. Elsewhere, someone phones Avengers Mansion to ask for help; soon enough, the mighty Thor appears to face the possessed Iron Man.
Notes
- In this issue, Pepper Hogan discovers that Tony Stark is Iron Man.
- The first origin of Doctor Spectrum and his Power Prism is given in the second chapter of this story: The Origin of Dr. Spectrum.
- This issue contains a letters page, "Sock It To Shell-Head". Letters are published from: Brian Earl Brown, Bob Blakely, and Jeff Walker.