He struggles against his infirmities. -- Forcing himself past his limits. He is a man not accustomed to failure. 
Appearing in "Data In, Chaos Out"
Featured Characters:
- Force Works
- Iron Man (Anthony Stark)
- War Machine (James "Jim" Rhodes)
- Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter)
Antagonists:
- M.O.D.O.K. (George Tarleton)
- Justin Hammer
Other Characters:
- Police Officers
Locations:
- Earth-TRN849
- United States of America
- Stark Enterprises
- United States of America
Items:
- Iron Man Armor
- War Machine Armor
- M.O.D.O.K.'s External Life Form (E.L.F.) (First appearance)
- Neuromimetic Space Armor (First appearance)
- Tech Droids (First appearance)
Vehicles:
- Hex-Ships (First appearance)
Synopsis for "Data In, Chaos Out"
On an asteroid field, deep in space, Iron Man is in the process of mining molten Xenebrium, the rarest of materials, which only exists on asteroids before they explode. An unexpected geyser of molten Xenebrium forces him to abandon the mining, and he is trapped in the ensuring molten flow. Even though he is controlling the armor remotely from Earth, Tony Stark feels the pain. Coming upon the scene, James Rhodes asks Tony why he didn't ask War Machine to do it. Before Tony can answer, the meteor explodes and sends the Iron Man armor back into the Earth's atmosphere. All the Xenebrium burns up on reentry, but the armor survives and flies home to be decontaminated in the Risk Environment Chamber. While pleased that the armor proved its mettle, Tony has to make a statement about his satellites.
Stark Enterprises built the satellites that controls international trading, causing stock markets to crash and worldwide panic. Tony denies he has been buying up the falling stock, and states he intends to refrain from buying stock until the crisis is averted. To prove his claims, he asks his senior vice president, James Rhodes, to release Tony's complete financial records.
In outer space, a space ship piloted by Justin Hammer and M.O.D.O.K. approaches the last of Stark Enterprises's financial satellites. They begin the reprogramming process, and M.O.D.O.K. sends his External Life Form (E.L.F.) to "infiltrate" of James Rhodes. The E.L.F. takes over James Rhodes' mind. Tony and Julia Carpenter check the Stark satellites and they find the satellites have been altered to shift funds into his bank account. Jim then comes in with the police and accuses Tony of altering the satellites.
Tony prepares to check the satellites in person. Unfortunately, since the rest of Force Works is investigating Earth tremors in the Southwest, and something is going on with Jim, Julia has to remain behind to keep an eye on things- meaning that Tony will have to go up alone. To lure out the saboteur, Tony launches a new satellite and hides inside it as Iron Man.
M.O.D.O.K. falls for the bait and summons his tech droids to reprogram the satellire. Iron man attacks and destroys the first wave of tech droids, after which M.O.D.O.K. calls on James Rhodes for help. Still being controlled by E.L.F. Jim as War Machine flies up to aid M.O.D.O.K. in a Stark Enterprises star cruiser, upon which Julia Carpenter has snuck aboard as Spider-Woman. Iron Man is losing ground against the tech droids when War Machine enters the fray. Iron Man and War Machine trade blows while Justin Hammer and M.O.D.O.K. retreat to their escape pod, setting their ship to explode to destroy the incriminating evidence and to kill both Iron Man and War Machine.
War Machine gets the upper hand on Iron Man, but Spider-Woman interferes, covering War Machine's helmet with webs to cut off his air supply. War Machine is forced to remove his helmet, at which point she wraps Jim's head in psi-webs, constricting them until E.L.F. is expelled from the pressure. Iron Man, War Machine, and Spider-Woman escape to their ship just before the station explodes. Iron Man shoots out the navigation controls for the escape pod, causing M.O.D.O.K. and Justin to crash land in a Californian desert.
Notes
- This issue adapts "Data In, Chaos Out", the third episode of Iron Man: The Animated Series, from the teleplay by Douglas Booth.
Trivia
- In the animated version, there a heavier emphasis on the Xenebrium, and the other members of Force Works come to help War Machine on the satellite. Hawkeye and Century are responsible for getting rid of E.L.F. and Century teleports an asteroid storm around M.O.D.O.K. and Justin's escape pod.