History
Source Control was the premier international black market for high-grade technology and weapons.[1] It was run by Spymaster,[2] and its hub was in Macau, China.[3] After running into Source Control operative Switchback, Iron Man learned of its existence. Realizing that he needed to dismantle Source Control covertly, he set out to use his entire fortune to buy up their catalog and then dismantle it himself.[1]
Around the same time, Source Control operative Vic Martinelli discovered that his employer had gotten its hands on the rings of the deceased Mandarin. He attempted to reach out to Iron Man for help to deal with the rings, but Source Control caught wind of his betrayal and sent the Titanium Man to kill him. Iron Man and War Machine investigated Martinelli's murder, and discovered the presence of the rings in the equation. During a confrontation with the Titanium Man, Iron Man faked a near-lethal injury as a cover for his plan to subvert Source Control.[3]
Stark used Clay Wilson as a frontman buyer, and had him spend over sixty billion dollars on Source Control's catalog over a month, using dozens of different shell companies to cover his tracks. However, the top tier of Source Control eventually noticed that the influx of buyers traced back to a single person. During a meeting to purchase Time Displacement Blasters, Source Control operatives used one of these on Wilson, sending him a week backward in time. Spymaster picked up Clay and manipulated him into believing that Stark was using him.[2] Sometime around this time, Spymaster sold the Mandarin's rings to the Cobalt Man, unaware that his buyer was actually Ironheart in disguise, who was operating independently of Stark.[4] Spymaster kept the listing for the rings up to lure Stark, who ended up arranging a meeting to buy them personally. With Wilson's help, Spymaster cornered Stark and War Machine, introducing in the process the Cobalt Man with the rings, still unaware of her true identity.[2] Ironheart used the rings to teleport Spymaster and his assosicates to the Darkforce Dimension dimension, and subsequently revealed herself to Iron Man and War Machine.[4]Notes
- The identity of the Spymaster that appears as the leader of Source Control in Iron Man (Vol. 6) #23 is never provided. The fact that Iron Man (Vol. 6) featured Donnie Gill wearing the Blizzard costume previously unique to his late predecessor Gregor Shapanka will be used as a precedent to assume that this Spymaster is Sinclair Abbott despite wearing a costume that belonged to his predecessors, since he was the only Spymaster confirmed alive at the time.
See Also
- 2 appearance(s) of Source Control (Earth-616)
- 3 mention(s) of Source Control (Earth-616)
- 1 image(s) of Source Control (Earth-616)
- 5 member(s) of Source Control (Earth-616)
- 5 item(s) used/owned by Source Control (Earth-616)