Original text copyright 2006, 2007, 2009 Tim Rassbach.

Iron Man and all associated characters are the property of Marvel Comics.

A battle with Ultimo in #95 caused Tony to have a heart attack. In #97, he had another major incident, and needed a full charge in the armor to prevent his body from rejecting the synthetic heart. Stark ended up, forced to wear the armor all the time. Once again, he is a prisoner inside his golden armor.

Although he’s spoken of his dual role before, Stark now began to speak of being two people—Iron Man and Tony Stark—sharing a soul, but never speaking to each other (IM 105). He adds that beneath the mask, "my voice, even my thoughts seem to change" (IM 105). In #108, he mused that it was funny that the whole world hadn’t "put two and two together" and figured out Tony Stark was Iron Man. Slowly his heart got better, becoming less of a plot driver.

After losing Whitney Frost and discovering that SHIELD was taking over his company (IM 119), not to mention accidentally being involved in the killing of the Carnelian Ambassador (IM’s armor was sabotaged #124), Tony began to comfort himself with alcohol and began a downward spiral. This was bad for him, but, surprisingly, good for his heart—his descent into a bottle occurred without any other real health problems.

Stark hit skid row shortly thereafter, embracing the life all too easily. It was such a good life for him that he remained down on the bowery for some time, low-rent playboy—drinking. He was having a good time. It was a bet with Captain America—that Stark couldn’t stay sober for twelve hours—that finally convinced Tony that he had a problem with alcohol. Well, knowing is half the battle . . . Of course, knowing didn’t make it any easier to quit drinking.

While down and out, Stark began a romance of sorts with Gretl Anders, a pregnant wino who lived on the street (IM 178). They partied night after night, day after day, and became real close. Then one day—in the middle of a terrible blizzard, in the death of cold—Gretl had her baby (IM 182). She then died, leaving the baby in Tony’s arms. This was a huge turning point for Tony. Determined to stay alive—to keep the baby alive—he found his inner strength, that which had made him a hero for all these years. Tony and the boy survived the night, and Tony cleaned himself up.