Armor Wars
After joining the West Coast Avengers, Iron Man provided sanctuary
from reformed villain Force (Clay Wilson), an agent of Justin Hammer.
Examining Force’s armor, Tony recognized familiar circuitry patterns
based on his own Iron Man armor designs. Tony discovered that his old
foe
Spymaster
had stolen his designs and sold them to Hammer who armored several of
his super villain clients, including the Beetle (Abner Jenkins), the
Controller, the Mauler (Brendan Doyle), the Raiders and Stilt-Man
(Wilbur Day). Enraged by the thought that innocent people might have
been killed with his technology, Tony resolved to eliminate all traces
of his technology that had fallen into outside hands. However, Iron Man
falsely accused federal agent Stingray of possessing Stark’s technology,
forcing Tony to publicly fire his alter-ego. Steve Rogers was stripped
of his Captain America identity, and became the Captain; Tony supplied
him with a force shield. Unable to trust anyone using his armor
technology, Tony targeted the Guardsmen at the Vault prison. The Captain
tried to stop Iron Man, severely straining their friendship. Iron Man
next attacked the Crimson Dynamo in Russia, and accidentally killed the
Titanium Man, leading to Iron Man’s expulsion from the Avengers. Tony
faked Iron Man’s death, and later rejoined the Avengers as the “new Iron
Man.” Eventually, the Avengers saw through Tony’s facade.
