In 1999, Fin Fang Foom – the extraterrestrial dragon with a penchant for eating people and tearing down buildings – made an appearance in Seattle, Washington. Fortunately Tony Stark, aka the Invincible Iron Man, was living in the region and his superhero persona was able to defeat Foom within the depths of Puget Sound. Fourteen years later, illegal oil drilling off the coast of Alaska by the Roxxon Corporation awakens Fin Fang Foom from a deep slumber, resulting in the behemoth destroying the drilling platform and once again heading towards Seattle.
While the extraterrestrial’s first venture to Puget Sound occurred in The Invincible Iron Man, the second took place in an exclusive comic book only available at exchange stores on military bases around the world. In 2005, Marvel received a letter from a fan saying that they could no longer afford to send the latest issues to their brother serving in Iraq. As a result, Marvel began producing comic books exclusively for military personnel. The Iron Man/Fin Fang Foom storyline was the fifteenth installment in the Exchange Series, and also featured former Marine James “Rhodey” Rhodes as Iron Patriot.
Tony Stark is again in Seattle, meeting with wind-generated electricity companies about his latest Starx Flexbattery that is capable of storing fifteen gigawatts of electricity for up to two years. A sudden series of “booms” disrupt the presentation, and while the businessmen fear it might be an earthquake, Stark realizes that it is something far worse when he sees Fin Fang Foom making his way past the Space Needle. Excusing himself from the meeting, he quickly changes into Iron Man and takes off into the sky.
The U.S. military is already battling Fin Fang Foom in the Seattle Shipyard. “Iron Man, this is Major Thomas Heimann,” a voice announces over the airwaves. “We’re evacuating the city, but this thing is shrugging off everything we’re throwing at it.” Iron Man replies that he has confronted Fin Fang Foom in the past and knows how to stop him – specifically, by using a rare Chinese herb called Isaria cicada that has incapacitated Foom during previous encounters.
First Iron Man attracts the dragon’s attention with a pulser ray, then has his suit prepare a gas of Isaria cicada with a 115 percent potency. With Fin Fang Foom now facing directly towards him, Iron Man releases the gas. Instead of Foom falling asleep, however, the gas only angers the extraterrestrial, who responds with a fiery blast that sends Iron Man tumbling into Puget Sound.
The superhero recovers quickly and immediately calls his Stark Industry assistant Pepper Potts. He explains that the Isaria cicada had no effect on Fin Fang Foom and asks her to use the data he collected to figure out why. In the meantime, Iron Man and a just arriving Iron Patriot attempt to keep Foom from destroying Seattle.
Rhodey appears on the scene in the nick of time, as Fin Fang Foom has just tossed a battleship into the air as if it was a toy. The two ironmen are able to catch and safely return it into Puget Sound, at which point Iron Man gives a sitrep to his colleague. “I’ll see if I can distract him while you go for his tail,” he says. “Try and pull him back toward the water – we need to keep him away from the city.” The tactic doesn’t work out as planned when Fin Fang Foom uses his tail to swat Iron Patriot away while using his hands to do the same to Iron Man.
By now Pepper Potts has concluded that Foom somehow developed a tolerance for Isaria cicada and only an “insane” amount of the gas will have any effect. Although Potts can synthesize enough of it in her lab, releasing such a large quantity is another matter. Remember the experimental sub-orbiter you were tinkering with?” she asks Iron Man. “It can be our delivery system. But someone needs to go inside Foom and manually release the gas. We can’t wait for him to digest it – that could take hours.”
While Iron Patriot continues to distract Fin Fang Foom, Iron Man heads to Pepper Potts and retrieves the sub-orbiter. It requires three people to operate, and Iron Man informs Major Heimann that he will be needing assistance. “Strap yourselves in tight because it’s going to be rough,” Iron Man then tells three military volunteers. “Once you’re inside of Foom, deploy the gas by pulling the three levers at the same time. And whatever you do, do not get out of the pod. Who knows what’s swirling around in that gut of his.”
Iron Patriot has by now found himself in a perilous situation – tightly held in Fin Fang Foom’s hand and being forced into the dragon’s mouth. It puts Rhodey in the perfect position, however, to pull open Foom’s jaws wide enough for Iron Man to launch the sub-orbiter down his throat. Once inside Fin Fang Foom, the three military personnel discover that the levers aren’t working. Ignoring Iron Man’s previous warning, one of them ventures outside the pod and repairs the damage causing the malfunction. With the device now fixed, the three levers are pulled and the gas is released within Foom.
Iron Man is squashed between the dragon’s hands and falls to the ground. Just as Fin Fang Foom is about to stomp on him, the behemoth falters and collapses. “Foom’s only regret,” he says to himself as unconsciousness hits him, “is that he did not eat tin man’s gooey insides.”
The three military men make their way back upwards through Foom’s throat and meet Iron Man and Iron Patriot next to the dragon’s sleeping body. “I hate to think what he would have done if we hadn’t stopped him,” Iron Man remarks, to which Iron Patriot replies, “Me too. We can chalk it up to smart teamwork.”
Unable to contain himself, Tony Stark adds, “And a dragon with a bad case of gas.”
Anthony Letizia