Centuries ago, the demon
known as Kao-Goto Suru
-- the Face Thief
-- crossed the dimensional boundary onto Earth. He soon stole the face
of a Japanese warlord named Tezuka, and led all of his followers on a fruitless
quest against the Japanese emperor. Of all those betrayed by this subterfuge,
only three survived.
These three prayed to the heavens for three storms to aid them in their
quest for vengeance against the demon...and the storms answered.
Thus, the
warrior souls of lightning, wind and thunder
were bestowed upon the trio of samurai -- along with the combined power
to "become one with the silent whisperings of the night." Over the generations,
many have taken the role of the Masters, for their quest for vengeance
never dies! The Masters came into conflict
with Iron Man
after Japan-based Akane Fusion
suffered a major industrial accident. Stark
Enterprises had apparently manufactured their
faulty safety valves. The CEO of Akane contacted the Masters via the Yakuza
-- the Asian Mafia -- to take vengeance on Stark. Tony, who was bedridden by
his nervous system failure,
first had his Telepresence
Armor battle the Masters, but it proved quite insufficient. He then
prepared a very new suit of armor to deal with the Masters -- the War
Machine!! While Stark fought the MOS to a standstill, Jim
Rhodes went about finding out who really
was responsible for the Akane disaster. Lo and behold, it turns out that
old business rival Justin
Hammer was the culprit! Stark and the
MOS then teamed up
to thoroughly trash Hammer's Pacific fortress. Currently, one of Tony's
old flames, Meredith McCall,
is a member of the Masters (IM Annual
#14). This, despite the miserable plotting
of the "Iron Boy"
issues which depicted her as a university professor (IM
#326-332).
First ever & IM appearance:
Iron Man #281. 
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