Synopsis
Invincible Iron Man #5 synopsis by
T Vernon
Rating:
Eco-terrorist Firebrand has caused the volcano on the Caribbean island of Isla Suerte to erupt; Iron Man is trying to rescue as many people as he can while James Rhodes and Rumiko Fujikawa are organizing aid and Morgan Stark just demands that Iron Man fly him to safety. Iron Man flies above the villains' dampening field and calls Pepper Potts in New York; she tells him that US rescue operations are on their way and passes along a file she has received on this new Firebrand....
Part of a terrorist group called the Flaming Sword and using tech created by the Arms Merchant, Firebrand was Richard Dennison, an environmental terrorist who planted a bomb at an alternative energy project and was caught in the explosion which fused his body with super-charged plasma. He was kidnapped from the hospital by Flaming Sword, further mutated, fitted with a control harness, and made their chief operative....
Iron Man finds himself joining Rhodey and the island's police force as they fight Flaming Sword, who are looting the casinos. Shellhead takes out the baddies but then Firebrand appears for a second round. He tries to tell Firebrand that he is being duped by Flaming Sword who are not idealists but just a gang of crooks. The villain doesn't believe him and configures his harness to create a heat cannon which delivers a painful blast to the armored hero who plummets to the ground. Firebrand destroys the lava shields meant to protect the villagers and Iron Man goes berserk, attacking the villain and hurling him into the sky. He then calls vulcanologist Dr. Ramona Napier to learn how to stop a volcano erupting. While he fights with his fiery foe, he learns from Dr Napier what to do. By now, Tony has figured out that Firebrand's harness can be controlled from outside (a fail-safe installed by the baddies) so he reconfigures the villain and uses him to drill a tunnel to let the lava escape into the sea, drawing it away from the inhabited parts of the island; Firebrand disappears in the operation....
Later Tony thanks Rhodey and Rumiko for their efforts. A hotel manager asks them to stay on a few days longer to show the world how the island is bouncing back from adversity and everyone is happy....
In Australia, Black Widow escapes from a compound ahead of gunfire and makes it to a remote area where she calls Stark Solutions, asking for Tony Stark....