Invincible Iron Man #10: Review

Feb 2009

Matt Fraction, Salvador Larroca

::: click cover to ENLARGE it :::

Story Name:

World's Most Wanted Part 3: No Future

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #10 Review by Rob Johnson (May 15, 2012)

This is part 3 of the year-long story which explains what Tony was doing during most of Dark Reign.

Tony Stark was temporarily in full armour at the end of last issue. But now he's back just in the undersuit again.

Who does Tony think he's sending Maria Hill to contact? Steve Rogers is believed dead at this point, and won't return until after this storyline is well under way. So his target must be Bucky/Winter Soldier, who has taken on the role of Captain America, and that's who Maria meets up with eventually. But I wouldn't have thought Tony trusts Bucky well enough to rely on him for this.

Central Park has been renamed Restoration Park after its devastation in Secret Invasion.

Victoria Hand mentions Bill Foster, Steve Rogers and Janet van Dyne as victims of Tony Stark's rule. Bill Foster was killed as Goliath during Civil War by the Ragnarok clone of Thor that Stark helped create. Jan/Wasp died during Secret Invasion, which Osborn is trying to blame on Stark. All 3 opposed Iron Man during Civil War. But I don't think that can be linked to Steve Rogers' 'death'.

Osborn wears the Iron Patriot armour as leader of the Dark Avengers, debuting in DA#1.

It will transpire next issue that Tony is flying an old suit, because the Extremis suit doesn't work so well now the Extremis interface is compromised, since Secret Invasion. Presumably he needs an old-enough suit that isn't susceptible to the Skrull computer virus.

I've only just realised that FunTime, Inc is where the Illuminati meet.

From Our Blog:

Gwen Stacy, beauty queen of Standard High School, was Peter Parker's (alias Spider-Man) first great love.

Gwen Stacy: Classic Beauty

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #10 Synopsis by Rob Johnson

Norman Osborn continues to give his press conference as head of HAMMER. He is mostly evasive, and dismissive of hostile questions. But continues to suggest that Tony Stark and Maria Hill were complicit in the Skrull invasion.

Meanwhile Tony and Maria are together in Tony's hideout (FunTime, Inc) where he's hooked up to the computer again. Tony wants Maria to go to another Stark Industries subsidiary FuturePharm in Texas, to find a harddrive and take it to Captain America.

He unhooks from the computer, and tells Maria he needs sources of repulsor power in order to continue the destruct sequence that will erase his brain and all the secrets it contains, to keep them from Osborn. Such sources are in his armour and his armouries. But as soon as he uses them, Osborn will know.

Tony takes Maria down into a basement where there are rows and rows of Iron Man suits. And this is just one of the many armouries scattered throughout the world.

The couple make love, as you do when you're about to head into deadly danger.

Osborn's assistant Victoria Hand announces that Stark will be given a chance to turn himself in and answer the questions over his conduct in Secret Invasion. Osborn will be waiting in Central Park the next morning. If he doesn't comply, he will be considered a fugitive, as those were who didn't obey Stark's own edicts during Civil War and the Initiative.

Meanwhile Pepper Potts has been left to oversee the closing down of Stark Industries. She is enraged at Hand's twisting of Tony's actions. As she lays waste to Stark's deserted office, she opens a concealed room. In it she finds an Iron Man suit tailored to fit a female body (hers).

Osborn waits for Stark in Central Park clad in his Iron Patriot armour. When the deadline passes, he issues an arrest warrant for Stark. And also authorises HAMMER troops to seize all Stark Industries remaining assets worldwide.

When they break into Pepper's CEO office in SI HQ they find her (and the armour) gone.

When Maria Hill wakes in the morning she finds Tony gone too. Leaving a note telling her to blow FunTime and its armoury up. Which she does. And leaves on the run.

And Tony and Pepper are on the run too, flying off in their suits of armour.

::: click cover to ENLARGE it :::