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Invincible Iron Man #17: Review

Sep 2009
Matt Fraction, Salvador Larroca

Story Name:

World's Most Wanted Part 10: Ashes and Snow

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Invincible Iron Man #17 Review by (June 5, 2012)
This is Part 10 of the 12-part story of Tony Stark's self-induced slow lobotomy, to keep the Superhero Registration Database out of the hands of Norman Osborn.

We find out next issue that Madame Masque here is really Pepper Potts. So it's even more astounding she easily found the communicator Masque threw away in the snow.

Tony thinks about what Captain America would think of him abandoning a comrade. He's almost certainly referring to Steve Rogers here, not Bucky Barnes. In real time this is partway through the CA: Reborn mini-series. Even though the chronology experts put that series happening between #13 and #14, Tony has been on the run and probably doesn't know about it. But he's also now probably forgotten that Cap is supposedly dead, and replaced by Bucky.

Dmitri Bukharin next appears in the Hulk: Winter Guard 1-shot where he retires as Crimson Dynamo to become supervisor of the WG. But he'll retake the CD armour partway through the Darkstar & Winter Guard mini-series and be with the team in Amazing Spider-Man #676 when they possibly die (at least most of them aren't seen again).

I don't think the intercepted email helps HAMMER find Maria Hill or Tony. I list Christopher Walsh here (and in a couple of earlier appearances) as a friend because he doesn't like working for HAMMER, and will turn against them (in a small way) next issue.

Cap/Bucky may be watching Maria and Black Widow get captured, but he obviously does nothing about it because they're in HAMMER custody next issue. He'll turn up again at the end of #19.

Cap/Bucky joined the New Avengers immediately after the end of Secret Invasion, and has been with them throughout Dark Reign, generally getting in Osborn's way. He appeared last in their Annual #3 rescuing Hawkeye after Norman Osborn captured him in Dark Reign: The List - Avengers. But recently before that he got involved with Black Widow in Cap/Steve's Rebirth. And Cap/Steve told Cap/Bucky he could keep the title and the shield in CA: Who Will Wield The Shield. After that he tangled with the 1950's Cap in his own #602-605.

Stark is wearing Model 2 armour this issue. Next month he'll go back even further.





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #17 Synopsis by Rob Johnson
In Kirensk Madame Masque drags the Rescue armour from the ruins of Tony Stark's base. She finds the communicator discarded in #15, and tells Norman Osborn that Iron Man escaped. But she killed Pepper Potts and has her Stark-tech armour.

Tony has temporarily abandoned his Iron Man suit to sneak into Almaty in Kazahkstan to send an email to Maria Hill at SHIELD from an Internet cafe. His brainwipe is proceeding apace, and he's forgotten lots of stuff including the mission he sent her on, and that SHIELD has been replaced by Osborn's HAMMER. He just wants someone to confess to about leaving Pepper behind.

Then he suits up and continues on his journey to Afghanistan.

Maria Hill wakes up in Black Widow's apartment, and tries to kill Natasha (unsuccessfully of course). The after-effects of the Controller's disk in #12-13 are still messing with her mind.

Osborn and the SHIELD helicarrier want to enter Russian airspace. Norman contacts Col Bukharin (Crimson Dynamo) again. This time he gets permission by trading the whereabouts of some Chechnya rebels building an A-bomb. After the call he tells Victoria Hand to arrange for some 'rebels' for the Russians to find. Dmitri toasts a vodka apology to his friend Tony.

The helicarrier picks up Madame Masque and the Rescue armour.

HAMMER intercept Stark's email to Hill. Ex-SHIELD agent Walsh reluctantly takes it to Hand.

Tony is asleep in his armour as it flies over Afghanistan. Until he is shot down by tribesmen with a rocket launcher. He extricates himself from the damaged suit and continues on foot.

Maria Hill and Black Widow are waiting for Captain America (Bucky) at their rendezvous point, when Maria spots a surveillance van. The armed HAMMER operatives realise they've been made, and move in to capture the pair. But Cap is watching.

Osborn is grilling Masque about why she let Stark escape (and seems about to strangle her from behind) when Hand tells him they've caught Maria Hill.

And the Rescue armour gets stored in Osborn's armoury.



Salvador Larroca
Salvador Larroca
Frank D'Armata
Salvador Larroca (Cover Penciler)
Salvador Larroca (Cover Inker)
Letterer: Joe Caramagna.
Editor: Warren Simons.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Black Widow
Black Widow

(Natasha Romanoff)
Captain America
Captain America

(James "Bucky" Barnes)
Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Tony Stark)

Plus: Christopher Walsh, Crimson Dynamo (Anton Vanko), H.A.M.M.E.R., Ms. Hand, Norman Osborn, Victoria Hand.

> Invincible Iron Man: Book info and issue index

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