Story #2Iron Man 2.0 prologue
Writer:
Nick Spencer. Penciler/Inker:
Barry Kitson. Colorist:
Matthew Wilson. Letterer:
Joe Caramagna.
Synopsis
War Machine was sent to Novosibirsk, Russia by
Gen'l Babbage. His mission fails with 2 results:- Someone tells him that
Palmer Addley is dead, and he almost gets caught in a nuclear detonation.
James Rhodes survives to report back to Babbage, who isn't happy, Rhodes had been sent to investigate and stop a series of nuclear events across the globe.
Rhodey also reports to
Tony Stark, who says he'll build him a better suit of armour.
This story will continue, with more explanation, in the
Iron Man 2.0 series.
Story #3#500.1 - What it was like, what happened, and what it's like now
Writer:
Matt Fraction. Penciler/Inker:
Salvador Larroca. Colorist:
Frank D'Armata. Letterer:
Joe Caramagna.
Synopsis
Tony Stark attends an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and tells his life story, with the
Iron Man parts referenced obliquely. (Well I suppose although everyone knows Tony Stark is Iron Man, the meeting doesn't know that this Tony is Stark. But no-one recognises him?!)
He starts by saying his parents were away a lot, and he used to invite friends around to the house while they were away. Then they spoiled his 15th birthday by actually being there. He claims that's when he first drank.
He was also insecure, and booze helped with that. It also helped with girls. Lots of them. And drink became a habit, which interfered with his college work. (But I think previous origins have said he was academically successful, so he couldn't have been
that drunk.)
He then skips quickly to taking over the family business, and here's where his statements become more ambiguous than the accompanying pictures. He talks about working on a vital project with an older man, and the artwork shows him creating the prototype Iron Man suit with
Prof Yinsen.
From here I'll base things mostly on the pictures.
Iron Man's origin here follows the model set in the recent
Annual. The boss terrorist is
Raza from the movie. And
Mandarin is present.
The scenes flash through the evolving armour and the
Avengers, and all the while keeping up the playboy lifestyle of wine and women. Tony claims that the lifestyle plus the iron suit were his way of hiding from reality.
But he also manages to turn some of his staff into friends:-
Pepper Potts,
Mrs Arbogast,
Jim Rhodes. And accumulate dangerous rivals like
Justin Hammer (seen with a young woman who might be his daughter
Justine) and
Obadiah Stane. Mandarin is in there too of course.
Tony thinks he had a death wish. Either the booze or the enemies would kill him.
Then comes the low point. Stark becomes an obvious drunk, even in the armour.
Rhodey takes over as Iron Man, Stane takes over
Stark International, and Stark becomes a bum.
After nearly dying from exposure during winter, an old friend visits Tony in hospital and directs him to AA meetings. This starts his way back up. Eventually he regains his armour and his company.
More villains follow, including
Fin Fang Foom. Rhodey becomes
War Machine. Tony has a tangled relationship with
Bethany Cabe and
Madame Masque. (The entanglements had begun long before.)
More cameos follow, of
teen Tony, of the post-
Heroes Reborn Stark Solutions, and of Mandarin's son
Temugin. Then his rise to power as Secretary of Defence, then the
Extremis process, then
Director of SHIELD. Then the fall via the death of
Captain America,
Ezekiel Stane, and wiping his own mind during
Dark Reign. And now he's on the way up again with
Stark Resilient.
After the meeting he calls
Pepper and asks her out to dinner. But she finds this awkward. And tells him over the phone that they had sex during the period he can no longer remember.
Tony is stunned. But not too stunned to go out with a woman he met at the AA meeting instead.