Iron Man: The Inevitable #2

Ghost was only introduced in the #219-221 story that claimed to kill off Spymaster 1. He tangled with IM a few times in the late 80's, then wasn't reused until the early 00's. Living Laser predates them all, dating back to Avengers #34 in 1966. He's been a staple Marvel villain since then, but only joined the ranks of Iron Man foes in #152 of IM's original series. There he was turned into laser energy (previously he had only *used* laser weapons). He was dispersed into outer space in #289. There are 3 accredited appearances of Living Laser between then and now:- He's in 1 panel full of villains in Alpha Flight #121, but doesn't take part in the ensuing fight. And he's in his old pre-energy-form costume. I chalk that up to a mistake. He makes a more substantial appearance in Hulk #418 in his energy form in a smaller group where he speaks 1 line. But it's of no consequence so I can ignore that too. The Official Index places Living Laser in the breakout in New Avengers #3. This current series refers to Iron Man being part of the Avengers again, and so must happen after that initial Avengers arc. But try as I might I can't actually identify LL there, so I'm going to dismiss this supposed app too.

After exposing himself as Iron Man in IM(1998)#55, Tony Stark was made Secretary of Defense in #78. As part of Avengers Disassembled Stark was fired from his Defense job in Av#501 and claimed to retire as Iron Man at the end of his own 1998 series, passing the armour on to an employee. But we know he really continued to be IM in the 2005 series. This raises the question of why Stark doesn't appear to use his Extremis armour here? #5 will confirm that he *has* undergone the Extremis process. And already the existence of the New Avengers indicates this. But at the point of publication of this issue the Extremis arc of IM(2005) wasn't yet completed, so either it wasn't yet clear how the new armour worked or the editor/writer were hedging their bets. The 1st Spymaster bedevilled Iron Man throughout his 1st series, from #33 to #220 where Ghost supposedly killed him. However Dark Reign: Made Men will reveal that he didn't really die. The 2nd Spymaster was awarded the name in #254 and was last seen in Iron Man: Bad Blood. His death in flashback here has not been contradicted.