Synopsis
Iron Man (2024 series) #7 synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Rating:
When Feilong took over Stark Unlimited (in the previous series) he returned it to weapons manufacture. Tony Stark had to fight to get back control earlier in this series and intended to stop making weapons. But then Dr Doom took over the world.
Now we see him making an announcement at the New York Stock Exchange that he's reversed his intentions. At the end he dons an armour from his briefcase and flies away. And we and his audience see that it's the old Silver Centurion armour rather than the cobbled together armour he's been wearing since #1.
When he reaches Stark Tower he's confronted by his Security Chief Melinda May (the ex-SHIELD Agent known as Cavalry) who's angry about not being kept in the loop and now thinks he's declaring war on Dr Doom. She's also confused about the armour he's wearing because she understood that all his old armours were unusable since Justine Hammer infected them with magic malware. He tells her that this 1 was offline at the time and he's been wearing it in another job (the current West Coast Avengers series). He promises to tell her what's really going on and says he needs her help. But 1st they must get to a more secure location.
They take a pneumatic tube down to a control/conference room where they are met by Vishte Taru, a young Latverian that Stark brought home last issue after he met with the Latverian Patriotic Front, who are shown in a recorded image/video. May recognises them as a terrorist group but Stark counters that they are the only organised Latverian opposition to Doom, and Tau adds that they are backed by key sections of the Latverian army. Melinda reads all this as Tony intending to sponsor a coup against Doom. But she's told it's more complicated than that. Like all historical empires Doom will need to import resources to the centre, in this case into the mystical dome that surrounds Latveria. Stark's not going to arm the terrorists, he's going to arm Doom which means putting the arms within reach of the sympathetic army. (This was the plan discussed with the LPF last issue.) Tony doesn't expect the LPF to win but what he hopes for is a long drawn out conflict which will start the unravelling of Doom's control. He now asks Melinda to be his liaison with the LPF, to help keep it secret from the Avengers. And she's in.
Stark has been ignoring messages from a Latverian ambassador but now Taru mentally detects an approaching threat which turns out to be Dr Doom's right-hand woman Victorious. They go up to the roof to meet her where she blasts the armour briefcase out of his hand and demands he explains what he's doing. Without his old armour Tony's forced to activate his 'makeshift' armour. But he doesn't want the world, including the Avengers, to see the much-improved version that he used when meeting the LPF (and fighting the Russian Winter Guard) last issue so he jams all cellphone signals in the area. It seems Vishte has magic skills as well as telepathic ones and he joins in the fight, but Stark benches him because he's not up to facing the foe's Power Cosmic. The duel continues and, knowing how powerful Victorious is, Iron Man doesn't hold back and the power of his armour and giant sword eventually vanquish her.
Stark hands V's battle-staff to May to examine and takes his unconscious foe down to a medical bay where doctors pronounce her OK and she awakes. Tony persuades Zora Vukovic that they need to talk. She agrees to listen while she finishes recovering. (And Tony is now using a walking stick which may be a holdover from the severe injuries he's been recovering from since the beginning of this series - but he's not used it earlier or last issue or in the WCA series.) After a brief mention that Victorious has made up with Victor Von Doom after his mystic shield locked her out of Latveria (Avengers Assemble (2024) #4), we get to Stark's spin on things.
He states that he recognises Doom as emperor of the world but where does that leave Stark Unlimited? Vukovic automatically responds that it now belongs to Doom like everything else. But he asks her if that means that Dr Doom declares the end of capitalism, which rocks her back. Also SU has contracts to supply arms to national militaries which Doom allows to exist. He suspects that if he stopped supplying them they would see that as setting a limit to their military might, which would in turn provoke them into a now-or-never uprising. So he sees continuing to sell them arms as maintaining the peace which Doom has declared. And furthermore to maintain balance he should also sell arms to Doom's army.
Zora can't accept this and attacks. (Even without her armour and battle-staff she still wields the Power Cosmic.) Stark armours up and the fight recommences. But Cavalry joins in with a blast from V's own weapon and Zora is downed again. Stark again claims that neither he nor Victor want war and SU is a vital resource for Emperor Doom. And he bends the knee to emphasise his submission. But he also requests that for public appearances he be allowed to remain with the Avengers, hinting that Victor may find the connection useful. Victorious retrieves her armour and weapon and leaves, telling Stark to wait his Emperor's decision.
And Stark and May congratulate themselves that the 1st stage in their plan to dethrone Doom has worked.
CharactersGood (or All)Plus: Melinda May, Vishte Taru.
Enemies
Victorious (Zora Vukavic).