Rescue #1

May 2010
Kelly Sue DeConnick, Andrea Mutti

Rescue #1 cover

Story Name:

Rescue me


Synopsis

Rescue #1 synopsis by Rob Johnson
Rating: 4 stars
Pepper Potts is investigating the school basement in Broxton, Oklahoma, when her exhausted brain starts hallucinating her dead husband Happy Hogan. She's found some boxing gloves, and he leads her through the process of taking her anger out on a punching bag. (I.e. she remembers how he did it.)

She soon stops, saying fighting isn't her style. But Happy says not from what he's seen lately. She immediately guiltily apologises for sleeping with Tony Stark. But Happy's not bothered about that. He just wants to remind her that she's just busted Maria Hill and Black Widow out of Norman Osborn's clutches with her Rescue armour, retrieving a vital hard drive on the way.

But Pepper also remembers thinking that she never wanted to be a superhero, on the way here. The 3 women had split up after their escape, to make their individual ways to the rendezvous in Broxton. Pepper was flying here in the Rescue suit, alone except for its AI JARVIS.

They were running low on power when they saw a tanker about to collide with a car full of teenagers. Rescue saved the car, but the tanker smashed into a mini-mart, killing the driver and setting fire to the place.

JARVIS alerted the fire brigade, and Rescue broke through the roof of the mart to help 4 detectable survivors. She needed to get everything done before the fire crew arrived, so Osborn's HAMMER don't notice her presence and come to arrest her.

She got 2 people out. But a news copter saw her. HAMMER would be here sooner than she hoped.

She went back in to find the other 2. A man was tending to a badly injured boy. Rescue took the boy out to waiting paramedics, and then headed back for the last person. Her power was nearly out, and HAMMER would be there any second. She found the man again, but he'd been hit by falling debris and was now also in a bad way. She took him to safety too, but then had to run from HAMMER without finding out whether he'll survive.

Back in the present, Pepper sees her glass half empty. She thinks she should have stopped the tanker, or she should have got all 4 people out. But Happy tells her to think of the people she *did* save.

He also says she should forgive herself for her part in having his life support terminated, when there was no hope of his recovery.

Happy fades away, and Pepper continues punishing the punchbag.


 

Review / Commentaries


Rescue #1 Review by (June 20, 2012)
This 1-shot is connected to the Stark Disassembled story in Invincible Iron Man (2008) #20-24. It was Kelly Sue DeConnick's 2nd script for Marvel, after the Lady Sif 1-shot and several independent comics. Possibly her biggest gig after this was the Osborn mini-series. And she'll be the writer on the new Captain Marvel series.

Happy Hogan's death occurred during Civil War. He got caught in a war between Iron Man and Spymaster in Iron Man (2004) #13, and was left in a permanent coma. Pepper knew he didn't want to live that way, and persuaded Tony Stark in the next issue to use his Extremis power to make Happy's life support fail. She's obviously still suffers guilt for that, and also blames Tony.

The flashback in the Rescue armour occurs between the closing pages of IM#19, before Pepper Potts reunites with the comatose Tony Stark and other characters in Broxton.

The main 'conversation' with Happy Hogan's ghost follows IM#24, while they're still hiding in Broxton, and Tony is recuperating as seen in Siege #1 and #3. Pepper would have to be recovered from her operation and out of the hospital bed, before she resumes her job as Stark's right-hand woman in Siege #4.

*** The rest of the Comments are earlier versions of parts of this Comment that I can't get rid of.


This 1-shot is connected to the Stark Disassembled story in Invincible Iron Man (2008) #20-24. It was Kelly Sue DeConnick's 2nd script for Marvel, after the Lady Sif 1-shot and several independent comics. Possibly her biggest gig after this was the Osborn mini-series. And she'll be the writer on the new Captain Marvel series. Happy Hogan's death occurred during Civil War. He got caught in a war between Iron Man and Spymaster in Iron Man (2004) #13, and was left in a permanent coma. Pepper knew he didn't want to live that way, and persuaded Tony Stark in the next issue to use his Extremis power to make Happy's life support fail. She's obviously still suffers guilt for that, and also blames Tony. The flashback in the Rescue armour obviously occurs between the closing pages of IM#19, before Pepper Potts reunites with the comatose Tony Stark and other characters in Broxton. But there is scope for discussion about where Pepper's 'conversation' with Happy Hogan's ghost fits.


> Rescue comic book info and issue index

Elektra
Rescue #1 cover

Excelsioring your collection:
Marvel Iron Man MARK7 Statue ARTFX 1/6 Statue
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Main/1st Story Full Credits

Andrea Mutti
Andrea Mutti
Jose Villarrubia
June Chung (Cover Penciler)
Travel Foreman (Cover Inker)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Clayton Cowles.
Editor: Ralph Macchio.

Characters

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Black Widow
Black Widow

(Natasha Romanoff)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)
Pepper Potts
Pepper Potts

(Pepper Hogan)
Plus: H.A.M.M.E.R..

The Marvel Heroes Library is a fan Marvel Comics site
Version 14.8.24 (Nov 21, 2024. VS22)

Copyright © 1997-2024 Julio Molina-Muscara (creator, webmaster)
Site content is a collective effort by the MHL team and Marvel aficionados

Characters are copyright © Marvel or their respective owners. All portions of this Marvel fansite that are subject to copyright are licensed under a creative commons attribution 3.0 unported license All rights reserved