Synopsis
Invincible Iron Man (2005 series) #15 synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Rating:
SHIELD Deputy Director Dum Dum Dugan goes to Secretary of Defense Jack Kooning to complain about Tony Stark's actions as Director of SHIELD. He mentions as an example an incident 2 days ago at the Sydney Opera House.
We see a flashback where Indonesian Islamic terrorists take over the place and demand the release of some of their compatriots. They have a bomb loaded with nerve gas. SHIELD gets an inside view from nano-cams that Stark has just given them. Iron Man is overseeing Alpha Team equipped with Stark-supplied armour and repulsor rifles. He drops into action with them from a stealth plane, but hangs back as an observer as they take out the bad guys.
However 1 of the terrorists activates the bomb. The Golden Avenger springs into action and flies the bomb to a Stark deep sea exploration vessel. There he seals it in a decompression chamber to contain the nerve gas.
Dugan's complaint is that if IM hadn't been there the operation would have been a disastrous failure. And Stark keeps taking over like that. It makes the SHIELD Agents sloppy.
Dum Dum is also unhappy about changes on the helicarrier. Stark has set up a suggestion box and instituted dress-down Fridays. He's closed the Ofiicers' Club and replaced it with a day-care facility. In recompense he's improved the food in the general canteen. And Tony has appointed his old friend Sal Kennedy as his X-O, who explains that the day-care centre isn't used when the carrier is out in the field.
Kooning counters that Stark's changes have improved troop morale and public approval, and his business acumen has reduced expenses. And the operational performance is excellent (even if a lot of that is due to Iron Man).
Dugan's last desperate attempt to attack Stark's credibility is the security risk of the convicted criminal Maya Hansen. But Kooning says she's just a civilian consultant, and any personal relationship Stark may have with her is not their concern.
Flashback to after the Sydney mission:- Tony is working on a Presidential pardon for Maya, but in the meantime she is working for him on parole. She invented the nano-cams used in Sydney, and is working on DNA locks on the repulsor rifles. She really wants to get back to improving her original invention Extremis, but Stark won't allow it. The changes Extremis wrought in him divorced him from his humanity - it was only Civil War that brought him back.
Kooning dismisses Dugan's worries. He's more concerned about the worldwide rise in terrorist attacks by different small groups.
Dugan thinks back to a meeting with Stark, Kennedy and Maria Hill where they discussed these small amateur groups suddenly getting hi-tech equipment and efficient organisation. The idea that emerged from their bickering was that these individual groups, some of whom are enemies of each other, have all been upgraded by someone behind the scenes. Now Dum Dum adds that this all happened since Karim Mahwash Najeeb disappeared in China 3 months ago.
We now have a flashback to 3 months ago. Najeeb and his men are in a Chinese state psychiatric facility with authorisation to see a certain inmate. This man doesn't eat or sleep but somehow remains alive in a yoga trance.
Back in the present Dugan tenders his resignation but Kooning rejects it. SHIELD and Stark need him. And Kooning needs someone he can trust close to Stark.
Story #2[De La Torre 2nd Print Cover]
Writer/Penciler:
. Inker:
Jonathan Sibal. Colorist:
Dean White.
Synopsis
Story #3[Credits and Recap]
Writer:
Unknown. Penciler/Inker:
.
Synopsis
Story #4[Untitled]
Writer/Penciler:
. Inker:
Jonathan Sibal. Colorist:
Dean White.
Synopsis