Internally, Tony has a recurring 'dream' in which he is on an archaeological dig with his people named Howard and Maria. They are uncovering modern artefacts like cars and planes. But their dig is always disrupted by giant robots Tony calls titanomechs, which he has designed but never built. And the dream starts again, but each time slightly different. Only Tony remembers that the dreams recur.
Tony is looking for something, and by the end of the issue he has started to uncover an Iron Man chestplate.
Meanwhile his friends are listening to a recording Tony made just before he handed SHIELD over to Osborn after Secret Invasion. He left the recording with the AI JARVIS in Pepper's Rescue armour, to be played when his brain was gone.
Stark says JARVIS knows a way of getting him back. If they want to. Because he knows a lot of what has happened (Civil War, Secret Invasion, Osborn's Dark Reign) can be blamed on him. But he's done his best to deny Osborn the use of the best Stark tech. Pepper has the only working repulsor generator left.
He also has some advice for the heroes. He claims Osborn succeeded because the good guys weren't united. He says Osborn will bring his own reign down by overreaching. And the heroes will be able to defeat his rigid organisation by independent but coordinated attacks. Resilient is the watchword.
Everyone agrees to resurrect Stark. Except initially Pepper, his right-hand woman who was turning into his lover! She doesn't see why he should get a 2nd chance, when all the other people who died from Civil War on don't. Including her husband Happy.
Osborn holds a meeting at Avengers Tower of some of Hood's gang. He tells them that he's withdrawing the bounty on Stark's head. He wants Tony to remain in his mindless state, and doesn't want him killed.
He also thanks Madame Masque in an aside, for her recent help. This puzzles Hood as he doesn't know that his lover was set on Iron Man's trail by Osborn, to exact her personal revenge on her old flame.
After some convoluted self-justification, the less-than-sane Masque disobeys and sends the Ghost to kill Tony.
For the special marvelite in you
Story #2The Invincible Iron Man Saga
Writer:
John Rhett Thomas. Penciler/Inker:
.
Synopsis
This gives a quick resume of recent events.
It starts with the
Superhero Civil War, resulting in the deaths of
Happy Hogan and
Captain America, and the splitting of the
Avengers.
After the Civil War
Tony Stark becomes Director of
SHIELD. During his tenure he foils
Mandarin's plot to turn
Extremis into a virus, beats
Nicholas Weir and the
Overkill Mind, and participates in
World War Hulk. But he also loses friends
Sal Kennedy and
Maya Hansen, and becomes worried about the effects of the Extremis process on his body and mind.
Then we get to the
Matt Fraction era I've been documenting.
Ezekiel Stane deals a serious blow to
Stark Industries. And the
Skrull invasion disables all Stark tech, including his Extremis armour.
Norman Osborn ends the invasion by killing the
Skrull Queen. Osborn is given a position of power. He forms the
Dark Avengers and turns SHIELD into
HAMMER.
In the storyline I've just finished he wants the
Superhero Registration Database. Stark destroys all copies but the one in his brain, goes on the run, and wipes his brain clean.
And here we are.