Iron Man: Hypervelocity (2007 series) #3

Comments: First appearance of SHIELD Assault Carrier Samuel Sawyer, named after Sgt. Fury’s commanding officer, as seen in SGT FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS #1 onward.

Review: And with this issue we begin to add some texture. Story includes Tony Stark 2.0’s top 5 positives about no longer possessing an organic human body, Tony’s practice of paperclipping i.e. reverse engineering tech from his enemies to improve his own creations, a full accounting of SHIELD resources. Especially interesting is SHIELD Agents’ use of drugs to be able to handle the pressures of the job including lack of sleep and the suppression of sexual urges to keep their minds on the job. This has to take a toll and maybe another writer will go into it more deeply (unless someone already has). And so in this issue we get Iron Man driving a cool car but also the evil virus Absynthe’s scheme while revealing the existence of the mecha underground and their undersea raves. And Tony 2.0 gives us a list of his own shortcomings, making it clear that sentient tech has a clearer view of some things than their human creators do. And it’s not often that a superhero comic features a near-total lack of human beings among the characters.