Hello, my friends. We all have moments within our lives where we feel like we’re on top of the world and can handle any situation that happens to cross our paths. No matter how indestructible we seem to be however, that feeling of invincibility can get swept away from us and leave us upon a path of ruin when we least expect it. For our heroic tech genius, he’ll find himself within this state of near-despair as I welcome you back to another entry of…
Even though our last entry saw us covering the adaptation of a familiar Gamma Giant coming into his own despite his initial figure’s own attempt to be rid of this towering figure while being pursued by the military, we now return to the ventures of a Malibu-based man who was captured overseas, forged a new identity for himself, returned home to better himself, discover that a lifelong business partner both supplied his captors while also planned to have him bumped off, defeated said fiend and ultimately shared his secret identity to the world via a press conference. With his heroic persona now known to all, what kind of hurdles will he end up facing within the four-walled panels as well as on the big screen? Let us begin that journey in order to find that out.
Originally distributed by Paramount Pictures, it initially debuted at the El Capitan Theatre on April 26, 2010, before getting its general release on May 7. While Jon Favreau returned to helm the director’s chair, the script would be handled this time by actor & writer Justin Theroux. Not only that, but this was the first entry to come out following the Walt Disney Company’s $4 billion purchase of Marvel Entertainment in 2009. Made on a budget between $170 & $200 million, it went on to rake in over $623 million while receiving fairly positive praise from critics though not on the same level as its predecessor. As for this film’s output of comic book tie-ins, it would see a significant uptake from last time.
Our armored adventure begins with another joint contribution between Marvel and Target Department Stores. Published in April 2010, the “Target/Iron Man 2 Custom Comic” was written & lettered by Joe Caramagna, drawn by Jacopo Carmagni and colored by Sotocolors. As for the kind of peril that’s within these pages, let’s find out what exactly has led to this “Security Breach”.
We open at the familiar Malibu-based residence where a shadowy figure has entered the house and was able to properly input the correct security code in order to get further into the compound. The being then attempts to get into the garage/workshop, but the proper access code wasn’t inputted as the security system threatens to send the whole complex into lockdown. Meanwhile, Anthony “Tony” Edward Stark is en route to his home with his bodyguard Harold “Happy” Hogan driving him. Tony tries to call up a woman named Lina as Happy asks him if he’s “becoming a one-woman guy”, yet Stark assures him that this will force other women to assume that he’s “playing favorites” and will cause them to present themselves as even more enticing to him. Just then, J.A.R.V.I.S. informs him that a security breach has occurred in his home and the building is about to go into lockdown. Meanwhile, the thief is able to get outside before spotting one of Tony’s cars parked nearby. Stark then realizes that a specific car that he calls his favorite named Betty is the one being swiped before Hogan swiftly turns around for them to head back to the house. Happy then says that they’ll never be able to match the vehicle’s speed, to which Tony suits up as Iron Man before flying off to deal with his situation.
Inside the stolen car, the thief calls up the hiring boss called Naib and says that they weren’t able to accomplish their goal yet promises to pull through with a back-up plan. Suddenly, Iron Man pops up in front of the robber and withstands the car ramming him yet becomes stunned in the moment that his potential date Lina is the one robbing him. It’s then revealed that he got rammed hard enough to get flung some distance and crash into a nearby Target store, specifically into a section where a mother is dealing with an indecisive son named Nate who’s looking to get some Iron Man gear. Tony chooses a toy for the boy before taking off while he wonders why Lina would break into his home and steal his car.
Back with the thief, she informs Naib that she’s heading over in Stark’s car. However, the fiend tells her to stay away if she also wants to avoid the Ten Rings’ wrath before Iron Man catches up as Lina attempts to shake him off. While she’s initially successful, he manages to recover and rip the roof off before pulling on the emergency brake in order to bring the chase to an end. He then crunches up the car in order to trap her inside before Naib tries to contact Lina again and warn her to not bring Iron Man to their location. Tony then takes her communicative earpiece before Lina explains that the Ten Rings needed to acquire someone who had any kind of access to Stark. Even though they found out that she was dating Tony, she initially declined them. Unfortunately, they kidnapped her son and threatened to murder him in order to force her into swiping Stark’s blueprints & notes on his Iron Man armor. Tony accepts her apology before we shift back to his house where Hogan mentions that Lina was peaking over his shoulder all this time before he asks him why she wasn’t able to access his workshop even though she was able to get far inside. Stark explains that she never saw him using his code for said space and just assumed that it was the same code for all of his keypads. He then says that the access to his workshop is the same name of “the love of his life” which turned out to be his car named Betty. From there, the comic ends with him entering his space in order to suit up and engage the Ten Rings in order to rescue Lina’s boy.
Moving on, we now have the more proper tie-in comics from this line as we kick things off with a three-issue mini-series called “Iron Man 2: Public Identity”. With Joe Casey working on the script while also handling the plot alongside Theroux, Barry Kitson would share penciling duties with Ron Lim while joining forces with Tom Palmer and Victor Olazaba on the inks. As for the colors, that would be taken care of by Matt Milla. In terms of sales, Issue 1 had 16,921 copies sold in April 2010, while both of the last two parts came out in May. Specifically, Issue 2 had 14,030 copies wind up in consumer’s hands while Issue 3 had 13,645 books purchased. As for the kind of tale that was told in this particular yarn, let’s suit up and find out.
We open at the press conference from the end of the prior Iron Man film where Tony is about to address the media with a properly set up alibi, yet he ultimately decides to forgo that and simply tell the present reporters that he is Iron Man. We then flashback to decades ago where Howard & Maria Stark are hosting Anton Vanko and his wife at their house as Anton expresses his concern about the “Unity Project” bearing the desired results due to their own countries’ governments posturing against each other. Howard assures him to not worry since his military connection will allow him to be on his team, even though Vanko is still concerned about the implications that will stem from the existence of Arc Reactor technology as well as his comrade’s cavalier approach to science. Howard says that the ancillary applications by themselves justifies their experiment’s existence and that they shouldn’t be fearful of its expense. He then describes himself as an inventor who dreams big and works to make them become real before reminding Anton that he’s seen enough of the schematics to know that it can be done without them fearing about the global politics weighing them down from their intention to help the entire world towards a future that doesn’t include “mutually assured destruction”.
Back in the present, Tony is impressing several good-looking women on his yacht by using his suit’s Repulsor Beams in order to make his sea craft zip across the water. From there, it gets intercut between him hanging out with more hot ladies along with him performing some heroics as Iron Man while the news reports on him balancing his attempts to help the military maintain global peace with him living the celebrity nightlife. As Stark addresses the NYC-based paparazzi, a pair of agents are overhearing and observing him from afar while relaying their findings to their boss.
Sometime later at an air show, Tony’s assistant named Virginia “Pepper” Potts assures some men that the V.A. Hospital Fund will headline tonight’s news before she gets a call from Tony and assures her that not only is this a charitable act, but he’s also rescuing a member of the Blue Angels due to their malfunctioning jet. Later at a bar, the pilot expresses his gratitude to Stark as well as his admiration towards his Iron Man armor. Tony then compliments him & his fellow Blue Angels before he meets up with Pepper in an elevator as he addresses the silent treatment that she’s giving him, to which she says that Lt. Col. James “Rhodey” Rhodes will be waiting at his house in order to talk to him.
Later on, Stark returns to his home where James says that he’s been covering for him ever since the big superhero identity reveal. As they head down to the workshop, Rhodes then brings up a Pavlodar-based weapons depot to which Stark mentions that it’s a sect within the Ten Rings that was supplying some “rogue Russian nationalists”. Even though James is thankful that some hostages were able to be freed from said situation, he still warns Tony that he’s causing some nervous tension by simply rushing off to deal with those situations all by himself without being officially deployed. Stark says that the officials move too slow to respond, while Rhodey tells him that they’re supposed to be working together. While Tony appreciates what his friend is doing especially since it’s not entirely easy for him to have the same device that makes Iron Man possible embedding in his chest, Rhodes then mentions that he’s been ordered to write up a report on Stark. Tony then asks him what exactly he’s going to bring up in his report, to which James says that he’s simply going to assess this whole situation and offer his own recommendation before assuring him that he’s “the best ally” he’ll ever have. Just then, J.A.R.V.I.S. informs Stark of an A-1 Priority Alert before patching him into said update while Rhodey gets a call about said incident. He then relays from his officials in that they want Stark to do some reconnaissance within the Iraqui city of Al-Kut, yet Tony says that innocent people are dying as he properly suits up before flying off in order to deal with this problem before the military finally responds.
Over the next few dialogue-free pages, Iron Man confronts a group of rampaging terrorists who were driving around in a jeep and causing havoc. He easily withstands some enemy gunfire as he defeats the fiends with a Repulsor Blast before some opposing missiles strike down and consume him within an explosion. Fortunately, he survived the onslaught before using his own mini missiles to slay the opposing goons.
With the enemy agents slayed, he then approaches a news crew that was pinned within the firefight and tells them that they help keep him informed of situations like this. Following the interview, he mentions that the footage will be sent to his Public Relations Department before taking off in order to avoid “the cavalry”. Later, the WHIH reporter talks about Iron Man taking care of an escalating insurgent attack that led to some United Nations troops losing their lives. He then mentions that while the U.S. Military Officials haven’t commented on these unsanctioned actions; he still finds them as welcoming. During this, it was being watched by Senator Stern alongside Rhodes as the former sees this as an increasing risk to national security due to Tony continuing to ignore their orders. James says that Stark will never entirely fall in line with the government and even has his own ideas on how several things should occur, which is something that he admits has merit. However, Stern can no longer put up with this and has hired someone to handle the problem “from a different angle” as it’s revealed to be Gen. Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. With Thaddeus serving as a “superhuman watchdog”, he takes Rhodey to a secret base where their current weapons manufacturer has supplied his design to their Army engineers in order for them to create something “definitive” in terms of “Strategic Mobile Weaponry”. From there, Issue 1 ends with Rhodes seeing the monstrous machine that will serve them while also displacing Tony from his duties.
Issue 2 begins in the Gulf of Aden where Iron Man is able to smite the Somali Pirates’ operation before we flashback to decades ago where Howard and some agents have caught Anton in his attempt to sell the Arc Reactor’s design on the Black Market. Vanko then gets arrested before an agent assures the elder Stark that Anton’s family has also been rounded up. Howard is then met upon by Obadiah Stane who tells him that they didn’t have any easier choice and that because of his belief in the Arc Reactor along with the Stark Expo, Stane says that he should see this incident as a sign. Afterwards, Obadiah says that he’ll always be there for him before guiding him on the path to make weapons. Several years later, Howard returns home before a remote-controlled car proceeds to drive onto his foot. He then snaps at his son Tony and angrily tells him to not waste his time with his “nonsense” before the family butler named Jarvis finds the boy weeping on the balcony patio wishing that he was at school. He proceeds to assure the young Stark to not take the outburst to heart, especially since a father-son relationship can be difficult for both yet will eventually get better through time.
We then shift to the present time where Tony was thinking back to this incident as he remembers Jarvis’ key words to him on how “Time Heals All Wounds” while standing in his former house and had just installed J.A.R.V.I.S. into the building. As he checks out his former father’s study, they suddenly receive a Proximity Alert as Stark prepares to go on “another desert vacation”.
Back at the base, James is met upon by weapons manufacturer Justin Hammer who’s aware of his friendship with Tony yet looks forward to his newly made aerodynamic combat vehicle’s official launch. After it lands, the pilot steps out of it as he admits how wonderfully it handles before Gen. Ross steps in and approves of him being chosen to operate this machine. Thaddeus then brings up how he’s approved an upcoming field test for their new combat vehicle before Rhodey tells the pilot that he’ll be placed into “a hot spot” for him to deal with. When he’s then asked if he’s able to handle this assignment, the pilot says he’s ready to serve his country and that he sees himself as an “extension” of this new combat vehicle before Justin shares his admiration towards its upcoming use much to Rhodes’ concern.
Over at Stark Industries, Potts is in a meeting with the company’s board of directors as she has to assure them that Tony is on his way. Just then, he calls her up to let her know that he’s “not exactly in the neighborhood” as we then cut to him overseas as Iron Man. He’s then informed by a soldier tells him that there’s loads of ordinance left behind by the Soviets even though their intel has told them of something that’s “more recent”. Stark says that through the Ten Rings’ help, there’s someone who’s trying to leave an impactful message to them. From there, he reveals a special weapon that he’s “been working on” called the Magna-Drone.
Afterwards, he launches his new device as it reaches a stretch of desert before it opens up and activates its main mechanism. To the peoples’ surprise, it’s able to extract every single land mine from the ground. Meanwhile, this activity gets picked up by the same team of agents as one of them informs Nick Fury of Tony’s recent activity. Despite that, Nick says that they must continue their watch over him since he has a strong feeling that “this won’t last forever”.
Over within the African skies, a massive stealth plane containing Ross, Hammer and a group of fellow soldiers are about to send their new combat craft to its test mission. Once they reach their destination, it proceeds to get launched.
Later, Stark arrives back at his home and gets his armor removed before he’s then met upon by both Pepper and James. Rhodey then informs him that Justin is being seen quite favorably in the eyes of his superiors while warning his friend that he’s become increasingly “independent” when it comes to helping towards those same officials. Tony argues that he was called in to take care of some work outside of Kabul, but Rhodes says that they want him to use his suit as their weapon. Stark say that he didn’t go out there to act like an armament, but to deal with some hidden bombs. He elaborates by mentioning how even though the noble Afghani group have their own German Shepherds trained to detect prior Soviet landmines, the Ten Rings were using those former minefields to place their own undetectable bombs there and that’ve been killing those dogs off. Potts then finds his reasoning peculiar, to which Stark assures her that he knows what he’s doing and that he’s only doing it since he doesn’t have much of a choice. Suddenly, James gets a phone call and gets informed of some recent bad news. It turns out that Hammer’s new combat craft wasn’t as impervious against any surface-to-air assault that he and Thaddeus thought it was since it was shot down by the Congolese Army. From there, Issue 2 ends with the horrid turn-of-events of their pilot now caught within “unfriendly territory”.
Issue 3 opens in Senator Stern’s office where he hears about this grim incident while he has Justin’s P.R. piece playing behind him. From there, we flashback decades ago as a young Tony is relaxing in the pool. Despite his ignorant attitude towards his father, Howard reminds him that there’s a reason for him excelling his way through his academic studies. Jarvis then comes in and tells him that Maria is waiting as Howard reminds his son that his vast intelligence isn’t matching his own maturity. He then says that there’s several things about his job that he hasn’t told his boy about and that he hopes that this particular “phase” is ultimately short-lived before he heads out while Tony rolls off his floating lounge and into the pool as it transitions to him attending his parents’ funeral.
We then shift back to the present day where Rhodey finishes learning about the newfound disaster that’s come out of the authorized field test before he informs his friends that Justin’s combat prototype was put into action within the North Kivu Province. Not only that, but the airman that was trained to pilot it is now being held captive due to the officials’ overwhelming levels of impatience. Shortly afterwards, Stark gets a Pentagon call from General Turner who informs him about this incident and that he’s allowed to “defend” himself as he’s approached by enemy agents. Potts tries to mention how that statement has a hint of a lie in there, but Tony simply says that he doesn’t have time to worry since he has “to go to work” as he proceeds to suit up and take flight.
Over on the stealth plane, the crew is struggling to locate the downed prototype and that they’re also unable to activate its self-destruct mechanism. While they hurried try to find out if the pilot is still alive, Hammer tries to defend himself by mentioning its “fully rated” anti-aircraft avoidance systems. After Thaddeus tells him to be quiet, a crewman picks up Iron Man approaching the area. With the opposing army looting the downed prototype and capturing its pilot all while Tony moves as fast as he can, a crew man tells Ross that they’ll be able to scramble a team from Cairo and get them airborne within an hour. However, Thaddeus wants them to hold up since he’s interested in seeing what Stark is about to do. Back with the captured pilot, he gets roughed up by the opposing army (which is actually a Ten Rings faction, by the way) before they prepare to execute him.
Fortunately, Iron Man arrives in time and blasts the would-be executioner away. Afterwards, he uses his Repulsor Beams to force the enemy agents back before he rescues the pilot and flies off. Ross then gets in contact with him and says that he’s to land at the Cairo West Air Base.
Three hours later, Tony arrives and hands the injured pilot off to get treated before Thaddeus berates him for not properly retaliating against the Congolese Army. Stark essentially says that he’s not their personal weapon before Ross tells him not to distance himself from his father’s legacy since even though he no longer makes weapons, he’s still seen as a weapon. Tony then says that he did some research on Thaddeus on his way towards the base and that he’s been involved in various scrupulous activities, such as “genetic enhancements for military exploitation”. Even though Ross refuses to admit that he wanted to see Iron Man up close and in action, Stark warns him that some consequences will come his way if he ever finds out that another innocent life is being put in danger all for “some pointless media agenda”. He then tells the General to stay within his area of expertise before flying away.
Later, he’s back to partying with several good-looking women (along with a few guys) before he’s met upon by James & Virginia as they excuse him from the crowd before Anthony and Potts go to have a private conversation. Pepper informs him that neither General Turner nor the Joint Chiefs are remotely happy with his recent actions, yet Tony says that they deserved this and that he intends on doing “a lot more” before all is said and done. From there, the series ends with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson learning about the general’s intent along with Stark saving the day without having to take a life. Phil assumes that this exercise was meant to show the kind of role that Iron Man would play moving forward, yet Fury tells him to not see this any a sign of “newfound maturity” since this was his way of pushing back against authority and that he still has some further refining to do which he and his organization will continue to observe.
We now find ourselves coming across a one-shot book called “Iron Man 2: Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, which sold 10,578 copies back in September 2010. This consists of three short stories that’re all written by Joe Casey, so I’ll credit the different art teams for each tale. As such, let’s suit up again and see what’s inside.
We begin with “Who Made Who” (Artist: Tim Green II, Inker: Juan Doe) as Nick gets in contact with a Navy S.E.A.L. team that’s approaching a ship that’s docked in Aden. After the group gets on board, Fury learns from a certain member of the team named Agent Garrett that their intel was right in that the Ten Rings have taken control over the vessel. Suddenly, Iron Man flies in and blasts the ship’s main structure before he proper engages the opposing terrorists. Nick then tells Garrett to keep an eye on Tony and report on what he’s doing, yet he and his teammates become pinned under heavy gunfire from the Ten Rings.
Fortunately, Stark manages to deal with this threat before Fury reminds Garrett that Iron Man isn’t a military operative while Garrett himself was embedded into the S.E.A.L. team in order to gather an eyewitness account upon Tony’s actions since it was an assignment that he accepted. Just then, Garrett and his team get surrounded by the remaining Ten Rings members before Iron Man precisely executes the fiends with some mini-shoulder projectiles. Garrett then warns him that he and his fellow agents have a blanket order to engage him should they encounter each other, yet Stark simply flies off. Nick then contacts Garrett and tells him that he’ll receive a debrief before we then shift back to Tony’s workshop where it’s revealed that he was able to record this conversation. From there, the story ends with him telling Pepper that Fury is attempting to “ask” him out.
As we move into our next tale called “Just Off The Farm” (Artist: Felix Ruiz, Colorist: Ian Hannin), we focus on Phil overseeing the arrest of a rogue airman before he gets contacted by Nick about Stark sharing his superhero identity to the world in his recent press conference. Coulson assures him that he talked to Tony before said moment, yet Fury says that he’ll personally visit Stark before assigning Phil with a new recruit that he’ll need to look after for their upcoming field test. While he easily deals with the rogue airmen via a simple backhand punch to the face, Coulson says that he can handle this assignment while also requesting for where he’ll need to go along with the new agent’s file. Later, the new agent named Hendricks gets tossed out of a moving van where he’s soon met upon by Phil who tells him that he’ll supervise his initial surveillance assignment. Shortly afterwards, Coulson gets contacted about their target being spotted within their nearby area. He then tells Hendricks that it’s now up to them to stop a terrorist cell since some operatives from the Ten Rings have been spotted within the city. As such, he unveils a pair of motorcycles for them to use in order for them to reach their targets.
From there, they ride out before they come across said fiends within a van before one of the terrorists unleashes a surprise attack and shoots Phil down. Hendricks is able to retaliate by evading the enemy fire before launching himself into the van in order to defeat the goons within a brief scuffle. Afterwards, he returns to Coulson’s motorcycle and doesn’t find his body anywhere. Suddenly, Phil is standing before him as he commends the new recruit of his performance despite the driver escaping. Hendricks is then baffled by how he’s still alive, to which Coulson reveals that he was wearing a bulletproof vest and that this situation was actually a manufactured scenario meant to test what the recruit will do under the pressure of the situation. As such, the tale ends with Hendricks getting recruited as an official S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.
We now get to our final story for this book called “Proximity” (Artist: Matt Camp, Colorist: Ian Hannin) as Nick gets in contact with a specific agent how they must become “embedded”, especially since their I.D. and credentials are all set up. Fury also mentions that it’s a deep cover assignment and that his agent must work their way into getting close to Tony. It’s soon revealed that he was talking to Agent Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. Black Widow and that she was fighting a member of the Ten Rings who managed to deploy a live grenade into the plane. Fortunately, she’s able to dive out of the aircraft before it blows up as we then shift to sometime later where a secretary named Bambi Arbogast hires her into Stark Industries under her guise of Natalie Rushman. While she begins her undercover assignment, Nick learns that she’s not too thrilled about her task yet remains confident that “she’ll do fine”.
We then have her within a boardroom meeting entirely composed of male lawyers signing an agreement for their notary to handle. Following a casually sexist remark from one of the guys, she narrates about how these men feel more like “trapped rats” with worthless lives and that she would rather handle “the company of terrorists”. Later, she’s at lunch where a female coworker named Samantha Carlisle gives her advice about how to properly navigate the company and that “making that personal contact” is key. Shortly after Natasha narrates about her fellow co-worker having a similar agenda to her, she then comes across Samantha telling a male co-worker that there’s some documents that require Tony’s signature and that someone from her department has to be there where he signs them. She then notices “Nat” and tells her to not let anyone get in her way if she wants something before Romanoff takes her leave while narrating that she does. Later on, she’s back in her cubicle as she uses a receiver hidden within a pen in order to pick up a somewhat-distant conversation into her earpiece about how someone needs to be sent out to Stark’s home in order for him to sign some papers. When she learns that Carlisle will be the one who’ll be given said assignment, she sees this as her opportunity to finally get close to Tony and decides to act as she swiftly drops down an elevator shaft in order to reach Samantha within the break room and subtly place a tiny drug within her coworker’s cup. Later, “Nat” is back at her cubicle before a male coworker tell her that she’ll be taking some documents out to Stark’s house. She then asks him about Carlisle, to which he says that she’s dealing with an illness over in the infirmary and that they can’t wait for her to recover along with their “other paralegals” being stuck in a meeting. From there, the comic ends with “Nat” having arrived at Tony’s house where she narrates about Stark living like he’s “a king” who wears his own armor that’s “bound to have its imperfections” before she then approaches him.
Finally, we have our two-part adaptation which came out in November and December 2012. Part 1 would have 5,464 copies sold while Part 2 didn’t have enough books purchased in order for it to make the Top 300 top-selling comics for the month. Christos Gage and Will Corona Pilgrim would take over writing duties, while Ramon Rosanas handled the artwork and Chris Sotomayor was in charge of the colors. As for how this handles its translation from the big screen to the pages, let’s whip our way in and find out.
After skipping over the initial pre-title card scene in Moscow which had the Vankos receiving a newscast that’s covering the press conference where Tony confirms his Iron Man persona to the world along with Anton passing away before his son Ivan begins his family’s vengeance quest by using the same blueprints that his dad had with Howard in order to create his own miniature Arc Reactor, we properly open six months afterwards where Stark makes a smashing entrance as the armored hero to the delight of the attendees at the Flushing, New York-based Stark Expo. After removing his Mark IV armor to reveal his tuxedo, Tony proceeds to give a keynote speech about legacies and what the “best and brightest men and women” can bring together in order to create a brighter tomorrow for future generations. Afterwards, he presents a past video of his father Howard before he heads off stage and checks his blood alcohol level as he sees that it’s at a fairly high 19%. We then skip over a scene where WHIH reporter Chess Roberts mentions how long the Stark Expo will last (which is a whole year and was also mentioned by our main man) before Stark gets escorted to his car by Happy (which is where the Stan Lee cameo comes in) where a female U.S. Marshal not only presents him with a subpoena, but also informs him that he’s been summoned to a Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing in Washington, D.C., which is where we properly return to the comic. Even though this adaptation omits Stern’s proclamation of Tony’s armor actually being a weapon, we then properly have him allowing Justin to speak where he mentions how Stark wants everyone to trust him while he uses his signature invention in order to protect innocent lives. However, he says that there’re “grave threats” that even Tony can’t foresee as he then demands for the armor to be handed over to the military and not solely be entrusted onto a single person. Afterwards, Stern summons Rhodey into the session (though this omits a small moment where the senator has him read a single paragraph completely separated from its major report despite James also mentioning that he tried to fold his friend into the chain of command since he sees Iron Man’s benefits greatly outweighing the various “liabilities”) and orders him to narrate over some gathered satellite imagery that’s related to their summary. From there, Rhodes mentions how other countries have been attempting to create their own versions of Stark’s armor and through the shots collected by America’s allies and intelligence agencies, those designs are becoming operational. Just then, Tony uses a device to include footage from some enemy countries demonstrating their attempts and every last one of them ends in absolute disaster for them, which also includes Hammer Industries’ own version. After his successful upstaging, Stark says that the rest of the world is at least a half or whole decade away from perfecting their mobile armors while also proclaiming that the U.S. Government will never take possession of his armor since he’s helped America feel safer than it’s ever been before along with his famous claim on how he’s “successfully privatized world peace”. Back in Russia, Ivan sees this senate hearing via some news coverage as he finally perfects his own Arc Reactor in order to power his whips and is now prepared to go up against him.
Later on in Malibu, Tony is back in his workshop dealing with the constant rise in his blood alcohol level. He’s been forced to continually consume more of a chlorophyll-based concoction in order to counteract it, but it’s unable to prevent the Palladium that powers his Arc Reactor from slowly escalating this problem. Not only that, it’s constantly forcing him to insert new cores into it since they’re burning up at a fast level. Stark asks for any alternatives that he can use, but J.A.R.V.I.S. says that it’s ran through some simulations with other elements and that no success came from any of them. With his Arc Reactor steadily draining him of his life, J.A.R.V.I.S. tells Tony to inform an approaching Virginia of his weakening condition. However, Stark mutes him before she comes in and says that he’s stroking his ego via the unneeded expo since even though it’s financing loads of small-scale attempts at clean energy, he’s not making any other kind of major decisions. He says that he doesn’t care anymore before he then decides to make her the CEO of his company, to which he adds that this came after “a fair amount of thought” and he realized that she would be the right “successor”. She’s then rightfully stunned by this turn of events before he concludes the scene by celebrating this occassion with some celebratory champagne. Later (and in a scene that’s not in the movie nor in the Deleted Scenes section of the home media releases), he’s met upon by James who tells him that the government is increasing their pressure on having their own controllable Iron Man even though Stark says that he’s already filling that role. However, Rhodey tells him that he isn’t answering to any official or voter and that it’s butting heads with his personal efforts to offer them a proper compromise that would allow Tony to be hired as an autonomous contractor. Instead, Tony offers him the chance to suit up with him before casually dissing him about his inability to properly operate one just because Rhodes refused the offer. From there, James decides to suit up with Stark as they share a flying session together. During their aerial time, Rhodey says that he has to answer to his officials and that the government are ultimately going to seize Tony’s suits in order to deliver them to Justin. As they make it back to his house, Stark tells his friend that he should “be betting on the home team” for this situation. However, Rhodes says that he’s tried to do that as hard as he could but he refuses to be forced into a tough decision between either their friendship or his military duty before he takes his leave. All of this replaced a Russian-based scene where Ivan receives his own falsified passport where he’ll be identified as Boris Turgenov (which is a reference to the Crimson Dynamo since both he and Anton were the first two men to assume that mantle in the comics) as well as his own airline ticket to Monaco.
We then cut to the next day where Tony is having a sparring session with Happy as Pepper informs him that the notary has arrived, which turns out to be Natasha as she introduces herself as Natalie Rushman. Stark then invites her into the ring and allows Hogan to keep her busy while he learns from Potts that she’s from his legal department, to which he then says that he’ll need a new assistant and that she’s going to be his choice. Over in the ring, Harold begins to start up a session with “Nat” before she suddenly subdues him with a complex flip and leg pin move much to his, Tony and Virginia’s surprise. Afterwards, she then gets his fingerprint in order to make Pepper’s new role as his company’s CEO official before taking her leave.
We then shift to the European city-state/microstate of Monaco where its Historic Grand Prix is about to commence as Stark and Potts are in attendance before they’re met upon by Hammer as well as Vanity Fair reporter Christine Everhart. With Pepper remembering her from Stark’s past one-night fling, she dismisses herself in order to “go wash up” before Christine begins to interview Tony. With this being the first time that he and Justin have been near each other since the senate hearing, Stark brings up that Hammer’s contract was revoked before Justin clarifies that it’s actually been placed on hold since he wants to focus on other things such as giving a presentation at the Stark Expo. Tony says that he’ll consider it if he’s presented “something that works” before “Nat” tells him that his table is ready, yet he heads off to make a “pit stop” instead (which actually omits a restroom scene where he privately checks his blood toxicity level and discovers that it’s up to 53% before asking himself for some “bad ideas”). Not too long afterwards, Everhart is interviewing Justin before she spots Stark on TV taking the driver’s spot within his company-sponsored race team. Virginia and “Nat” also notice this as the former tells the latter to go get Hogan for her as Stark proceeds to take part in the race. Just then, Ivan turns up as he makes his way onto the race track and activates his own Arc Reactor in order to power up his whips before he strikes down on Tony’s race car (with the adaptation omitting that he also attacked other race cars as well).
Even though the comic omits Vanko’s attempt to find and maim Stark while he tries to evade his foe, Pepper and Happy manage to arrive in the nick of time as the latter manages to pin Ivan into the side with the car. The adaptation then leaves out Potts being rightfully irate towards Tony for deciding to race in the first place along with Hogan telling him to get in the car, to which the comic then has Vanko recovering as he slashes away at the vehicle with his whips. Fortunately, Potts is able to toss the Mark V armor out to Stark as he proceeds to suit up in order to finally engage his adversary. A fight ensues as Ivan is able to deliver some shock-filled damage while roughing him up before Iron Man perseveres and wraps a whip around his own arm in order to pull Vanko towards him. From there, Tony finally prevails before he takes his foe’s Arc Reactor away. As officials finally come in to arrest him, Ivan tells him that he’s lost. From there, the comic moves up some dialogue that he actually has later on when Stark visited him in his holding cell (which the adaptation omits here along with Vanko telling Tony that he’s fruitlessly trying to rewrite his own family history consisting of “thieves & butchers” since they’ve destroyed several lives including his father Anton whom our main man says that he’s never heard of) as he says that he’s made him bleed and now the “sharks” are coming for him. As such, he’ll simply sit back and wait for the world to “consume” Tony (yet the comic doesn’t mention how he’s also aware of the Palladium poisoning) as Stark crushes Vanko’s Arc Reactor.
After we then pass over Stark and Virginia’s overseas flight back to America where the former wants to cancel his upcoming birthday party in order for them to recharge via a European holiday while the latter declines since she needs to be present in order to help deal with this crisis to the company, we then shift to the prison that Ivan is being held at as he manages to break out, though the adaptation omits the details that help him escape along with a pair of brute guards that swoop in to kidnap him during this and take him to the Queens-based Hammer Industries. Even though he doesn’t properly introduce himself at a fancy dinner table set up within his company like the film does, Justin still presents himself to Vanko and admits that he would like for him to do some work for his company since he was essentially impressed with his performance against Tony. Hammer then tells him that he’ll provide all of the necessary resources for him to use and work with in order to help his prototype armors become perfected and make Iron Man look antiquated while also helping Justin get a long-term seat within the Pentagon as Ivan ultimately agrees (which essentially combines this scene with a slightly later one despite the adaptation mainly omitting Vanko’s pet cockatoo named Irina and that he wants Hammer’s men to retrieve it for him as well). Over within his Malibu-based home (which omits Virginia and “Nat” dealing with the fallout that’s been laid onto the company as a result of the Monaco-based incident), Stark is in his workshop as he brushes up on Ivan. J.A.R.V.I.S. proceeds to inform him about the late Anton Vanko who was a Soviet physicist that defected to America in 1963. Four years later, he would get deported after being accused of espionage. He would have a son who also became a physicist yet wound up spending 15 years in Kopeisk Prison for selling weapons-grade plutonium. Afterwards, J.A.R.V.I.S. mentions that this is as much as the available records has on Ivan. James then tells him that he’s just spent the entire day convincing the National Guard to not raid Stark’s home of his armors along with the fact that someone has created the same kind of technology that only he’s made. Afterwards, it omits him learning of his friend’s personal Palladium problem along with the damage that it’s doing to his body while also telling his longtime comrade that he doesn’t have to go through this ordeal by himself, even though our main man asks to be trusted since he claims to know what he’s doing. From there, “Nat” comes in and informs him that his party guests are arriving. Tony then asks her how she would celebrate her last birthday party, to which she simply exclaims that she would do whatever she wanted. As such, Stark suits up within his Mark IV armor and proceeds to entertain his guests with some drunken antics while omitting Pepper’s attempts to cease with this utter nonsense. Rhodey spots this as he suits up in the Mark II armor before he returns and orders the guests to leave. Afterwards, he tells his drunken friend to “shut it down” but Tony refuses to comply. As such, they proceed to fight each other with their scuffle causing some damage to the house. They ultimately find each other in a standoff as Stark tells him to take his shot before they eventually fire a Repulsor Beam at one another, with the shots countering each other and resulting in a massive burst that shatters all of the house’s nearby windows. Afterwards, Issue 1 ends with Rhodes flying off in the Mark II suit in order to present it to Edwards Air Force Base.
Issue 2 begins with a still-armored Tony casually eating donuts at the Inglewood-based Randy’s Donuts though within the famous doughnut sign as he’s then approached by Fury where they proceed to head inside. With the shop under S.H.I.E.L.D. lockdown, Nick notices the Palladium poisoning on Iron Man’s neck before they’re both approached by “Nat” who says that even though they’ve secured the nearby area, she recommends that they shouldn’t stay for too long where she also reveals herself as a shadow agent named Natasha Romanoff. She also tells Stark that she was assigned to him once the agency was able to confirm that his health wasn’t good, to which Fury also mentions Tony’s recent list of things that he’s recently done and that he’s become a problem to him (despite him omitting a problem that’s just popped up in America’s Southwest area). While this conversation distracts him, Stark gets injected with a temporary cure by Black Widow as Nick explains that it’s Lithium Dioxide which will help “take the edge off” in order to help him get back to work. Tony mentions that the Palladium within his Arc Reactor is poisoning him and that he’s been trying to find a proper replacement via various elements, to which Fury says that hasn’t “tried them all”.
After the comic skips over a scene at Hammer Industries where Justin presents Ivan with a cockatoo that’s similar to Irina but not his exact one and which also has Hammer beginning to realize that Vanko is making the armored prototypes more operable for drones instead of live human beings, we then shift over to Edwards Air Force Base where James learns from his superior general that not only is Justin going to be making a presentation at the Stark Expo, but they’ll be including the Mark II armor with its modifications (much to Rhodes’ dismay even though the adaptation doesn’t include it). From there, it reorders a slightly-later scene where Hammer arrives in order to weaponize the suit as he presents the kinds of arsenal that he’s willing to provide. From various guns to a grenade launcher, he also shows off a Sidewinder Self-Guided Missile that he personally calls the “Ex-Wife”. Ultimately, Rhodey tells him that he’ll take all of it. Back at Tony’s house, Nick tells him that his dad had mentioned that his son would be able to figure out and finish what he started all those years ago. Specifically, he says that the Arc Reactor would be the key towards something bigger while the adaptation omits his added detail of how Howard got Anton deported after learning that his partner intended to only use this tech for financial gain which ultimately led Vanko to prison and a drunken mishandling of Ivan’s upbringing. However, Stark says that he doesn’t have many fond memories of his deceased father before Fury reveals that Howard was actually a founding member of S.H.I.E.L.D. as he then presents a box of items as well as a film reel to him. From there, he takes his leave while the comic omits the extra detail in that Natasha will still be working undercover at Stark Industries (with her informing him that all communications with the outside world have been severed) along with Phil warning him to not leave his home. Even though the adaptation does trim down the moment of Tony looking over his father’s belongings (which included the same blueprints that he made alongside Anton Vanko), he ultimately checks out a film reel (which mostly consisted of outtakes of him presenting the Stark Expo) in which Howard actually delivers a message to his child. Specifically, he says that he built the design for him and that it’s his life’s work which will serve as “the key to the future”. While he’s limited by the primitive technology of his time, he’s certain that his son will be able to figure this all out and “change the world”. He then concludes the reel by mentioning how his greatest creation is his own son. The adaptation then omits a scene where he drives out to his company in order to convince Pepper that he’s changed, but to no avail along with Romanoff warning him that he better return to his home soon. As he’s about to leave, he notices his father’s model design of the expo and brings it back to his house. We then properly return to the comic where he’s back in his workshop and has J.A.R.V.I.S. scan the model of the 1974 Stark Expo in order to have a “manipulative projection” for him to use. It then asks him what he’s trying to accomplish before Tony reveals how the park’s layout specifically gives him the realization of the new element that he can create and use as a new power source for his Arc Reactor. The adaptation then skips over him creating a complex machine called the Prismatic Accelerator in his house along with Coulson providing a little help by using what looks like a familiar shield to help level it out before he then informs Stark that he has to head out to deal with an incident that’s recently popped up in New Mexico. Back within the actual comic, he turns it on and ultimately directs the energy beam into a core. Ultimately, this proves to be a success since he’s now created a new element as he inserts it into an Arc Reactor. The comic then skips over a scene where Justin calls up Vanko (who’s working on an advanced version of his energized whips) and informs him that Stern wants to come over in order to look over the drone designs, yet Ivan declines and says that he wants to make a presentation instead of a demonstration. With his orders getting ignored, Hammer returns with a pair of security goons in order for him to vent his frustration over this minor betrayal of their deal. He then says that he has his own personally-weaponized piece of Stark tech to present at the Stark Expo alongside Vanko’s “overpriced paperweights” before leaving the two men to look after him while he’s away. Back in the comic, our main man gets called up by Ivan which lets Tony know that his foe is still alive (while also omitting the detail that our main foe had killed the two security guards off). He then tells J.A.R.V.I.S. to trace the call as Vanko warns him that he’ll essentially unleash the same kind of family reputation-destroying destruction that Howard did to the Vankos before he hangs up. J.A.R.V.I.S. then says that it was only able to triangulate the signal within New York City’s boroughs before its tracing efforts got cut off, to which Stark says that he knows what his foe intends to do (unlike the film where he sees via the main website that the familiar weapons manufacturer is going to give a presentation at the Stark Expo tonight) as he installs his new Arc Reactor into his chest which not only cures him of his Palladium poisoning, but also eradicates his blood toxicity as he gives the order to prep his armor.
Later that night at the Stark Expo, Justin makes his presentation where he unveils his new Hammer Drones to the audience (which also includes Pepper & Natasha, not that the comic bothers to show them within the crowd) and that the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force each have their own versions. In addition, he also shows off Rhodes wearing his newly-constructed battle suit which turns out to be War Machine. Suddenly, Iron Man (specifically the Mark VI armor version) flies in and calmly tells his friend that not only is the crowd in danger, but that Justin is also working with Ivan. Tony then confronts Hammer and demands to know where Vanko is at before James’ outfit suddenly acts up and aims its M-134 mini-gun at Stark as Rhodey tells him that he’s been locked out of his compromised system. Not only that, but all of the Hammer Drones have their targeting sights on Iron Man as he’s forced to fly off before they finally fire away at him and cause the audience to disperse before they all take off after him. While Ivan is in control over War Machine and the drones, Justin finally learns from a technician that his creations’ software was overridden and that he’s been locked out of the mainframe. At that moment, Potts and Romanoff come in as Virginia wants to know who’s behind this even though Hammer tries to dismiss them. Natasha is then able to pin him in order to make him confess that Ivan is behind this.
While Iron Man tries to fend off the compromised War Machine & the Hammer Drones, J.A.R.V.I.S. is attempting to remotely hack them but to no avail. During this whole sequence, the adaptation skips over Natasha heading over to Hammer Industries alongside Harold and Tony saving a young boy wearing some small pieces of an Iron Man costume (who would retroactively become Peter Parker). While the comic does show Black Widow easily making her way through the security guards, it does omit Happy struggling to beat a single muscular watchman. Back at the Stark Expo, Stark is able to defeat several Hammer Drones while Romanoff and Hogan finally reach the central part of Justin’s company only to discover that Vanko has escaped. Meanwhile, War Machine has caught up to Iron Man as they crash into the Japanese Garden. With Stark pinned and him fending off his friend’s mini-gun, Natasha is able to use the console in order to reboot War Machine’s system in order to let Rhodes be in control of his armor.
After the comic omits a moment where Pepper would finally learn that Tony was initially dying during his communicative chat with Black Widow, Iron Man then helps his comrade up in order for them to be ready for the remaining Hammer Drones before James manages to apologize for not trusting him more. From there, they’re surrounded by the remaining Hammer Drones yet our main men are able to fight them off before Tony caps things off by smiting the remaining mechanical beings with a powerful one-time only use laser blast. Back at the Stark Expo, the police come in and arrest Justin who promises to be a problem to Virginia as he’s being taken away. After learning that the park has been nearly evacuated, she then tells the cops that she’ll stay put in order to make sure that nobody gets left behind. Back with our heroes, Natasha warns them that one more bogey is approaching them and it has a higher repulsor signature than the Hammer Drones. Just then, Ivan comes in as a fully-armored Whiplash and proceeds to effectively fight them off (with the comic omitting Rhodes attempting to use the “Ex-Wife” on him, only for all of the present men to discover that it’s a defective piece of Hammer Tech). Despite Iron Man and War Machine getting wrapped up by their necks, Tony gets an idea as he tells James to get his hand up. From there, they combine their Repulsor Beams onto Vanko as they finally take their foe down within a massive blast.
Despite lying in defeat, Vanko still tells them “You Lose” as he reveals his final ploy in that he rigged his armor as well as every Hammer Drone with bombs. While our heroes are able to fly out of the Japanese Garden, Stark is then able to reach Potts in time (who was fairly close to a downed Hammer Drone, not that the comic showed that) before they all explode. He then takes her to a building just outside the expo’s general area where Virginia says that she can’t take this anymore since she never knows what he’s going to do. As such, she says she’s resigning from her CEO post to which Tony says that he understands since she deserves better. As they begin to talk about clean-up, they end up sharing a kiss before Rhodey makes his presence known since he was there first. He then says that he’s going to hang on to his armor before he takes off. Later, Stark meets up with Nick (to which the movie has a subtle detail in that the Culver University incident from “The Incredible Hulk” had just occurred) as the latter presents him with Agent Romanoff’s assessment. Tony learns that she saw some “compulsive behavior” out of him which also included him being “prone to self-destructive tendencies” and that he’s a textbook narcissist. Ultimately, he learns that Black Widow has approved Iron Man for the Avengers Initiative but not Stark himself. Fury clarifies in that he’ll be brought on as a consultant before Tony asks for a small favor. Specifically, he and Rhodes are about to be honored in Washington, D.C. and that he would like the S.H.I.E.L.D. director to have a certain senator be used as their presenter. As such, the comic ends with it being revealed to be a reluctant Stern. During this, Natasha learns from Fury that War Machine isn’t going to be included within their initiative quite yet he sees James as a reliable soldier in strategic ops. When Romanoff asks him what would happen when both Stark and Rhodes are eventually on the team together, Nick simply exclaims that they would both find themselves “in a great deal of trouble”. The adaptation then excludes the movie’s post-credit scene where Coulson arrives in New Mexico and discovers that several people have already gathered around a certain hammer that’s landed within the vast desert.
Before I close, I will mention that there was also the second mainline issue of “Guidebook To The Marvel Cinematic Universe” which came out in November 2015 and served as a flipbook alongside “The Incredible Hulk”. In addition to providing profiles for James Rhodes (who was in the initial movie, but wasn’t included in the prior Guidebook), Black Widow, Justin Hammer, Ivan & Anton Vanko, Howard Stark, Senator Stern (which actually acknowledges the events of the tie-ins along with how each of them were originally presented in the comics), Hammer Industries & the Stark Expo, it also provides updates for all of the principal characters from the initial film along with Tony’s featured batch of armors. Like before, this makes for a fascinating read after watching the movie and is worth checking out.
Overall, these made for a uniquely interesting set of comics for a cinematic entry whose plot was flawed in its construction yet was still entertaining. The Target tie-in comic presents a short yet fascinating tale where a random woman that Tony would briefly date gets targeted by the Ten Rings and is ultimately forced into committing a devious act in order for them to get back at him. Though the comic does seem to indicate that he had some genuine feelings towards Lina before he found out how she got involved in the theft of his car which would ultimately lead him towards the rescue operation of her kidnapped child, she seems to wind up on a long list of women who ultimately strike out with Stark for some reason before he and Pepper eventually begin to plant the seeds of their relationship at the end of the movie. Given how this is more of a promotional comic, it’s not going to provide some kind of deeply rich theme throughout its brief length. As is though, the conflict was still fairly engaging while its few twists & turns were still handled in a carefully handled fashion. Heading into this particular review, I wasn’t fully aware of this comic’s existence until I found out about it and picked up a copy. Little did I know however was that this would begin a running theme throughout this batch of tie-ins in that Iron Man would be constantly reengaging the familiar terrorist group at various points and within different situations altogether. As for the mini comic, it provides a quick tale which delivers some neat enjoyment with its good artwork, evenly handled pacing and competent writing with a nicely done explanation for Stark’s unique workshop code. It may offer more of a quick thrill in comparison to its other tie-in comics, but it’ll still entertain in a pinch as this one-off entry still captures a bygone and humble age where this kind of movie merchandising was around yet still had something pleasant to present to the populace. In terms of the three-part mini-series known as “Public Identity”, it handles Tony’s superheroics against the Ten Rings despite it butting heads with the U.S. Government due to his actions not following their protocols even though he’s still getting the job done and saving lives from the devious group’s wrath. Not only that, but it also provides a few key flashbacks that fleshes out Howard’s working partnership with Anton before the latter tried to financially profit off of their Arc Reactor for personal gain along with the elder Stark not having the best of personal moments that we see from Tony’s perspective. Even though he’s causing and building some friction with several governmental figures, Stark is continuing to forge his heroic persona by not only living up to the promise that he made to Yinsen, but also protecting others from the Ten Rings’ wrath since Obadiah Stane was secretly supplying them with his company’s weapons unbeknownst to him and he’s made it a huge priority to stop their reign of terror from harming anyone else. With the flashbacks, they’re fairly early on in each chapter and somewhat brief. Fortunately, they do a fairly handled job of elaborating on Howard’s Arc Reactor venture with Anton followed by the latter’s betrayal along with Tony not having the best of past moments alongside his dad. Even though the movie would elaborate on this topic, the comic doesn’t provide any kind of general progression of events in which the Vankos spiraled into utter disgrace following Anton’s money-driven action and the grim effect that it would ultimately have on Ivan moving forward. As is though, they provide some intriguing narrative meat to help expand upon the Stark Family’s history within this world. Finally, it also does a great job in presenting Justin as the U.S. Military’s newest supplier of weapons and as someone who’s in far-better graces with governmental representatives, even though his own insecure & inept weaponry designs do hint how he’ll ultimately not be in complete control there as he thinks he does. He’s minimal with his presence, yet he’s also vital since his aerial craft ends up being a mess that Iron Man ultimately has to clean up as it got its test pilot caught by the Congo-based faction of the Ten Rings. With those three major elements brought together, they make up a strong story that serves as an Iron Man 1.5 tale in that Tony has established himself as an independent superhero who’s helping his country reach the kind of national security that it hasn’t reached before yet his brash attitude towards those who’re in charge of America’s government will ultimately be one of the major factors that would ultimately make his ability to keep the U.S. from major harm an ever-impossible task for him to accomplish especially by himself. As a side story, this is one of the strongest media tie-ins ever made as it gets backed by decently good artwork, smooth pacing, good character work and some well-handled action. It advances our main players past their first film while setting up the main conflicts that will come to pass in their sophomore outing and establishes all of its elements in effective fashion. As for “Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, the anthology format allows some of the movie’s supporting players get the spotlight for a short amount of time. “Who Made Who” continues the organization’s stealthy surveillance upon Stark and his superheroic battles against the Ten Rings. Other than Stark discovering that Nick is still trying to get him involved in his ever-burgeoning initiative, there’s not much to this initial story since it’s mainly Tony stopping the familiar terrorist group in Yemen while Fury receives his observation from a SEAL Team that ultimately has to get saved from said terrorists. Sadly, there’s not a whole lot of narrative meat to gleam over and it ultimately doesn’t really add much to the background. It still gets the job done with some thrilling action that showcases Tony’s ever-growing confidence as Iron Man, but there’s hardly anything else past that. Thankfully, “Just Off The Farm” is able to help as this allows Phil Coulson to highlight a story before getting his live-action time to shine in a pair of Marvel One-Shots known as “The Consultant” and “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor’s Hammer”. Through a staged incident, he helps Agent Hendricks deal with a sudden surprise that pops up during a mission as well as examine how he handles a potentially grave situation. Although the Ten Rings weren’t actually involved this time around, it at least keeps up the running theme that these tie-in comics have included. It’s also nicely handled that we learn about this mission being staged alongside Hendricks since it teaches him as well as the reader to expect the unexpected as well as keeping your emotions in check when things get heated. Those are nice lessons for anyone to learn and it gets back by some fairly-handled pacing, engaging action & artwork that can be rough and sketchy, yet it still allows its reader to understand what’s going down within its story. As for the comic’s final tale known as “Proximity”, it provides a solid explanation for how Black Widow was placed inside Stark Industries in order for her to properly proceed on her mission of evaluating Tony in order to decide if he was worthy of joining their Avengers Initiative. It still completes the running theme of having the Ten Rings in some capacity by including a member in the beginning of its tale, while the central story has her navigating the company before a key female employee that she somewhat becomes friends with also winds up as a key opportunity for her to get closer to Tony himself. As such, she springs into action in order to make sure that she’s the one who gets to be face-to-face with our main man. Because it presents itself as having the strongest connection towards the movie, this solidifies itself as the comic’s best story especially since it has smooth pacing, solid artwork and a satisfying ending that leads itself right into Natasha’s MCU introductory scene. With all of that said, this issue is still a strong read that allows its featured individuals to make their presence stand out its pages. Finally, we have our two-part adaptation. As with our previously mentioned mainline MCU translations, it has its fair share of story condensing and scene exemption while it does its best to follow the film’s storyline. This time around, Tony has put himself within an impossible place as his Iron Man persona has helped America reach unparalleled levels of national security. However, his ability to maintain said status quo is being challenged by three different factors. He’s not fully cooperating and coordinating with the U.S. Government despite the fact that he’s been continuously dealing with terrorists threats aboard (primarily from the Ten Rings), the Arc Reactor that served as his life-defining opportunity for change is in desperate need of a new element since the Palladium is slowly poisoning him yet he’s not accepting any help from his two closest allies and the theme of legacy that ties him with Ivan Vanko since their fathers worked together to make the initial Arc Reactor work only for it to never fully come to fruition due to Anton ultimately screwing himself and his family via his own greedy desires. Ultimately, this misguided revenge falls upon his tech son Ivan who then sets out to destroy the Stark Family’s reputation. Like the film, it mostly handles these themes decently as it presents one of two arcs that Tony will have throughout his life as he’ll eventually have his eyes opened once his constant disregard for government oversight will come back to haunt him. Through his Arc Reactor and through Whiplash, he’ll discover that he doesn’t have everything under control like he thinks he does. However, the comic does share a problem that the movie has in that Peper does initially call Stark out of some of his brash moves yet doesn’t start to put two and two together when he makes her his company’s new CEO and also calls her his “successor”. Sadly, Potts is made into a bit of an idiot just for this plotline to work and that it takes her until the climax to finally realize what was going on with him. While the adaptation does do its share of trimming things down, it’s kind of a surprise that it includes a scene that may have been considered and may have been included in the novelization (I haven’t checked it at the time of this article) which has Rhodey first suiting up in the Mark II armor early while trying to convince Stark to cooperate with him. For something that wasn’t in the film, it did make for some good progression given where it was placed. In terms of things left out that I wish was kept, I think that allowing Vanko’s cockatoo to be around more often would’ve allowed the moments where Justin starts to realize that Ivan isn’t fully cooperating with him. That way, his full-on betrayal of Hammer during the Stark Expo would’ve hit harder. As far as utterly egregious mistakes goes, the only major one that I could find was when Justin was presenting James with his various weapons. While his dialogue is in the correct order, the panels that shows off certain firearms isn’t. It’s an embarrassing mistake for a major comic book company to make especially since home media is widely prevalent. Not to mention, the adaptation includes his “Ex-Wife” mini-missle yet excludes the funny payoff when War Machine tries to use it on Whiplash and it turns out to be a dud. Other than that, this was still a neatly-presented mini-series that came with decent pacing, competent artwork and enough familiar beats to entertain its readers. In the end, all of the presented tie-in comics are similar to the movie that they’re based off of. They lack the necessary tweaks required for them to become something exceptionally noteworthy, but they still provide plenty of enjoyable content that allows anyone to go back and check out. As such, give these comics some of your reading time and take in a moment that’ll taste “like coconut and metal”.
Next Time: An otherworldly prince has brought some despair onto his home realm and has been banished to Earth as a result. While he learns to be a better version of himself by interacting with some key humans, a bitter sibling will be looking to not only make sure that he never returns but looks to usurp control of their plane of existence as well. The land of Norse mythology will become reality as we delve into the comic book adaptation of our familiar Thunder God himself: “Thor”.
Iron Man (created by Stan Lee, Larry Leiber, Don Heck and Jack Kirby) is owned by Marvel Comics.
