The invincible Iron Man is vulnerable. After the industrialist Feilong seized Stark Unlimited and produced new Sentinels with Stark technology for the anti-mutant organization Orchis (in the Gerry Duggan-penned Invincible Iron Man), Tony Stark created his most advanced Iron Man armor yet: the Mark 72. Forged from the “miracle” mutant metal mysterium, the impervious Iron Man’s armor was able to withstand adamantium attacks and magic. Stark would wear the anti-magic Iron Man armor through Jed MacKay’s ongoing Avengers run, but in October’s Iron Man #1 by Spencer Ackerman and Julius Ohta, Stark chose to wear his old Mark 37 Bleeding Edge armor when he suddenly fell out of the sky.
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Stark issued a global update to run a software patch on every Iron Man armor across the globe — except for an old classic kept in storage — only to learn that the Board of Stark Unlimited agreed to a merger with rival corporations A.I.M. and Roxxon, which would see his company taken over once more as a weapons manufacturer.
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Meanwhile, Justine Hammer — the daughter of Stark’s former chief rival, Justin Hammer, who was behind the original Armor Wars — stole Stark’s mysterium armor. “It only makes sense to use a Hammer against a Stark,” she told him in Iron Man #1, revealing she used a verbal command to disable his armor.
The mysterium was the last component Hammer needed to forge the new Iron Monger armor. Justine Hammer/Iron Monger, Dr. Monica Rappaccini, A.I.M.’s Scientist Supreme, and the Asgardian sorceress the Enchantress, now C.E.O. of Roxxon, would be able to corner the global arms and energy markets with Stark’s bleeding-edge technology. She then revealed that Roxxon’s extra-dimensional allies infected Stark servers with magical malware — the same servers he used to issue the global armor update. Iron Monger has effectively neutralized the Iron Man armors with a virus.
“You should really learn some basic magic, Tony,” Hammer told the defeated Iron Man. “It’s a whole new business scheme out there. Even one of your old Avengers allies is with us.”
With the Roxxon-A.I.M. acquisition and the Stark-Roxxon War underway, Stark forged the new Improvised Iron Man armor made from what he could salvage from his bricked suits. As he attempts to hold off Roxxon and A.I.M. control the patents to his Iron Man armors, he’ll need help figuring out the magical armor-killer exploit that’s nearly killed him twice.
After Rappaccini revealed that Dr. Druid is the former Avenger working with A.I.M. (in this month’s Iron Man #2), Stark will be recruiting his own Avengers teammate: the Scarlet Witch. Marvel Comics shared the first look at January’s Iron Man #4, and it shows Wanda Maximoff wearing Stark’s Improvised Iron Man armor.
See the solicitations below, which also tease a team-up with Riri Williams/Ironheart and a visit to Chicago as part of One World Under Doom.
Iron Man #3
IRON MAN GOES MEDIEVAL! It’s the Iron Swordsman vs. the Iron Monger! Desperate to keep Stark Unlimited out of the hands of Roxxon and A.I.M., Tony’s stopped pulling punches. But sabotage attacks are getting him nowhere while the board vote proceeds full speed. And when he finds out who’s REALLY behind the acquisition efforts, all hell’s gonna break loose. The Iron Monger’s dark secret will be revealed in the final chapter of “the Stark-Roxxon War”!
On sale: Dec. 25, 2024
Iron Man #4
CRIMSON AVENGERS UNDER ATTACK! Desperate to regain the use of his vast array of armors, Iron Man enlists a fellow Avenger for a magical investigation. But what the Scarlet Witch discovers will plant a bomb in Tony’s life, and the question is WHEN, not IF, it will go off…and WHO will get caught in the blast. Stark family legacy, and guest stars galore make this an issue you can’t ignore!
On sale: Jan. 22, 2025
Iron Man #5
WELCOME TO CHICAGO’S OWN LITTLE LATVERIA! Where the streets are clean and the rent is always rising! Now that the Heat is here, you can be assured of the absolute protection of private property. And if you hear the occasional scream, that’s just the price of safety. If your neighbors disappear, don’t ask where they’ve gone, ask when renovations will start. And when do-gooders in suits show up, just stay away from the flames. Guest-starring Ironheart!
On sale: Feb. 26, 2025