Invincible Iron Man #25-29 (2010): 1st Detroit Steel

Iron Man’s main series doesn’t get a new #1 with the launch of Heroic Age, and that’s a good thing. Matt Fraction is constructing an intricate world that doesn’t need rebooting. These issues have Tony Stark and his friends trying to rebuild after the last arc, while Justine Hammer tries to supplant him as the world’s preeminent munitions manufacturer. And she starts by launching Detroit Steel. Like Iron Man, Detroit Steel has a human pilot–only this version is remote operated. (I’m tagging DS as a standalone, and also tagging his current pilot, Lieutenant Doug Johnson III… I’m treating it like a symbiote, because I expect that at some point there may be a different pilot. Justine Hammer has a new partner in business, her daughter Sasha. The Hammer gals Their pitching to Generals in the U.S. Army who remember how many times her father, Justin Hammer, sold them crappy versions of Iron Man that failed. Tony, meanwhile, is rebuilding his company (again), and this time will call it Stark Resilient. His first act is to donate his repulsion tech to the world to help solve the global energy crisis–and he’s out of the military business. This of course drives the military right into the hand...