With S.H.I.E.L.D. having been supplanted by H.A.M.M.E.R., many of their former operatives are being forced to leave, including Maria Hill. Those agents who have elected to remain with the new group are not upset to see her go.
At a H.A.M.M.E.R. Shipbreaking facility in Chelsea Piers, Iron Man arrives to help the workers clean up the site. The labor proves difficult however, as Tony is having trouble adjusting to operating his suit without the benefit of the Extremis enhancile. A critical misjudgment drops him into the water, and it becomes clear that the other workers do not want him around.
In the aftermath of his fall from leadership, Stark is now unable to access his Extremis armor. As a parting gift, Tony Stark essentially “swallows” the Superhuman Registration Database to protect the information from Norman Osborn–it is integrated into his brain, and he’s the only one who has it now.
This raises an interesting point: Tony was in favor of registration because he felt it was the responsible thing to do, and that was long before he became the leader of SHIELD. But now, he disagrees with the incoming administration and sabotages it. Has he learned that the Act was bad for America, or is this just sour grapes?
SHIELD undergoes significant staffing changes as well: Maria Hill quits to sign with Tony, and Norman Osborn replaces most of the organizational functions with his own HAMMER group. Among the new hires…
…Is Victoria Hand, who starts off as Osborn’s Executive Assistant, but will go on to bigger and greater things.
So what does Tony do when he’s cast out? He tinkers. He starts making armor for Pepper. She jokes and accuses him of trying to turn her into his “dream girl.”
This story focuses on Norman trying to get the database back, i.e., to take Stark prisoner. Tony, meanwhile, is “off-loading” his own brain. He gives Pepper control of his organization, expecting that when it’s all over he’ll be a vegetable.
With Tony out of commission, Pepper Potts becomes Rescue.
And because he’s a hands-on leader, Norman Osborn gets his own armor: Iron Patriot. We don’t get to see him wear it in action, though–just a press conference.
Rescue is not outfitted with weapons–it was literally designed to be a peacekeeping suit. HAMMER troops kidnap Pepper and take her to Osborn, where she learns that although Osborn has old suits of armor, he’s unable to activate them without Tony. After a confrontation, Osborn decides to let her go–the public outcry of killing her will be too much for him, as she’s already established herself as a peaceful hero by saving a bunch of schoolkids.
Stark is on the run. Osborn sics War Machine on him, who he has to fight using old armor.
Then Sub-Mariner.
He also sends The Hood and Madame Masque, but I think they’ll be more of a threat in the second half of this arc.
Maria Hill gets a great subplot. Tony sends her to all of his hidden bases around the world to destroy information about his armor, and at one of them she finds Controller and an army of controlled humans. Before she leaves, Tony has quickie sex with her.
Hm. Is he acting strange or is he just a narcissist full of adrenaline? No, he’s getting dumber. And that continues as the story goes on and he literally loses more and more of his mind. I should have created a tag for all the times Tony Stark is a slut.
While trying to destroy Stark’s bases, Controller tries to control Maria, but she ends up being strong enough to resist. She frees herself and the other humans from his control, and manages to get the hard-drive from the site–and decides to bring it to Bucky Cap.
Matt Fraction is creating an extended arc here. Much as Ed Brubaker replaced Captain America with Winter Soldier, Fraction seems to be doing something similar here. This feels like a logical place to break, so we’ll stop here.
English (US) · 