Tony F'ing Stark

Confessions of a Tony Starkoholic

2009-02-17T16:33:00.000-08:00

I'm very excited to present our very first guest writer here on TFS, empty_splendor (as seen on LJ, of course). I'll get out of the way now and let her do the talking.

Confessions of a Tony Starkoholic
by empty_splendor

I have been a reader of Iron Man comics ever since I knew how to read. My dad would take me to the comic book store when I was a kid, holding my little chubby hand and let me peruse the selection of books with brilliant colors and vibrant lettering, but he always found his way to getting me a copy of Iron Man’s latest adventure. From Iron Man, it took me to the adventures of the Avengers and Captain America, but my most steady purchase (especially now, what with this economy) was the one book.

Tony Stark had it all: rich, handsome, successful, restless genius and he knew how to charm the ladies. Oh yeah, and he’s a superhero. He was legit too, none of the “he came from space and has these powers” or “he was bit by a radioactive monkey” but a man who nearly lost his life and found himself faced with two choices: make a difference or choose to continue to live ignorantly. I think everyone knows which he chose because we have Iron Man. Comics called: Tony Stark: Guy Who Drinks a Lot and Does Nothing wouldn’t sell, would they? Okay well maybe.

The point is that I could see this man as a plausible entity. He was vulnerable in that sense in a way that no other hero was. Tony could use his powers for good or evil and the fact that he had chosen his own path to fight for the good guys makes him that much more interesting. Tony took all that power and money and made it a force for good in the universe. Of course, there’s the now clichéd slogan from Ben Parker that with great power comes great responsibility, and with Tony things have been no different. Sometimes he does well with this and other times the best intentions pave his road to hell.

Tony is always a guy that is faced with a decision. In all of his important milestone books he’s had a big choice to make that could alter not only his life but also the lives of his near and dear. First of all, there's his come to Jesus moment of becoming Iron Man that I mentioned before. Stark very easily could have said, “Well, fuck it… where’s the party? Pass the Doritos!” and gone on with his life as he knew it. The fact that he didn’t, the fact that he took this crippling disability and perfected an armored suit to fight super villains is something not everyone would have done. It was his choice to do so.

Secondly, there's his drinking, which was a large part of the books in the 70s and 80s. Tony is known for being an alcoholic party boy, a side that was played up in the 2008 live action film with Robert Downey Jr. He battled with the bottle for a long time, and even now well into the new millennium he still carries it as a scarlet letter on his chest. Again this is a point where he had a choice. He could have stayed drinking; he could have let alcoholism destroy his life. He didn’t. He got up after losing it all and knew that he was better than that. He got help from a lot of people, Captain America, Rhodey, Bethany Cabe and especially his sponsor Henry Hellrung. Tony knows very well what could have happened to him if he chose the other road, and he’s the first one to admit it.

Often however, Tony’s choices don’t play out as he expected. Tony is not infallible and no fan will tell you he is. That’s part of why I like him. The fact that Tony Stark makes monumental mistakes and isn’t perfect. The fact that Tony Stark is a human being with free will and thoughts of his own, and sometimes his opinions, no matter how much he stands for them, are just a bit off. Tony has a great way of believing in something so profoundly and so unabashedly that it blinds him to others' opinions and sometimes makes him a down right dick.

The fact that Tony Stark is prone to doing some really asshole things is what makes me love him. He has made some very questionable moves during his time, especially in recent years with the Super Hero Civil War and shooting Hulk into space, but the Iron Dickery has always been there. From dating Janet Van Dyne when she was fresh out of Hank Pym Wife-Beater (which bugs me that it marred his character forever because I love me some Hank Pym. Alas, that is another topic for another day…) to making his nearest and dearest believe he had died from irreparable nervous system damage (he was cryogenically frozen).

Which brings me to my final point and that is, if people are shocked and surprised and have been turned away by the latest turn of events in the Invincible Iron Man, then you’re a fair weather fan. Tony has a long history of doing ridiculous extremes that most of us would consider either stupid or sort of dick. His recent behavior is nothing but in character. Sure, it’s not ideal. Sure we’d all like to see Tony on top of the world but the fact is, he had too much power.

Stark is prone to replacing one addiction with another and if he had continued to climb, power would have been his new drug of choice. He needed a fall from grace. He needed to be brought back down and the only way to do that is to rip the floor out from beneath him. It’s just another test of his character, of Tony’s enduring strength in the face of adversity. He’s suffered before and he’s lost it all and every time he’s gotten it back and become a stronger man for it. Tony is a guy who will bet it all on a bluff and hope he gets out of the game with the pot. In the world post Secret Invasion, he’s stumbled out, bewildered and at the bottom. They’ve taken his business, his home, his money, his power, his name and all his clout. What makes this story interesting is watching him come back into his own.

In conclusion I have this to say. Fraction has said his venture into this yearlong arc for Iron Man is meant to be the disgrace and redemption of Tony Stark. He’s going to fall hard but we’re going to watch him rise again, and as he’s done many times before like a phoenix from the ashes (not Jean Grey) he will come out of it a better man than he was when he went in. None of this, the auto-lobotomy suicide machine, Iron Potts, loving and leaving Maria Hill are out of the realm of possibility for the Stark I’ve always known and loved. If you can’t take him as he is, then you’re not a fan. He will go there, whether anyone wants him to or not.

That is why he’s so interesting to read.

Please comment either here or here.

Partner in Crime

2009-02-05T05:41:00.000-08:00

Hey there. Been a while, huh? Sorry I forgot to call. I got caught up in this Big Bang thing. You know how it is.

Anyway, I've been planning this one for a while, but I figured now was as good a time as any to post this...article? Ramblings? Hmm, well, whatever, I thought it was a good time to post. See, I want to talk about a character that I have a soft spot in my heart for, and apparently so does Tony. Yes, I'm talking about

I understand a lot of people don't like Maria. You're not supposed to like Maria. She was created to be hated. She's the unqualified replacement of Nick Fury. She's the villainous face of the government in Civil War. She gave Captain America the order to hunt down his friends and family. She mind-raped Peter Parker. And she's just a flat out bitch.

So why do I like her? Hell if I know. I've been thinking about for a while now, and I've come to the conclusion it's because she is a bitch that I like her so much. Now, you have characters like Carol Danvers who, Marvel Gods bless her soul, is a bitch. I love Carol (sometimes), I really do, but I dunno, there's something...fake about her? She tries to be nice, but we all know she's a bit of a bitch anyway. She's one of those strong female leads that often crosses the line of being endearing and annoying.

Maria, now she's just completely unapologetic about her bitchitude. She knows she's a bitch. She knows she's not Nick Fury. She knows she's pretty well hated in every way to be hated. She realizes all of this and simply trudges on, doing what she has to do to get the job done. She's a little like Tony in a way.

There are people out there that don't have a real opinion about her because she's been so underdeveloped for a long while now, with only really the Knaufs and Fraction exploring her character as anything other that "EVILLLL." Admittedly, I was one of those people until Director of SHIELD. We're starting to see this new part of her that actually cares about humanity...or at least Tony. In Haunted, she was the one that called Doc Samson when Tony was having an apparent schizophrenic fugue. She tried to talk Tony out of the whole auto-lobotomy suicide machine thing while Pepper just went with it (though Pepper's probably used to this sh*t from Tony by now). She's starting to become less bitch and more hardass.

As with all of this blog, I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. I'm defending a character I happen to like a lot.

Please comment either here or here

And now for something completely different...

2009-01-04T15:58:00.000-08:00

*ahem* Yes, well, I've been meaning to kick off a section devoted to the fandom itself. Plus there was the fact that Chris's Invincible Super-Blog is having a small recap contest. Thought I might try my hand at it with a recap of Ulitmates 1 and 2:

Clicky clicky~

Ah yes, putting that new tablet through its paces I see.

Please comment here or here.

Tony loves Thor

2009-01-02T18:55:00.000-08:00

Oh my. So, does this mean that Clor was originally going to be Tony's Kept Man, but the Skrull!Pym and Reed came along and messed up his happy, ale-ridden dream? Richaaaaarrrddssss!

from The Order #7

Please comment here or here.

Discussion: Religion

2008-12-16T07:14:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across this site the other day (looking up Doc Samson of all people). It's an extremely detailed look at the religions of various superheroes, whether they're stated outright or simply implied (Samson's Jewish, by the way, if anyone cares). I had been meaning to post a discussion of what people think Tony's religion might be, and I figured this was as good an excuse as any to actually do it.

On the site, it seems that the majority of the fandom holds that Tony is atheist, while the maintainers of the site themselves hold that he's a “futurist; technologist; mostly secular.” So let's go from there.

I'll admit, I'm not a very smart person, so I'm not sure on the actual use of the word “futurist.” The Oxford English Dictionary (which my school evidently pays for me to use for the analysis of comic books rather than research papers) defines a futurist as someone who either: “believes that the Scripture prophecies, esp. those in the Book of Revelation, are still to be fulfilled in the future” or “one who has regard to or studies the future; a believer in human progress.” Hmm...I'm assuming Tony's more likely to lean towards the second one when defining himself. Oh, and there's something about an Italian art movement, but I think I can probably toss that one out when we're talking about Stark (unless he's trying to learn up for Steve's inevitable return). I feel like I'm missing on some philosophical side of this however, so if someone would be kind enough to fill me in, I'd love you forever :D I love learning <3

Anyway, I'd agree that Tony is mostly secular. I would not, however, call him an atheist. And here, in my humble opinion, is why:

His father. Now, Howard Stark comes off as a skeptic to me, the kind of guy who needs proof before he decides anything for certain. He's shown telling tiny Tony that if God exists, He'll have left a message for them in the numbers. It seems to me that Tony would have a similar approach to life in general, not only because he's scientific-minded, but also because he would probably do anything he could to gain approval from his ever disapproving father (something I've touched on before), including trying to figure out how π = God. Also of note: As far as I know, we're never given any hint of what religion Maria Stark followed. While I think we can say Howard influenced Tony's professional life, I think it could be argued that Maria probably had more of an influence on his personal life.

He's seen praying and makes reference to prayer on a number of occasions. He's seen praying at Rumiko's casket and before he (we assume) pulled the plug on Happy. He makes reference to praying that everything would work out okay for Bruce Banner when they shot him up into space (though he knew Hulky had landed on the wrong planet). He could all be going through the motions, and I think he certain does do that when it comes to things like social events (the Stark reputation anyone?), but I don't think he would bother faking it with something like this.

Alcoholics Anonymous. A major part of AA is giving yourself up to a Higher Power and believing that only this Power can restore a your sanity. Now, with that said, there are of course secular AA groups out there, and really, that Higher Power can be whatever you really want it to be, not necessarily God, so long as it's motivation enough to get you clean, so this point is a bit weaker than the others. But, Tony is shown going to AA meetings with Carol Danvers and we've meet his sponsor (Henry Hellrung, for anyone that missed that).

He's lived and worked with Thor and Ares. Now, I'm not saying that makes him a believer – after all, didn't he keep a hair of Thor's to DNA test if he was actually a god (which would later lead to Clone-Thor)? I'm just saying, living and employing a god would at the very least make you open to the idea.

Tony has been to Hell. Liek srsly yo. Even met his dad there. Mind you, Tony's seen a lot of weird things in his life, but I'm pretty sure that might have traumatized him just a little bit. Fear of God kind of traumatize? Hard to say.

As said, the majority of fans quoted on the site believe that he's atheist, basing this off of the Infinity Crusade limited series during which he tells the Goddess that he puts his faith in science. To me, this means he prefers to have something material to hold onto, but doesn't mean he doesn't believe in something greater (otherwise, why would be bother praying?) Plus there's the fact that this 'Goddess' had just kidnapped a bunch of his friends so they would go make holy war. He was probably not the most open person at the time.

So, I know it's a bit risky to do any sort of religious discussion, but I'm interested in seeing what you all think.

Please comment here or here

You really CAN blame Tony for everything in Secret Invasion

2008-12-07T15:40:00.000-08:00

Needless to say, spoilers for Secret Invasion #8

Poor Jan, she never saw it comin'. No one escapes the Stark Curse! No one. Also: Peter is such a dork.

Found at scans_daily

Please comment here or here

Laissez-faire: Chicks Dig Giant Robots

2008-11-24T14:15:00.000-08:00

In possibly one of the most epic crossovers ever, we find the Avengers teaming up with the Autobots to save the world. Or, more importantly, we find Dr. Doom teaming up with the Decepticons, which I find incredibly awesome.

The whole crossover is great, but for our interests here on TFS, I think it's important to point out that Tony, in fact, has a giant robot in the ready just for this kind of occasion.

Tony's a futurist, after all. He's prepared for everything, even Unicron.

It's interesting to note that this series is apparently 616-canon as well. This probably explains Tony's giant transforming satellite robot he gave Rhodey for their anniversary -- er alien invasion plan.

Please comment here or here

Tell me I'm frozen but what can I doooo...?

2008-11-19T06:15:00.000-08:00

*cough* Please excuse my horrible singing.

Hooray! I've decided to start to new "column" on this blog -- Random comic panels that I like! Because every once in a while I come across a panel I want to post but have to real reason to, so now I do.

From vol. 1 #86

Please comment here or here

Thought projector

2008-11-08T14:44:00.000-08:00

From an issue of Captain America, we are given yet another example of Tony's Evil Genius: A device that can project a person's thoughts. Awesome.

Found on scans_daily, yet sadly I cannot find the post :(

Please comment here or here

Tech: Extremis

2008-10-25T07:09:00.000-07:00

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Plus, Extremis can be tailor to fit your needs. Don't want fire breath? Replace it with the ability to communicate with any computer with your mind. You get the power to choose!

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Vomiting
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Being emotionally deficient
Being encased in a cocoon of scabs
Seeing the haunting images of of your dead loved ones
Being susceptible to alien computer viruses
A 97.5% chance of death
And occasionally turning into a woman

So call your local FuturePharm representative and ask for Extremis today! Hurry, before it gets retconned out!

On Control, or lack there of

2008-10-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

We all know Tony is a control freak. But here's a question: Exactly how much control does he really have?

Howard Stark, bless his crazy little head, was a very demanding father, to say the least. He wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, something Tony wanted nothing of. Tony was plenty happy staying indoors, lost in books and computer parts. Howard didn't seem to think this was fitting of his son, so he sent him off to boarding school to learn some discipline. Rather than beating it out of his son himself, Howard let the boys at school do it for him.

So, once Tony gets out of school, out of M.I.T., what does he do? Immediately starts making weapons for daddy. And when daddy (and mommy, of course) die a couple years later, he steps right up to take over the company.

Now, Tony's said that he didn't enjoy making weapons, but it paid the bills. However, is seems like he didn't have much choice in the matter. Stark was built as a munitions company and it will always be as such. Even within recent (comic) years, he's been trying to steer Stark International away from military contracts with no avail. While he is CEO, it seems he has no real say in the direction his company takes. In the Extremis arc, we see that his board of directors don't even want him as CEO any longer because of his time spent out of the board room. The only reason he stays is because he knows that if he steps down, his name will be put back on the side of bombs.

As Secretary of Defense, he opened himself up to manipulation via political agenda -- rather ironic considering the fact that he only wanted the job in the first place so he could control the use of his patented technology. During the Avengers: Disassemble prologue, it's brought to light that Howard Stark created a robot that would destroy Manhattan in case of World War III. Tony's first reaction is to call in the rest of the Avengers to help deal with it. While he is, technically the most powerful man in the room, the various government officials there coerce him into leaving his teammates out of it saying that it's for the great good that news of the robot doesn't get out. And Tony goes along with it, against his best judgment, leading to some rather upset teammates when the plan eventually backfires.

And then there have been the times when Tony, literally, has lost control of himself; when outside forces have taken advantage of his mind in some way, shape, or form. From Immortus to the Scarlet Witch to Yinsen's son, he's been subject mind control a number of times. One can only imagine how traumatic that might be for a person and no doubt these instances still linger with Tony. We know that in a case where the armor, not even Tony himself, was controlled by an outside force and used to kill, it led to Tony drowning himself in liquor.

Speaking of which, there is also the fact that Tony is an addict. Being addicted to something is, by its very definition, to be dependent on something, so much so that you do not have control over your urges – in Tony's case, drink. Tony spent years of his life pickling his brain in booze, and he didn't even realize it. Just like another form of mind control, it snuck up on him, forced him to build his life around getting that next drink.

So how much control does Tony actually have? Not a whole lot.

He's a control freak because he has no control. He can't manage his own life, so he tries to micromanage the lives of the people around him. He tried to control the fallout against the metahumans by leading the pro-reg cause. He tried to control the enforcement of the SHRA by becoming Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. But even then, he doesn't really have any power – the Registration Act is subject to the whims of the people and while S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be an international organization, it is still very much subject to the American government. So while he may believe he's the man in charge, he's really just still a pawn, and that's where the problem lies. The moment he realizes that he's not in control is the moment things are going to start coming down around him.

Please comment here or here

Movie Armor Based on Cap's Shield part 2

2008-10-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

So, thanks from a tip at scans_daily in a post about how a frozen-Cap appearance was cut from The Incredible Hulk, we can more or less confirm what was presented in the Wal-Mart exclusive comic that came with the movie: The Movie Armor was based off an alloy used for an early version of Captain America's shield:

Under Tony's right arm on his work bench is, in fact, the shield. So, fangirl away.

Comment here or at the LiveJournal Thread

Comment Crazy

2008-10-15T07:10:00.000-07:00

So, I love comments. I love discussion. I put this site up on Blogger because I loved the customizability and the openness of it, but for some reason I can't reply to any comments. It was a little pet peeve, but I figured if I wanted to have discussions, I could have them on the LiveJournal feed.

But then I realized that the LJ feed only keeps the five most recent posts, meaning that any comments I might get on those posts are lost to the Internets forever. It's rather frustrating.

So what I've gone ahead and done is made a LiveJournal community for the blog~ It's open to every one to post their own articles, comment on anything I've posted here, or to make suggestions.

I'm not saying you have to post on the comm if you want to make a comment, I'm just begging you all not to post on the LJ Feed, seeing as the comments will be deleted with time.

Thanks everyone for putting up with the weirdness, and thanks for reading.

The Number 1 Threat to America

2008-10-14T18:35:00.000-07:00

While we're on the subject of War Machine, exactly how much does his armor cost?

A new meaning to friends with privileges.

I just noticed that Tony seems to give the best "In case I'm dead" gifts, especially to Rhodey. First War Machine, now a secret satellite. And of course, it's all hand made, so it has just than much more love in it. Remember this for Mother's Day, kids.

I promise something of substance will be posted soon -- just as soon as I get through midterms XD

Discussion: Bi Tony?

2008-10-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

Happy National Coming Out Day everyone! To celebrate, we're going to talk a little bit about how Tony is

Okay, okay, we all know about Tony's great number of sexual conquests of the female persuasion, but you have to admit, there are times when he just comes off as, well, a little gay. Not doubt there was a reason for all the innuendos in the movie (even if it was all in jest).

Now, I could talk about how he used to strip down in front of Rhodey every other issue. I could talk about his absolutely amazing fashion sense.

But, personally, I prefer to look at what he does in private, the inner monologues, the sealed off angst. Because it's one thing for him to act a certain way, and a very different thing for him to think a certain way.

Of course, it's all reading into subtext -- Tony has never been shown in a relationship with a man. But I come from a long tradition of yaoi fandoms, most of which don't even have the subtext part.

It's interesting though, because it seems to me that it's fairly accepted part of the fandom. Well, maybe not "accepted" so much as "yeah it's there." Or has my yaoi-raddled mind gotten it all wrong? Now that I've gone out and spammed this blog in places other than just slash communities, I'd be really interested in seeing the general feeling out there.

How do you all feel about the possibility of Tony being bisexual? Do you think this is all just crazy-talk? Would you want him to come out?

And please, I know this can be a very heated topic, so please keep it clean. It's supposed to be a discussion of the character, not of morality or politics. Thanks.

And, as an ending note, I think Ultimate Jarvis makes a fairly good point:

P.S. I'll do a more serious post about this later. I just figured I couldn't let today slip by without post something on the topic.

Laissez-faire: Armor

2008-10-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks muchly to CrimsonQuills, I now have a scan telling us about how much it actually costs to be Iron Man. From New Avengers vol.1 #5:

Sorry it took so long to actually post this, I guess I need to check on the e-mail notifications for new comments....

Anyway, thanks for the comments thus far guys~ Keep 'em coming, I can't do it without this brilliant fandom :D

Comics: Avengers: Disassemble vol.3 86-89

2008-10-07T19:18:00.000-07:00

or, The Moment Tony Realized That He Was Overworked and That Having His Secret Identity as Public Knowledge Was a Bad Idea Only to Forget It Two Years Later.

Since I don't have a car or comic store within twenty minutes of me here at school, I can't make any comment on the new comics that came out this week. Or last week. Or the two coming weeks.

:'(

As such, I'm going to be commenting on the comics that I can get my proverbial hands on – digital ones :D

So, I finally got to read the Iron Man: Avengers Disassemble arc. I had seen the TBP in stores a couple times, but I knew the Digital Archive was going to be spamming it out to coincided with the DVD release, so I never picked it up. That, and I'm a cheap ass. The actual Avengers: Disassemble arc starts back in #84, but that's just a prologue of sorts, so I'm starting with #86.

Now, coming in late to the comic game, and knowing what's happened in the...what? Four years since these first came out, it's just a tiny bit painful to read this arc. I read Tony's inner monologue in #87 and thought, “Good lord is his memory really that bad?” Or, I guess I should say, is the think tank at Marvel's memory that bad?

A little set up is in order, I suppose. Tony became Secretary of Defense, but then the Scarlet Witch caused him to act all crunk and threaten the Latverian ambassador at the U.N. (he's still pissed about that whole Zombie War in King Arthur's Court thing, I suspect), so he was forced to step down. His stint lasted, what, like, three months in comic? One thing about the Marvel U, they go through SECTDEFs like I went through tissues reading Fallen Son (shut up, I'm a girl, it's okay for me to cry at stuff like that). There was the guy before Tony, Tony, that lady after Tony that Wolverine more or less killed, and then the guy who basically forced Stark to become Director of SHEILD (who then ran off and got himself killed by the Mandarin). It's like the Marvel U's Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position – never last more than a year and most of them turn out to be evil jackasses.

Anyway, so at the beginning of the story, we don't actually know it was the Scarlet Witch that got Tony crunk, so he decides to do something that I'm sure to him sounds like a great idea, but to everyone else sounds a bit stupid – he deals with it himself. He doesn't know what's wrong with him, but he sure as hell knows that he doesn't want any help dealing with it.

Oh Tony, I know you meant well by it, but really, next time let someone else help. Maybe we can avoid more breakdowns that way. Wait, wait, he desperately needs a breakdown right now, because breakdowns lead to character restarts – TONY! Whatever you do, avoid all of your problems so they can come crashing down on you later!

Okay, okay, seriously? Maria Hill is the first person to
notice something's wrong? He's surrounded by the morons

There you go, perfect.

Right, back to the past. Tony goes off and locks himself up in isolation, completely cut off from the world. He has a nice little introspective in which he realizes he can't save the world by himself, that he's taken on too many responsibilities and has lost touch with what's most important in his life.

Apparently, the sheer trauma of the next few minutes caused him to forget whatever temporary insight him might have just had. That's the only reason I can think of that would explain his willingness to take on even more of the exact same work and stress only two(?) comic years later (well, okay, maybe not the only reason, but that's a different post).

Right, back to the post. Turns out it doesn't really matter that Tony's gone to extra lengths to ensure that he doesn't hurt anyone anyway. Why? Because meanwhile, Iron Man is blowing sh*t up. Yes, it's one of those, where someone, somehow manages to get a hold of one of Tony's changes of clothes and goes around destroying stuff, namely the Stark International executive board, scarring Pepper for life in the process (perhaps leading to the “I don't want to be a bomb” comments from IIM recently? Or is that assuming that the writers actually read this arc?).

So everyone's all freaking out, including Tony's latest on-again-off-again-currently-mostly-off girlfriend, Rumiko. She's been with him more or less throughout all of volume 3. She's probably one of the better girlfriends he's ever had. Yeah, she was a bitch and cheated on him with his childhood best friend but, you know, she didn't shoot him. Which, really, is saying a lot when it comes to Tony's girlfriends.

So Rumiko flies over from Japan to check up on Stark. On the flight stateside, we get this juice bit of gossip:

Tony Stark? Settle down? Sorry, sweetheart, couldn't have that.

Okay, seriously, the only guy who has a longer list of dead girlfriends is probably Daredevil. That's kind of why I hope Tony and Pepper never get together; I like Pepper too much.

So fake!Iron Man throws Tony around a bit, which is fun for us, because we get mostlynaked!Tony run, jump, and generally destroy his house. I like it mainly because we get to see his mechanical heart. I like his mechanical heart. I could probably do a whole post on the symbolism of it (English major, remember), but I won't. It was retconned in Extremis, though, right? That's too bad :(

And then we find out that the guy in the suit is some dude we've never heard of before. Even Tony hasn't heard of him before. So Tony mops the yard with him, shows that his Schwartz is stronger than whatshisface's, and we get this little speech from Random Army Dude who was assigned to task of killing the last Iron Man Standing:

And that's the last time anyone will be saying that for a very, very long while.

The story arc ends with Tony giving a speech saying that he's realized that having his identity public knowledge has put those he loves in danger. Thus he resigns as Iron Man. This, of course, is a complete lie, which is why everyone was surprised when he took the helmet off during Civil War.

God the public is a collective idiot. That's why Tony has to protect them with the SHRA.

Basic summary of this arc? Tony over estimated his abilities, realized he was in over his head, and got out, if a bit late.

Basic summary with a Post-Civil War prospective? Tony is a hypocrite. Great, got to add that one to the list....

Other Tonies: Movie Armor Based on Cap's Shield

2008-10-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

Side note: Other Tonies? Tonys?

So, I apologize for the really crappy phone picture, but I thought this was too neat not to post right away. I'll get an actual scan of it up once I have, you know, have access to a scanner. Plus, I thought this would be a good way to kick off the section on alternate universe Tonies.

I, like the dork I am, ran out after classes to buy the IM movie. The biggest store around is a Wal-Mart, so I figured I'd get the copy of DVD with the exclusive comic that comes with it. It follows Agent Coulson and Nick Fury throughout the events of the movie, with SHIELD thinking that Tony has been brainwashed by the Ten Rings (hinted at in the book adaption). Possibly one of the more interesting pages is when the two agents are discussing the Mark III armor. Since you can't actually read anything on the page, I'll type the good stuff here:

COULSON: According to Stane, Stark pulled the old files on an alloy his father worked on during World War II...
COULSON: ...For O.S.S. op called Project: Rebirth
FURY: I can guess what happened next. Stark found an...example...in his father's archives and used it to strengthen his suit.
COULSON: It's pretty impressive, Mr. Director. What was Project: Rebirth's goal?
FURY: That's still classified to all but Omega Level Clearance, Coulson. But to give you an idea of its importance, what Stark has is just a prototype...A reject.
FURY: The final product was lost...although you can bet your life we'll never stop looking for it.

The "prototype" is an early version of Captain America's shield, implying that Project: Rebirth was the Super-Solider Program in some way, shape, or form. It seems the Manhattan Project wasn't the only thing that Howard Stark was working on back during the Big One.

So movie!Tony's armor is based off early versions of Cap's shield. Am I the only on who thinks it's hilarious that Howard Stark apparently just had the thing laying around? There's probably a Raider's of the Lost Ark-type warehouse somewhere on one of the Stark properties with all of the abandoned projects in little cretes.

Discussion: Post Secret Invasion

2008-09-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

I posted something a bit like this on cap_ironman not too long ago, but I wanted to start a discussion more towards the future of the Iron Man storyline.

So, if for some reason you haven't heard, the Iron Man movie comes out on DVD today. Marvel's website has been promoting it for about two weeks now, releasing articles and exclusive digital comics (this week, an Iron Man comic is going to be put up in the archive everyday, finishing off vol. 3). Now, I can understand the digital comics, as well as the abundance of text they've put up, but I have to say releasing a psychological profile telling us how crazy the main character is or a fake news story detailing that his company might be going under is a very odd way to promote a movie.

It is, however, a very good way to promote the next big story arc, World's Most Wanted, in the Invincible Iron Man title. Matt Fraction's been saying for a while now that he's going to bring Tony to his knees. General fan reaction seems to be "About damn time!"

So, let's take a look at some of the more unsubtle foreshadowing these two pieces have to offer. Personally, the more interesting one is the Psych Ward article:

...What has not been formerly diagnosed on Axis I, but in the opinion of the writer should be, is major depressive disorder.

Well no sh*t.

As such, it is the recommendation of staff that the client be closely monitored, with weekly physical exams, until such time as conclusive data on the health benefits of Extremis can be generated....

...While he has not had a drink in some time, he also has not attended any meetings because, he claims, he's "too busy." The writer has informed the client that this is the claim of many who lose touch with the program and thus relapse...

...Recommendations that he take a leave have not been accepted.

Now, it's been said that Tony won't have use of the Extremis after Secret Invasion (which is disappointing), so we can check one of those off the list. Now for the falling the wagon bit...

As a side note, I kind of wanted Doc Samson to turn out to be the Red Hulk only so Tony could say that his last therapist went on a rampage and killed Abomination. That would have been awesome.

But in the wake of a troubled economy and coupled with the recent death of Happy Hogan and the further injury of executive Pepper Potts and the global malfunction of their technology, Stark Enterprises is facing a series of misfortunes that, if continued, could result in a total financial collapse – one that even the Invincible Iron Man can not save them from.

So this one pretty much has a big red arrow one it saying "LOOK FOR ME IN ISSUE #8!!!" Not only does it have the title of the freakin comic in it, but it's also a well worn path that Tony (or rather, his writers) have taken many times before. I'll admit, if the big thing that ends up crushing Tony is another problem with his company, I'll be disappointed. I'd much rather see Tony's break down be ramifications from all the crap that's happened since Civil War than his company imploding again.

Also, I totally just realized: right now in Tony's life there is a Stane that may or may not lead to the collapse of Stark Industries, causing Tony to go back to the bottle. Good lord.

Now, in celebration of...movie release? New site? Having Readers? Tony's inevitable break down? Let's have a little discussion of where we all think the future of the IIM series is going. How will it happen? What will happen? And, an odd question, what do you hope will happen?

Personally? I think Tony's going to be blamed for the Starktech Network failure that happened during Secret Invasion, leading to Stark Industries/Enterprises/International/Circuits Maximus crashing.

What I would like to see?

Big, public breakdown. Proof Tony Stark has a heart.

Laissez-faire: Sular Experiment

2008-09-27T08:23:00.000-07:00

Much like how Captain America was created to fight the Nazis, Iron Man was created to fight the dirty Commies! Tony Stark is the epitome of all that is great about capitalism. He's a self made man (and hero) who has been able to achieve great things with some American ingenuity and a little elbow grease. Oh yes, and he's really freakin rich.

So, I've dedicated an entire part of this site to Tony's ridiculous amounts of money. I was going to post a scan where Tony mentions that the Iron Man armor costs around 4 billion dollars to create and maintain, but I can't seem to remember which issue it was in. So, instead, we're going to have to settle for the Sular Experiment.

I keep waiting for these to pop up in Secret Invasion, but I think that might be asking too much of Bendis.

That's right, Tony has weather controlling satellites. Why? Because he can.

Come to think of it, I should probably set up a section for Tony's evil genius as well...

Original scan from: scans_daily

About

2008-09-26T14:55:00.000-07:00

I'm not gonna lie. My fond childhood memories are not found within the pages of Secret Wars or are painted with the drawings of Jack Kirby or John Romita Jr. Now, ask me about Crash Bandicoot or Spyro the Dragon and I could go on for days.

Not to say I wasn't interested in comics as a kid. I have at least a hundred plus issue of the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comics (before the Knuckles comic got canned D: ), along with some Tomb Raider ones and a brilliant little series called Tallos. It's just that I never really got into superhero comics. I felt like I would get too lost in them. So, instead, I stuck to video games and a variety of manga and anime. And it was good.

Until earlier this year, that is. You see, I have a lot of friends that are into comics and they were getting all excited about this Iron Man movie. Personally, I had no idea who this guy was – most of the Marvel stuff I knew about was Spider-Man and X-Men. But then I saw the trailer. A movie about a dude in a Western-style Mech suit guy that goes around blowing things up? Hell yes. (Did I mention I watched a lot of anime?)

The movie was amazing. There were explosions, robots, flight attendant strippers, robots, badass music, plus, as my mother put it, “He has such a cute butt!” (Iron Man, not Robert Downey Jr. Though I haven't actually seen RDJr's behind as to say whether or not his isn't as cute as the Iron Man suit's) And I walked out of that theater thinking, “I have got to get into superhero comics.”

Little did I realize I was getting involved with the most hated man in the Marvel Universe.

Tony Stark is a dick. He's manipulative, controlling. He's a womanizer and a boozer. He's got no qualms with screwing over a whole lot of people to get what he thinks need to be done done.

Tony Stark is f**king awesome.

It's hard to explain exactly why he's so awesome, mainly because any point you may have usually doesn't make it look all that great (“When his armor designs were stolen, he hunted those punks asses down!” “Didn't he punch out Captain America during that arc?” “Uh, well...”). So I've simply accepted that fact that some people will never like him. I've embraced his jerkish-ness and thrive in it. It's kinda like playing devil's advocate. It's fun.

I make no claims as to being an expert on comics, or even the Marvel U. This is me just having a little fun, and I hope you all with join me in it, whether you love Tony or not. Seeing as I'm brand new to the fandom and that I don't have a scanner, much less all my comics with my here at college, most of the scans you'll find here are collected from the far corners of the Internets (and by “far corners” I mean “LiveJournal” and “Marvel's own website”), so I make no claim to them.

He's a genius. He's a billionaire. He's a hero. He's an arms dealer. He's a manwhore. He's a control freak. He's a fascist. He's an egomaniac.

He's Tony F**king Stark.

Links!

2008-09-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

This list will be added to with time.

Official:
Marvel.com Marvel's official website. It, of course, has lots of news, scans. About half of the scans on this site comes from their Digital Archive (of course, can I really call them scans then?)

Fan:
WARNING, some of these links have adult content.

scans_daily Amazing LJ Community. The other half of my scans come from here.
cap_ironman Yes, a slash comm. OTP 4EVA
starks_armory A general Iron Man fan community
ironman_lounge Another general fan community, but this one is more discussion-oriented
iron_fic General Iron Man fanfic community
tonyxall A community that takes pride in Tony's manwhore-ness.
marvel_fic General Marvel fanfiction community
ironman_slash Slash comm, so be warned. More movie oriented
marvel_slash General Marvel slash comm