It should come as no surprise to anyone that the Iron Man story arc is the weakest of the “Disassembled” tie-ins. It doesn’t help that the creators switch several times throughout.
But the story does seem to be important: After a convoluted “fake Iron Man” plot where his friends are targeted, Tony Stark quits his jobs both as Secretary of Defense and as Iron Man.
It starts with Tony multitasking during an Avengers meeting:
A new villain is introduced, Clarence Ward, as someone that Tony screwed professionally in the past. He activates Arsenal, a massive robot warrior, to attack Avengers Mansion.
Then, Ward creates a fake Iron Man suit to attack the U.N.
He is unable to defeat Iron Man.
Iron Man blasts Ward in his fake armor, fusing the armor in a kneeling position and imprisoning the man within it. After Iron Man leaves Ward behind, a soldier shoots him in the face and kills him.
But Tony realizes that having a public superhero identity jeopardizes those around him: His friends, his coworkers, and, due to his position as SECDEF, the United States Government. So, he resigns his position. Remember when public servants believed in public service? Ah, those were the days.
He then holds a press conference saying that he won’t be Iron Man any more–but that someone else will wear the suit. (Obviously, that will be Tony. He’s lying.)
In the final pages, we see that the son of Mandarin has Ward’s weaponry. So even though this low-performing series is over, its reach will extend further.